Radio History

Radio History

1910 – 1930

1931 – 1950

1951 – 1970

All History

1912

  • John A. Gardner and Edward R. Isaak start 9TZ in Eureka, the first licensed station in South Dakota history.

1916

  • Dana McNeil receives only the twelfth license issued by the United States Department of Commerce and later receives the call letters 9ZP.

1917-1922

  • Amateur broadcasting licenses suspended during World War I due to possible security risks.

1921

  • Yankton College has a licensed station 9YAK (later changed to WJAU).

1922

  • WEAJ (KUSD after 1927) in Vermillion goes on the air at the University of South Dakota.
  • WCAT at The School of Mines in Rapid City goes on the air.
  • The Sioux Falls Daily Argus-Leader newspaper receives a license and call letters WFAT.
  • E.O. Walgren and E.C. Madson of Yankton receive a broadcasting license and the call letters WNAX.

1923

  • Columbus College purchases WFAT from the Sioux Falls Daily Argus-Leader.
  • KFDY at Brookings hits the airwaves.

1924

  • Columbus College, with help from the Northwestern Bell Telephone Company, produces a live broadcast of a speech by Charles Gate Dawes on WFAT. This is the first broadcast of a national political event in the state of South Dakota.

1926

  • KGDA in Dell Rapids is put on the air by James Nelson.
  • KSOO begins broadcasting in Sioux Falls after being started by Bram McKenzie and Cy Rapp
  • KSOO begins broadcasting in Sioux Falls after being started by Bram McKenzie and Cy Rapp.
  • Crosley Radio Company releases a pamphlet helping radio listeners identify sources of radio interference.

1927

  • The House of Gurney purchases WNAX for $2000. Future U.S. Senator Chan Gurney is placed in charge of programming which was expected to reach listeners within a 500 mile radius.
  • Dana and Ida McNeil’s influential Pierre station receives the call letters KGFX.

1929

  • KGCR is moved from Brookings to Watertown (call letters changed to KWTN in 1934).

1933

  • KABR is activated in Aberdeen.

1936

  • KOBH becomes the first station in the Black Hills area. KOBH is financed by Tri-State Milling Company, Rapid City, with Robert J. Dean as the station manager (call letters later changed to KOTA).

1937

  • Joseph Henkin and Sam Fantle start KELO; the second radio station in Sioux Falls.

1939

  • KWAT opens up in Watertown.

1946 

  • KNWC becomes the third active station in Sioux Falls.

1947

  • KORN goes on the air in Mitchell.

1947

  • KIJV hits the airwaves in Huron.
  • Eli and Harry Daniels start KDSJ in Deadwood.

1948

  • KSDN becomes the second station in Aberdeen.

1949

  • Helen Duhamel and Abdnor George start KOZY-FM in Rapid City, the first FM station in the state. The station lasted five years.

1953

  • The Daniels brothers put KRSD on the air in Rapid City.

1955

  • KYNT starts broadcasting in Yankton.

1958

  • Fred Walgren takes Rapid City’s old call letters of KOBH and uses them in Hot Springs.

1959

  • KCCR hits the airwaves in Pierre.

1963

  • KOBH-FM hits the airwaves in Hot Springs.

1967

  • South Dakota State University in Brookings launches its first FM station KESD-FM. The station started operating in the basement of Solberg Hall.
  • The University of South Dakota puts KUSD-FM on the air.