WNAX (AM)
Encyclopedia
WNAX is a radio station
broadcasting a News/Talk
format. It is licensed to Yankton, South Dakota
. Due to the flat landscape of the Upper Great Plains and its location near the bottom end of the AM band, the station's 5,000-watt signal covers large portions of South Dakota, Nebraska
, Iowa
, Kansas
, Minnesota
, Missouri
and North Dakota
. Besides Sioux Falls (its "home" market) and Sioux City, it can be heard clearly in Omaha
, Lincoln
and Des Moines. Under the right conditions, it can be heard as far south as Kansas City
and as far north as Fargo
. It has the second largest daytime land coverage area of any US based radio station, after KFYR
, Bismark, ND.
The station is currently owned by Saga Communications
.
in 1926 and became known as "WNAX - Voice of the House of Gurney in Yankton." The station was used to promote Gurney products and services, making Gurney’s a household name.
The radio station launched the careers of many stars, both local and national. Starting in the late 1920s, Lawrence Welk
spent a decade performing daily without pay on WNAX. In 1939, Wynn Hubler Speece started her radio program and became known regionally as "Your Neighbor Lady." Speece was still continuing to do her Marconi Award winning broadcast more than sixty years later when WNAX celebrated its eightieth anniversary in 2002. Other well-known regional radio personalities from WNAX have included Norm Hilson, Whitney Larson, "Happy" Jack O'Malley, Bob Hill, Ed Nelson, Steve (Mike) Wallick, George B. German and the hillbilly performers on the WNAX Missouri Valley Barn Dance show.http://www.hillbilly-music.com/programs/story/index.php?prog=540
In October 2005 Speece announced her retirement after almost 66 years of continuous broadcasting. She died on October 22, 2007, at 90 years of age. http://www.woi-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=7251278&nav=1LFX
In 1983 a fire destroyed the main WNAX building. All of the station's historic live recordings as well as thousands of records were also destroyed. The staff of WNAX went to the station's transmitter site and continued broadcasting. Eventually, the station recovered when a new building was constructed on Highway 50
in Yankton.
In 1942 the station built a 283.2 metres tall tower at Yankton, which was the tallest radio broadcasting tower at the time. http://www.fybush.com/Site%20images/011010/wnax1941.jpg
Although WNAX's glory days were before the time of television, the radio station continues to broadcast during the 21st century in spite of competition from both television and the internet.
Today WNAX continues many of the traditions started in 1922 with frequent news, sports, weather and farm market updates.
The station continues to be affiliated with CBS Radio
, an association that began in the late 1920s.
WNAX is also the flagship for South Dakota State University
sports. WNAX also carries Minnesota Twins
baseball and Minnesota Vikings
football.
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
broadcasting a News/Talk
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
format. It is licensed to Yankton, South Dakota
Yankton, South Dakota
Yankton is a city in, and the county seat of, Yankton County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 14,454 at the 2010 census. Yankton was the original capital of Dakota Territory. It is named for the Yankton tribe of Nakota Native Americans...
. Due to the flat landscape of the Upper Great Plains and its location near the bottom end of the AM band, the station's 5,000-watt signal covers large portions of South Dakota, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
and North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
. Besides Sioux Falls (its "home" market) and Sioux City, it can be heard clearly in Omaha
Omaha
Omaha may refer to:*Omaha , a Native American tribe that currently resides in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Nebraska-Places:United States* Omaha, Nebraska* Omaha, Arkansas* Omaha, Georgia* Omaha, Illinois* Omaha, Texas...
, Lincoln
Lincoln, Nebraska
The City of Lincoln is the capital and the second-most populous city of the US state of Nebraska. Lincoln is also the county seat of Lancaster County and the home of the University of Nebraska. Lincoln's 2010 Census population was 258,379....
and Des Moines. Under the right conditions, it can be heard as far south as Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
and as far north as Fargo
Fargo, North Dakota
Fargo is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County. In 2010, its population was 105,549, and it had an estimated metropolitan population of 208,777...
. It has the second largest daytime land coverage area of any US based radio station, after KFYR
KFYR (AM)
KFYR is a radio station located in Bismarck, North Dakota, owned by Clear Channel Communications. It transmits on a 5,000 Watt signal that can be heard in seven U.S. states and three Canadian provinces. KFYR also broadcasts on translator K259AF in Bismarck...
, Bismark, ND.
The station is currently owned by Saga Communications
Saga Communications
Saga Communications is a broadcasting company that owns and operates stations in 26 markets in the United States. The company, which is based in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, primarily operates radio stations , but it also operates 9 television stations Saga Communications is a broadcasting...
.
History
WNAX signed on the air in 1922. The call-letters represented "North American radio eXperiment." http://nelson.oldradio.com/origins.call-list.html The station was purchased by Gurney's Seed and Nursery CompanyGurney's Seed and Nursery Company
Gurney’s Seed and Nursery Co. is a mail-order seed and garden plant company based in Greendale, Indiana. Founded in 1866, Gurney’s specializes in vegetable and flower seeds, gardening supplies and nursery stock, including trees, shrubs, perennials, fruit trees and berries, fertilizers and plant foods...
in 1926 and became known as "WNAX - Voice of the House of Gurney in Yankton." The station was used to promote Gurney products and services, making Gurney’s a household name.
The radio station launched the careers of many stars, both local and national. Starting in the late 1920s, Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk was an American musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted The Lawrence Welk Show from 1955 to 1982...
spent a decade performing daily without pay on WNAX. In 1939, Wynn Hubler Speece started her radio program and became known regionally as "Your Neighbor Lady." Speece was still continuing to do her Marconi Award winning broadcast more than sixty years later when WNAX celebrated its eightieth anniversary in 2002. Other well-known regional radio personalities from WNAX have included Norm Hilson, Whitney Larson, "Happy" Jack O'Malley, Bob Hill, Ed Nelson, Steve (Mike) Wallick, George B. German and the hillbilly performers on the WNAX Missouri Valley Barn Dance show.http://www.hillbilly-music.com/programs/story/index.php?prog=540
In October 2005 Speece announced her retirement after almost 66 years of continuous broadcasting. She died on October 22, 2007, at 90 years of age. http://www.woi-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=7251278&nav=1LFX
In 1983 a fire destroyed the main WNAX building. All of the station's historic live recordings as well as thousands of records were also destroyed. The staff of WNAX went to the station's transmitter site and continued broadcasting. Eventually, the station recovered when a new building was constructed on Highway 50
South Dakota Highway 50
South Dakota Highway 50 is a state route serving south central and southeast South Dakota. The current alignment begins at the junction of South Dakota Highway 34 at "Lee's Corner" east of Fort Thompson, and ends at the Iowa border near Richland, where it continues as Iowa Highway 3...
in Yankton.
In 1942 the station built a 283.2 metres tall tower at Yankton, which was the tallest radio broadcasting tower at the time. http://www.fybush.com/Site%20images/011010/wnax1941.jpg
Although WNAX's glory days were before the time of television, the radio station continues to broadcast during the 21st century in spite of competition from both television and the internet.
Today WNAX continues many of the traditions started in 1922 with frequent news, sports, weather and farm market updates.
The station continues to be affiliated with CBS Radio
CBS Radio
CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
, an association that began in the late 1920s.
WNAX is also the flagship for South Dakota State University
South Dakota State University
South Dakota State University is the largest university in the U.S. state of South Dakota, located in Brookings. A public land-grant university and sun grant college, founded under the provisions of the 1862 Morrill Act, SDSU offers programs of study required by, or harmonious to, this Act...
sports. WNAX also carries Minnesota Twins
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
baseball and Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...
football.
Honors and awards
In May 2006, WNAX won one first place plaque in the commercial radio division of the South Dakota Associated Press Broadcasters Association news contest. The contest was for the 2005 calendar year.Staff
- Erin Tycz—mornings
- Steve Crawford—mornings
- Jim Reimler— Midday
- Dee Davis - Midday
- Matt Andes—afternoons
- Eric Roozen—afternoons
- Jerry Oster—news director
- Steve Imming—Sports Director
- Michelle Rook—Farm Director
- Tom Riter—assistant Farm Reporter
- Kenny Bass - News/Production
- Josh Crawford—twins games
External links
- WNAX website
- WNAX: From 1922 to Today
- Article on the eightieth anniversary of WNAX by Minnesota Public RadioMinnesota Public RadioMinnesota Public Radio , is the flagship National Public Radio member network for the state of Minnesota. With its three services, News & Information, Classical Music and The Current, MPR operates a 42-station regional radio network in the upper Midwest serving over 8 million people...
. - WNAX Missouri Valley Barn Dance on Hillbilly-Music.com