‘The Colonel’ Kermit Womack will end his 72 year broadcasting career when his KERM Inc. shuts down Full Service Talk 790 KURM Rogers/94.5 K248DM Huntsville and 100.3 KURM-FM Gravette AR on July 1.
Womack signed on KURM in 1979 and acquired the full-power FM in 2002. He previously owned three other stations that were sold in 2016. He previously worked at stations including KXRJ and KARV Russellville AR, KLEX Lexington MO, and KRES/KWIX Moberly MO prior to moving into ownership.
Womack explained, “It’s with a great deal of regret that I announce today the end of an era in local broadcasting. KURM has been a mainstay in this region for nearly 45 years, dedicated to the coverage of local events across a three-state region. Our style of radio is hard to do. That, coupled with some unfortunate health circumstances, have led to this decision.”
The 89 year-old Womack hosts mornings from 6-8am as well as the “Party Line” open phone talk show from 10-11am weekdays. The station features three hours of “Dial-A-Trade” daily, a farm news hour from 12-1pm, and sports play-by-play including Rogers and Springdale High School football and basketball, University of Arkansas women’s basketball and baseball, and St. Louis Cardinals baseball.
Congressman Steve Womack, who helped launch the station with his father and spent eleven years as Station Manager, will participate in the July 1 sign-off of KURM. He commented, “My father is an institution. He’s among the last of a vanishing breed. He is KURM, and if he is unable to continue, it is fitting that the station retires with him.”
Womack will sign off the station with its regular morning programming before he and his son turn off the transmitter followed by a reception for the community at the station in the afternoon. The station licenses will be taken silent and put up for sale.
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This story first appeared on radioinsight.com