Buffalo Call Sign Gone South

[JustPastBuffalo]

WMMJ, WXRA, WADV, WUSJ, WGRQ, WRLT, WWOL ... now WNIA. The FCC database has WNIA assigned to a new FM at Nash Community College in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Wonder if their TOH will include, "Be big, be a builder?"

The WNIA call letters for years have been (fittingly) used by Niagara University's carrier current AM. Although the 1230 WNIA call sign might not carry the cache of bigger and more prominent stations such as WKBW, WGRQ or WYSL, it still has a place in the history of Western New York radio, especially for the many jocks who played the roles of Tom Thomas, Jerry Jack, Mac Maguire and Mike Melody. They were many and noteworthy, and so were their listeners. And at least for Western New York, let's face it, the WNIA call letters were fitting and kind of cool.

 

[qman]

Not familiar with WNIA but did remember those cast of characters and the Virgin Mary all on WSAY 1370 AM in Rochester.

 

[Mike Sheridan]

Well said Jim. In the days before WYSL, the mighty one-nigh-yuh was our second choice. I still remember the dedications they did at night. A rockin' little radio station.

In the days when you have to provide a certain amount of time doing news how did WNIA get away without doing any news?

 

[Bob1370]

"In the days when you have to provide a certain amount of time doing news how did WNIA get away without doing any news?"

Maybe the same way WSAY did...rip and read out of the paper (don't even think they had a wire service, although they may have had UPI...)

 

[Paul_Warren]

WNIA actually aired "No News is Good News" promos back in the day!

 

[Savage]

Curiously, WNIA did not have a wire service. But they had a weather wire - go figure. They used to do weather on the quarter-hours. WSAY had a UPI machine clattering away in an upstairs bedroom on French Road.

 

[average_listener]

Well said Jim. In the days before WYSL, the mighty one-nigh-yuh was our second choice. I still remember the dedications they did at night. A rockin' little radio station.

In the days when you have to provide a certain amount of time doing news how did WNIA get away without doing any news?

We used to read "Community News" announcements. Somehow that must have qualified. It was basically announcements about bingo, bazaars and CYO events. Old Gordon had his ways.

-aL

 

[cee]

It seemed like they ran community news and weather reports constantly. I never heard a real news story ever until after they came back on the air in the late 70s(after voluntarily going dark for over a year due to some EEO issues). A couple times I remember hearing a commercial, which was a surprise(apparently they once had a sales person or 2, but the sales office was eliminated in due time). As a kid, I always wondered how they paid the bills without any money coming in. They weren't a public station yet they also didn't seem to be a commercial station(in the truest sense). Years later I found out about the income tax write-off thing.

 

[Element9]

Even though WNIA was a toilet and some of its jocks were pukers, more than a few good jocks went through the place. And it had only two sets of call letters since it signed on. How many call signs did 107.7 go through? For a while 107.7 changed call letters more than some owners changed their socks, except for Chris Devine. He had only one set of call letters and didn't wear socks, he just bounced checks. Another suit who should be in prison.

 

[SRP]

Another suit who should be in prison.

Really? And just what other "suits" should check into the Graybar Hotel, 9?

Go ahead, we've got time...or maybe your partner might chime in.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Hahahaha. Lots of suits have tinkered with the accounting over the years. I can think of a guy who got prosperous ripping off his brother-in-law - the station owner - and a lot of other people. But, that's ancient history.

 

[cee]

and then after Gordon Brown died, there was the new ownership of WSAY and...Lou Dickey. We've had past discussions about the new WSAY on this board in our memorable past.

 

[Mike Sheridan]

Even though WNIA was a toilet and some of its jocks were pukers, more than a few good jocks went through the place. And it had only two sets of call letters since it signed on. How many call signs did 107.7 go through? For a while 107.7 changed call letters more than some owners changed their socks, except for Chris Devine. He had only one set of call letters and didn't wear socks, he just bounced checks. Another suit who should be in prison.

I wouldn't call WNIA a toilet. Some of the jocks were pukers but that was common at a lot of radio stations. The audio always sounded good and the station was on the air every day from what I recall. Just a little radio station in a big town.

It must have been the community news and weather that made up for them not doing newscasts. I remember the generic weather jingle. A friend of mine had it on a Cameo-Parkway "You Be A DJ" LP.

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

WNIA was a springboard for many jocks and news people, Mike. I think the legendary John Zack worked there, as have so many others. But it wasn't a showplace, for sure. Savage recounts open RF lines hanging from the ceiling. Our friend Tony Venturoli tells stories of taking the garbage out to the street after his 9 hour shift on Sunday. Steve Mitchell once told me a story about having to hold a lighter under the mic to warm up the diaphragm. Others recall having to wear their coats through most of their shifts in the winter because the furnace was inoperative. Ants and spiders crawled through the control board, there were no cart machines and the turntables that were like cement mixers. There was no production studio. The stories, often funny buffered by many years, abound. BTW, I did not have the pleasure of working at the Mighty 1230, but the stories made me appreciate clunky RCA and Tapecaster cart machines, Ampex and Magnacord reel to reel decks that were mechanically and electronically clean and RCA and QRK turntables that instantly came up to speed.

As to Rox and 9, I suspect they're referring to incidents at WBYR when Chris Devine owned the station. At one point the WBYR studios and offices were padlocked by the Erie county sheriff because the owner allegedly failed to pay the rent and other obligations. There have been a number of published reports regarding Devine's business ventures.

Events during Bob Howard's ownership of WPHD/WYSL Buffalo made the rounds on the Buffalo grapevine. Some of these stories are amusing because they're buffered by the years, particularly a story about the sales manager (whose name I don't recall) who traded Rolling Stones concert tickets for a listener's "services," one ticket at a time. But they weren't funny to the people who at the time depended on the paycheck to feed their kids and pay their mortgages. Those of us who worked at other stations said a prayer and breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that we weren't in those guys' shoes.

As to the call letters assigned to 107.7? WFNF, WRRL, WBIV, WUWU, WBYR, WBMW, WEZQ, WNUC, WNSA, WLKK. Wow! Did I miss any?

 

[cee]

WBMW

That was "The Wave" satellite format - new age music - IIRC, this was in the late 80s? Not a great format and great calls for a blue collar town that just lost most of Bethlehem Steel as a major employer. Not a lot of blue collar dudes driving around in BMWs back then.

 

[Mike Sheridan]

I stand corrected Jim, sounds like a toilet. As a listener I thought they sounded great. Evidently the people on the air were able to make the most out of what they had to work with.

I'm very thankful I never had to work under those conditions. The one place I worked where people ran to the bank with their paychecks, when I found that out I left in a week for another job.

 

[Play Freebird]

Events during Bob Howard's ownership of WPHD/WYSL Buffalo made the rounds on the Buffalo grapevine. Some of these stories are amusing because they're buffered by the years, particularly a story about the sales manager (whose name I don't recall) who traded Rolling Stones concert tickets for a listener's "services," one ticket at a time.

As I recall, the sales manager's name was Prosper -- Prosper Azerraf? -- and wasn't he Mr. Howard's brother-in-law?

I may have met him when I interviewed for the CE position there in 1975. Mr. Howard did offer me the job, but after talking with Tom Atkins (who had just gone across the street to WBLK) I decided to hold out for a different opportunity, which paved the way for Bill Stachowiak to make his move from CB radio repair to broadcast engineering. So I suppose it worked out in everyone's best interest.

What I remember most about that interview was a tour of the WYSL/WPHD transmitter site, conducted by Bob Taylor -- and his advice, "Don't come out here at night unless you have a rifle strapped to your leg!"