A good while back, there was some discussion of the historical timeline of these stations. I posted a couple of things, but I think I had some incorrect information. So, here's the way I now understand it to be:
1320 began life as WKIX in 1945. The station had 1kw-D/500w-DA-N. The transmitter location was simply "Lexington County", which I assume to be the same location as the present 1320 transmitter. It was owned by Inner-City Advertising, Inc., which I'm thinking was the entity that later became Thoms Radio. The connection is that Inner-City also owned WAYS/Charlotte and WCOG/Greensboro, both of which later became Thoms stations, with much of the same personnel.
In 1950, Wallace Martin, who had been sales manager at WIS radio, bought WKIX, and changed it to WMSC. WMSC was more or less a WIS sound-a-like...MOR music, with the market's CBS affiliation.
The 1470 facility went on the air in 1954, but I'm not sure that it was as WOIC. Joe Speidel acquired the station in '58, and that's likely when it became WOIC...at least that's probably when the black format began...maybe. You see, Speidel's first acquisition in South Carolina came in 1957, when he bought WWBD/Bamberg, which had only been on the air a few months. WWBD never had a black format...not until the last few years, anyway.
Speidel's acquisitions came quickly after that. In addition to the 1470 and 790, he picked up the 730 in Charleston (which was built by George Weiss...the same fellow that built and owned WBBQ/Augusta), the 540 in Florence (also on the air only a few months at the time of Speidel's purchase) and the 1230 in Savannah.
He sold WWBD to Vic Whetstone in '61, which is when he bought WMSC from Wallace Martin, selling the 1470 facility, and moving the WOIC calls and format to 1320. It was Speidel who increased the power on the 1320 to 5kw-D/1kw-DA-N. Of course, the 1470 facility became WQXL at that time.
Speidel advertised the 4-station combo (WOIC/WPAL/WYNN/WSOK) heavily, as covering the vast majority of South Carolina's black population.
Oh...by the way, WCOS was originally owned by E.D. Black. Don't know anything about him, except that he also built and owned WBML/Macon, Georgia, which was that city's second radio station, as well.
1320 began life as WKIX in 1945. The station had 1kw-D/500w-DA-N. The transmitter location was simply "Lexington County", which I assume to be the same location as the present 1320 transmitter. It was owned by Inner-City Advertising, Inc., which I'm thinking was the entity that later became Thoms Radio. The connection is that Inner-City also owned WAYS/Charlotte and WCOG/Greensboro, both of which later became Thoms stations, with much of the same personnel.
In 1950, Wallace Martin, who had been sales manager at WIS radio, bought WKIX, and changed it to WMSC. WMSC was more or less a WIS sound-a-like...MOR music, with the market's CBS affiliation.
The 1470 facility went on the air in 1954, but I'm not sure that it was as WOIC. Joe Speidel acquired the station in '58, and that's likely when it became WOIC...at least that's probably when the black format began...maybe. You see, Speidel's first acquisition in South Carolina came in 1957, when he bought WWBD/Bamberg, which had only been on the air a few months. WWBD never had a black format...not until the last few years, anyway.
Speidel's acquisitions came quickly after that. In addition to the 1470 and 790, he picked up the 730 in Charleston (which was built by George Weiss...the same fellow that built and owned WBBQ/Augusta), the 540 in Florence (also on the air only a few months at the time of Speidel's purchase) and the 1230 in Savannah.
He sold WWBD to Vic Whetstone in '61, which is when he bought WMSC from Wallace Martin, selling the 1470 facility, and moving the WOIC calls and format to 1320. It was Speidel who increased the power on the 1320 to 5kw-D/1kw-DA-N. Of course, the 1470 facility became WQXL at that time.
Speidel advertised the 4-station combo (WOIC/WPAL/WYNN/WSOK) heavily, as covering the vast majority of South Carolina's black population.
Oh...by the way, WCOS was originally owned by E.D. Black. Don't know anything about him, except that he also built and owned WBML/Macon, Georgia, which was that city's second radio station, as well.