MWC - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Director of Sales
- Market Manager
Duke Wright, named Duey Edward Wright Jr, was a pioneer in the worlds of broadcasting and music.
When Duke was 14, he was blown away by a Frankie Yankovic performance at the Rothschild Pavilion. He tagged alongside his parents when they couldn't find a babysitter. While he was technically inclined, it was at this concert that Duke felt his place in this world as a professional musician. The next day, he signed up for accordion lessons, which during this time was the number one musical instrument that people were learning to play. He started his own band, the Duke Wright Orchestra and The Nutones, and at the age of 15, would host a weekly music show on WSAU-TV in Wausau, Wisconsin. Yankovic ended up being signed by a major label, Columbia Records and sold some two million records. The next time Duke saw Frankie Yankovic, they played on stage together. They would go on to play together many times, with the last time being at the Pulaski Polka Days in 1993.
However, Duke's true passion was radio. As a young boy, he was fascinated by the sounds coming from the radio in his living room and wanted to learn everything he could about how they were produced. In 1958, Duke's parents purchased a local Wausau radio station, changed the station name to WRIG and Duke began working there at the age of eighteen. When Duke graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with a degree in business, he enlisted and served in the Army Reserves for eight years, entering as a First Class Private, and leaving as an Army Captain, before returning home to Wausau to assume the role of General Manager of WRIG. Duke would attribute his ability to work with people and the tremendous amount of business savviness he gained to his commanding officer, Dale Earlerson.
Over the next five decades, Duke built Midwest Communications into one of the largest privately held, family-operated radio broadcasting companies in the United States, with over eighty radio stations in nine states.
Duke was known for his passion for live, local radio and his high-quality standards. He was inducted into the The Wisconsin Broadcasters Hall of Fame in October 1989, the Wisconsin Polka Hall of Fame, and the Wisconsin Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The latter for his recording of the first rock & roll record in Wisconsin, "Rock & Roll Saddles" on Duke's Northland Record label. Duke's other accolades included receiving the Conclave Rockwell Lifetime Award, in July 2016, and being on Radio Ink's 40 Most Powerful People in Radio for numerous years.
Home of Minnesota Vikings Football, NFL Football, Minnesota Wild hockey, high school football and basketball play-by-play, University of Sioux Falls football and basketball.