DJ Mike Munday 

If you lived in the Oklahoma City Metro in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, you are likely familiar with the voice of DJ Mike Munday. His morning radio shows on both WKY and KOMA earned #1 ratings. He was cheerful, energetic and positive––and he still is! 

Although the 77-year-old is no longer a DJ on the air, he remains active as one of the giants in radio and television advertising. Mike (Harland) Munday, who now operates Mike Munday Advertising with his son, Micha, has spearheaded many wildly successful promotional campaigns. Mike’s “think big” approach likely stems from his early years in radio. It was the 1960s, after all…

Learning from the Ground Up

Munday began his radio career in 1963 as a sophomore at Edmond High School. He loved rock-and-roll music, but the local station played Frank Sinatra and Perry Como. Bill and Gail Payne had started Edmond’s first FM radio station from their house the year before. Munday laughed as he described the Paynes’ response to his request for a job. “Sure, Mike, you can work here, and we’ll train you, but the pay’s not high. In fact, it’s nothing.” So, Munday swept the floors, filled the pop machine and learned radio. Eventually, the Paynes let Munday start announcing. 

Munday continued to improve his skills and briefly worked for KTOK while he attended Central State College. He also rebranded himself with the radio moniker, Mike Munday, which he thought sounded more fun than Mike Harland. 

During the Vietnam War, he enlisted as a Marine. “I told them I wouldn’t sign up unless they put me in radio—and not just carrying one through the jungle.” For six months, Munday was a radio and television combat correspondent. Often, he was dropped into the jungle from a helicopter. He was then reassigned to the American Forces Vietnam Network (AFVN) as a DJ, entertaining troops on the Good Morning Vietnam station from Monkey Mountain in Da Nang, Vietnam. 

Zany Marketing

After the war, Munday worked his way up through the radio ranks. From the start of Munday’s career, he’d been inspired by the most popular DJs of the era: Danny Williams and Ronnie Kaye. He considers it a great honor to have eventually worked with both of them on WKY and KOMA. 

Munday also excelled at promotions, having trained in creative salesmanship under Bill Payne. When Bill first opened the station, only 85 people in Edmond had FM radios, so he hustled and marketed to sell radios just to keep the station alive. 

“One year, during Krazy Days in downtown Edmond, Bill had the idea to do an Awake-A-Thon from a trailer on Broadway. He asked the DJs to stay on the air as long as possible. “I made it 62 hours. Crazy idea, but it worked.”

Later on, Munday came up with his own winning ideas. “I convinced McDonald’s to let me tell listeners to say, ‘I listen to Mike Munday on WKY,’ at the drive-through in exchange for a free drink. People lined up for blocks, and McDonald’s was blown away with additional sales.” 

Another idea that generated huge interest was the Woman of the Day campaign in which a daily winner received a large bouquet of flowers from Howard Brothers Florists. Munday might be most proud, however, of his charity work. His first March of Dimes Walk-a-Thon raised over $50,000. 

After 60 years in the radio industry, Munday still loves what he does. “I could never retire and sit around watching TV,” Munday said. “I think music is a time machine. Radio makes memories and connects people. I loved radio. I breathed it. And I’m still in it.” 

Visit MikeMunday.com or see the exhibit, “On the Air in Edmond,” at Edmond History Museum.