Palmer Communications

Palmer Communications

Company type	Privately held company
Industry	Media
Founded	1922 (1922)
Founder	B.J. Palmer
Defunct	October 10, 2000 (2000-10-10)
Headquarters	Des Moines , United States
Area served	Iowa, Illinois, Florida, Oklahoma
Key people	B.J. Palmer (founder), Vickie Anne Palmer (last owner)
Products	Radio and television stations

Palmer Communications was a privately held American media enterprise established by B.J. Palmer, who also owned Palmer College of Chiropractic located in Davenport, Iowa. Founded circa 1929 after the 1922 acquisition of WOC (AM), the company maintained close to 75 years of stewardship over radio and television stations, mainly serving markets in Iowa, Illinois, Florida, and Oklahoma.

In 1929, Palmer created Central Broadcasting Company with B.J. Palmer as chairman and purchased WHO (AM) in Des Moines from Banker's Life (currently Principal Financial Group) in 1930. Following this, operations of WOC and WHO were merged under the combined WHO-WOC brand after a powerful 50,000-watt transmitter was activated near Mitchellville, Iowa, in 1932.

Further expanding its holdings, Palmer Communications acquired KICK from Carter Lake, Iowa, and subsequently relocated it to Davenport as WOC-FM (presently known as country station WLLR-FM). The company also introduced WOC-TV (later rebranded as KWQC) adjacent to the Palmer campus and established WHO-TV. In 1989, Palmer extended its reach beyond Iowa by purchasing KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City—its sole asset outside its principal region.

Founding years: 1922–1932

The origins of Palmer Communications trace back to B.J. Palmer’s purchase of WOC-AM from Karlowa Radio Corporation in 1922. After the Federal Radio Commission's General Order 40 frequency adjustments in 1928, WOC shared the 1000 kHz channel with Banker's Life’s WHO station based in Des Moines. By 1930, these stations operated jointly under the WHO-WOC name; in 1932, they consolidated their broadcasts through a single 50,000-watt transmitter near Mitchellville, retiring their individual towers and streamlining their operations.

Ronald Reagan era: 1932–1937

One of Palmer Communications' most distinguished employees was future U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who started as a sportscaster in 1932, covering Chicago Cubs games via the WHO-WOC network. He remained with the company until 1937 before pursuing a career with Warner Bros and eventually politics, serving as president from 1981 to 1989. In tribute, new studios at WOC were dedicated in his name in 1988.

In 1934, Palmer acquired KICK and moved it to Davenport, Iowa, rebranding it as WOC broadcasting on the 1370 AM frequency.

1941–1948 developments

WOC adjusted its frequency from 1450 AM in 1941 to its current position at 1420 AM in 1942. In 1948, Palmer introduced WOC-FM, which has undergone various format changes over time and currently boasts the leading country music format within the Quad Cities area.

Television expansion and subsequent decades: 1949–2000

Palmer Communications ventured into television with the launch of WOC-TV in 1949. The station remained under Palmer family control until 1986 when Vickie Anne Palmer divested it along with WOC AM and FM; following this sale, the TV station was renamed KWQC. Ownership changed multiple times thereafter—Young Broadcasting acquired it in 1995; Media General took over in 2013 after Young's bankruptcy. Nexstar purchased Media General in 2017 but was required to sell KWQC to Gray Television due to regulatory ownership restrictions.

In addition to these holdings, the Palmer family launched WHO-DT through Tri-City Broadcasting Company in 1954.

Reflecting diversification into mobile communications during the 1980s, the company adopted the name Palmer Communications.

The acquisition of Oklahoma City’s KTVY (now KFOR-TV) for $50 million in 1989 marked Palmer’s only expansion beyond Iowa.

By 1996, ownership of WHO and KFOR passed to The New York Times; these stations later transferred through Oak Hill Capital Partners and Tribune Media before Nexstar's $6.4 billion acquisition of Tribune in 2019. Nexstar retained WHO and KFOR while divesting other properties.

Palmer briefly owned Waterloo’s WMT (AM) between 1996 and 1997 before selling it.

In 1997, Jacor Communications purchased WHO AM/FM and WMT AM; Jacor merged with Clear Channel (now iHeartMedia) in 1998.

Vickie Anne Palmer controlled WOC AM/FM until their sale to Clear Channel in 2000, marking the end of broadcast station ownership by the Palmer family.

Palmer Communications officially ceased operations on October 10, 2000.

As of 2022, former Palmer radio and television assets are predominantly owned by iHeartMedia and Nexstar, except for KWQC—which is held by Gray Television following Nexstar’s strategic divestiture amid its Media General acquisition.