- WNAX (AM)
Infobox Radio station
name = WNAX
city =Yankton, South Dakota
area =Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux City, Iowa Omaha, Nebraska Lincoln, Nebraska Des Moines, Iowa
branding = WNAX Radio 570
slogan = The Voice of the Midwest
airdate =
frequency = 570 AM (kHz)
format = Commercial; News/Talk
power = 5,000watt s
erp =
class =
callsign_meaning = North American radio eXperiment
former_callsigns =
owner =Saga Communications
licensee =
sister_stations = WNAX,WNAX-FM
webcast =
website = http://www.wnax.com/
affiliations = CBSWNAX (570 AM) is a
radio station broadcasting a News/Talk format. It is licensed toYankton, South Dakota . Due to the flat landscape of the Upper Midwest and its location near the end of the AM band, the station's 5,000-watt signal covers large portions of South Dakota,Nebraska ,Iowa ,Kansas ,Minnesota ,Missouri andNorth Dakota . BesidesSioux Falls (its "home" market) andSioux City , it can be heard clearly inOmaha , Lincoln andDes Moines . Under the right conditions, it can be heard as far south as Kansas City and as far north as Fargo.The station is currently owned by
Saga Communications .History
WNAX signed on the air in
1922 . The call-letters represented "North American radio eXperiment."The radio station launched the careers of many stars, both local and national. Starting in the late 1920's,
Lawrence Welk spent a decade performing daily without pay on WNAX. In1939 ,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 in2002 . Other well-known regional radio personalities from WNAX have included Norm Hilson, Whitney Larson, "Happy" Jack O'Malley, Bob Hill, Ed Nelson and George B. German.In October 2005, Speece announced her retirement after almost 66 years of continuous broadcasting. She died on October 22, 2007, at 90 years old. [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 radio tower at Yankton, which was the tallest radio tower for broadcasting use at those days [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 twenty-first 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 carriesMinnesota Twins baseball.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. [cite news |work=Yankton Press & Dakotan |title=SDPB, Yankton Stations Lauded |date=2006-05-08 |url=http://www.yankton.net/stories/050806/news_20060508021.shtml] The contest was for the 2005 calendar year.
taff
* Steve Crawford -- mornings
* Jim Reimler -- mid day
* Matt Andes -- afternoons
* Jerry Oster -- news director
* Steve Imming -- Sports Director
* Michelle Rook -- Farm Director
* Tom Riter -- assistant to Ms. RookReferences
External links
* [http://www.wnax.com/ WNAX website]
* [http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:fKhan5yFFO0J:www.yankton.net/progress2/images/7499WNAXAdv.PDF+wnax+history&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=2 WNAX: From 1922 to Today]
* [http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/200211/25_steilm_wnaxanniverary/ Article on the eightieth anniversary of WNAX] byMinnesota Public Radio .
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