Knasel is Bristol Broadcasting Company’s Nininger Scholarship Award winner

Anna Knasel is the 2026 recipient of the W. L. "Pete" Nininger Scholarship.

Knasel will be starting her second year at Murray State University in the fall and is studying journalism. The Ft. Mitchell native is on the staff of the school’s news program and would like to work in sports media. She said she is already learning lessons that will set her on a path to make those dreams reality.  

The $1,000 scholarship is for an undergraduate student attending with a major in Journalism or Advertising.

The award is named after W. L. "Pete" Nininger, a former flight instructor in World War II, who then took the helm of Bristol Broadcasting and, over 50 years, grew the company to its present state, operating 27 radio stations in Kentucky, Illinois, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Bristol Paducah General Manager Jamie Futrell said the man known affectionately as "Mr. Pete" was a man who "genuinely loved every aspect of the radio business" and attended to the day-to-day management details of the stations until his death in October 2006.

Bristol Broadcasting Company, Inc operates 93.3 WKYQ, 96.9 WDDJ, 94.7 The Mix, 102.1 WLLE, 94.3 WKYX-FM, 570 WKYX-AM, 100.9 WNGO, 99.5 WPAD, and 96.3 WDXR in the Paducah/Mayfield region.