WSON

WSON
City of license Henderson, Kentucky
Broadcast area Evansville, Indiana
Branding The 500 Watt Purple Blowtorch of Western Kentucky
Slogan 860 WSON
Frequency 860 kHz C-QUAM AM Stereo
Translator(s) 96.5 W243CU (Henderson)
First air date December 17, 1941
Format Classic hits
Power 500 watts day and night
Class B
Facility ID 26946
Transmitter coordinates 37°51′11.00″N 87°32′12.00″W / 37.8530556°N 87.5366667°W
Callsign meaning W HenderSON[1]
Affiliations ABC Radio News
Westwood One
Owner Henson Media of Henderson County
Webcast Listen Live
Website wsonradio.com

WSON (860 AM and 96.5 FM) is a radio station in Henderson, Kentucky broadcasting a classic hits format. The station is currently owned by Henson Media and features news, sports, weather and music features programing from ABC Radio News and Westwood One, as well as locally produced programming.[2] The station can be heard during daylight hours in neighboring Evansville, Indiana and Owensboro, Kentucky.

WSON first signed on ten days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and has been locally owned for its entire history. For most of its first four decades on the air, WSON was a daytime-only station, signing off at sunset in order to protect CJBC in Toronto. However, a treaty between the United States and Canada signed in the mid-1980s allowed WSON and other daytimers that went off the air to protect Canadian clear-channel stations to begin nighttime operations as well.

Recent developments

In July 2010, owner Henry Lackey, the son of station founder Hecht Lackey, announced that he had agreed to sell WSON to Henson Media, which owns WMSK-AM-FM in Morganfield and Sturgis, Kentucky. The deal received FCC approval and was consummated soon thereafter.[3]

In September 2011, WSON began simulcasting on an FM translator, W243CU (96.5 FM), which is licensed to Sebree, Kentucky. W243CU, which has an effective radiated power of 250 watts, can be heard up to 30 miles in any direction from its transmitter site in the Wolf Hills north of Henderson.

W243CU allows listeners in Evansville and surrounding communities to listen to WSON's programming after nightfall, when the AM station has to adjust its coverage.

References

  1. "Call Letter Origins". Radio History on the Web.
  2. "WSON Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  3. Stinnett, Chuck. WSON sale planned to Union County station owner. The Henderson Gleaner, 2010-07-12.

External links