92.1 in Nashville

[PaulO]

I remember when 92.1 was WHVT in Hendersonville. Some time in late summer or fall of 1973 they became WBYQ Hendersonville AKA 92Q. I have 2 questions. When did the company that owned WMAK buy the frequency and Change the call sign? Also when did American top 40 start airing in Nashville?

 

[briancraig]

92.1 became WMAK on July 1, 1981 but I'm not sure when they were sold.

They are mentioned in an ad in Billboard on Feb. 2, 1974 as being an AT 40 affiliate. Casey first mentioned WBYQ on air on February 22, 1975.

 

[romer979fm]

Mooney Broadcasting bought 92Q (I think) in 1977...but the station remained in Hendersonville
until August of 1978, when it was moved into the 810 Division facility with WMAK.
Shortly after that...92Q went live (Steve McCoy and Mary Glen mornings)...and WMAK went on
the automation as disco "Majik 13". BTW...new president of Radio One Barry Mayo was the first
PD at Majik 13...but being intelligent...he left quickly! WMAK dropped the disco for oldies on
January 1, 1980...and simulcast mornings and afternoons with 92Q. At some point in 1981, GM
Bill Seaver (with help from Sales Manager Duffy Soto) hatched the plan to change 92Q from WBYQ
to WMAK-FM...failing to realize just how negativly perceived the WMAK calls had become.
WMAK-FM was sold fo Sam Howard...became "hit parade" (a MOYL knock-off) for a while... Mooney
bought WUSW 107.3 Lebanon...which became Y-107: another thread required for that story.
WMAK was totally gutted to become WLUY "Lucky 13"...possibly the worst radio event ever in North America.
The station was staffed 7m-6a weekdays...and all weekend with students from a broadcasting school...and sounded like it. The station finally went dark in 1983 (I think)...and was sold to Babb Ministries...became
preacher-feature WNQM...now with 50kw.

 

[scottwmro]

Mooney Broadcasting bought 92Q (I think) in 1977...but the station remained in Hendersonville
until August of 1978, when it was moved into the 810 Division facility with WMAK.
Shortly after that...92Q went live (Steve McCoy and Mary Glen mornings)...and WMAK went on
the automation as disco "Majik 13". BTW...new president of Radio One Barry Mayo was the first
PD at Majik 13...but being intelligent...he left quickly! WMAK dropped the disco for oldies on
January 1, 1980...and simulcast mornings and afternoons with 92Q. At some point in 1981, GM
Bill Seaver (with help from Sales Manager Duffy Soto) hatched the plan to change 92Q from WBYQ
to WMAK-FM...failing to realize just how negativly perceived the WMAK calls had become.
WMAK-FM was sold fo Sam Howard...became "hit parade" (a MOYL knock-off) for a while... Mooney
bought WUSW 107.3 Lebanon...which became Y-107: another thread required for that story.
WMAK was totally gutted to become WLUY "Lucky 13"...possibly the worst radio event ever in North America.
The station was staffed 7m-6a weekdays...and all weekend with students from a broadcasting school...and sounded like it. The station finally went dark in 1983 (I think)...and was sold to Babb Ministries...became
preacher-feature WNQM...now with 50kw.

It was kind of funny how Majik 13 alienated its audience the last week of December of 1979. They promote a big Bar-Kays concert and it appeared to be trying to kick WVOL's butt. It had a better signal than WVOL of course, then the audience tunes in the next day, 1st day of 1980, and Majik 13 was gone.

I know you hated Chris that you hated the days Majik 13 format, but I really like it. I listen alot to it. Too bad Barry didn't stay around too long. Guess Mooney wouldn't pay him the bucks he wanted! Where is Roshawn these days?

 

[K4WRF]

I once heard Les Vaden (the guy I followed at WMAK) say that the 810 Division facility was built over an Indian burial ground and was forever cursed. Now that may or may not be the case, but it seemed the place was forever doomed in one form or another. What’s worse is I signed on for TWO tours of duty in there before I moved down the street to another series from the book of crazy. Glad those days only live in memory now and enough time has elapsed that I can marvel and laugh at it. And people think today is crazy… A lot of stories from that time, but most are best left in the past. Come to think of it, I actually came back to that building in a contract capacity but was fired by Mike Kenney and Randy Michaels. Third time is the charm I guess. Now that’s another story!

The Chris timeline of events is spot on.

 

[bub]

What’s worse is I signed on for TWO tours of duty in there before I moved down the street to another series from the book of crazy. Glad those days only live in memory now and enough time has elapsed that I can marvel and laugh at it. And people think today is crazy… A lot of stories from that time, but most are best left in the past.

We in this racket can write a book about our experiences up and down the dial and no one would believe it. Heck, we can post them on this board and no one would believe it.

 

[Bob E. Nelson]

I once heard Les Vaden (the guy I followed at WMAK) say that the 810 Division facility was built over an Indian burial ground and was forever cursed. Now that may or may not be the case, but it seemed the place was forever doomed in one form or another. What’s worse is I signed on for TWO tours of duty in there before I moved down the street to another series from the book of crazy. Glad those days only live in memory now and enough time has elapsed that I can marvel and laugh at it.

Watt (and others):

Taking your point and stretching it a ways, I've had a wacky theory for quite some time that when a station moves from a frumpy old facility to a much nicer one, thus begins the chain of events that leads inexorably to its downfall. I think a factor that might be at play is a Jeffersonian ``Movin' on Up'' attitude that causes the staff to think ``we've arrived now, so let's relax''.

Yes, other factors were at work but WMAK's best days were in the dingy Exchange Building. Likewise, even the old WKDA of the First National Bank era did better than when it moved to the comparatively palatial Stahlman Building. Similarly, WKDA-FM and WKDF's best days were in the by-then dumpy Stahlman Building and its descent started with the move to the far nicer location on Rutledge Hill.

Maybe there's a certain espirit de corps (or bunker mentality) that comes about from working in a dump and that's lost when the facility moves to nicer digs. I know that was the case with the station I worked at here in Dallas when we moved out of downtown to a new and shiny place in the suburbs.

It's not unlike the Citizen Kane ``Xanadu'' scenario. I'll advocate that the Opry lost its earthy appeal when it moved out of the gritty Ryman and into the sterile location at Opryland. I think author Paul Hemphill was of the same opinion on that matter.

 

[Tibbs4]

I always thought it was just the low ceilings that made things creepy, there. The curse was indeed confirmed years later with Y-107's demise. On the positive side....how many people got lucky at 810 before Lucky 13 arrived??? : Thank God we had
Preacher Dan the Healin' Man to protect us.

 

[bub]

Watt (and others):

Taking your point and stretching it a ways, I've had a wacky theory for quite some time that when a station moves from a frumpy old facility to a much nicer one, thus begins the chain of events that leads inexorably to its downfall. I think a factor that might be at play is a Jeffersonian ``Movin' on Up'' attitude that causes the staff to think ``we've arrived now, so let's relax''.

Yes, other factors were at work but WMAK's best days were in the dingy Exchange Building. Likewise, even the old WKDA of the First National Bank era did better than when it moved to the comparatively palatial Stahlman Building. Similarly, WKDA-FM and WKDF's best days were in the by-then dumpy Stahlman Building and its descent started with the move to the far nicer location on Rutledge Hill.

Maybe there's a certain espirit de corps (or bunker mentality) that comes about from working in a dump and that's lost when the facility moves to nicer digs. I know that was the case with the station I worked at here in Dallas when we moved out of downtown to a new and shiny place in the suburbs.

Mr. Nelson: Let me hitchhike on that one. When huge conglomerates move stations to nicer digs, the thinking is that, "we're not going to let the inmates run the asylum." Problem is after several years of that mentality, the conglomerates have had it backwards all this time.

 

[scottwmro]

Let me do a twist in subject matter here and forget about the past. What is WQQK, (92.1, 92Q, so called "Nashville's Big Station") doing with thier HD channels. I don't have an HD radio yet, so I wasn't sure what kind of seperate programming they are doing with the 92.1 HD streams. I know the main channel is in HD now.


I'm not worried about the past, we can't go back and change it, I'm looking at the future!

 

[romer979fm]

I'm not worried about the past, we can't go back and change it, I'm looking at the future!

but the thread was dealing with the history of 92.1...aka "the past"