| KWIL | |
| City: | Albany, Oregon |
| Area: | Willamette Valley |
| Branding: | KWIL For Christ |
| Frequency: | 790 kHz |
| Airdate: | (at 1240) |
| Format: | Christian talk and teaching |
| Power: | 1,000 watts |
| Class: | B |
| Facility Id: | 837 |
| Callsign Meaning: | Willamette Valley |
| Former Frequencies: | 1240 kHz (1941–1953) |
| Owner: | Extra Mile Media, Inc. |
| Sister Stations: | KHPE |
| Webcast: | Listen Live |
| Website: | kwilforchrist.com |
| Licensing Authority: | FCC |
KWIL (790 AM, "KWIL For Christ") is a commercial radio station licensed to Albany, Oregon, and serving the Willamette Valley. It broadcasts a Christian talk and teaching radio format and is owned by Extra Mile Media, Inc. The studios and transmitter are on Santiam Highway SE (U.S. Route 20).Radio-Locator.com/KWIL
KWIL is powered at 1,000 watts. To protect other stations on 790 AM from interference, it uses a directional antenna with a three-tower array. The signal covers several Oregon communities including Albany, Corvallis and Lebanon. Programming is also heard on 250-watt FM translator K245DI at 96.9 MHz in Albany.
KWIL broadcasts a religious radio format including Christian ministry, religious education, and Bible teaching programs.[1] National religious leaders heard on KWIL include Greg Laurie, Adrian Rogers, Jim Daly, Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, John MacArthur, David Jeremiah, Alistair Begg, Chuck Swindoll, Rick Warren and J. Vernon McGee.
KWIL uses a brokered programming plan, where hosts buy time on the station and may use their programs to seek donations to their ministries.
KWIL signed on the air on .Broadcasting Yearbook 1977 page C-171. Retrieved Nov. 21, 2024. It originally was powered at 250 watts, broadcasting on a frequency of .[2] The station was owned and operated by the Central Willamette Broadcasting Company.[2] KWIL was a network affiliate of the Mutual Broadcasting System.
On October 15, 1947, KWIL added an FM sister station, KWIL-FM at 101.7 MHz.[3] But few people owned FM receivers in that era. Management saw little chance of making the station profitable and it was taken off the air on August 21, 1956.[4]
In 1953, KWIL changed frequencies to . The lower dial position allowed its signal to expand. It increased its power to 1,000 watts. But it also had to use a directional antenna with different daytime and nighttime coverage patterns.[5]
KWIL was acquired by Larry Gordon's Albany Radio Corporation on July 1, 1957.[6] KWIL added a new FM station to its facilities. The second KWIL-FM began broadcasting at 107.9 MHz in 1969. Today, that station is co-owned WHPE, with a Christian Contemporary format.
Christian broadcaster Integrity Media acquired KWIL and KHPE in 1980. Integrity Media changed its name to Extra Mile Media, Inc., in 2005.[7]
(KWIL's logo under previous "The Word" branding)