In an era of corporate radio, a Nebraska station bet big on local DJs. It’s paying off.

Listening to the radio, an old familiar voice comes on the air. He spins the hits of yesteryear, sparking trips down memory lane to the days of cruising Dodge Street or driving the Square in Fremont. 

From 5-10 a.m. on Boomer Radio, veteran DJ Dave Wingert entertains listeners with his lively personality, jokes, odd news stories and, of course, songs from the 1960s and ‘70s. He may even delve into the 1950s or toss out a show tune.

But it’s not the song selection that distinguishes Boomer Radio.  

At a time when most area radio stations fall under the umbrellas of a few national and regional networks, including iHeart Radio and Iowa-based NRG Media, locally-owned Boomer Radio is leaning into its Omaha roots. It’s one of the only non-talk metro stations featuring local personalities during prime listening hours. 

Wingert is one of those regular DJs with ties to Omaha’s classic radio era, when AM ruled the dial and WOW and KOIL competed with KFAB – yes, KFAB once played Top 40 music – for the top spot among young radio listeners. 

Chuck Yates (“Love Chuckster” during his days at Z-92), Jack Swanda (half of the “Outta Bed with Jack and Fred” team on KEFM for a dozen years) and radio veteran Neil Nelkin round out the station’s stable.

The boomers seem to have found their groove.

Boomer Radio is one of the fastest-growing outlets in the 25-station Omaha metro market, occasionally cracking the top 10, said Patrick Combs, president and CEO of Walnut Media, Boomer Radio’s parent company. 

“We took advantage of an opportunity in this community that didn’t exist because the mega corporate stations have kind of gotten away from their community ties,” he said.

Knowing Boomer Radio isn’t likely to top the market, Combs said the station can instead focus on what made local radio great in the glory days: community. The Salvation Army worked with the station during the holiday season with its annual “Adopt a Family” after about 25 years with Star 104.5.

“(Owner) Steve Seline and I are active with nonprofits and sit on boards and commissions,” Combs said. “We believe in our community. We love our community.”

Hiring the on-air personalities was a coup, according to Combs. 

“They’re disc jockeys that people can relate to, and a lot of them grew up with,” he said.

Wingert, or “Wingy” as he’s known by fans, landed at the then-upstart Boomer Radio in 2017 after stints at local stations WOW, KGOR, KEFM and KOOO, as well as a two-decade stay in Seattle where he hosted the nationally-syndicated show “Dave Til Dawn.” 

When Walnut Media was courting Wingert, it had just bought 1490 and grabbed the oldies format that KGOR-FM had abandoned. 

Boomer has since added frequencies 94.5, 97.3 and 104.1 to ensure wide listenership in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa, Combs said. And it’s adding 106.7 in Lincoln.

Boomer Radio isn’t the only station with local on-air talent. Bluffs Country 106.5, which plays pop-country from the 1990s and early 2000s, features Omaha radio legends Chuck Denver (KGOR) and Ritch Cassidy (KXKT). 

But Boomer Radio – with its classic DJs, vintage music, local advertising and appeal to an often overlooked demographic (actual Boomers) – is bucking the trends of corporate radio, said Larry Rosin, co-founder and president of Edison Research, a New Jersey-based communication research company.

Radio is operating in an increasingly competitive media ecosystem and seeing listenership decline across the board, although at a slower rate than some might think, he said. 

The percentage of Americans 12 and older who listen to terrestrial radio in a given week fell from 92% in 2012 to 82% in 2022, according to Nielsen Media Research data published by Pew Research.

The most severe drop in listenership is at the younger end, Rosin said. Appealing to a crowd slightly older than the traditional radio audience (25 to 50 years old) is smart, he added.

“The group you’re talking about is leaning into the group that grew up with radio as a lifetime of habituation, and is loyal and likely listening a lot,” Rosin said.

Focusing on local businesses for advertising plays into Boomer’s playbook. Listeners often hear commercials for Jerico’s steakhouse and Husker Roofing among others.

While advertising supports the network, it’s important that listeners engage with the personalities, Combs said.

After 25 years with Z-92, Yates dabbled in a few things, but nothing stuck. Then Combs called to gauge his interest in joining Boomer Radio. 

Now “The Chuckster” laughs at his own jokes and shares music trivia 10 a.m.-3 p.m., sandwiched between Wingert’s and Swanda’s shows.

Longevity does have its drawbacks. Yates missed several weeks of work with health issues. So have Wingert and Nelkin. Lonesome Rhodes, who once anchored the evening show, died from health complications in early February.

“These guys love what they do,” Combs said. “And for the most part, they’re dealing with their health issues. Dave says he wants his last breath to be taken at the studio. And I think he’s got a lot of years left.”

Health concerns played a role in Nelkin’s “third retirement” in 2023. He had been serving as Wingert’s co-host on the morning show. 

After moving to Lincoln to be near his daughter and grandchildren, Nelkin leapt out of retirement six months later when Combs called to discuss an opening on the night show.

“Patrick asked if I was interested and I said yes in a heartbeat, but I couldn’t make the drive each night to Omaha. My daughter wouldn’t like that,” Nelkin said. The company built a home studio for “Neil at Night.”

Nelkin’s path to the microphone differs from the others. Spending most of his career in radio management, he’s worked at stations from Miami, Florida, to North Platte. He’s seen corporate radio gobble up rural stations. They often keep a few ties to the community, maybe a few local commercials or some local news, but not much else, Nelkin said.

The response to Boomer Radio, he said, “has been absolutely phenomenal.”

On the eve of “The Day the Music Died,” when stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper died in a plane crash in Iowa en route to Fargo, North Dakota, Nelkin and listeners relived the horror on his show. 

Nelkin played an interview with Dion DiMucci, leader of Dion and the Belmonts, who recalled their reactions when they learned about the deaths after arriving in Fargo for that night’s show.

“I got more response to that interview than I think almost anything I’ve done since I’ve been on air,” he said. “People love the personal approach that we take with the music and the personalities. We’re fulfilling a need here with Boomer.”

Each DJ has his following, but Swanda commands large listenership during the afternoon drivetime. Twice in 2023 he ranked No. 1 in monthly listenership among music stations in the 55 and older demographic, Combs said. (Correction: This article incorrectly described Swanda’s performance in the fourth quarter of 2023. It has since been corrected.) 

It harkened back to 35 years ago, when he and Fred Brooks dominated the morning ratings with “Outta Bed with Jack and Fred” on KEFM 96.1. The duo worked together for about 10 years until Swanda was let go by the station.

With more than 30 years in radio and two daughters in college and another in high school, Swanda left the industry and became a financial adviser. 

But radio kept eating away at him. He took a side job recording programming for smaller stations. One of the stations happened to be 1490, the original Boomer station.

“They had a format with a lot of Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett, lounge singers. And they called it ‘Lounge Radio,’” Swanda said.

In 2014, Swanda, a devout Christian, was offered the 3-6 p.m. time slot at KGBI playing contemporary Christian music.

Walnut Media ended up buying KGBI and its studios, and Swanda eventually took over the afternoon drivetime. It proved to be a winner for him and the station.

Swanda connects with his listeners. They call in from around the country, each with their own on-air nickname. Combs said that kind of engagement is just as important as listenership numbers.

“Radio is intimate. It’s one-to-one … They’re not listening as a big audience. They’re listening as individuals,” Swanda said. 

“And it’s local, so if you can tie in with where that person is, and the things that are happening in their lives, you become part of the community along with them.”