Radio station in Hopkinsville, Kentucky
WHVO (1480 AM) and WKDZ (1110 AM) are a pair of radio stations simulcasting an oldies format. Licensed to Hopkinsville, Kentucky, United States, WHVO serves the Clarksville-Hopkinsville area. WKDZ is licensed to Cadiz, Kentucky. The stations are currently owned by Ham Broadcasting Co., Inc. and feature news programming from Fox News Radio. WKDZ is a daytime-only radio station, while WHVO broadcasts 24 hours a day.
The two stations maintain a shared studio facility with WKDZ-FM on US 68/KY 80 near its junction with Interstate 24 in Cadiz. WHVO's transmitter is located near the Western Kentucky State Fairgrounds in Hopkinsville. WKDZ's transmitter is located on Monitor Springs Road off KY 778 near Cadiz.
History
History of WHVO
The station was assigned the call letters WKOA upon signing on on September 19, 1954, under the license of Pennyrile Broadcasting Company. It was a middle-of-the-road (MOR format) in the 1970s, and then a big band/oldies format during the mid-1980s. The station's callsigns changed to WYKH on August 1, 1986. On December 14, 1987, the station changed its call sign to WQKS. WQKS was acquired by the station's current owner, Ham Broadcasting, in October 1995.[3] The current WHVO callsigns came on May 16, 2000.[4]
History of WKDZ (AM)
WKDZ (AM) signed on the air on April 8, 1966.[5]
It signed on the air with the performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" by the Trigg County High School band.[6] The first song played on WKDZ was "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" by Nancy Sinatra.
Ham Broadcasting acquired WKDZ-AM on January 22, 1991.[3]
WHVO/WKDZ merger
In 2007, WKDZ ceased broadcasting as a separate station, ending the news/talk format on that station. The station began simulcasting WHVO's programming, however, WKDZ would still air separate sports broadcasts, depending on scheduling of high school and/or college sporting [7]
Recent history
In the early 2010s, Ham Broadcasting signed on two low-powered translators for the purpose of simulcasting WHVO's programming onto the FM dial.
Programming
Sports programming
In addition to its usual oldies music, WHVO and WKDZ-AM is the broadcaster of the Fort Campbell High School Falcons football team.[8]
The only times that WKDZ-AM does not simulcast with WHVO is when WKDZ-AM, alone, also serves as a UK Sports Network affiliate broadcasting Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball alone, but also simulcasts football and men's basketball broadcasts with WKDZ-FM. WHOP-AM is the other UK Sports Network station that broadcasts all three kinds of sports broadcasts in the Clarksville/Hopkinsville area. WKDZ-AM also solos when broadcasting Trigg County High School basketball games.
Station programming schedule
- Hoptown This Morning – weekdays 6-9 a.m.
- Mid-Days with Tony Winfield – weekdays 9 a.m.-12 Noon and 1-3 p.m.
- Live Afternoon Drive with Kim Allen – weekdays 3-5 p.m.
- Original Rock 'n Roll with Tom Rogers – weeknights after 6 p.m. Features rock and roll hits that were first heard on the station (as WKOA) when they were first played.
News operation
WHVO/WKDZ, along with WKDZ-FM, boasts their own news operation. The one-hour newscasts, branded as News Edge, are broadcast at 12 Noon and 5:00 p.m. Central Time, and are simulcast over all three Ham Broadcasting-owned stations. Hourly national news updates on WHVO/WKDZ are provided by Fox News Radio, and are aired at the top of each hour.
