Camden AM stations

[JJSPC]

Just wondering about the format/call letter/year of sign on histories of the two Camden AM stations, WTMR and WEMG. WEMG was apparently WSSJ and WCAM at one time? Any info would be appreciated.

 

[saintrichard]

WTMR-800 was sister to WKDN, thus called WKDN-AM/FM (simulcast) and was a daytimer, the format was MOR, the FM had a much smaller tower 300' and the AM had a shorter tower. The two towers you see at the site now are rather new. The FM tower was put up in 1978 and the AM almost 20 years later, the old towers were painted and had red beacons, now only the FM tower has white strobes and both are silver. They had some good jocks and the music was kinda after WIP. With WCAM I remember the Geat always messing with it, trying to own it buy time you name it. At one time when they were called "The Little Giant Rocks Again" they played some great "oh wow" oldies and were automated. I also think RJ, Gene Arnold and Bobby Nixon ran a progressive show at night in the 60's. Their tower was in Pine Point Park a stand alone, with red beacons and painted, after Mega bought them they moved the tower along the banke of the Delaware River about a mile north of downtown Camden, the new tower is unlit and unpainted.

 

[deepstblu]

> Just wondering about the format/call letter/year of sign on
> histories of the two Camden AM stations, WTMR and WEMG. WEMG
> was apparently WSSJ and WCAM at one time? Any info would be
> appreciated.

WTMR signed on as WKDN in 1948, changed call letters to WTMR in 1968. It was always an MOR station, maybe with a few talk shows here and there, until 1975 when they began selling morning drive to religious broadcasters; within a year or so they were all religion.

WEMG was originally owned by the City of Camden; it came on the air around 1925 or '26 as WFBI, changed before long to WCAM. I've heard that in the '40s it carried mostly foreign language programs. In 1965 it became an NBC affiliate when KYW went all-news; at that point the station was MOR during the daytime with some specialty shows (showtunes, Blavat) at night. The NBC deal ended after a couple years, and more Top 40 started entering their playlist, with a heavy emphasis on listener requests. About this time the station became something of a political football as the city began thinking about selling it; deals with McLendon, with the Chess brothers (of Chess Records and Chicago's WVON) and with some outfit from Cleveland were contemplated, but none were ever finalized. The day format started veering all over the road, now Top 40, now back to MOR, now an emphasis on comedy, now lots of Sinatra...at night it was mostly Spanish-language by late 1968 (notable exception: Flyers hockey--third periods only--in 1968-69) and stayed that way for quite some time.

Years later--very late '70s I think--the city unloaded the station on Wade Communications, which had the cable franchise for a portion of Philadelphia. Wade tightened up the ship and made it an adult contemporary station, first as "AM 13," then changing the call letters to WSSJ in 1980. There were still some quirky things going on on weekends, like Kae Williams' blues show on Sunday nights, and college football from unlikely schools like Pitt and Navy. After a few years Wade sold out to a group that included longtime station employee Pat Delsi and banker/Chevy dealer/political figure William Rohrer. The music stayed AC/Top 40ish, growing more and more automated, until they sold to Mega in 1998 and it went Spanish; it stayed WSSJ until the WEMG call sign was moved over from 900 in Philly in 2001.