WSMI (AM) was established on November 2, 1950 by Hayward Talley and his partner Tom Payton. The call letters WSMI were chosen for We SERVE Mid-Illinois. Upon Tom's untimely death in 1952, Hayward and Emma Talley became sole owners. Studios and offices were established in Litchfield-Hillsboro and on the campus of Blackburn College in Carlinville. Later the Carlinville studio was moved to the Carlinville square. Early in the 1950's Hayward Talley established and conducted one of the country's first telephone talk shows, "WSMI Party Line". WSMI added a live country band and a gospel quartet. WSMI added a mobile unit, and one of the early broadcasts was of President Harry Truman as his train stopped at the Litchfield depot. In 1960 a sister station was built....WSMI-FM. At the time there was only a single FM station in St. Louis and FM receivers were few. By broadcasting high school sports, FM sets began to be purchased and the FM audience grew. WSMI established a full-time news department, which was not typical for small town radio. And later followed a full-time farm department. WSMI became a network news station when it joined the Mutual Radio Network, continuing until Mutual was absorbed by CNN Radio. In 1999 a third station was added to the Talley group, WAOX. The station features "Today's Best Hits" along with ABC news, and local high school sports. Hayward & Emma Talley's sons, Brian and Kevin Talley, joined the stations in 1977. Kevin has worked in Advertising and Promotions since that time. Brian worked briefly in advertising sales, and for over thirty years as Chief Engineer and Operations Manager. Brian Talley assumed the role of Talley Broadcasting Corporation's President and General Manager in 2012.