WKDZ-FM is the 2016 winner of the National Association of Broadcasters Marconi Small Market Station of the Year Award. This coveted honor was presented to WKDZ and WHVO President and Owner, Beth Mann at the annual NAB Radio Awards Dinner and Show in Nashville, Tennessee. This marks the third time WKDZ-FM has been named the nation’s top Small Market Station of the Year. The entire leadership team was on hand for the Marconi dinner, named for the founder of radio.
WKDZ-FM was also recognized as the 2013 winner of the National Association of Broadcasters Marconi Small Market Station of the Year award.
The prestigious honor was presented to WKDZ and WHVO President, D.J. Everett and Group General Manager, Beth Mann, Thursday, September 19th, 2013, at the annual NAB Radio Awards Dinner and Show in Orlando, Florida. Mann says she was glad to be able to accept the award and give special recognition to Everett.
Mann says its a combination of a great team and a great community that have helped WKDZ become so successful.
According to information from the National Association of Broadcasters, the prestigious awards recognize radio’s outstanding personalities and stations.
WKDZ-FM was recognized along with other stations such as Legendary Station Chicago’s WBBM-AM, Major Market Station of the Year WBEB-FM in Philadelphia, Large Market Station of the Year KSTP-FM in St. Paul, MN, and Medium Market Station of the Year KRMG-FM in Tulsa, OK.
WKDZ-FM won a Marconi and was named Small Market Station of the Year in 2002, and was a Top 5 Finalist for the prestigious award in 2007 and 2012.
On April 9th, 2013, WKDZ-FM won the top honor in the broadcast industry for community service, the prestigious Crystal award, from the National Association of Broadcasters, making WKDZ-FM the only small market station in Kentucky to earn the coveted Marconi and Crystal.
Crystal awards are given to stations with an exemplary history of community service. Here’s the award-winning statement made in Las Vegas at the NAB Conference regarding some of WKDZ’s accomplishments!
We at 106.5 WKDZ would like to say thank you for allowing us to serve your community. Thanks to the hours you spend listening and supporting projects which we promote, we feel like we have won this award together. Thanks again, from the ONLY STATION IN THE STATE OF KENTUCKY to have been honored by the NAB with a Crystal Award for exceptional community service and a Marconi Award for “Small Market Station of the Year”. We’re locally owned, 106.5 WKDZ!
Click here to enjoy the excitement of the NAB Crystal Award Presentation to WKDZ-FM
In 2002, WKDZ-FM became the only Kentucky radio station ever to be selected as Small Market Station of the Year by the National Association of Broadcasters as recipient of its coveted Marconi Radio Award, the most prestigious and sought after recognition in American broadcasting.
The criteria used by the Marconi judges include ratings, community awards and recognition, events sponsored by the station, continuing community service broadcasts, and staff involvement in the community.
The Marconi judges cited WKDZ’s broadcasts for the Relay for Life, the Rotary Auction, the Community Food Bank, the Trigg County Country Ham Festival, and countless others in making its decision.
The CONGRESSIONAL RECORD said, “WKDZ is a shining example of how a privately owned business can on one hand be a profitable contributor to the local economy and on the other be an active and influential participant in the community.” WKDZ was a Top 5 Finalist for NAB’s Marconi in 2007 and 2012.
Additionally, WKDZ-FM has been a finalist for the NAB’s Crystal Award in 1999 and again in 2010.
WKDZ-FM won the prestigious National Headliner award in 2009 for Local News Excellence.
WKDZ’s D.J. Everett and Beth Mann won the National Society of the Daughters of American Revolution Lifetime Achievement Award for Public Relations and Media in 2012. The award was given by The Colonel John Green Chapter, NSDAR.
2020 KBA “Station of the Year”
In 2020, WKDZ-FM was named the top radio station in Kentucky, winning the coveted Kentucky Station of the Year from the Kentucky Broadcaster’s Association. The awards ceremony was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the team watched from the DJ Everett III Radio Room as their name was called.
The award nomination highlighted the raising of $212,000 for the Cadiz Rotary Club with a revamped online/on-air radio auction and the launch of a new statewide radio network, while enduring the impact of COVID-19.
Other Awards
WKDZ-FM is the proud recipient of the 2017 Trigg County Country Ham Festival’s Spirit of the Ham Festival Award. The award was presented at the kickoff breakfast in early October, and WKDZ received a standing ovation for its non-wavering support and promotion of one of the top festivals in the South. WKDZ has been involved in the Trigg County Country Ham Festival since its inception in 1976.
WKDZ’s Bill Booth, was presented the 2015 Randy Jones Community Services Award during a special luncheon at the Country Radio Seminar in Nashville. This award is named in honor of a Pikeville, KY broadcaster who went above and beyond to serve his community. Randy Jones passed away suddenly and the community of Pikeville has named a Special Needs playground in his honor. Country radio broadcasters also began this award to recognize others who go above and beyond to serve their communities. Bill is pictured here with all the previous winners of this award.
In 2014, Trigg County Agriculture Committee member David Fourqurean presented the Friend of Agriculture Award to WKDZ-WHVO News and Farm Director Alan Watts for his work with the WKDZ Morning Ag Report.
Watts was also honored with the Excellence In Agriculture Journalism Award from Kentucky Farm Bureau President Mark Haney.