KWYR-FM
Encyclopedia
KWYR-FM is a radio station
broadcasting a Hot Adult Contemporary format. Licensed to Winner, South Dakota
, USA. The station is currently owned by Midwest Radio Corp..
In the summer of 1958 the station was purchased by a group of investors from Winner, South Dakota
and the Black Hills, headed by Al Clark of Rapid City, who had been a radio TV personality there for the previous ten years. In the summer of 1962 KWYR moved its studios to the former McCormick Hardware building on the station's fifth birthday. In the summer of 1967, the company celebrated its tenth anniversary by moving its transmitting facilities to its own 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) site, three miles (5 km) west on Highway 18 in Winner, South Dakota
. The new building there included an emergency studio, rest room facilities, and an engine room with a standby generator to provide operating power during extended power outages. The new tower at the site was 100 feet (30.5 m) taller than the previous.
In early 1971, the FM station was launched, transmitting from a 500 watt tower on Rock Hill south of Winner. With a power of 100,000 watts, and broadcasting in stereo, KWYR gave South Dakota its first nighttime radio service.
Previously known to thousands of listeners as "Sound One Radio," the KWYR stations have been Number One in many ways. They brought central South Dakota and Nebraska their first wide-area AM radio station, their first stations with a national network, the first FM station between Rapid City
and Sioux Falls, the first high powered nighttime radio service, the first coverage area wide coverage of high school sporting events, the first coverage of NCAA sports, the first coverage of the Indianapolis 500 race... and the first with ABC
radio network and Paul Harvey
News.
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 Hot Adult Contemporary format. Licensed to Winner, South Dakota
Winner, South Dakota
Winner is a city in Tripp County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 2,897 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Tripp County. Winner also serves as the administrative center of neighboring Todd County, which does not have its own county seat. The nearest airport is Winner...
, USA. The station is currently owned by Midwest Radio Corp..
History
KWYR commenced its AM operation on September 27, 1957 from studios on the second floor of the Wally Laudenslager building at the corner of Second and Polk streets in Winner, SD. Its transmitter building and 176' tower were located just one mile (1.6 km) north of town on city property. The owners were a Nebraska optometrist and two Nebraska broadcasters.In the summer of 1958 the station was purchased by a group of investors from Winner, South Dakota
Winner, South Dakota
Winner is a city in Tripp County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 2,897 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Tripp County. Winner also serves as the administrative center of neighboring Todd County, which does not have its own county seat. The nearest airport is Winner...
and the Black Hills, headed by Al Clark of Rapid City, who had been a radio TV personality there for the previous ten years. In the summer of 1962 KWYR moved its studios to the former McCormick Hardware building on the station's fifth birthday. In the summer of 1967, the company celebrated its tenth anniversary by moving its transmitting facilities to its own 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) site, three miles (5 km) west on Highway 18 in Winner, South Dakota
Winner, South Dakota
Winner is a city in Tripp County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 2,897 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Tripp County. Winner also serves as the administrative center of neighboring Todd County, which does not have its own county seat. The nearest airport is Winner...
. The new building there included an emergency studio, rest room facilities, and an engine room with a standby generator to provide operating power during extended power outages. The new tower at the site was 100 feet (30.5 m) taller than the previous.
In early 1971, the FM station was launched, transmitting from a 500 watt tower on Rock Hill south of Winner. With a power of 100,000 watts, and broadcasting in stereo, KWYR gave South Dakota its first nighttime radio service.
Previously known to thousands of listeners as "Sound One Radio," the KWYR stations have been Number One in many ways. They brought central South Dakota and Nebraska their first wide-area AM radio station, their first stations with a national network, the first FM station between Rapid City
Rapid City, South Dakota
Rapid City is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of South Dakota, and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek on which the city is established, it is set against the eastern slope of the Black Hills mountain range. The population was 67,956 as of the 2010 Census. Rapid...
and Sioux Falls, the first high powered nighttime radio service, the first coverage area wide coverage of high school sporting events, the first coverage of NCAA sports, the first coverage of the Indianapolis 500 race... and the first with ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
radio network and Paul Harvey
Paul Harvey
Paul Harvey Aurandt , better known as Paul Harvey, was an American radio broadcaster for the ABC Radio Networks. He broadcast News and Comment on weekday mornings and mid-days, and at noon on Saturdays, as well as his famous The Rest of the Story segments. His listening audience was estimated, at...
News.