Anniversaries

[kyscott]

I worked with a guy once who swore WDMG stood for "Worst Damn Music in Georgia."

If that were the case, 90% of the radio stations in Georgia would have the call sign WDMG!

 

[jovialjay]

I worked with a guy once who swore WDMG stood for "Worst Damn Music in Georgia."

I'm thinking that's a Suttonism. Of course, he's just repeating Al Cohen. Hmmm...I guess that really makes it a Cohenism.

 

[jovialjay]

Now that you mention it, your are correct about WNMT! My 50-year-old memory slips from time to time.

One of the long-time staffers at WEAS told me that the call stood for "We Entertain All Savannah." Perhaps the translation was grafted onto the call after it was brought to Savannah.

Dr. McDougal's brother told me personally that WMCD was named after his brother back in 1980-something...

Witchy, I wasn't trying to beat up on you. To be sure, The Rivers folks probably did adopt a locally correct slogan.

As for WMCD...that's where I have my roots. Originally, it was going to be WDON, named for owner Don Mcdougald (the name is spelled with a "d"). Discovering that WDON was assigned to a Wheaton, Maryland station, they opted for WMCD, saying it stood for "McDougald", with no preference to any of the family members.

Yes, Mike is a friendly fellow, as are/were all the McDougalds. Don McDougald was a good friend of my dad, the two having worked closely when Don was comptroller at the then Georgia Teachers College. Without question, Don was kinder and more tolerant than I deserved.

 

[jovialjay]

I'm sure Jay, Art or somebody can answer this but I have often wondered if there was any significance to WMES in Ashburn and WSIZ in Ocilla?

Sometime back the 70's, then WMES owner Ray Mercer told me that the calls were chosen by original owner Bill Foshee to mean We Make Everyone Sing. That could be true, but it's probably an adopted after-the-fact slogan.

The WSIZ calls (in south Georgia, anyway) were originally on the 1310 in Douglas. Brody Timm (WDMG's owner) bought out the original owners, in order to shut the station down (getting rid of any competition). That was in 1959. In 1961, the calls were chosen for the new 1380 in Ocilla. I've never anyone identify a slogan, but I've always heard it stood for Sizzling, and it definitely sizzled for many a year.

Art may know differently on each of these.

 

[JackieSteele]

I've also heard folks joke that WLBB/Carrollton was for "Little Bitty Broadcasting"

 

[Witchlover]

Now that you mention it, your are correct about WNMT! My 50-year-old memory slips from time to time.

One of the long-time staffers at WEAS told me that the call stood for "We Entertain All Savannah." Perhaps the translation was grafted onto the call after it was brought to Savannah.

Dr. McDougal's brother told me personally that WMCD was named after his brother back in 1980-something...

Witchy, I wasn't trying to beat up on you. To be sure, The Rivers folks probably did adopt a locally correct slogan.

As for WMCD...that's where I have my roots. Originally, it was going to be WDON, named for owner Don Mcdougald (the name is spelled with a "d"). Discovering that WDON was assigned to a Wheaton, Maryland station, they opted for WMCD, saying it stood for "McDougald", with no preference to any of the family members.

Yes, Mike is a friendly fellow, as are/were all the McDougalds. Don McDougald was a good friend of my dad, the two having worked closely when Don was comptroller at the then Georgia Teachers College. Without question, Don was kinder and more tolerant than I deserved.

No problem here! Would that I could be paid on the basis of what I don't know .... Dr. Mac used to teach a class for all of the Senior Radio-TV-Fil m students up at the Grady School. It was a management and administrattion course, but he was always quick to digress into stories about the history (and sometimes the "mysteries" of broadcasting in Georgia. He even taught me how to set up a minority ownership under some then-current FCC policy or another. As he used to tell me, "Use whatever you have to get in the door ...." I found his support for my aspirations both rare and inspiring.

 

[kyscott]

Witchy, I wasn't trying to beat up on you. To be sure, The Rivers folks probably did adopt a locally correct slogan.

Same Rivers that owned Cordele? What ever happened to that bunch? And did they ever determine what caused the fire that burned down WMJM/WFAV's studios?

 

[jovialjay]

Witchy, I wasn't trying to beat up on you. To be sure, The Rivers folks probably did adopt a locally correct slogan.

Same Rivers that owned Cordele? What ever happened to that bunch? And did they ever determine what caused the fire that burned down WMJM/WFAV's studios?

Scott, former Georgia Governor E.D. Rivers and James S. Rivers (Cordele) were brothers...oldest and youngest in the family, as I remember it. Dee Rivers was the son of E.D. Rivers. Jim Rivers (Waycross) was James' oldest son. "Big Ed" (as they affectionately called the Governor) had interests in the Valdosta newspaper, and built WGOV in 1940, although the radio station was really Dee's. James worked for the Cordele newspaper, and was the lead dog in the building of WMJM in 1940, which he bought within a year of its construction.

Dee Rivers "first" station (not counting WGOV) was WEAS/Decatur...a 1kw daytimer on 1010. From there, he expanded into Memphis (KWEM/990, 1kw-D), Savannah (WJIV/900, 1kw-D), Jacksonville (WOBS/1360, 1kw-D) and south Florida (WSWN in Belle Glade/900, 1kw-d). From a handful of kilowatt daytimers (WGOV was 250 watts fulltime on 1450), an empire was created. Dee bought into Miami in 1956 (WMIE/1140, 10kw-D - 5kw-DA-N), which was his base of operations 'till his death. He also held the CP for WCTV-TV/Jacksonville. WEAS/Decatur became the 50kw WGUN/Atlanta, KWEM became the 10kw KWAM (K-Wham) and WJIV became the 5kw WEAS. Of course, the eventual big money came from all the FM sister stations. When WEDR-FM/Miami was sold in the mid-90's, it fetched 60+ million bucks.

James Rivers built WMJM-WFAV/Cordele, WTRR/Sanford, Florida, WTJH/East Point, WJAZ-WJIZ/Albany, WACL/Waycross and WDOL-AM & FM/Athens. He sold WTRR in less than a year and sold WACL to son Jim in the mid-60's. There were some questionable billing practices "uncovered" in the remaining stations in the late 80's, which eventually led to the forced sale of the stations to minority interests. James Rivers' residence was a part of the radio station building in Cordele, which was never sold. He continued to live there, and was found dead on the back porch steps, just a few feet away from the base of the big, self-supporting tower.

I don't know if they ever got to the bottom of the Cordele fire, but the station was being LMA'd to some rather strange guys. I don't think they stood to gain anything from burning it, and station owner John Brooks only had $17,000.00 in insurance coverage...that was collected, anyway. Jim Popwell bought the WKKN license from Brooks for $200,000.00, but stipulated that he would be credited for the insurance, meaning he only paid $173k for the paper.

As for what happened to the Rivers, Big Ed, Dee and his wife Marie are dead, as are James, Jim and Herschel. So far as I know, Tolliver (Tobby) and Ron are still in Cordele, and Dee's daughter Georgia and her children operate and have a minority interest in WGOV, WAAC, WLYX and WGUN (The Dee Rivers Trust holds a 50.98% interest in all the stations).

Astoundingly, it took me 5 paragraphs to answer 3 simple questions. I need a drink, then a nap!

 

[IFB64]

When did Cordele burn? I went in that building one time back in the 80's or 90's what a huge rambling building as I recall. Jim Jennings (IRC may have the name wrong due to Whiskey River) was involved at one point in WMJM.

 

[taylorengineer]

Jay:

How did the sale of Miami come about? I thought the trust Dee Rivers put together held all the stations and could not be dissolved until the last of Dee's kids died. I always thought the trust prevented the family from divesting of WGUN, WGOV, and WAAC.

 

[kyscott]

Astoundingly, it took me 5 paragraphs to answer 3 simple questions. I need a drink, then a nap!

Considering that I worked at 1550 in Vienna and was in the Cordele building several times, it was an interesting story.

I remember vividly the problems that James had that forced the sale. That was a huge studio building that Cordele had. At the time I worked at WALB-TV in Albany and had a chance to stop by and see the ruins after the fire. I recall the carcass of the old Gates FM and AM transmitters still in the wall. I also remember the console for WMJM was a tank. A Gates SA-40. I thought it was unusual that the control room mic pot was in the middle! I think the WFAV's console was a Stereo Statesman. The AM transmitter was the same model (BC-1F) used by WCEH when I worked there before Jim Jr replaced it with a Harris MW-1A. I think WFAV's transmitter was an FM-3H.

FYI, the WMJM call letters are presently on an FM station I worked for in Louisville.

Funny I can remember all this, yet not remember my mother's birthday!

 

[fwillis]

I believe that the Cordele stations burned in 95. The late Jim Jennings was managing and/or leasing them,in addition to WHKN in Milan. I remember his son, who lived in the apartment side of the Cordele studios talk about it on television.

 

[fwillis]

I also recall that after the fire they tried to temporarily operate with an exciter. WGCO 100 kw. near Savannah, also at 98.3 caused so much interference, it was useless.

 

[kyscott]

I believe that the Cordele stations burned in 95. The late Jim Jennings was managing and/or leasing them,in addition to WHKN in Milan. I remember his son, who lived in the apartment side of the Cordele studios talk about it on television.

Did they ever figure out a cause for the fire?

 

[fwillis]

I believe it was ruled as old faulty wiring. It wasn't a suspicious fire, if I remember correctly.

 

[kyscott]

I believe it was ruled as old faulty wiring. It wasn't a suspicious fire, if I remember correctly.

Makes sense considering how old the building was. Does anyone know if anything has been built on the lot? Last time I was in Cordele it was still vacant. I think the FM transmitter is now on the Folsom Construction tower.

 

[Ben Sandifer]

Keep in mind some of this may be just local radio legend, but some of the Macon area station call letters and what they stood for:

WMAZ (Watch Mercer Attain Zenith - station was originally started as a physics experiment at Mercer University)
WBML (Black, McKenzie, Lowe - original partners)
WNEX (rumor is Al Lowe just looked at a box of Kleenex and took the last 3 letters in the name)
WCRY (originally a country station, at least part of the day, when "crying" songs dominated the country charts)
WDEN (We Don't Entertain Nights - station was originally an AM daytimer)
WRBN (something to do with Robins Air Force Base)
WPGA (Perry, GA)

No clue on WIBB, some of the other cities in the area, or any of the more recent FM's, like WPEZ, WMGB, WQBZ, WRBV, etc.

 

[Diamondtwo]

The WPEZ call letters were, for a good period of time, in Pittsburgh, PA on 94.5FM. It was, as you'd imagine, a soft AC/MOR. Once the owners of the station (Shamrock?) decided to make a change to an oldies-based AC, much like WFOX/Atlanta (also Shamrock) in the mid-late 80's, 94.5 became WWSW-FM, or 3-W-S, as it's known. It's Clear Channel's Oldies/Classic Hits station now. At some point after that, Mr. Ben Porter picked up those call letters for WCRY-FM at 107.9, and when US Broadcasting migrated its AC format over to 93.7 in 2001, the WPEZ calls were moved there as well.

The morning host at 3-W-S, Jim Merkel, was there during the WPEZ days in Pittsburgh. Jim is, of course, one of the premiere voiceover talents in the country nowadays as well. Also, Jim Kennedy, who is Cumulus's VP of Oldies/Classic Hits programming and also handles some AC's and Urban AC's for the company, worked there as well. It was sort of an "old home" day for Jim when he was assigned consulting duties for WPEZ in Macon.

Just a guess here, but I suspect the WIBB calls are just a play on "Bibb" for the location of the station.

As for WRBV, when I first came to Macon in 1996, Taylor Broadcasting had that station and they were running an "Urban Oldies" satellite network. I believe the calls then were "WRBG". I think they were calling the station "Gold 101.7". If memory serves, once the decision was made to move 101.7 to more of an Urban AC format, they tweaked the calls slightly to WRBV, in light of a number of successful Urban AC's using the "V" moniker (most notably WVAZ/Chicago).

Oh, and yes, WDEN-AM was and continues to be, a daytime-only AM, albeit now carrying the once mighty WAYS calls. And "we don't entertain nights" is still applicable for the AM, although I did see some paperwork from the FCC awhile back that authorized 1500AM for some "critical hours" operation. IIRC, the most power we could use was something like 2w, and even that was scaled back some in selected months of the year. Think we'll probably just stick to the webstream.

TDO

 

[kyscott]

WRBN (something to do with Robins Air Force Base)

Could it have been Warner RoBiNs? Nothing about the base there.

 

[production]

WLOP, Welcome to the Land of Progress, might be right. Have to ask. Wonderful Land of Progress is what I've been told. Or, We love our *****.