 | |
| Broadcast area |
|
|---|---|
| Frequency | 1490kHz |
| Branding | Newstalk 1490 |
| Programming | |
| Format | News-talk |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WBKR,WDKS,WGBF,WGBF-FM,WJLT,WKDQ | |
| History | |
First air date | February 7, 1938 (1938-02-07) |
Call sign meaning | Owensboro Messenger & Inquirer |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 67777 |
| Class | C |
| Power | 830watts unlimited |
Transmitter coordinates | 37°44′29″N87°6′58″W / 37.74139°N 87.11611°W /37.74139; -87.11611 |
| Translator(s) | 99.1 W256CF (Owensboro) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | womiowensboro.com |
WOMI (1490AM) is aradio station broadcasting anews-talk format. Licensed toOwensboro, Kentucky, United States, the station serves the Owensboro area. The station is owned byTownsquare Media and features programming fromFox News Radio,NBC News Radio,Compass Media Networks,Genesis Communications Network,Premiere Networks,USA Radio Network, andWestwood One.[2]
WOMI made its debut at 7:00pm on the evening of Monday, February 7, 1938, becoming the seventh radio station in the state of Kentucky, with a live celebratory broadcast from the Hotel Owensboro. The station began with 250 watts of daytime power and 100 watts at night at 1500 kilohertz.[3] OwensboroMessenger-Inquirer publisher Lawrence Hager formed Owensboro Broadcasting Company as owner and operator of the station. A modern two story art deco building had been constructed on Frederica Street, just south of Byers Avenue, to house the new broadcast operation. Lyell Ludwig was hired as WOMI's first general manager but Hager replaced Ludwig in 1939, with the newspaper's city editor Hugh Potter. Potter's wife, Cliffordean, became the station's program director and the couple moved into the station's second floor apartment where they remained until their retirement in 1972.
On March 29, 1941, WOMI moved to 1490 kilohertz as part of the North American Broadcast Treaty which reallocated frequencies for some 1,300 AM stations. WOMI had no network affiliation until it joined theMutual Broadcasting System in 1944, just in time for the network's coverage of the D-Day Normandy invasion ofWorld War II. WOMI stayed with Mutual until 1959, when the station became aCBS Radio Network affiliate.
WOMI had primarily been a full service station during the Potter years of 1939 to 1972. The station experimented with various formats following the departure of the Potters. The station's post-Potter banner years were the mid to late 1970's when a well-executed Top 40 format drew big audience numbers for the station. WOMI joinedNBC Radio in 1979, and then, it joined that network's "TalkNet" in 1985, and soon found its niche as the city's news-talk outlet.[3]
In 1993, the station was sold toEvansville, Indiana-based Brill Broadcasting. In 2002, the station was sold to Regent Communications, the forerunner of current owner Townsquare Media.