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{{short description|Radio station in Owensboro, Kentucky}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name             = WOMI
| logo             = File:WOMI 99.1FM-1490AM logo.jpg
| city             = [[Owensboro, Kentucky]]
| area             = {{ubl|Owensboro|[[Evansville, Indiana]]}}
| branding         = ''Newstalk 1490''
| frequency        = 1490 [[kHz]]
| translator       = {{Radio Relay|99.1|W256CF|Owensboro}}
| airdate          = {{start date|1938|2|7}}
| format           = [[News Talk Information|News-talk]]
| power            = 830 [[watt]]s unlimited
| class            = C
| facility_id      = 67777
| coordinates      = {{coord|37|44|29|N|87|6|58|W|region:US-KY_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| callsign_meaning = Owensboro Messenger & Inquirer
| former_callsigns =
| affiliations     = {{ubl|[[Fox News Radio]]|[[NBC News Radio]]|[[Compass Media Networks]]|[[Genesis Communications Network]]|[[Premiere Networks]]|[[USA Radio Network]]|[[Westwood One]]}}
| owner            = [[Townsquare Media]]
| licensee         = Townsquare Media of Evansville/Owensboro, Inc.
| sister_stations  = [[WBKR]], [[WDKS]], [[WGBF (AM)|WGBF]], [[WGBF-FM]], [[WJLT]], [[WKDQ]]
| webcast          = [https://womiowensboro.com/listen-live/ Listen Live]
| website          = [http://womiowensboro.com womiowensboro.com]
| licensing_authority= [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]
}}
'''WOMI''' (1490 [[AM broadcasting|AM]]) is a [[radio station]] broadcasting a [[News Talk Information|news-talk]] format.  Licensed to [[Owensboro, Kentucky]], United States, the station serves the Owensboro area.  The station is owned by [[Townsquare Media]] and features programming from [[Fox News Radio]], [[NBC News Radio]], [[Compass Media Networks]], [[Genesis Communications Network]], [[Premiere Networks]], [[USA Radio Network]], and [[Westwood One]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?call=WOMI |title=WOMI Facility Record |work=United States [[Federal Communications Commission]], audio division }}</ref>
==History==
WOMI made its debut at 7:00pm on the evening of Monday, February 7, 1938, becoming the seventh radio station in the state of Kentucky, with a live celebratory broadcast from the Hotel Owensboro. The station began with 250 watts of daytime power and 100 watts at night at 1500 kilohertz.<ref name="nash">{{Cite book|last=Nash|first=Francis M.|date=1995|title=Towers Over Kentucky: A History of Radio and TV in the Bluegrass State|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/History/Towers-Over-Kentucky-Nash-1995.pdf|via=World Radio History|isbn=9781879688933}}</ref> Owensboro [[Messenger-Inquirer]] publisher Lawrence Hager formed Owensboro Broadcasting Company as owner and operator of the station. A modern two story art deco building had been constructed on Frederica Street, just south of Byers Avenue, to house the new broadcast operation. Lyell Ludwig was hired as WOMI's first general manager but Hager replaced Ludwig in 1939, with the newspaper's city editor Hugh Potter. Potter's wife, Cliffordean, became the station's program director and the couple moved into the station's second floor apartment where they remained until their retirement in 1972.
On March 29, 1941, WOMI moved to 1490 kilohertz as part of the North American Broadcast Treaty which reallocated frequencies for some 1,300 AM stations. WOMI had no network affiliation until it joined the [[Mutual Broadcasting System]] in 1944, just in time for the network's coverage of the D-Day Normandy invasion of [[World War II]]. WOMI stayed with Mutual until 1959, when the station became a [[CBS Radio Network]] affiliate.
WOMI had primarily been a full service station during the Potter years of 1939 to 1972. The station experimented with various formats following the departure of the Potters. The station's post-Potter banner years were the mid to late 1970's when a well-executed Top 40 format drew big audience numbers for the station. WOMI joined [[NBC Radio]] in 1979, and then, it joined that network's "TalkNet" in 1985, and soon found its niche as the city's news-talk outlet.{{r|nash}}
In 1993, the station was sold to [[Evansville, Indiana]]-based Brill Broadcasting. In 2002, the station was sold to Regent Communications, the forerunner of current owner Townsquare Media.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{AM station data|67777|WOMI}}
*{{FCC-LMS-Facility|140464|W256CF}}
*{{FXL|W256CF}}
{{Owensboro Radio}}
{{News/Talk Radio Stations in Kentucky}}
{{Townsquare Media}}
[[Category:Radio stations in Kentucky|OMI]]
[[Category:Townsquare Media radio stations]]
[[Category:Owensboro, Kentucky]]
[[Category:1938 establishments in Kentucky]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1938]]
[[Category:News and talk radio stations in the United States]]