Welcome to the Pioneer Radio History web site, featuring radio stations in Kansas City and nearby communities in Missouri and Kansas. In the 1920s, radio was as big as the Internet became in the 1990s. Pioneer broadcasters in Missouri and Kansas became involved just like their counterparts in the rest of the United States. Some of the stations that were started during that frenzied time are alive and thriving today. Others have gone to the great antenna farm in the sky. Read on to discover more about early broadcasting in the heartland!
Kansas City stations
The postcard below from Kansas City station WHB (provided by Al Germond, former owner of KFRU, Columbia, Missouri) was typical of the acknowledgements that stations sent their listeners during the early days of radio. The following Kansas City stations were pioneers. Not all of them survived. Click on the links to find out more -- or check out a searchable timeline for the stations listed on this page.
» KCKN» KCMO
» KMBZ
» Early FM station KOZY
» WDAF
» WHB
» WOQ
» WREN
» Kansas City Post station "WRW"
» Hi-fi pioneer W9XBY
» Kansas City FM in 1962
Note: WREN is now KYYS; WDAF is now KCSP; KCKN is now KDTD
Topeka/Lawrence area stations
St. Joseph station
Central Missouri Stations
St. Louis stations
From the cover of a 1935 promotional pamphlet for experimental high-fidelity station W9XBY. Courtesy Al Germond.