Seventy years ago, KMDO1600 Radio signed on the air in Fort Scott.
From October 7 through 11, the station will celebrate its 70th anniversary featuring the music of the 50s through the 90s.
The McKenney family has owned and operated the local radio business for the past 70 years, providing contemporary hit music, news, weather, sports, and public service announcements to the community.
Celebration Week at The Radio Station Oct. 7-11
In October 2024, music of the different decades will be featured, and some former disc jockeys will be on the air in the studios again.
During the week of October 7-11, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., the radio station will play special music from the different decades in which it has served the community.
On Monday, music from the 1950s will be featured, Tuesday will feature 60s music, Wednesday, 70s music, Thursday, 80s music and Friday, music from the 1990s.
The Trading Post is a daily program where one can buy, sale, trade or give away items.
Special Trading Post program for the anniversary celebration will be Tim Mckenney and Ron Palmer on Monday, Oct. 7; Charlene Keating, Becky Allen, and Kirby Ham, on Tuesday Oct. 8; Gary Palmer and Deb Mckenney on Oct. 9th, and Larry Gazaway and Pam Hutchison on Friday Oct. 11th.
The Beginning
Lloyd James (Jim) McKenney built several stations in the late 40s and early 50s, including the first stations in Carthage, Monnet, Cassville, and Branson, MO, and Iola, KS.
Jim McKenney built KMDO-AM radio station in Fort Scott, signing on for the first time on Oct. 7, 1954, in the vicinity of where Tractor Supply is today, with six employees.
“Jim had five sons and a daughter,” Deb said. “Several of the sons worked at KMDO in the early years, however, Tim, after starting on- air in 1969, worked there on and off until 1980, when he returned full-time and built 103.9FM (KOMB). Tim has been manager of the radio stations since 1980 and owner since 1996.”
“The studios and transmitters were south of town on Hwy. 69 originally in the area of Tractor Supply,” Deb said. “In 1990, we moved the studios and offices to the building we are now located in at 2 N. National and moved the tower and transmitters to a site where Walmart is presently located. In 2006, we moved the towers from that site to two separate sites. The KMDO tower is now located south of town in the industrial park and the 103.9FM tower is located about seven miles northwest of Fort Scott on 7 Highway.”
Deb started on the air at the station in the early 1980s and has worked with her husband in almost every function of the business since that time.
Serving the Public
They regularly broadcast city, county, and school talk shows in the Fort Scott area to keep people informed about current happenings in the area.
The radio station’s goal has been to serve the public interest, she said.
“We do that by broadcasting things of interest and/or service to our listeners,” she said. These include local news, weather, sports, music and public service announcements. We air weekly programs that inform listeners about what’s going on in our school systems, talks with our city manager about things going on in the city and talks with our county commissioners about what’s going on in the county. Broadcast Tiger games! And of course, we play music for folks too!”
Through the years, technology has changed, “but our clients and staff have been faithful,” she said.
The rest of the current broadcast crew besides Deb and Tim is Darla Ramsey, the office manager; Deana Wade, Angie King, and Angie Martin, sales executives; on-air personnel include “Downtown” Keith Brown, Charlene Bolinger, Carlos Muniz, and Jonah Cooke and they also have contract engineers.
Fort Scott Broadcasting is located at 2 N. National in Downtown Historic Fort Scott and can be reached at 620-223-4500.
State Recognition
In 2023, Fort Scott Broadcasting Co. Inc was recognized as the Southeast Kansas Regional Winner in Retail and Service by the Kansas Department of Commerce.
To The Stars: Kansas Businesses Awards is an annual awards program that recognizes businesses across the state for the valuable contributions they make to the Kansas economy and to the well-being of their communities, according to https://www.kansascommerce.gov/kansasbusinessawards/.
