DesMoinesBroadcasting.com

Del Hull
Program Director of KRNT
by George Davison

 

KRNT was the third AM station to serve Des Moines. It went on the air as KRNT at 1310 kHz in 1935. Quickly, KRNT became the station of preference for many residents of the city, especially those of influence in government and business. The call letters said it all. KRNT was the radio station of the Des Moines Register and Tribune. In the beginning of KRNT, studios were on the 13th floor of the Register and Tribune Building. More KRNT History.

KRNT was the Des Moines station featuring the local talents of singer Marilyn May and pianist Louis Wertz (a/k/a Roger Williams), among others. A young man from Iowa Falls, Iowa, came to Des Moines and made his mark on KRNT. For years Bill Riley was one of the most recognizable voices on the station, handling a variety of programs aimed at the Des Moines audience.

Del Hull came to KRNT and KRNT-TV in 1960. Eventually, Hull was named Program and Music Director of KRNT Radio. He held this position during the last years of ownership of the station by the Cowles family and during the first five years of station ownership by Stauffer Communications from Topeka, Kansas.

As Program and Music Director, Hull set the tone of the station. During his tenure the station featured adult contemporary music, live personality disc jockeys, lots of news and sports play-by-play coverage of Iowa State football and basketball, Kansas City Royals Baseball, and Des Moines area high school sports.

Here is the way a 1975 Stauffer brochure describes Hull:

Mr. Charm has all the warmth the ladies like, plus their own kind of music. The senior member of the radio staff, Del is program and music director and keeps the sound headed toward the individual listener.

Hull moved to the Phoenix, Arizona, area in 1979 when Stauffer acquired KOOL Radio,where he was involved with station management. He remains in the Phoenix area and continues to be involved in radio, now in management at KFNN: http://www.kfnn.c

 

Del Hull Interview - Part 1 - 6:50 min

Del Hull Interview - Part 2 - 6:50 min

 

Steve Gibbons/Pete Taylor blooper is found on our Audio Oddities page

 

Early Stauffer years pictures

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