Community-owned WVMO, Monona’s local radio station which serves a wide audience in the Madison area and beyond, is the winner of the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association award for Radio Station of the Year. WVMO, competing in the Large Market Music Radio division against stations in Madison and Milwaukee, achieved the title by collecting four first-place, 10 second-place and 11 third-place awards in the annual WBA competition from among 1,500 entries. This is the third time in its brief history that WVMO, which went on the air in 2015, has claimed Station of the Year honors. The award was announced at the 2023 Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Awards Gala at the Madison Marriott West in Middleton on May 6. "Receiving this award is such an honor,” says Will Nimmow, director of community media for the City of Monona. “To be among the biggest and best radio stations in Wisconsin is a little surreal." With studios, a transmitter and web server located in Monona City Hall, WVMO broadcasts at 98.7FM and online at [insert web address]. Its volunteer-driven programming is built around a distinctive format of “Americana” music, and also includes locally produced informational segments, interviews and features. "Monona has always been proud of our community radio station, but to be awarded station of the year by the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association — for the third time — is something special,” says Monona Mayor Mary O'Connor. “It really speaks to the dedicated, unwavering commitment of the WVMO volunteers and the pride they have for this station." In individual categories, WVMO was recognized for a variety of programming and personalities, ranging from public service announcements for the Aldo Leopold Nature Center and San Damiano Biergarten to a live broadcast from the Monona Bank River Rink. A complete list of the awards is posted on the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association website at www.wi-broadcasters.org/stations-broadcasters-honored-at-wba-awards-gala/