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Retro: Atlanta network affiliates Monday, May 1, 1950

B

bpatrick

Someone asked me about the existence of WCON/550,
an ABC affiliate in Atlanta in the late '40s/early
'50s. WCON did exist and here's the proof, along
with the other three network affiliates. From the
Atlanta Constitution.

WCON 550 (ABC)

5:30 Briarpatch
6 AM Yellow River Farm With Channing Cope
6:30 Eddy Arnold; News
6:45 Statesmen Quartet
7 AM Back To The Bible
7:30 Les Henrikson; News
7:45 Les Henrikson; Moneyman
8 AM News; Les Henrikson
8:15 Les Henrikson
8:30 Breakfast On Peachtree With
Bill Packham
9 AM Breakfast Club--Don McNeill (ABC)
10 AM My True Story (ABC)
10:25 Betty Crocker (ABC)
10:45 Victor Lindlahr (ABC)
11 AM Modern Romances (ABC)
11:30 Quick As A Flash (ABC)
12 N Ladies Be Seated (ABC)
12:30 Don Elliot, News (this is Don
Elliot Heald, general manager
of WSB-TV in the '70s)
12:45 Channing Cope Farm
1 PM Hovie Lister
1:15 Maggie Davis
1:30 Mama Goes A-Shopping
2 PM Box 13 (ABC)
2:30 Hannibal Cobb (ABC)
3 PM Bride And Groom (ABC)
3:30 Flowers For Lady
3:45 Three Suns
4 PM Luncheon In Paradise
4:30 Dick Haymes
4:45 Guy Lombardo
5 PM Challenge Of The Yukon (ABC)
5:30 Jack Armstrong (ABC)
6 PM Money Man
6:15 Sports Review
6:30 Don Elliot, News
6:45 Hill (no first name given); Trio Time
7 PM Cisco Kid
7:30 Lone Ranger (ABC)
8 PM Casebook Of Gregory Hood (ABC)
8:30 Philo Vance (ABC)
9 PM Henry J. Taylor (ABC)
9:15 Cavaliers; Human Side Of Hollywood (ABC)
9:30 Solo And Soliloquy (may be ABC)
10 PM Ralph Norman (may be ABC)
10:30 News
10:45 Starduster (to 1 AM)

WAGA 590 (CBS)

5:15 Strength For Today
5:30 News; F'hands (don't know what this is)
6 AM Hillbilly Hit Revue
6:30 Homeland Harmony Quartet
6:45 Top Tune, Dan Day
7 AM News; Early Worm
7:30 Dale Clark News
7:45 Early Worm
8 AM World News (CBS)
8:15 Scoreboard
8:30 Early Worm; News
9 AM Tello Test
9:30 Enid Day
9:45 Vaughn Monroe
10 AM Bing Crosby (may be CBS)
10:15 Arthur Godfrey (CBS)
11:30 Linda's First Love
11:45 Rosemary (CBS)
12 N Bill McCain News
12:15 Aunt Jenny (CBS)
12:30 Helen Trent (CBS)
12:45 Our Gal Sunday (CBS)
1 PM Big Sister (CBS)
1:15 Ma Perkins (CBS)
1:30 Young Dr. Malone (CBS)
1:45 Guiding Light (CBS)
2 PM Wendy Warren (CBS)
2:15 Perry Mason (CBS)
2:30 Nora Drake (CBS)
2:45 Brighter Day (CBS)
3 PM Mary Foster
3:15 Hilltop House (CBS)
3:30 House Party; News (CBS)
4 PM Georgia Hayride
4:30 Homeland Harmony Quartet
4:45 Hillbilly Hit Revue
5:30 Woods; News
5:45 Curt Massey (CBS)
6 PM Allan Jackson (CBS)
6:15 Guy Lombardo
6:30 News
6:45 Lowell Thomas (CBS)
7 PM Beulah (CBS)
7:15 Jack Smith (CBS) (later the
host of You Asked For It)
7:30 Club 15 (CBS)
7:45 Edward R. Murrow (CBS)
8 PM Hollywood Star Theater (CBS)
8:30 Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts (CBS)
9 PM Lux Radio Theater (CBS)
10 PM My Friend Irma (CBS)
10:30 Bob Hawk (CBS)
11 PM News; Woods
11:15 Atomic Boogie Show (to 12)

WSB 750 (NBC)

5:15 First Call
5:30 Farm Hour
6 AM Cotton Carrier
6:15 Plowing Time
6:30 Sunup Serenade
7 AM News
7:15 Merry-Go-Round
7:45 News
8 AM World News (NBC)
8:15 Morning Melodies
9 AM News; It Pays To Listen
9:45 Meet The Menjous (may be NBC--
Adolphe Menjou)
10 AM Welcome Travelers (NBC)
10:30 Southern Shindig
11 AM We Love And Learn (NBC)
11:15 Dave Garroway (NBC)
11:30 Jack Berch (NBC)
11:45 David Harum (NBC)
12 N News
12:15 Farm, Markets
12:30 Juniper Junction
12:45 Precious Memories
1 PM Georgia Jubilee
1:30 One Thirty Date
2 PM Double Or Nothing (NBC)
2:30 Second Spring
2:45 News
3 PM Life Can Be Beautiful (NBC)
3:15 Road Of Life (NBC)
3:30 Pepper Young's Family (NBC)
3:45 Right To Happiness (NBC)
4 PM Backstage Wife (NBC)
4:15 Stella Dallas (NBC)
4:30 Lorenzo Jones (NBC)
4:45 Young Widder Brown (NBC)
5 PM When A Girl Marries (NBC)
5:15 Portia Faces Life (NBC)
5:30 Just Plain Bill (NBC)
5:45 Front Page Farrell (NBC)
6 PM News
6:15 Thad Horton
6:30 News
6:45 Guest Star
7 PM Supper Club (NBC)
7:15 Light-Up Time (NBC)
7:30 Meredith Willson (NBC)
8 PM Railroad Hour (NBC)
8:30 Voice Of Firestone (NBC)
9 PM Bell Telephone Hour (NBC)
9:30 Band Of America (NBC)
10 PM Nightbeat (NBC)
10:30 Broadway To Hollywood (NBC)
11 PM News
11:15 Moonlight Mood
11:30 No Laughing Matter
12 M News; Platter Party; News (to 1)

WGST 920 Mutual

5:30 Hillbilly Tune Time
6:45 Finis J. Dake
7 AM News
7:15 LeFevre Trio
7:30 Musical Newsreel
9 AM Church Of The Air
9:15 Tell Your Neighbor (Mutual)
9:30 Radio Evangelist
10 AM Men Of Music
10:30 Sammy Kaye And Guy Lombardo
11 AM Behind The Story (Mutual)
11:15 Music Of Romance
11:30 Ladies First
11:45 Meet The Band
12 N News
12:15 Lanny Ross (Mutual)
12:30 LeFevre Trio
12:45 Eddy Arnold
1 PM Finis J. Dake
1:15 Dixie Fun Barn
1:30 Georgia Jamboree
2 PM Let's Have Fun
3 PM 920 Special
3:30 Ladies Fair (Mutual)
4 PM Queen For A Day (Mutual)
4:30 B&G Chucklewagon
5 PM Mark Trail (Mutual)
5:30 Tom Mix (Mutual)
6 PM News
6:15 Sports Extra
6:30 Who's Singing
7 PM Fulton Lewis Jr. (Mutual)
7:15 Sports Show (may be Mutual)
7:30 Gabriel Heatter (Mutual)
7:45 I Love A Mystery (Mutual)
8 PM B-Bar-B Riders (Mutual)
8:30 Crime Fighters (Mutual)
8:55 Bill Henry News (Mutual)
9 PM Murder By Experts (Mutual)
9:30 Judge Hardy's Family (may be Mutual)
10 PM Frank Edwards (Mutual)
10:15 Diggin' The Discs (to 1)<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by bpatrick on 08/26/05 09:55 PM.</FONT></P>
 
What was WCON's power and pattern?

Was it comparable to the modern WDUN Gainesville GA on the same frequency? How long of a gap was there between WCON's demise and the birth of WDUN (WGGA)?
 
Re: What was WCON's power and pattern?

> Was it comparable to the modern WDUN Gainesville GA on the
> same frequency? How long of a gap was there between WCON's
> demise and the birth of WDUN (WGGA)?
>
In 1950 the Cox family, owners of the Atlanta Journal and
WSB, acquired the Constitution and WCON. Ownership rules
at the time forbade the Coxes to own both stations, so they
simply shut down WCON, and WGST got the ABC radio affiliation
(it had been Mutual).

WDUN came on the air in 1949, operating on 1240 (where WGGA
is now). From what I've been able to gather, when WCON went
off the air, WDUN elected to move to 550, so there appears to
have been no gap between the end of WCON and WDUN's frequency
switch.

Atlanta's WCON was a 1000-watt station; I suspect it came in
a bit better west of town than WDUN would, depending on where
the transmitter was; if the transmitter stayed in the same
place, their coverage areas shouldn't be any different. But
I'm guessing here, since I hadn't been born yet.

BTW, WSB-TV was originally assigned to Channel 8; Channel 2
was supposed to go to WCON-TV. But with the Journal/Constitution
merger, plans for WCON-TV were scrapped, WSB moved to Channel 2,
and Channel 8 was sold to a company called Broadcasting, Inc., which
put WLTV on the air in the fall of 1951. A couple of years later,
8 was reassigned to the University of Georgia for noncommercial
programs. WLTV (by now WLW-A) was "kicked upstairs" to Channel 11,
which is now WXIA.

Hope this is some help.
 
Re: What was WCON's power and pattern?

I wonder if there's a pattern map anywhere for it. I would imagine it was 1kW DA-N. I wonder if its protection to co-channel 550's (WKRC, KTSA, WGR, etc.) is the same as WDUN's is today. I would think it would have no protection of WDAK in Columbus since that station was still on 1340, and if I'm not mistaken, did not move to 540 until after WCON's demise.
 
Re: What was WCON's power and pattern?

> I wonder if there's a pattern map anywhere for it. I would
> imagine it was 1kW DA-N. I wonder if its protection to
> co-channel 550's (WKRC, KTSA, WGR, etc.) is the same as
> WDUN's is today. I would think it would have no protection
> of WDAK in Columbus since that station was still on 1340,
> and if I'm not mistaken, did not move to 540 until after
> WCON's demise.
>
When I get the time I'll see if I can find an old Broadcasting
Yearbook. There may be a map of some kind. I would think the
protection is the same, since the stations you mention are on the
same power as they were then.
 
Re: What was WCON's power and pattern?

> When I get the time I'll see if I can find an old
> Broadcasting
> Yearbook. There may be a map of some kind. I would think
> the
> protection is the same, since the stations you mention are
> on the
> same power as they were then.
>

BY has never shown directional patterns.

WCON's transmitter, I was told, was not far from where 790, 920 and 1190 are now on Cheshire Bridge Road. Its signal over the city of Atlanta (such as it was back then) would have been far better than the current 550 is now.<P ID="signature">______________
Tower Site Calendar 2006 JUST RELEASED! - <a target="_blank" href=http://www.fybush.com/nerw.html#calendar>www.fybush.com</a></P>
 
Re: What was WCON's power and pattern?

> > When I get the time I'll see if I can find an old
> > Broadcasting
> > Yearbook. There may be a map of some kind. I would think
>
> > the
> > protection is the same, since the stations you mention are
>
> > on the
> > same power as they were then.
> >
>
> BY has never shown directional patterns.
>
> WCON's transmitter, I was told, was not far from where 790,
> 920 and 1190 are now on Cheshire Bridge Road. Its signal
> over the city of Atlanta (such as it was back then) would
> have been far better than the current 550 is now.
>
I would think WCON had better penetration south and west of
Atlanta than WDUN does. If there was another ABC radio affiliate
in North Georgia in 1950, I don't know what it was, so WCON
needed a halfway-decent signal. (BTW, WGST switched from Mutual
to ABC after WCON shut down.)

Thanks for saving me a trip, especially now, with gas prices
like they are.
 
Re: What was WCON's power and pattern?

> >
> I would think WCON had better penetration south and west of
> Atlanta than WDUN does. If there was another ABC radio
> affiliate
> in North Georgia in 1950, I don't know what it was, so WCON
> needed a halfway-decent signal. (BTW, WGST switched from
> Mutual
> to ABC after WCON shut down.)

The Jeff Miller 1949 list shows WGAA in Cedartown, WDAK in Columbus (both 1340) and another station in West Point as ABC affiliates.
 
Re: What was WCON's power and pattern?

> > >
> > I would think WCON had better penetration south and west
> of
> > Atlanta than WDUN does. If there was another ABC radio
> > affiliate
> > in North Georgia in 1950, I don't know what it was, so
> WCON
> > needed a halfway-decent signal. (BTW, WGST switched from
> > Mutual
> > to ABC after WCON shut down.)
>
> The Jeff Miller 1949 list shows WGAA in Cedartown, WDAK in
> Columbus (both 1340) and another station in West Point as
> ABC affiliates.
>
Doesn't surprise me that Columbus and West Point had their
own ABC affiliates; Columbus is a different market. That suggests
to me that WCON could put a signal south of the city. But if
Cedartown had to have its own ABC affiliate, I may be wrong about
WCON's penetration west of Atlanta. Keep in mind that I never
heard WCON; it left the air in 1950, five years before I was born
and eighteen before I ever set foot in Atlanta. Also, it
obviously did not have the signal strength of WSB. I wonder if
it's even possible now to determine WCON's exact coverage area.
(I collect schedules, not engineering data.)
 
Re: What was WCON's power and pattern?

> WDUN came on the air in 1949, operating on 1240 (where WGGA
> is now). From what I've been able to gather, when WCON went
> off the air, WDUN elected to move to 550, so there appears
> to have been no gap between the end of WCON and WDUN's
> frequency switch.

Actually, it was WGGA (then on 1240, going on the air in 1941) that took over the 550 frequency. WDUN came on the air in 1949, on 1450. 'DUN moved to the better 1240 frequency, after 'GGA vacated the frequency. In 1953, the 1450 frequency came back back on the air, just up the road in Cornelia. And, in a what goes around, comes around scenario, Cornelia's 1450 debuted with the WCON call sign.

Years later, WDUN's owners bought the 550 frequency, selling the 1240 frequency, along with the WGGA call sign. Still later, after the loosening of the Commission's rules, WDUN regained ownership of the 1240 frequency, and now WDUN and WGGA operate under the same roof.

As for the original WCON, it was 5kw-D/1kw-N, omnidirectional, just like WGST on 920.
 
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