At 6:00 AM on September 15, 1954, Radio Station WINI signed on the air from studios on the second floor at 1416 Walnut Street, Murphysboro, above the Sawyer Radio and TV store. The station license was originally owned by two Kentucky men who transferred ownership to Donald Ritter, an announcer at WGGH Radio, Marion, and Evers Mick, an engineer from Kentucky. By the time the station signed on the air, the license had once again been transferred… to Midwest Broadcasting, Farmington, Missouri. A single tower was erected and the transmitter was installed near the Missouri Pacific Railroad tracks north of Murphysboro.
Daily sign on was at 6:00 AM and sign off was at local sunset because of FCC rules regarding interference with other stations on the same frequency.
In 1956, Midwest Broadcasting, owned by Cecil Roberts, transferred the station license to Robert’s Daughter and son – in – law, Robert and Martha Rapp.
By October 1957, the studios were moved to 1602 Elm. In 1963, a new studio building was erected at the transmitter site on Business Route 13, north of Murphysboro and all the operations were moved to that location.
In 1968, WINI was sold to Ralph Dunn, James Dunn, Marion Dunn, and Dale Adkins. At the time of the purchase, the new owners set in motion plans to expand the station’s hours. The Federal Communications Commission placed a “Freeze” on any expansion by AM radio stations, denying all attempts to expand hours or power. In 1976, the “Freeze” was lifted and WINI immediately applied for expanded hours. Four towers and a complex system were installed near the Southern Illinois Airport and on September 14, 1978, one day short of the 26th anniversary of the original sign on, the new system was placed in operation. Through state-of-the-art technology, a directional pattern using all four towers is activated at local sundown.
In 1990 WINI expanded news coverage and instituted the NEWS/TALK format.
In August, 2000, Dale and Nancy Adkins purchased 100% of the business from other partners.
In the spring of 2009, Southern Illinois Radio Group purchased 100% of WINI. Rebranded News Talk 1420 WINI, we are proud to serve Southern Illinois with quality programing and local news and sports. Continuing our long time tradition of live coverage of Cardinals Baseball and Murphysboro Red Devil football and basketball, WINI now also offers Bears Football and Fighting Illini sports. Both national and local programming keep Southern Illinois informed and entertained, and the WINI newsroom and KFVS Heartland News keep you up-to-date.
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