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question

tiftonpd

tiftonpd

How do you do a search for dark radio stations? Is there a way. I am interested in the history of valdosta area radio stations, possibly south ga and north florida. I used to listen when I was a kid to a station in Jasper but I think it is dark now. Where is a listing for these types of stations, I know they probably still exist, rotting some where lol I love vintage stuff too!
<P ID="signature">______________
Brian Peters Jr
Program Director
WKZZ - WRDO - WDMG AM/FM - WBHB
</P>
 
> How do you do a search for dark radio stations? Is there a
> way. I am interested in the history of valdosta area radio
> stations, possibly south ga and north florida. I used to
> listen when I was a kid to a station in Jasper but I think
> it is dark now. Where is a listing for these types of
> stations, I know they probably still exist, rotting some
> where lol I love vintage stuff too!
>


Hi Brian,

North Florida/Tallahassee radio veteran here..

I have some old M Street Radio Directories and I found a silent station in Jasper..

WYYZ
1490 kKz 1000 watts

Last licensed to Mountain Broadcasting Company

Format was not listed.


There's a silent station list at http://www.fcc.gov under Media Bureau, then
search..I can never remember the exact location! There's an alphabetical index, under "S" there's a list that includes "silent stations." But it doesn't go back for more than a year or so.

Feel free to email me at [email protected] if you have other stations or just vintage questions..I have a good bit of that type of info floating around.<P ID="signature">______________
Proudly remembering the days of the hometown "country giant" radio stations now at
http://www.live365.com/stations/alanmccall</P>
 
> > How do you do a search for dark radio stations? Is there a
>
> > way. I am interested in the history of valdosta area radio
>
> > stations, possibly south ga and north florida. I used to
> > listen when I was a kid to a station in Jasper but I think
>
> > it is dark now. Where is a listing for these types of
> > stations, I know they probably still exist, rotting some
> > where lol I love vintage stuff too!
> >
>
>
> Hi Brian,
>
> North Florida/Tallahassee radio veteran here..
>
> I have some old M Street Radio Directories and I found a
> silent station in Jasper..

Isn't there a Jasper in north Georgia? I thought Brian was looking for dark stations in south Georgia and north Florida.
 
> > How do you do a search for dark radio stations? Is there a
>
> North Florida/Tallahassee radio veteran here..
>
> I have some old M Street Radio Directories and I found a
> silent station in Jasper..
>
> WYYZ
> 1490 kKz 1000 watts
>
This example shows the difficulty of tracking this area. WYYZ was apparently silent for a (short?) period a decade ago but is currently on the air.

The FCC silent station list is also a bit misleading. Apparently it is a list of stations that have had to fess-up to being silent. It may be the beginning of FCC action to force a station to either light up or surrender their license.

There are times when I know of a station being dark, but it does not show up on the FCC list.

Maybe someone has better undderstanding of this process.
 
> > > How do you do a search for dark radio stations? Is there
> a
> >
> > > way. I am interested in the history of valdosta area
> radio
> >
> > > stations, possibly south ga and north florida. I used to
>
> > > listen when I was a kid to a station in Jasper but I
> think
> >
> > > it is dark now. Where is a listing for these types of
> > > stations, I know they probably still exist, rotting some
>
> > > where lol I love vintage stuff too!
> > >
> >
> >
> > Hi Brian,
> >
> > North Florida/Tallahassee radio veteran here..
> >
> > I have some old M Street Radio Directories and I found a
> > silent station in Jasper..
>
> Isn't there a Jasper in north Georgia? I thought Brian was
> looking for dark stations in south Georgia and north
> Florida.
>
=========================================

WYYZ 1490 is/was Jasper Georgia. I'm not sure if it is still on the air.
Don't see anything about a Jasper, Florida.
 
> WYYZ 1490 is/was Jasper Georgia. I'm not sure if it is
> still on the air.

It was dark for a while a number of years ago but has been back on the air for several years now.

Oddly enough, this is the second time the station has been mentioned on radio-info lately ... it was also the subject of the thread about the station currently being listed on eBay -- asking price = $750k
 
Jasper, Florida

To my knowledge, there was never a radio station licensed to Jssper, Florida (which is about 10 miles south of the state line).

There was a AM CP on 1020 (never built) at Lake Park, Georgia.

You may be thinking of WMAF-1230/Madison, Florida, which is still on the air, I think.

There was WMFL-1090 at Monticello, Florida, which is now silent, as is WSBP-1580/Chattahoochee.

The BIG station in South Georgia, that's now gone, is WACL/Waycross. 5kw-D/1kw DA-N, on 570. It was a blowtorch. In addition to WACL, WAZA-1360/Bainbridge (5kw-D/1kw DA-N), WSIZ-1380/Ocilla (5kw-D), WMGA-1130 (or 580...see * below)/Moultrie, WNGA-1600/Nashville (1kw-D), WBIT-1470/Adel (1kw-D), WCLB-1400 (1kw-U)*(formerly 1220, 1kw-D)/Camilla, WMES-1570/Ashburn (1kw-D), WDWD-990/Dawson (1kw-D), WDEC-1290/Americus (1kw-D), WMJM-1490/Cordele (1kw-U), WKIG-1580/Glennville (1kw-D), WNMT-1520/Garden City and WQQT(WBYG)-1450/Savannah, are all gone.

WISK, 1390/Americus (formerly 5kw-D, now 1kw-D) is probably going away. The have applied to move to 990, with a COL change to Lawrenceville. There is currently a CP for the 570 at Garden City, but I wonder if it'll ever be built. It's a six-tower array, with 500w DA-2. There is also a CP (I think...may be just an app) for 1520 at Pooler, with 50kw-D, and a couple grand at night. This requires an eight-tower array, as I recall. There is an application for 1420 at Adel, and the CP just expired for 1490 at Cordele.

*The 1400 formerly at Camilla is now in Moultrie (WHBS), returning to where it originated. WMGA began on 1370 (250w) in 1939, moved to 1400 (250w, later 1kw-D/250w-N) as part of the NARBA frequency shift in 1941, moved to 1130 (10kw-D/10kw DA-CH/250w DA-N) in '69, to 580 (900w-D/250w DA-N) in '89, forced back to 1130 (10kw-D/5kw-CH) in '2000 (long story), then finally shut down by the FCC, with the license officially cancelled last year (even longer story).

Where do you find this stuff? As someone else said, old Broadcasting and/or Radio-Television yearbooks are about the best source. A lot of this stuff comes from personal memory/knowledge/witness.

In the early 80's, I had the extremely rare opportunity to visit the FCC Archives outside DC. This required an advance appointment, and I had to request the station records I wished to see (and there was a limit). Due a wonderful misunderstanding, they allowed me to schedule this on a Saturday...when nobody (but a guard) was there. Sure enough, bigger than hell, there was my name on the list for that day. The guard told me that he knew nothing about anything, but since my name was on that list, I could come in, but I was on my own. With that, he unlocks and opens the door to this HUGE room with floor to ceiling shelves, and I was left alone to wander and plunder. EVERYTHING was there...from WWNS's (hometown station) original application, to whatever else I could think of. I got there right after 8 AM, and was finally run out by another guard (who didn't know I was there) at nearly 9 PM. My wife thought I'd been kidnapped (unlikely) or arrested (possible). I could've stayed for a week...longer with a jar of peanut butter, a loaf of bread and a case of Cokes. It was a one in a billion fluke, and I've wished a million times that I'd just made some damned copies...the copy machine was right there. It was just too overwhelming for my tiny mind.

I gotta write a book.<P ID="signature">______________
Jay Braswell - Moderator
Atlanta/North Florida/South Carolina/Georgia Boards</P>
 
Re: Jasper, Florida

> To my knowledge, there was never a radio station licensed to
> Jssper, Florida (which is about 10 miles south of the state
> line).
>
> There was a AM CP on 1020 (never built) at Lake Park,
> Georgia.
>
> You may be thinking of WMAF-1230/Madison, Florida, which is
> still on the air, I think.
>
> There was WMFL-1090 at Monticello, Florida, which is now
> silent, as is WSBP-1580/Chattahoochee.
>
> The BIG station in South Georgia, that's now gone, is
> WACL/Waycross. 5kw-D/1kw DA-N, on 570. It was a blowtorch.
> In addition to WACL, WAZA-1360/Bainbridge (5kw-D/1kw DA-N),
> WSIZ-1380/Ocilla (5kw-D), WMGA-1130 (or 580...see *
> below)/Moultrie, WNGA-1600/Nashville (1kw-D), WBIT-1470/Adel
> (1kw-D), WCLB-1400 (1kw-U)*(formerly 1220, 1kw-D)/Camilla,
> WMES-1570/Ashburn (1kw-D), WDWD-990/Dawson (1kw-D),
> WDEC-1290/Americus (1kw-D), WMJM-1490/Cordele (1kw-U),
> WKIG-1580/Glennville (1kw-D), WNMT-1520/Garden City and
> WQQT(WBYG)-1450/Savannah, are all gone.
>
> WISK, 1390/Americus (formerly 5kw-D, now 1kw-D) is probably
> going away. The have applied to move to 990, with a COL
> change to Lawrenceville. There is currently a CP for the 570
> at Garden City, but I wonder if it'll ever be built. It's a
> six-tower array, with 500w DA-2. There is also a CP (I
> think...may be just an app) for 1520 at Pooler, with 50kw-D,
> and a couple grand at night. This requires an eight-tower
> array, as I recall. There is an application for 1420 at
> Adel, and the CP just expired for 1490 at Cordele.
>
> *The 1400 formerly at Camilla is now in Moultrie (WHBS),
> returning to where it originated. WMGA began on 1370 (250w)
> in 1939, moved to 1400 (250w, later 1kw-D/250w-N) as part of
> the NARBA frequency shift in 1941, moved to 1130
> (10kw-D/10kw DA-CH/250w DA-N) in '69, to 580 (900w-D/250w
> DA-N) in '89, forced back to 1130 (10kw-D/5kw-CH) in '2000
> (long story), then finally shut down by the FCC, with the
> license officially cancelled last year (even longer story).
>
> Where do you find this stuff? As someone else said, old
> Broadcasting and/or Radio-Television yearbooks are about the
> best source. A lot of this stuff comes from personal
> memory/knowledge/witness.
>
> In the early 80's, I had the extremely rare opportunity to
> visit the FCC Archives outside DC. This required an advance
> appointment, and I had to request the station records I
> wished to see (and there was a limit). Due a wonderful
> misunderstanding, they allowed me to schedule this on a
> Saturday...when nobody (but a guard) was there. Sure enough,
> bigger than hell, there was my name on the list for that
> day. The guard told me that he knew nothing about anything,
> but since my name was on that list, I could come in, but I
> was on my own. With that, he unlocks and opens the door to
> this HUGE room with floor to ceiling shelves, and I was left
> alone to wander and plunder. EVERYTHING was there...from
> WWNS's (hometown station) original application, to whatever
> else I could think of. I got there right after 8 AM, and was
> finally run out by another guard (who didn't know I was
> there) at nearly 9 PM. My wife thought I'd been kidnapped
> (unlikely) or arrested (possible). I could've stayed for a
> week...longer with a jar of peanut butter, a loaf of bread
> and a case of Cokes. It was a one in a billion fluke, and
> I've wished a million times that I'd just made some damned
> copies...the copy machine was right there. It was just too
> overwhelming for my tiny mind.
>
> I gotta write a book.
>
W.T.C.L.Chattahoochee is on the air with an urban gospel format.
 
Re: WSBP..

> > > >
> > You may be thinking of WMAF-1230/Madison, Florida, which
> is
> > still on the air, I think.

WMAF is still broadcasting, with a classic country format.
> >
> > There was WMFL-1090 at Monticello, Florida, which is now
> > silent, as is WSBP-1580/Chattahoochee.
> >

> W.T.C.L.Chattahoochee is on the air with an urban gospel
> format.
>


WTCL, (once WSBP, then later WENO, before becoming WTCL) was owned by a
good friend of mine, Erwin O'Conner, from 1975 to 1988. I asked him what "WSBP" stood for and he told me it meant "We Slop Bud's Pigs," in reference to a pig farm located nearby. He told it with a straight face, but you never can tell..
It was country in those days, and my friend added southern gospel to the programming around 1980.

This station was silent for a while in 2003-2004 but got back on just before getting in big trouble with the FCC for not notifying them that they were off. I've also noticed that they have Spanish on the air after around noon.

Mr. O'Conner, who kept his country library after selling the station, recently donated the music to my station. Stamped on many of the old albums and 45s is "WSBP, Chattahoochee, Florida". The addition of so much classic country
to the collection I already had led to my re-creating "country giant"
on the internet.<P ID="signature">______________
Proudly remembering the days of the hometown "country giant" radio stations now at
http://www.live365.com/stations/alanmccall</P>
 
Re: Jasper, Florida

> The BIG station in South Georgia, that's now gone, is
> WACL/Waycross. 5kw-D/1kw DA-N, on 570. It was a blowtorch.
> In addition to WACL, WAZA-1360/Bainbridge (5kw-D/1kw DA-N),
> WSIZ-1380/Ocilla (5kw-D), WMGA-1130 (or 580...see *
> below)/Moultrie, WNGA-1600/Nashville (1kw-D), WBIT-1470/Adel
> (1kw-D), WCLB-1400 (1kw-U)*(formerly 1220, 1kw-D)/Camilla,
> WMES-1570/Ashburn (1kw-D), WDWD-990/Dawson (1kw-D),
> WDEC-1290/Americus (1kw-D), WMJM-1490/Cordele (1kw-U),
> WKIG-1580/Glennville (1kw-D), WNMT-1520/Garden City and
> WQQT(WBYG)-1450/Savannah, are all gone.

Wow! A lot of once great radio stations, that used to be on the air, but now are long gone.

> WISK, 1390/Americus (formerly 5kw-D, now 1kw-D) is probably
> going away. The have applied to move to 990, with a COL
> change to Lawrenceville. There is currently a CP for the 570
> at Garden City, but I wonder if it'll ever be built. It's a
> six-tower array, with 500w DA-2. There is also a CP (I
> think...may be just an app) for 1520 at Pooler, with 50kw-D,
> and a couple grand at night. This requires an eight-tower
> array, as I recall. There is an application for 1420 at
> Adel, and the CP just expired for 1490 at Cordele.

Looks like Americus' loss is Gwinnett County's gain. Hopefully, the "new" 990 will broadcast in English, unlike the other stations currently licensed to Gwinnett communitites, which currently broadcast in Spanish. As for 1490, WQSY, which was "Sunny 103.9" out of Hawkinsville, was supposed to resurface on that aforementioned frequency as the only commercial radio station in Crisp County (now that WQXZ-98.3 has changed its COL to Pinehurst in Dooly County), but apparently, whoever was supposed to build the station never got around to building it. By the way, 1490 in Cordele was WMJM for many years.

Oh, if and when to move to Lawrenceville is finally complete, it appears that Americus and Sumter County will only be left with four stations, all on the FM dial: two commercial (WDEC-94.7 and WISK-98.7), and two non-commercial stations (WFRP-88.7 and WBJY-89.3).


> *The 1400 formerly at Camilla is now in Moultrie (WHBS),
> returning to where it originated. WMGA began on 1370 (250w)
> in 1939, moved to 1400 (250w, later 1kw-D/250w-N) as part of
> the NARBA frequency shift in 1941, moved to 1130
> (10kw-D/10kw DA-CH/250w DA-N) in '69, to 580 (900w-D/250w
> DA-N) in '89, forced back to 1130 (10kw-D/5kw-CH) in '2000
> (long story), then finally shut down by the FCC, with the
> license officially cancelled last year (even longer story).


Seems like south Georgia has had more radio stations go off the air and disappear than in any other part of the nation. Can't seem to put a finger on it, though.

<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by radionut987 on 12/14/05 04:41 PM.</FONT></P>
 
Chattahoochee

I haven't been in the area in about 3 months but WTCL Chattahoochee was playing spanish music last time I was there. They also had fliers up in the windows of local gas stations and stores advertising 1580 AM with lots of spanish words I didn't understand.


> > > silent, as is WSBP-1580/Chattahoochee.
> > >
>
> > W.T.C.L.Chattahoochee is on the air with an urban
> gospel
> > format.
> >
>
>
> WTCL, (once WSBP, then later WENO, before becoming WTCL) was
> owned by a
> good friend of mine, Erwin O'Conner, from 1975 to 1988. I
> asked him what "WSBP" stood for and he told me it meant "We
> Slop Bud's Pigs," in reference to a pig farm located nearby.
> He told it with a straight face, but you never can tell..
> It was country in those days, and my friend added southern
> gospel to the programming around 1980.
>
> This station was silent for a while in 2003-2004 but got
> back on just before getting in big trouble with the FCC for
> not notifying them that they were off. I've also noticed
> that they have Spanish on the air after around noon.
>
> Mr. O'Conner, who kept his country library after selling the
> station, recently donated the music to my station. Stamped
> on many of the old albums and 45s is "WSBP, Chattahoochee,
> Florida". The addition of so much classic country
> to the collection I already had led to my re-creating
> "country giant"
> on the internet.
>
 
Re: Jasper, Florida

> >Where do you find this stuff?
> As someone else said, old Broadcasting and/or
> Radio-Television yearbooks are about the best
> source. A lot of this stuff comes from personal memory/knowledge/witness.

And finding those probably isn't an easy task, correct? I'm planning to do a bit of research soon, and was going to ask a similar question to the OP.
 
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