580 WKSK

580 WKSK On May 27th, 2019 WKSK celebrated 60 years of broadcasting service to the people of Ashe County and

🎉🐾 Get ready, Ashe County! It’s time to show off that Husky Hometown Pride! 🐾🎉Join us for the Ashe County High School Ho...
08/22/2025

🎉🐾 Get ready, Ashe County! It’s time to show off that Husky Hometown Pride! 🐾🎉

Join us for the Ashe County High School Homecoming Parade!! A celebration full of school spirit, smiling faces, and hometown pride you won’t want to miss!

🎈📣 Come cheer, wave, and support our amazing Huskies as they roll through town in style!

Let’s pack the streets and make this Homecoming the best one yet! 💜🖤 Go Huskies!

Back to “The Beach” for one last chance to make the ! The Cup Series takes on Daytona International Speedway this Sat...
08/21/2025

Back to “The Beach” for one last chance to make the ! The Cup Series takes on Daytona International Speedway this Saturday evening at 6:30 p.m. ET for the ! |

🌙🎶 Nothin’ but the classics, all night long! 🎶🌙Tune into WKSK The Farm every night from 8PM to 6AM for Overnight Oldies,...
08/21/2025

🌙🎶 Nothin’ but the classics, all night long! 🎶🌙

Tune into WKSK The Farm every night from 8PM to 6AM for Overnight Oldies, the greatest hits from the golden years that’ll take you back!

Whether you’re up late, working the night shift, or just love a good throwback, we’ve got your soundtrack covered. 📻✨

📍 West Jefferson’s home for the hits that never fade — WKSK 580AM / 93.5FM

💻 Or stream online at wkskradio.com

🎙️📻 HAPPY NATIONAL RADIO DAY! 📻🎙️
Today, we’re turning the dial all the way up to celebrate the OG of entertainment, inf...
08/20/2025

🎙️📻 HAPPY NATIONAL RADIO DAY! 📻🎙️

Today, we’re turning the dial all the way up to celebrate the OG of entertainment, info, and incredible music — the radio! From breaking news to late-night dedications, the radio has been the soundtrack of our lives for over a century. 💫

Did you know it took a whole squad of inventors in the 1800s to bring this game-changer to life? Talk about a collab for the ages! 🙌💡

So here’s to the static, the stories, the songs, and the stations that keep us company — whether we’re stuck in traffic or dancing in our kitchens. 🎶💃

Drop your favorite radio memory or station below! 👇👇



What we have on tap! ➡️ stops by for a conversation with .➡️ We relive 's win at Richmond with a NASCAR Live Backtra...
08/19/2025

What we have on tap!

➡️ stops by for a conversation with .

➡️ We relive 's win at Richmond with a NASCAR Live Backtrax.

➡️ joins the show.

|

🎶 NEW RIVER BLUES FESTIVAL 2025 🎶📅 Sunday, August 31, 2025📍 River House Inn & Restaurant 🕛 Gates open at Noon🎸 Live Musi...
08/19/2025

🎶 NEW RIVER BLUES FESTIVAL 2025 🎶

📅 Sunday, August 31, 2025
📍 River House Inn & Restaurant

🕛 Gates open at Noon
🎸 Live Music: 1:00–6:00 PM
🌧️ Rain or Shine

🪑 Bring your lawn chairs, blankets, canopies, and good vibes!
🚫 No coolers or pets, please
🍔 Food & drinks available for purchase

🎟️ Tickets: $45.00 USD. Visit River House Inn & Restaurant to purchase tickets.

Let’s keep the Blues alive in the High Country! 💙

WKSK’S Old Time and Bluegrass Show Returns LIVE to the Ashe Civic Center!Saturday, August 23“Just a little after eleven”...
08/18/2025

WKSK’S Old Time and Bluegrass Show Returns LIVE to the Ashe Civic Center!
Saturday, August 23
“Just a little after eleven”
Featuring Trish Fore and the Wildcats with Host Tom Hartman
Free & Open to the Public, 11 AM.

We’re excited to host the Old Time and Bluegrass Radio Show at the Ashe Civic Center once a month on Saturday morning at 11 AM. This event is free and open to the public, with donations gratefully accepted. The Ashe Civic Center has accessible parking and seating.

Trish Fore & The Wildcats specialize in playing hard-driving, traditional, old-time instrumental music from the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwest Virginia and northwest North Carolina. Composed of Trish Fore on clawhammer banjo; Kevin Fore on fiddle; Kyle Dean Smith on guitar; and Chris Johnson on bass, these folks will have your feet moving at the square dance. Trish enjoys carrying on the clawhammer banjo tradition and likes doing something generations of her family did before her, though they lived in very different times. Over the years she has played with groups including the Farmers’ Daughters, Blue Ridge Mountain Ramblers, and Benton Flippen and the Smokey Valley Boys.

Catch the Cup Series and the at Richmond Raceway! Don’t miss the action starting at 6:30 p.m. this Saturday night!! ...
08/14/2025

Catch the Cup Series and the at Richmond Raceway! Don’t miss the action starting at 6:30 p.m. this Saturday night!! |

AM/FM Radio Continues To Dominate In-Car Listening.There’s good news for AM/FM radio when it comes to listening in vehic...
08/13/2025

AM/FM Radio Continues To Dominate In-Car Listening.

There’s good news for AM/FM radio when it comes to listening in vehicles. Cumulus Media/Westwood One Audio Active Group’s annual analysis of Edison Research’s quarterly “Share of Ear” report of in-car listening trends, overall, and broken down by ad-supported audio or by vehicle brand, shows AM/FM radio remains far ahead of its audio competition, and has rebounded to pre-COVID listening levels.

As Westwood One’s blog points out, these findings are especially important for automakers, since Edison has asked consumers “What is the model year and brand of your primary car or truck – that is, the one vehicle you spend the most time driving or riding as a passenger?” since “Share of Ear” began in 2014.

“For product design and operations teams at auto manufacturers, it is important to understand the massive use of AM/FM radio among in-car listeners,” Cumulus Media/Westwood One Audio Active Group Chief Insights Officer Pierre Bouvard says. “AM/FM radio is a powerful platform to reach American drivers to build auto brands and reach auto intenders. Auto design teams want to understand the totality of all in-car listening, [while] auto marketers are focused on media platforms that accept advertising.”

Not surprisingly, AM/FM radio’s greatest strength is among all ad-supported audio, which Edison reports claims two-thirds (66%) of Americans’ in-car listening time, with 34% going to ad-free audio. In this universe, AM/FM’s share of in-car listening among persons 18+ is an impressive 85%, with the remaining 15% divided among podcasts (7%), ad-supported SiriusXM (4%), and Spotify and Pandora (2% each).

Taking into account all audio listening, AM/FM radio, including both ad-supported and ad-free, is still miles ahead with a 56% share, with ad-free SiriusXM a distant second at 13%.

When Edison’s data is broken down by the brand of the primary car driven by respondents, AM/FM radio is still the clear leader, with Chevrolet, Honda and Subaru showing higher shares than AM/FM’s overall 56% (which is matched by Toyota). When it comes to parent auto companies, General Motors also over-indexes for AM/FM radio listening, at 62%.

Data broken out for Tesla drivers, providing a view of how EV drivers’ audio habits may differ, shows AM/FM radio remains dominant with a 51% share, with podcasts at 12% and ad-free SiriusXM 10%. Looking at just ad-supported audio listening among Tesla drivers, AM/FM rules at 74%, followed by 17% for podcasts.

As to how ad-supported audio listening breaks down for the other auto brands, AM/FM radio’s share ranges from 82%-90%, with Chevrolet and Kia claiming that 90%. Other over-indexers include BMW, Hyundai, Audi, Honda and Lexus. As for parent companies, GM again scores higher, with an 88% for AM/FM. “With an average ad-supported in-car share of 85%, these charts depict the huge opportunity that AM/FM radio affords auto marketing teams,” Bouvard says.

Also benefiting AM/FM radio in-car listening is a rebound in share since the COVID years, when it dropped below 40%. “In 2023, the proportion of AM/FM radio listening in the car grew twelve points from 2022 (38% to 50%),” Bouvard notes. “Since then, the proportion of total AM/FM radio listening occurring in cars has held steady at 50%, returning to the pre-pandemic norms.”

What we have on tap! ➡️ chats with .➡️ 2-Time Truck Series champion, , stops by➡️ We revisit some of the most heated...
08/12/2025

What we have on tap!

➡️ chats with .

➡️ 2-Time Truck Series champion, , stops by

➡️ We revisit some of the most heated finishes in NASCAR History

|

08/11/2025

Radio Ads Drive Fast-Food Restaurant Visits.

Whether consumers are hankering for a Big Mac, Burrito Supreme or Frosty, radio advertising for quick service restaurants has proven effective for bringing them to the drive-thru. That’s based on results from a study conducted by Katz Radio Group among 1,000 adults during Q4 2024 showing that QSR consumers who eat fast food at least once a week are highly responsive to radio messaging.

“Consumers not only accept but expect food messaging via radio, reinforcing its credibility and effectiveness for the category,” Katz’s report says, noting that consumers targeted by radio campaigns for two specific QSRs were 7% and 4% more likely to visit them, with a 6% increase overall.

“Radio is an ideal platform for interest among receptive and responsive fast-food consumers,” the report says. “It plays a foundational role in the decision-making journey, often sparking the craving before any digital ad or social scroll can.”

The study shows that 89% of the sample agrees that they have made last-minute meal decisions while in the car, where radio dominates among all audio options, and 84% agree that it’s smart for fast-food restaurants to use radio advertising to inform customers about menu items and deals. Additionally, 82% agree that simply hearing ads about food can make them feel hungry.

“Whether they’re pulling into the drive-thru or scrolling for deals, radio often acts as a powerful catalyst that sparks the decision to dine,” Katz’s report says. “Radio is a trusted and influential medium that drives quick food decisions. From creating hunger with just a soundbite to guiding last-minute choices on the road, radio connects QSR brands with consumers in real time. Its ability to spark cravings, deliver timely messaging, and meet audiences in their moment of need makes it not just relevant, but essential, for quick-serve restaurant success.”

08/08/2025

Radio Remains America’s Top Reach Medium Across Demos, Nielsen Finds

AM/FM radio continues to outpace all other media platforms in weekly reach, according to the latest Nielsen data that reaffirms the medium’s dominant role in American media consumption. Based on insights from Edison Research’s Share of Ear and Nielsen’s broader measurement of the media landscape, the report shows that radio reaches more adults each week than any other single medium, digital or linear.

In a blog post, Katz Radio Group notes that more than 225 million adults, or 9 in 10, listen to radio every week. Radio holds the No. 1 spot for reach among adults 50–64 and 65+, and ranks second for adults 18–34 with a weekly reach of 79%, highlighting the platform’s strong generational crossover. The data underscores what broadcasters have long known: AM/FM remains central to the daily habits of Americans of all ages.

Beyond reach, radio’s dominance extends to time spent with ad-supported audio. AM/FM radio accounts for 70% of all ad-supported audio listening, according to Share of Ear. Even among younger adults 18–34, a group often assumed to favor digital streaming, traditional radio commands 50% of ad-supported audio usage.

“Radio fans are smart and loyal,” Katz Radio Group notes, emphasizing how listeners continue to access their favorite stations not just over the air, but across smartphones, tablets, connected TVs, and web platforms. The report also highlights a surprising data point: each week, 60 million more adults listen to the radio than use the internet on a computer.

The takeaway for advertisers is clear: in a fragmented media world, AM/FM radio still offers unmatched reach, frequency, and time-spent, especially for ad-supported audio. Whether it’s news, sports, music, or talk, listeners are tuning in, and marketers are being reminded why radio remains a media mainstay.

Address

240 Radio Road
West Jefferson, NC
28694

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

(336) 846-WKSK (9575)

Website

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580 AM & 93.5 FM WKSK (The Farm)

For over five decades (May 27, 1959) WKSK has been broadcasting information and entertainment to the citizens of Ashe County and surrounding Northwestern North Carolina.

We began broadcasting at 1600-AM on the dial, moving in the 70’s to 580 AM. On Monday, June 9th 2014 @ 4:25pm WKSK made history by simulcasting their signal on 93.5 FM.

WKSK operates at a pre-sunrise power of 500 watts and at 5000 watts during daylight hours. We begin our broadcast day Monday through Saturday at 6am and Sundays at 7am. In 2005, we began broadcasting 24 hours a day and in 2006 began streaming our broadcast signal on the World Wide Web. www.580wksk.com. WKSK also broadcasts their audio signal on Skybest TV Channel 680.

WKSK has been described by the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters as one of the truly “Small Market Broadcasters” still in existence. We attribute our audience loyalty to “localism." We describe our Country Music format as a means to move from one piece of information to another. Keeping our finger on the pulse of the community is important to our listeners and our station.