KHUT (102.9

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

broadcasting a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...

Licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

Hutchinson, Kansas Hutchinson is the largest city and county seat in Reno County, Kansas, United States, and located on the Arkansas River. It has been home to salt mines since 1887, thus its nickname of "Salt City", but locals call it "Hutch". As of the 2020 ...

, the station serves the Wichita metropolitan area and is owned by Eagle Communications, Inc. KHUT goes by the slogan "Country 102.9, Hutchinson's Country Station." It has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would h ...

(ERP) of 100,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

s, broadcasting since 1972. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...

is on Whiteside Road at West Clark Road in Hutchinson.

Talent

Weekday mornings are hosted by Pat James. James started with Eagle Radio Hutchinson in March 2017, and was soon elevated to Operations Manager of the cluster. James comes to Hutchinson after previous stops in Wichita, St. Louis and Gainesville, FL. He is best known for his years at KFDI-FM in Wichita and at WIL-FM in St. Louis as part of the CMA Award Winning Cornbread Show. Before coming to KHUT, he was Program Director of BOB-FM and HANK-FM in Wichita. In his first year on the air at KHUT, he was nominated for the Academy of Country Music Small Market Personality of the Year. Hutchinson native and musician Morgan Wilk handles middays from 10am to 3pm. Randy McKay is on-air in afternoons from 3pm to 7pm. Randy has been a radio announcer since 1979. Randy is also Country 102.9's Program Director and Music Director. He was with KHUT from 1989 to 1992 left for a stint in Salina, KS and returned in 2000. DJ Dan Michaels is on in the evenings from 7pm to midnight. Nick Gosnell, News Director, delivers the morning news on Country 102.9 and also oversees news on KHMY and KWBW, as well as Hutch Post.com, Eagle's growing local online news source. Gosnell came to Eagle Radio in January 2020, replacing longtime News Director Fred Gough, who retired. Gosnell was previously News Director at WIBW in Topeka. He is assisted in the news department by Rod Zook, who covers Noon and afternoon drive news. KHUT is also the flagship station for the Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragons football and basketball teams. The Country 102.9 Blue Dragon sports crew includes Sports Director Glen Grunwald, Daren Dunn, Dan Naccarato, Rob Dreher and Steve Carpenter.

History

KHUT's predecessor, KWBW-AM was the first commercial AM station in central Kansas. A sister station to KHMY-FM and KHUTY-FM, KWBW-AM began broadcasting June 15, 1947 at 1450. MHz. KWBW-FM began broadcasting at 98.5 in 2013. The stations were owned by William Wyse. On the air originally as KWBW-FM, the station played country music from 1972 to 1978. After a short-lived switch to a

Beautiful Music Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator mu ...

format, the station changed call letters to KHUT and returned to Country music in 1979. Owned originally by Nation's Center Broadcasting, the founding company of sister station

KWBW KWBW (1450 MHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Hutchinson, Kansas, and serving Reno County. The station has a talk radio format and is owned by Eagle Communications. KWBW is powered at 1,000 watts. Programming is simulcast on F ...

, KHUT was purchased by Beach-Schmidt Communications in 1989. Beach-Schmidt is now employee owned Eagle Communications headquartered in Hays, Kansas.

References

External links

* * * {{Country Radio Stations in Kansas

HUT A hut is a small dwelling, which may be constructed of various local materials. Huts are a type of vernacular architecture because they are built of readily available materials such as wood, snow, ice, stone, grass, palm leaves, branches, hid ...

Country radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1972