WNES

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox radio station

| name = WNES

| logo =

| city = Central City, Kentucky

| area =

| branding = K-Country

| frequency = 1050 kHz

| repeater = W284AO (104.7 FM) Central City

| airdate = {{start date and age|1955|01}}

| format = Classic Country

| power = 1,000 watts day
172 watts night

| erp =

| haat =

| class = D

| facility_id = 46946

| coordinates = {{coord|37|16|9|N|87|8|32|W|region:US_type:city}}

| callsign_meaning =

| former_callsigns =

| former_frequencies = 1600 kHz (1955–1960)

| affiliations =

| owner = Radio Active Media, Inc.

| licensee =

| sister_stations = WKYA

| webcast =

| website =

| licensing_authority = FCC

}}

WNES (1050 AM) is a classic country-formatted radio station that is licensed to and located in Central City, Kentucky, United States. The station is currently owned by Starlight Broadcasting Co., Inc.{{cite web|url=http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?call=WNES |title=WNES Facility Record |work=United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division}}

The station's studio (shared with sister station WKYA) and transmitter is located on Everly Brothers Boulevard (U.S. Highway 62) near the Western Kentucky Parkway underpass southwest of Central City.

==History==

On September 8, 1954, Muhlenberg Broadcasting Company was granted a construction permit by the FCC.{{Cite web|url= https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=46946 |title= History Cards for WNES|publisher=Federal Communications Commission}} (Guide to reading History Cards) The station began broadcasting on January 1, 1955, as the first radio station to broadcast in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. The station was a 500 watt daytime-only station broadcasting at 1600 kilocycles.{{Cite book|last=Nash|first=Francis M.|date=1995|title=Towers Over Kentucky: A History of Radio and TV in the Bluegrass State|publisher=Host Communications Incorporated |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/History/Towers-Over-Kentucky-Nash-1995.pdf|via=World Radio History|isbn=9781879688933}}{{Cite book|author=|date=1960|title=Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook 1960|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1965/B1-1965-YB-All.pdf|page=A-157|via=World Radio History|isbn=}} In December 1956, the station launched its FM companion, WNES-FM (101.9 FM, now WEKV),{{r|nash|page=98}} and would simulcast its AM programming on that station until 1980, when the FM became a separate entity. WNES reallocated to its current frequency of 1050 kilocycles in August 1960.{{r|historycards}}{{r|nash|page=98}}

{{cite news|title=This Week in History (from Leader-News archives)|work=Leader-News|location=Greenville, Kentucky|date= May 2, 2001|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Un1lAAAAIBAJ&dq=wnes+radio&pg=PA44&article_id=4036,6064340|via=Google Books|access-date=December 20, 2023}}

In March 2013, the station's owner, Starlight Broadcasting, was renamed Radio Active Media, Inc. The station's programming was simulcast on the FM dial via WNES-FM (now WEKV) from that station's 1956 inception until December 1981. In September 2014, the FM simulcast of WNES returned when the station launched a Class D low-power FM translator, W284AO, broadcasting a frequency of 104.7 megahertz with 250 watts of power.[http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=W284AO&service=FX W284AO Query on Radio-Locator]

==Coverage area==

The station's daytime signal covers Muhlenberg and surrounding counties, plus the Owensboro and Henderson area. Its nighttime signal coverage is greatly reduced to avoid co-frequency interference with other AM 1050 stations. W284AO's signal covers all of Muhlenberg County, along with portions of its neighboring counties.