KMA (AM)

Infobox Radio station
name = KMA


city = Shenandoah, Iowa
area =
branding =
slogan =
airdate =
frequency = 960 kHz
format =
power = 5,000 watts
class = B
facility_id = 35107
coordinates =
callsign_meaning = named for original owner Earl May
former_callsigns =
owner = KMA Broadcasting L.P.
licensee =
sister_stations = KMA-FM
webcast =
website = http://www.kma960.com/
affiliations =

KMA (960 AM) is a radio station licensed to serve Shenandoah, Iowa. With a colorful history, it is one of the few radio stations in the country tracing back to its original 1925 owners.Fact|date=October 2007

History

The station was founded in 1925 by seed salesman Earl May. May and Henry A. Field of Shenandoah were rivals in the seed business. In 1925 Field of Field's Nursery founded radio station KFNF while May founded KMA. While both stations offered farm news, the two were to become most competitive by offering live productions of hillbilly music. According to KMA's website more than a million people traveled to small town Shenandoah to hear the music.

May built the station headquarters and Mayfair Auditorium (demolished in 1964 due to it being declared structurally unsafe by the Iowa State Fire Marshal) across the street from the nursery business. Between music sets, May would pitch his seeds and tell nostalgic stories. Its website says in 1926 that May won "Radio Digest" gold cup for being voted the "World's Most Popular Radio Announcer" by over 452,000 people throughout the United States.

The KMA shows which were broadcast in the afternoons were called the "KMA Country School" and according to the format emanated from the fictional KMA District No. 9 school with the shows beginning with the ringing of a school bell.

Performers would often go to Council Bluffs, Iowa, after the show where they would perform at night.

The most famous celebrities in KMA's history were the Everly Brothers, Don and Phil. In their early teen years, the brothers and their parents would appear on KMA to sing as "The Everly Family", but by 1952, they were discovered by a talent agent, and made their way to fame in Hollywood with such hit songs as "Wake Up, Little Susie".

With the high visibility KMA operated on a slogan of "Keep Millions Advised." KFNF was to operate on "Keep Friendly, Never Frown."

In 1949 May Broadcasting company started KMTV in Omaha, Nebraska (the second oldest television station in Nebraska, and one of the very first NBC television affiliates; it's currently CBS-affiliated). It originally wanted to call it KMA-TV. However, the FCC would not permit the name since the cities of Shenandoah and Omaha were too far apart (61 miles (98 km)). May Broadcasting sold KMTV in 1986.

The county school shows were discontinued in the 1950s and the station continued to offered its farm show and farm house wife shows until the late 1990s; the current format revolves around ABC Radio news at the top of each hour, with some agricultural news, regional high school sports and their famous "Elephant Shop" where farmers can sell their used farm equipment on the air, and ending the broadcast day with six hours of ESPN Radio. May Broadcasting has an FM station KKBZ in neighboring Clarinda, Iowa and owns Hometown Cable in southwest Iowa. The Earl May Seed and Nursery Company is still family owned, May's granddaughter, Betty Jean Shaw is the current head of the company.

Field eventually sold KFNF and its seed business.

In popular culture

In the book "The Bridges of Madison County", which sold more than 60 million copies, the characters listen to KMA. In the 1995 movie directed by Clint Eastwood references to this station were removed and the format of the radio station in the film was switched to jazz.

External links

* [http://www.kma960.com/ KMA official website]
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* [http://www.earlmay.com/history/ Earl May history of station]
* [http://www.hillbilly-music.com/programs/story/index.php?prog=860 Hillbilly Music profile of station]