WKMS-FM (91.3 FM), is a non-commercial National Public Radio-affiliated station operated by Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky. WKMS features a variety of NPR programming and local music shows including classical music, bluegrass, alternative rock, jazz, electronica and world music. WKMS signed on for the first time on May 11, 1970, as a non-commercial, educational FM station licensed to MSU.
Overview The station now broadcasts in analog FM stereo and HD Digital on 91.3 MHz, with 100,000 watts of analog and 1,000 watts of digital power, from antennas nearly 600 feet above average terrain currently located at the Land Between the Lakes, and streams these signals on the internet. The station also operates translators in Paducah, Madisonville, and Murray. In 2009, WKMS installed repeater services for Madisonville as well as Fulton, which also covers Martin and Union City, Tennessee.
The station's signal reaches southernmost Illinois, far western Kentucky, and northwestern Tennessee. Listeners elsewhere can visit wkms.org to hear its programs.
The station offers two separate channels of programming on its digital signal: HD-1 simulcasts programming on analog 91.3 FM, while HD-2 offers classical music programming 24 hours a day. WKMS has emergency auxiliary transmitters at its tower on the site of the former Mont, Kentucky in the Land Between the Lakes territory, and at its studios on the eighth floor of Price Doyle Fine Arts Center at MSU.
WKMS also broadcasts programming from American Public Media, the Public Radio Exchange, the BBC, the Associated Press, independent producers from around the nation, and local content by staff or volunteers. WKMS News is a contributing correspondent to the Kentucky Public Radio News Exchange and a partner in funding the Kentucky Capitol Bureau.
History Early history In 1948, WNBS radio owner Chuck Shuffett gave the Murray State drama department an hour a week of airtime on his station to broadcast plays adapted for radio."30 Years of WKMS." Murray Calloway County Kentucky Chamber of Commerce 8 (April 2000): 3. It was not until October 4, 1949, though, that the first broadcast from what was then Murray State College was heard, with Murray State College on the Air. The studio from which the program was broadcast consisted of a handmade control board located in the old Economics room on the third floor of Wilson Hall. The title of the show was changed in the 1950s to The Thoroughbred Hour and broadcast nightly half-hour segments. The content changed from radio drama to campus information. The Thoroughbred Hour was under the direction of Charles Henry Stamps through the use of a telephone line.Cole, Elizabeth T., and Gene H. Coleman. Radio Center Handbook. Ts. Murray State University.
In 1962, The Thoroughbred Hour'''s staff was split into an audio department and a technical department under the direction of a student program director and a student chief engineer. In the early 1960s, a news department was added, emphasizing in-depth, on-the-spot reporting for the Jackson Purchase region of southwestern Kentucky. In 1964 an official station manager, program director and engineer were instituted on The Thoroughbred Hour. Also in 1964, special broadcasts began with the MSC Homecoming Parade. The Thoroughbred Hour was expanded to full one-hour segments Mondays through Fridays and two hours on Sundays in 1965. During this year, live broadcasts expanded and included broadcasts from the Auditorium, the Student Union Building, freshman basketball games, a professor's 20th-year banquet, and the Quad-State Band and Choral festivals. The Thoroughbred Hour Tape Library was formed in 1966; MSC was renamed MSU that same year by an act of the Kentucky General Assembly. The library provided MSU with a permanent record of important events. By 1967, a Board of Directors was established.
Up until 1969, WKMS was originally branded "The Radio Center, The Voice of Murray State." Executive assistant Ray Mofield pushed for a radio station to be included in the 1965–66 MSC budgets. Mofield convinced then-MSC President Ralph Woods of the benefits from a radio station on campus, and as a result, $15,000 was set aside for its development. In 1968 Woods applied for a non-commercial educational radio license from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and requested for the frequency to be located at 91.7. In 1969, the FCC granted a construction permit for WKMS to operate at 91.3 FM, as 91.7 was already taken by a nearby station."WKMS – The Story." Celebrating 20 Years of Listener Support 5–7.
1970s WKMS-FM, the broadcasting service of Murray State, started formal operations on May 11, 1970. MSU President Dr. Harry Sparks noted this milestone and said, "With this radio station's audience we lengthen the shadow and multiply the sphere of influence of this University. Every broadcast of whatever type is a public relations message saying something about this school." Sparks also put forth a mission for WKMS to follow, "We perceive WKMS as the window on the world for our region. It will help cast a longer shadow for Murray State University and will deliver not only news about Murray State but will also offer culturally and educationally enriched programming throughout the Murray State region." At first, the station only employed Mofield as a general manager and Thomas Morgan as station manager, both of whom were assisted by students and volunteers. Because of this arrangement, broadcasts were only available while school was in session.
The two rooms in the northwest corner of Wilson Hall were not able to meet the productive, professional environmental needs of educational radio broadcasts that Mofield had first envisioned. Mofield and other faculty of Murray State raised about a million dollars to build the Price Doyle Fine Arts Building, the new location for WKMS. In September 1971, the building was officially open for use. In its permanent home on the sixth floor (in the late 1990s the sixth floor was relabeled the eighth floor), WKMS was fully equipped with offices, soundproof studios, state-of-the-art RCA equipment, and a new stereo with FM capability. In September 1972, WKMS affiliated itself with National Public Radio. When NPR was created, affiliated stations received support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a nonprofit organization funded in part by the United States Congress. With finances from CPB, the station was able to upgrade its network interconnection: a high-quality telephone line.Cowan, Frederic J. Letter to the staff and management of WKMS-FM. January 24, 1990. The flagship NPR program of its day, All Things Considered, became the only daily newscast on WKMS and was an instant success."NPR Milestones." Celebrating 20 Years of Listener Support 24. In 1973, WKMS received its first-ever underwriter, the Cleveland Orchestra, which supplied a 13-week grant. Businesses took a cue from the Orchestra and began participating in underwriting. During that same year, WKMS provided the only radio source in western Kentucky for the Watergate scandal hearings. WKMS has since provided a service for the region in equally important moments in U.S. history, such as airing the hearings regarding the nomination of Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the Supreme Court of the United States, complete coverage of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, complete coverage of the beginning of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, the Presidential impeachment proceedings of 1999, complete coverage of the events following the September 11 attacks in 2001, and complete coverage of the January 2009 Central Plains and Midwest ice storm that hit most of western Kentucky and the surrounding region."Meet Jay Landers." Celebrating 20 Years of Listener Support 4–5.
October 1976 marked the year WKMS started membership coordination. There were several levels of giving: to obtain station membership, "student friends" could donate three dollars, basic adult "friends" five dollars, "good friends" 10 dollars, "great friends" 25 dollars, and "best friends" 50 dollars. Membership applications were found on the back of the first-ever programming guides and were sent to the station by postal mail. As with other public broadcasting stations of that time, programming guides were perquisites sent to members, released monthly at first, later seasonally. The guides always began with a letter from the station manager discussing new programs added to the schedule and the reasons some others were removed. There were statements of the current WKMS financial situation as well as a reminder of the importance of listener support. The guides would also have a grid containing a regular week's program schedule in it, and a description of each show's features. Later they would include features about staff, volunteers, musicians, and/or composers. Still later, guides would also eventually mention the involvement of WKMS in the community and community feedback to those efforts.WKMS fm stereo (Fall 1976).Kenney, Janet. "Welcome Note." Air Fare (Winter 1988): 1."HD...High Definition... Digital... More & Crystal Clear..." WKMS with NPR news 91.3 fm (Autumn 07): 7.
The advent of advanced technology took place in the late 1970s with a sophisticated system of satellite interconnection of radio and television around the country. Before the new technology, stations were linked by terrestrial landlines that were leased from AT&T. Costly telephone lines delivered a low-quality signal, which was only suitable for the deliverance of spoken-word programs, not musical ones. The satellite connections, however, would transmit all programs, music and talk alike, and "be of the highest quality." The satellite transmissions would also permit stereo and quadraphonic network broadcasts, therefore allowing WKMS to broadcast live concerts from anywhere in the world. Consequently, content for broadcast was enlarged and the station was given more options to choose from.
On November 5, 1979, Morning Edition premiered and became an instant hit, like its afternoon counterpart All Things Considered. It also was the first show to transmit from NPR through the new satellite terminal."New and Different." WKMS-fm stereo 91.3 (November 1979). That year, WKMS received a $150,000 facilities grant from the then-U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare to increase power and upgrade studio facilities, a milestone accomplishment. The station moved its transmission from the old Kentucky Educational Television tower in Farmington, Kentucky to its present co-location with the Kentucky Early Warning System in the Land Between the Lakes area. The tower and the station's two transmitters receive the WKMS signal from the studios at MSU by microwave.
1980s
The 1980s were a notable decade for WKMS-FM. On March 30, 1980, at 5 p.m., WKMS boosted its power to 100,000 watts. Dick Estell from the national Radio Reader program stopped by the studios in 1983 to help with a fundraiser. Listener Joy Thomas of Murray won the "Powdermilk Biscuit" recipe contest, related to the then-popular Prairie Home Companion show on Saturday evenings."WKMS – How The Years Go By." Celebrating 20 Years of Listener Support 9–12. Weekend Edition premiered on Saturday, November 2, 1985. At first, it was only aired on Saturday mornings. It took NPR until January 18, 1987, to debut a Sunday morning Weekend Edition. With that, NPR finally provided a full news service seven mornings and seven evenings per week. Furthermore, both NPR news shows were well regarded by WKMS listeners.