Change in Omaha Sports Radio

[Toto]

Looks like a done deal.

https://growomaha.com/news-briefs/

Walnut Media Acquires AM 590 & Restores W-O-W Call Letters
Jul 1, 2026

Walnut Media has acquired the AM 590 radio signal and is bringing back the historic WOW call letters. Beginning July 6, AM 590 WOW will relaunch as a sports station with ESPN programming, local sports talk and Husker athletics. AM 590 had been known as KXSP and is currently silent. Walnut had to petition to the Federal Communications Commission to revive the WOW call letters, which were originally assigned to the frequency in 1926.

https://radioinsight.com/headlines/3615 ... on-july-6/

Walnut purchased the 590 license in April for $40,000 and requested the return of the stations historic WOW call letters utilized by the signal from from December 1926 until November 1999. The station will carry ESPN Radio network programming in most dayparts with Nick Handley and Grant Hansen hosting a local afternoon show from 2-6pm and the University of Nebraska’s “Sports Nightly” from 6-8pm. Other programming will include Westwood One’s Conservative Talker “America at Night with McGraw Milhaven” from 8-11pm. Milhaven worked in the Omaha market earlier in his career.

WOW will also be the central home for Walnut Media’s coverage of University of Nebraska sports play-by-play with football game-day coverage, men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, baseball and Sports Nightly airing on the station.

WOW-590.jpeg

How hard do you think Nebraska Athletics was pushing for this? They couldn't be happy with their signal in Omaha right?

[nebugeater]

Looks like a done deal.

https://growomaha.com/news-briefs/

Walnut Media Acquires AM 590 & Restores W-O-W Call Letters
Jul 1, 2026

Walnut Media has acquired the AM 590 radio signal and is bringing back the historic WOW call letters. Beginning July 6, AM 590 WOW will relaunch as a sports station with ESPN programming, local sports talk and Husker athletics. AM 590 had been known as KXSP and is currently silent. Walnut had to petition to the Federal Communications Commission to revive the WOW call letters, which were originally assigned to the frequency in 1926.

https://radioinsight.com/headlines/3615 ... on-july-6/

Walnut purchased the 590 license in April for $40,000 and requested the return of the stations historic WOW call letters utilized by the signal from from December 1926 until November 1999. The station will carry ESPN Radio network programming in most dayparts with Nick Handley and Grant Hansen hosting a local afternoon show from 2-6pm and the University of Nebraska’s “Sports Nightly” from 6-8pm. Other programming will include Westwood One’s Conservative Talker “America at Night with McGraw Milhaven” from 8-11pm. Milhaven worked in the Omaha market earlier in his career.

WOW will also be the central home for Walnut Media’s coverage of University of Nebraska sports play-by-play with football game-day coverage, men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, baseball and Sports Nightly airing on the station.

WOW-590.jpeg

How hard do you think Nebraska Athletics was pushing for this? They couldn't be happy with their signal in Omaha right?

With streaming, it might not have been as big a push as one would guess. I sure hated living in Gretna and not having streaming as an option I wanted to use for some live events.

[nebugeater]

This chance is great love that they get to use the WOW call letters.

Like that, they will be doing the Husker Broadcasts, and they have some local programming

One small disappointment for me is that they did not find a way to get Gary Sharp into the fold and on the air. Very possible that he didn't want to, but I would think the role he took at the OWH is risky at best for long-term opportunities

[nebugeater]

I may have posted this before, and if I have, just consider this post a throwback, like the WOW call letters are back.

I was driving a tractor doing fieldwork in the spring of what I believe was 1982 when WOW switched to a country music format. Was listening to the fender-mounted AM radio with earmuff headphones. Boy, were those warm in the summer! Went to a top-of-the-hour break on a pop format and came back as a country music station. It was OK with me becuase I was listening to both. I was in high school at the time.

I remember hearing that, after the switch, station management had gone to Kansas City and visited a lot of record stores to buy albums to make the switch without letting anyone know about the coming change. Back when they were still spinning records!

[Greg S]

This chance is great love that they get to use the WOW call letters.

Like that, they will be doing the Husker Broadcasts, and they have some local programming

One small disappointment for me is that they did not find a way to get Gary Sharp into the fold and on the air. Very possible that he didn't want to, but I would think the role he took at the OWH is risky at best for long-term opportunities

I wouldn't right off Gary Sharp being on 590 yet. Remember Mike'l Severe once left 1620 to go host a radio show for the OWH. Eventually they added it to 590 (different owners). So it's still a possibilty.

Speaking of Gary, has he started putting stuff out for the OWH and if so, where do you listen?

[nativeomahan]

Back when I was a kid (when dinosaurs roamed the Great Plains) I remember listening occasionally to WOW radio. It had a somewhat pop radio format, but was pretty bland. My preferred station, of course, was KOIL (the Mighty Twelve Ninety), but if adults were controlling the radio it was either WOW or KFAB. Beginning in the mid or late 70s FM radio became much more popular, and my AM radio listening pretty much stopped.

[nebugeater]

Find it interesting that at the time of this posting, I do not find any website for the new 590 WOW, and I do not see even a mention of it other than on the news portion of the site on the parent website for Walnut Media

With today's 15 min to grab attention, this is a surprise to me. They have had a few days or more to get this together and even longer to draft something that would be live. Today is the day they were supposed to go live, so I was looking to see what I could find or even stream


https://www.walnutmediausa.com/


The one mention is the press release

https://www.walnutmediausa.com/am-590-w ... al-returns

[nebugeater]

Back when I was a kid (when dinosaurs roamed the Great Plains) I remember listening occasionally to WOW radio. It had a somewhat pop radio format, but was pretty bland. My preferred station, of course, was KOIL (the Mighty Twelve Ninety), but if adults were controlling the radio it was either WOW or KFAB. Beginning in the mid or late 70s FM radio became much more popular, and my AM radio listening pretty much stopped.

A lot of my radio time in the late 70's and into the 80s was spent on the tractor with the fender-mounted radio. (Dad's first cab tractor was not long after I went on to college!) FM was not an option on the radios we had for this. Lot of WOW and KOIL for me. Where I grew up, another option was WJAG out of Norfolk but that was option #3

[Greg S]

Find it interesting that at the time of this posting, I do not find any website for the new 590 WOW, and I do not see even a mention of it other than on the news portion of the site on the parent website for Walnut Media

With today's 15 min to grab attention, this is a surprise to me. They have had a few days or more to get this together and even longer to draft something that would be live. Today is the day they were supposed to go live, so I was looking to see what I could find or even stream


https://www.walnutmediausa.com/


The one mention is the press release

https://www.walnutmediausa.com/am-590-w ... al-returns

Last night they were broadcasting the Fiesta Bowl win over Florida on 590.

[OmahaRedWing]

Has anyone listened to or found any of the Gary Sharp content through the OWH?

Also, saw Damon Benning is leaving his Hurrdat radio show for a job with the NU athletic department, as the director of player development and media branding.