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WMKY

WMKY
Broadcast areaMorehead, Kentucky
Mount Sterling, Kentucky
Northeastern Kentucky
East-Central Kentucky
Frequency90.3 (MHz)
Programming
FormatPublic radio
AffiliationsNational Public Radio, Kentucky Public Radio
Ownership
OwnerMorehead State University
History
First air date
June 15, 1965; 60 years ago (1965-06-15)[1]
Former frequencies
91.1 MHz (1965-1970)[1]
Call sign meaning
W Morehead, KentuckY
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
ClassC1
ERP37,000 Watts
HAAT275.6 meters
Transmitter coordinates
38°10′38″N 83°24′17″W / 38.17722°N 83.40472°W / 38.17722; -83.40472
Links
Public license information
Websitehttp://www.wmky.org

WMKY (90.3 FM) is a National Public Radio-affiliated station in Morehead, Kentucky. It primarily features National Public Radio programming. Its coverage area extends from the Lexington metropolitan area in the west to the Huntington-Ashland metropolitan area in the east and from southern Ohio in the north to Hazard, Kentucky in the south.

History

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The station initially signed on the air on June 15, 1965, as a 10-watt station operating at 91.1 megahertz, operating for four hours daily.[1] A Morehead State University student's term paper in the 1950s was the source of inspiration; the idea caught the attention of then-university president Adrin Doran. Upon signon, WMKY was the first regional state college to build a facility of its kind.[2] Following receipt of a grant from the Kentucky Department of Health, Education and Welfare in 1969, the station would eventually be upgraded to a 50,000 watt facility the following year; the upgrade also heralded a frequency change to 90.3 megahertz.[2] The station became an NPR member station in 1970.[2] It became a 24-hour radio service in 1999.[1]

Former repeater stations

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From 1999 until 2019, the station's programming was simulcast over translator station W202BH in Inez.[1] From 2001 until 2010, WOCS (88.3 MHz, now WEBF) in Booneville simulcast WMKY programming until it was sold to World of Harvest, Inc.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "About MSPR". wmky.org. Retrieved August 17, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c Nash, Francis M. (1995). Towers Over Kentucky: A History of Radio and TV in the Bluegrass State. Host Communications Incorporated. p. 206. ISBN 9781879688933.
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