WCLU celebrates 80 years of local radio in Glasgow

The station first signed on at 2 p.m. on Sept. 25, 1946, from its original studio and transmitter site on Happy Valley Road. During Friday’s anniversary celebration, WCLU followed portions of the original program, including a traditional station sign-on and the national anthem.

A station built around Glasgow

Glasgow Mayor Henry Royse has a personal connection to the station’s history. Royse purchased the station in 1988 and went on to own it for more than 30 years.

“Back in 1946, somebody looked at Glasgow and said, this place is gonna be something special. It needs a radio station,” Royse said.

He said the need for local information that helped launch the station remains important today.

“If you fast forward to where we are today, what they are doing on the radio right now with the public, and keeping the public informed of what’s going on is a very, very, very important thing to do,” Royse said.

A relationship built on trust

For Commonwealth Broadcasting President and CEO Steve Newberry, the anniversary is also personal.

Newberry first worked at the station in 1977. He later returned as part of the ownership after Commonwealth Broadcasting acquired the station in 2024.

“Well, I think what it means for me is a celebration of the community and what radio has meant in this community,” Newberry said. “I’ve benefited from it as a child. I’ve benefited from it as an employee and now having an opportunity to be involved in the ownership.”

One story from his early days at the station still stands out.

Newberry recalled working one rainy, slightly snowy Sunday afternoon in 1978 when a woman called sounding desperate to speak with morning personality Stan McKinney. She told Newberry it was an emergency and insisted she needed to reach him.

Her concern was the weather.

The woman planned to travel to Louisville the next morning and wanted to know what the forecast would be.

“She had that much trust in that person. Who was the morning man at the station,” Newberry said. “She didn’t understand it was coming from the National Weather Service or coming from some other forecaster. Stan McKinney was the person she trusted.”

Newberry said that kind of connection between listeners and the people they hear on the radio has long been part of local broadcasting.

Technology changes, local mission remains

Much about radio has changed over eight decades. Newberry said the technology is almost completely different from when he started, but he believes the people behind the microphones still share the same responsibility to their community.

“What has stayed the same is a group of people that feel a commitment to their local community, to Glasgow, to Barren County, to be up every morning delivering the news, be there in the evenings, be there in storms, ice storms, challenges, power outages, whatever it might be,” Newberry said. “That’s what stayed the same. That’s what I’m really proud of.”

Looking toward the future, Newberry said he does not know what radio technology will look like by the station’s 100th anniversary. His hope is that WCLU will still be serving the same purpose.

“I hope what it looks like is a an asset to the community that’s serving the community,” Newberry said. “I always think that serving the local community is what separates broadcasters from so many other types of media and what I think makes a station an invaluable part of the community.”

Friday’s celebration honored the people and voices that shaped WCLU’s first 80 years while also looking ahead to the station’s future in Glasgow and Barren County.