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KYMO gets facelift as Howell works to return East Prairie station to its roots
EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. — “Some things old can be new again.”
That is the philosophy of Reid Howell, general manager of KYMO, as he works to make the East Prairie, Mo., radio station a flagship station like it was in the 1970s and early 80s.
“We want to be a community radio station again,” Howell said of the station which is located at 105.3 on the FM dial and 1080 on AM. “We want to reach out and be a part of the community, that’s why it was purchased by Delta Broadcasting and every day we try to take a step forward in doing that. Radio is still listened to. The stats show it.”
Delta Broadcasting assumed control of the radio station in February and Howell’s morning show, “Just Another Morning Show with Reid Howell,” made its debut on April 9. The change came after a few years of uncertainty.
KYMO first came on the air in 1965 but began to come to prominence in the area in the late 1960s when it was purchased by Barney Webster. With a distinctive voice known around the area, Webster oversaw the station as it flourished in the 1970s and early 1980s as an AM station, adding the FM station in the early 1990s.
“Barney did a lot back in his day,” Howell said. “He was out and about everywhere. Many of us, myself and Steve McPheeters, we all got our first jobs in the radio business right here.”
However health problems and other issues for Webster had caused some in the community to wonder if the end was near for the radio station.
“Up until Delta got ownership, (Mississippi) County had it,” Howell said. “It was literally being run by the public administrator of Mississippi County. She was acting on behalf of Mr. Webster. Julie Summers Day needs a lot of credit for being able to keep this on the air, because she did.”
Howell, who began working at the station at the age of 15 by playing the weekly top-40 on Sundays, worked at the station through high school and college and again in the early 2000s when he hosted a morning show until 2008.
He was working for a respiratory company when he had the chance to return to the station.
“This came up and I couldn’t resist coming back because it is all new,” Howell said. “Everything in this building is all new.”
When Delta Broadcasting took over the first step was gutting the old building and starting from scratch. A new studio is currently in the process of being built. The FM studio will be state of the art with a spot to bring in local musicians to do acoustic sessions.
Then another studio will be built as close to a 70s studio as Howell can get it.
“I hesitate to call it a museum-piece,” Howell said. “It will be a functional studio with turn-tables and with old cart machines. We can’t replicate what was but it will be functional.”
He said he will be able to flip a switch and walk in the studio and do a show with all vinyl.
“It’s going to happen,” Howell smiled.
But there is much more than just a new building that has Howell excited as he is trying to bring an old radio feel back like what there was with the “WKRP in Cincinnati” television show in the late 1970s.
“WKRP, it was live radio,” Howell said. “It was about having fun. It was about music. It was about personality. Let’s go back to that. Let’s have a little fun, let’s grow and grow together.”
And anyone who listens to Howell’s morning show knows he is having fun. The show airs from 6 to 10 a.m. and is followed by Dennis B in the midday. Jim Morris does afternoons and Whitney Thomas follows from 7 p.m. until midnight. Mike Vandeven then does the overnights from midnight to 6 a.m.
And one can’t forget the music either. Instead of picking a genre of music, the station plays all kinds of music. Howell calls it Classic KYMO and he doesn’t want to get tagged as an oldies station.
“People’s musical tastes are so varied now because they have so much to choose from. So why not open up the vault? We just wanted to do something to freshen it up,” Howell said. “I think after 70 years of rock and roll, unless it is death metal, I don’t think you can start narrowing down genres anymore.”
Along with the music Howell will promote community events. And while the station is based in East Prairie he wants the station to belong to all of Southeast Missouri, Western Kentucky and other areas where the signal can reach.
Howell said he wants for people in Wickliffe, Ky. or Sikeston or Charleston to be able to call up and tell him about their events.
“I want to talk about Benton, I want to talk about Essex,” Howell said. “Let me know what is going on in New Madrid and Portageville. That’s what we want to be.”
So far the changes have been well received as Howell said there is a buzz about the station.
“I’ve been so surprised and so humbled by the response so far,” Howell said. “Everyone who has been involved with this project, we wanted to honor what Barney Webster did. Barney Webster had a flagship station in the 70s and early 80s at KYMO. We want this to be a flagship station again. And we can only do that by being diligent to what he had as a vision 40-45 years ago. And it’s still relevant today.”
Which leads back to Howell’s saying, “some things old can be new again.”
“We aren’t reinventing the wheel,” he said. “Maybe it’s giving it a bath and cleaning it off. We just want to put something back out there that has some feeling and have a connection with the listener.”