| Back to e-WV
The West Virginia Encyclopedia
| Back to e-WV
The West Virginia Encyclopedia
Radio station WMMN of Fairmont began operations on December 22, 1928, as one of West Virginia’s pioneer stations. The call letters came from the initials of Fairmont attorney and U.S. Sen. Matthew M. Neely. The station’s power was increased from 500 to 1,000 watts in 1935 and to 5,000 watts in 1938. It was a long-time CBS Radio Network affiliate.
For nearly two decades beginning in 1935, WMMN was an important outlet for country and western music performers. The highlight of this era was the Sagebrush Roundup, a Saturday-night live-audience show which began in December 1938 and was broadcast weekly for nearly ten years. Performer Grandpa Jones was once a regular at WMMN.
As both national network and live local radio programming declined in the 1950s, WMMN began featuring more recorded popular music. It also offered regular play-by-play broadcasts of West Fairmont Senior High School and Fairmont State College sports. In October 1991, WMMN went silent when its owner, Marion Broadcast Corporation, declared bankruptcy and the station went into receivership. It was purchased the following year by Fantasia Broadcasting, Inc., a local family business which owned competing station WTCS. WMMN returned to the air in January 1993, with an all-news format from CNN Headline News. It now runs an all-sports format and is owned by Laurel Highland Total Communications (LHTC Media of West Virginia).
Written by Ed McDonald