Nebraska Radio History Archive Presentation:
You can take the Station out of the Country,
But You can't take the Country out of the Station....
This is the little Country radio station that grew up and moved to the big city. Unlike other stations who have done similiar, 96KX never turned it's back on the city where it was born.
Frank Newell was the main man behind the
station. He was a DJ at KLMS in the 60's and then went to KGMT Fairbury as GM and
eventually owner or part-owner around 1970.
According to Don Johnson, sports announcer for KSRD,
Construction on KSRD started in the summer of 1976 and went on that fall.
Frank had a partner who was an equipment dealer who found a "bucket
of rust" in the Bahamas which got them on the air long enough to test. Eventually a
brand new McMartin transmitter was bought and hauled in from Omaha by
Frank Newell and Don Johnson using a borrowed pick up truck.
KSRD went on the air as an automated station with music on tapes,
announcer inserts and commercials on cart racks instead of
carousels. A superior system except when they all decided to fire at once.
In addition to Frank, who did the morning show, the other people heard on
air were Alan Bodenstab (I can't remember his air name) and Don Johnson.
Despite automation, there was personality at the station according to Johnson:
"One of my favorite things was doing
school lunch menus. I eventually started using "Bee High", since
there was the small town of Bee north of Seward which no longer had a high
school. The ficticious cook was Bud Pudkornic and he served spam a lot.
Bud once went to Vegas for the weekend and won big. On Monday he took all
the students (7) downtown to the tavern for burgers instead of cooking
lunch."
KSRD would
eventually move to the big city as KZKX (96 KX).
The heritage of Seward Nebraska's radio station is still heard
today at the top of every hour. While others 'hide' they city
of license in a cluttered ID or sound effects and synthesized voices, 96KX
has no problems, clearly stating, " K Z K X
Seward/Lincoln" in their stand alone Top of the Hour ID.
When KSRD became 96KX in 1986, changed
call letters to KZKX and moved it's studio's to Lincoln, there was some
disppointment. Thanks to employee efforts the heritage and
history of the station remained. You still get a smile in the
Fourth of July city when you mention 96KX. The station is a member of the
chamber of commerce and is active
in local events, such as the annual Independence Day Festivities
and Seward County Fair. Today 96KX is part of Clear
Channel who also owns 92.9 the Eagle, The KISS
104.1 and 106 3 The Blaze.
The 96KX Staff in 1996 included Program Director Charlie Thomas, Jill Kodi, Jenaustin, Dave Matthews, Taryn Kay and Ron Edwards
.
This site is part of the historical review of Nebraska Radio
Stations at NebraskaRadio.com and is not operated by 96KX radio. We
cannot answer questions about the station, take requests. Please call
their studio line offices for assistance. If you have historical
information you would like included on this site, E-MAIL
ME!
NOTE: THIS MAIL DOES NOT GO TO THE RADIO STATION!!!