WHTN/WKEE, Huntington

WHTN radio station began broadcasting in July 1947 as a daytime station on 800 kHz.

The 1947 Broadcasting Yearbook shows:

WHTN. (Construction permit) 800. 1,000-D. Greater Huntington Radio Corp. 1112½ 4th Ave. 6185. Network: .... A. B. Hyman, Pres. Meyer Layman, Vice-Pres. & Gen. Mgr. Arnold Silvert, Prog. Dir. & Prom. Mgr. Harold F. Sturm, Chief Engineer. News Service: INS.

The 1947 West Virginia Blue Book shows WHTN as a 1000-watt daytime station on 800 kHz. It shows that WHTN-FM had a construction permit for 53,000 watts on 1005. MHz.

Apparently later in 1947, WHTN-FM went on the air.

The 1949 West Virginia Blue Book shows WHTN-FM with 53,000 watts on 100.5 MHz.

The 1950 Broadcasting Yearbook shows:

WHTN. 1947. 800. 1000-D. Greater Huntington Radio Corp., 1112½ 4th Ave., 33453. A. B. Hyman, Pres. George Brengel, Gen. Mgr. Arnold Silvert, Cml. Mgr. Dean Sturm, Prog. Dir. Lan Singer, Prod. Mgr. Harold F. Sturm, Chief Engr. Transcription Service: Standard. News Service: UP. Transmitter Make: RCA.

WHTN-FM. 1947. Ch. 263 (B). 100.5mc. 53kw.

The 1956 West Virginia Blue Book shows:

W H T N: 800 KC. 1000 watts, daytime. Mutual Broadcasting System affiliate. Studios: 625 Fourth Avenue. Huntington. Transmitter: Overby Road. Owner: Cowles Broadcasting Company. President: Luther L. Hill. Vice President and General Manager: Robert R. Tincher. Chief Engineer: Harold F. Sturm, Sr. Program Director: George Marshall.

The 1956 and 1957 Blue Books do not show WHTN-FM.

Apparently, the FM station suspended operations in the 1950s, as did many FM's in the United States.

After receiving his B. A. in Journalism at Marshall University, the well-known entertainer Soupy Sales was hired at WHTN, first as a radio script writer and later as a DJ.

The 1956 Broadcasting Yearbook shows:

WHTN. 1947. 800. 1000-D. Greater Huntington Radio Corp. Radio Center. 3-3453. Network: MBS. Rep: Indie. S. J. Hyman, chmn of bd. Fred Weber, president. John S. Phillips, general manager. Curtis Clark, commercial manager. George Marshall, program director, news director. Harold Sturm, chief engineer. Bud Gumm, sports director.

WHTN-FM. Ch. 263 (B). 100.5mc. 53kw.

Apparently in 1959, the radio and television stations were sold, separating ownership from the television station, and at this time the call letters of the radio stations were changed to WKEE and WKEE-FM.

The 1961-62 Broadcasting Yearbook shows:

WKEE (July 1947): 800 kc; 1 kw-D. P. O. Box 2288. Phone Jackson 5-7788. Geyer Broadcasting Co. (acquired station Nov. 19, 1959). Rep: Raymer. Wayne W. Geyer, pres & gen mgr; Robert R. O'Dell, opns mgr; Thomas L. Tiernan, coml mgr; James Robert Martin, prog dir; Raydon R. Thompson, chief engr.

WKEE-FM (July 1947): 100.5 mc; 53 kw. Same address, licensee and staff as WKEE except Robert Shutts, prog dir. Programming separate from am.

Paul Urbahns, who worked at WKEE in 1968-69, recalled recently:

Everything was geared toward the AM which was at 800 KHz. (Radio 80 jingles and all) They fed the same same signal to both AM and FM unless we were running special programming like a ball game on FM that was not carried on AM. There was only one on air room, if FM was running something different it was fed out of the production room. AM was a daytime only where as the FM stayed on until Midnight because of Muzak. Muzak supplied music to area businesses and used special receivers that picked up a sub carrier on WKEE FM. So Muzak paid the evening FM bills. They sold commercial time on the AM and just threw in the FM coverage as a bonus.

The music for Muzak was distributed on large tape reels that ran for about 8 hours. The company provided a schedule of what reels were supposed to play at what time. The music would play for about 13 minutes and then be silent for about 4 minutes. During that 4 minutes the equipment at the station sent out a series of hidden tones to the special receivers in stores. These tones either activated or inactivated the receivers for the next quarter hour of music. Stores could buy full service and play Muzak around the whole hour, or just buy the quarter hours they wanted as I understand it. The tape player had a clock-like device on it so it knew when to trigger the recievers.

Both transmitters were at the same location on a hill overlooking Huntington. Even when I was there (1968-1969) the FM transmitter was mono and water cooled. It was an old monster of a thing, wish I had taken a picture of it. The engineer at the time, Paul Workman, told me there were only two left in use in the United States and whenever a used tube that would fit one was advertised in technical newsletters there were always two bidders, the university and WKEE. I remember I got some extra Christmas money in December 1968 when the remote control system for adjusting the transmitters broke. Luckily school was out so it came at a great time. It was required that we have a person at the transmitter site to take hourly meter readings. So I enlisted the help of another guy I knew in high school that wanted to get into radio. Me and him alternated shifts at the transmitter (days about 6 AM to about 3 or 4, and eves 3 or 4 pm to midnight) for about a week.

The 1969 Broadcasting Yearbook shows:

WKEE July 1947: 800 kc; 5 kw-D. 623 4th Ave. (25724). 525-7788. WKEE Inc. (acq 11-8-65). Net: ABC. Rep: Eastman. Robert R. O'Dell, VP & gen mgr; Karl Meek coml mgr; Jack O'Shea, prog dir; Paul Workman chief engr.

WKEE-FM Nov. 19, 1957: 100.5 mc; 53 kw Ant 560 ft. Dups WKEE 100%.

The 1973 Broadcasting Yearbook shows:

WKEE July 1947: 800 khz; 5 kw-D. 623 4th Ave. (25724). 525-7788. WKEE Inc. (acq 11-8-65). Net: ABC. Rep: Eastman. Robert R. O'Dell, VP & gen mgr; James Eblin, sls mgr; Jimmy Mack, prog dir; Raydon Thompson, chief engr.

WKEE-FM Nov. 19, 1957: 100.5 mhz; 53 kw. Ant 560 ft. Dups WKEE 100%.

The 1986 Broadcasting Yearbook shows:

WKEE(AM)—July 1947. 800 khz; 5 kw-D, DA. Box 2288 (25724) (304) 525-7788. WKEE Inc. (acq 9-1-79), Group Owner: Capitol Bcstg. Net: ABC/C. Rep: Katz. Format: Adult contemp. James Goodmon, pres. Charles A. Hicks, gen mgr. Joe Johnston, nat sls mgr; Chris Walus, loc sls mgr; Steve Hayes, prog dir; Gary Miller, mus dir; Clint McElroy, news dir.

WKEE-FM—Nov. 19, 1957: 100.5 mHz, 53 kw. Ant 560 ft (CP: 27 kw, Ant 347 ft.) Stereo. Prog sep from AM. Format: Top-40.

In October 1987 the stations were acquired by Adventure II, Inc., Michael Shott, president.

In 2001, WKEE(AM) changed its call to WVHU and switched from nostalgia to talk format. This call stands for “West Virginia Huntington.”

The web site of WKEE is at http://www.wkee.com. The web site of WVHU is at http://www.800wvhu.com.

Audio

• WKEE jingles, PAMS Series 31, 1966 wkee_jingles2.mp3
• WKEE jingles, PAMS Series 34B, 1967-68, with comments by Jim Schneider, “The Flying Dutchman. wkee_jingles.mp3 [Schneider was given that nickname at WKLO Louisville when he started there in 1967. He died in 1992.]
• A brief aircheck (35 seconds), coming out of an ABC Contemporary newscast on July 27, 1974 wkee1974.mp3

Station Drops Oldies for Talk Radio

By BOB WITHERS

HUNTINGTON -- WKEE 800 AM has changed its format and call letters, temporarily silencing the "golden oldie" sounds of Perry Como, Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra in the Tri-State and irritating some local listeners.

Effective Tuesday morning, the station switched to a "news-talk" format and became known as WVHU. The only other station in this market that has a "news-talk" format is WRVC 930 AM.

"Since our acquisition by Clear Channel Communications Inc. became finalized three months ago, the company determined that this area was underserved in the news-talk format," said Bill Cornwell, WVHU’s program director.

No advance announcement was made of the switch, except for the fact that politically conservative radio host/commentator Rush Limbaugh would be moved to the station’s lineup from WRVC.

"This is the equivalent of a department store doing a ‘soft opening,’ " Cornwell said.

Paul Swann, program director of sister station WTCR-AM, which switched from country music to all sports in August, said the nostalgic music -- the so-called "stardust format" -- hasn’t been thrown away.

"It will be going to another one of our stations, although we can’t say which one or when because of contractual obligations, FCC regulations and certain engineering issues," he said.

"Hopefully, it will be done by the end of next week," added Judy Jennings, the local company’s general manager.

Clear Channel Communications of Huntington, which owns or leases 10 stations in this market, received about 150 telephone calls during the first day and a half after the change from people objecting to it.

"The complaints came from professional offices -- doctors and lawyers -- and a few older people who love the format," Jennings said. "We’re trying to deal with it the best way we can; this ultimately will be a positive move for all our listeners."

Paul Harvey News and Comment remains on the renamed station, but at different times -- 8:30 a.m., 11:35 a.m. and 6:55 p.m.