KMA (AM)
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| City | Shenandoah, Iowa |
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| Frequency | 960 kHz |
| Repeater(s) | 99.1 MHz (KMA-FM) |
| First air date | August 12, 1925 (first license granted) |
| Format | Talk |
| Power | 5,000 watts |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 35107 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 40°46′48.6″N 95°21′36.2″W / 40.780167°N 95.360056°W |
| Callsign meaning | named for original owner Earl May |
| Affiliations | Westwood One |
| Owner | KMA Broadcasting L.P. |
| Sister stations | KMA-FM |
| Website | kmaland.com |
KMA (960 AM) is a radio station licensed to serve Shenandoah, Iowa. With a colorful history, it is one of the few radio stations in the country tracing back to its original 1925 owners.
The station was founded in 1925 by seed salesman Earl May. May and Henry A. Field of Shenandoah were rivals in the seed business. In 1925 Field of Field's Nursery founded radio station KFNF while May founded KMA. While both stations offered farm news; the two were to become most competitive by offering live productions of hillbilly music. According to KMA's website more than a million people traveled to small town Shenandoah to hear the music.
May built the station headquarters and Mayfair Auditorium (demolished in 1964 due to its being declared structurally unsafe by the Iowa State Fire Marshal) across the street from the nursery business. Between music sets, May would pitch his seeds and tell nostalgic stories. Its website says in 1926 that May won "Radio Digest" gold cup for being voted the "World's Most Popular Radio Announcer" by over 452,000 people throughout the United States.
The KMA shows which were broadcast in the afternoons were called the "KMA Country School" and according to the format emanated from the fictional KMA District No. 9 school with the shows beginning with the ringing of a school bell.
Performers would often go to Council Bluffs, Iowa, after the show where they would perform at night.
The most famous celebrities in KMA's history were the Everly Brothers, Don and Phil. In their early teen years, the brothers and their parents would appear on KMA to sing as "The Everly Family", but by 1952, they were discovered by a talent agent, and made their way to fame in Hollywood with such hit songs as "Wake Up, Little Susie".
With the high visibility KMA operated on a slogan of "Keep Millions Advised." KFNF was to operate on "Keep Friendly, Never Frown."
In 1949 May Broadcasting company started KMTV-TV in Omaha, Nebraska, the second-oldest television station in Nebraska. It originally wanted to call it KMA-TV. However, the FCC would not permit the name since the cities of Shenandoah and Omaha were too far apart (61 miles (98 km)). In 1968, May acquired KGUN-TV of Tucson, Arizona. May Broadcasting sold both KMTV and KGUN to Lee Enterprises in 1986. Both stations are now owned by the E. W. Scripps Company.
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Wikipedia