KWEL AM 1070 in 5th Year of Broadcasting the Best Talk on the Radio

KWEL AM 1070, owned and operated by Craig and Dori Anderson, is the largest locally owned and operated talk radio station in the Midland/Odessa area. In an age of increasing consolidation among the large broadcasting corporations, KWEL stands apart and offers a unique opportunity for ordinary citizens to hear and voice their concerns on the radio.

Five years ago, KWEL was a small Spanish language station broadcasting out of the Crown Royal club, a second class nightclub in Midland. Today, KWEL is the highest rated talk radio station in the Midland/Odessa market and broadcasts out of a state of the art studio in the heart of downtown Midland. How has the station transformed in so short a time? It begin with misfortune.

When a large radio conglomerate issued a series of layoffs at their station in the Midland/Odessa area, Craig Anderson, a long standing radio personality in the market was one of the first to go. Dissatisfied with the corporate structure and looking for a way out of unemployment, Anderson and his wife decided to use a little money they had managed to save over the years to purchase their very own radio station.

KWEL began broadcasting with only three sponsors and the hope that syndicating the Sean Hannity program would soon draw enough of an audience to stay in business. It did, and as KWEL added programming, it was able to attract new sponsors. Today it carries three of the top five nationally rated talk show hosts: Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, and Laura Ingraham.

KWEL's focus, however, has always been its local talk which is why it has a four hour morning show with Craig Anderson every Monday through Friday and an hour long program called "The Back Pages" with JJ McClain during 5:00pm drive time. These shows each have their own loyal followings and have become favorites for listeners all over West Texas.

Over the years, KWEL has striven to keep with the times which is why the Andersons contracted Colloway Designs from Houston to create a new website in 2005. The new website included a streaming feature which allows fans to listen when they're are traveling from literally anywhere in the world.