DIMMITT, Texas (KFDA) – Ruben takes a trip to Dimmitt where he visits a local radio station that has been serving Castro County for over sixty years.
“KDHN went on the air in October 1963, so last year we celebrated our 60th anniversary,” said Nancy Whalen, co-owner of KDHN.
This is the station’s 61st year and the Whalens are the radio station’s fourth owners.
“In 2015, my husband wanted to restart his agricultural network and came here to see if this radio station wanted to broadcast it,” Nancy said. “And the woman who worked here at the time mentioned that the owner wanted to sell the radio station.”
Nancy’s husband eventually met with the owner several times and finally reached a settlement.
In June 2015, the Whalens purchased KDHN. Nancy says it’s been quite a journey.
“A strong newspaper and a strong radio station are great for a small town. When you have both, everything runs smoothly,” said Todd Whalen, co-owner of KDHN.
Todd says it’s a lot of work and many places just give up.
“Muleshoe lost its radio station. Tulia lost its radio station. There are some stations in Clovis that are down, stations in Plainview that are no longer there,” Todd said.
Todd says it’s a lot of work and they are the only two people running the entire operation.
“On Friday nights we work from 4:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., and a lot of people don’t want that,” Todd said.
Nancy explains that many small towns seem to get lost in the crowd, but at KDHN we want to show everyone how important these towns are.
“They are still here, they are still alive and good things are still happening here,” Nancy said.
“It’s just good to be part of a small town because, like I said, we were at the Texas Rangers media day and we’re glad to be back here where there’s only one stoplight and not a million cars,” Todd said. “Right in front of us, we had three cars crashed as we were leaving the game.”
Todd says they like the small-town atmosphere and can get a personal touch here.
“You can’t do that in the big city,” Todd said.
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