WRDN

WRDN

Durand, Wisconsin
Broadcast area	Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Frequency	1430 kHz C-QUAM AM stereo
Branding	Reel Country 1430 & 107.3 WRDN
Programming
Format	Country music
Affiliations	ABC News Radio
Ownership
Owner	Durand Broadcasting, LLC
History
First air date	1968
Former call signs	WRDN (1968–2003) WQOQ (2003–2011)
Call sign meaning	W Radio DuraNd
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	65633
Class	D
Power	2,000 watts day 152 watts night
Transmitter coordinates	44°35′7″N 91°54′44″W
Translator(s)	107.3 W297CH (Durand)
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	reelcountry1430.com

WRDN (1430 AM) is a radio station operating in Durand, Wisconsin. It was owned by Zoe Communications, which operated the station as a simulcast of WDMO, until it was acquired in 2011 by Durand Broadcasting. In July 2011, WRDN was granted a U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) construction permit to move to a new transmitter site.

History

The station was launched in 1968 as WRDN, operating in Durand. The station's original owner, F.M. Radio Network, Inc., was a locally based company. Sister station WDMO was launched sometime before 1976 with the call sign WRDN-FM.

F.M. Radio Network sold the stations to Zoe Communications in 2001. Zoe changed the AM signal's call sign to WQOQ in 2003, before returning to the original WRDN calls in 2011. Under Zoe Communications' ownership, the stations' programming originated from studios in Menomonie, a larger city closer to the Eau Claire broadcast market, and local programming targeted to Durand was no longer available. Through the 2000s, however, the AM signal was frequently either dark or operating at reduced transmitter power.

Durand Broadcasting, a company incorporated by broadcaster Brian Winnekins and his wife Karla, acquired the station in 2011 with the intention of reviving a local radio service in Durand. Brian Winnekins was previously a farm news reporter for WCOW-FM in Sparta.

Now programmed independently of its former parent, the station was relaunched in March 2012 with a mix of local news, sports and farm reports and country music from the syndicated Real Country service.

External links

• WRDN website
• Facility details for Facility ID 65633 (WRDN) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• WRDN in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
• Facility details for Facility ID 201577 (W297CH) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• W297CH at FCCdata.org