Where Are They Now?

[trusty]

With the heritage WGST calls leaving Atlanta, I started wondering about others that are no longer here and did a little research. So, when 1600 WGKA Atlanta 1kw-D and 92.9 WGKA Atlanta 9.4kw (both 9/1/55) signed on, the following calls were active in Atlanta:

1340 WBGE Atlanta 250w-U (1946) (currently covers Bainbridge, GA on FM-101.9)
860 WERD Atlanta 1kw-D (1947) (currently not being used)
1010 WEAS Decatur 50kw-D (1947) (currently covers Savannah, GA on FM-93.1)
970 WGLS Atlanta 1kw-D (1948) (currently covers Wilmington, DE and Philly on FM-89.7)
1260 WTJH East Point 5kw-D (12/1949) (currently not being used)

and others that are still active in Atlanta.

Since then, more calls were added or changed, but are no longer here. A few of them are:

1080 WBIE Marietta 500w-D (11/14/55) (currently covers Lima, OH and part of Ft. Wayne, IN on FM-91.5)
1340 WAKE Atlanta 250w-U (11/20/55) (currently covers Gary, IN on AM-1500)
970 WTAMAtlanta 5kw-D (1956) (currently covers Cleveland, OH on AM-1100)
970 WIIN Atlanta 5kw-D, DA (1957) (currently covers Jackson, MS on AM-780)
1420 WAVO Avondale Estates 500w-U, DA-D (7/19/58) (currently covers Rock Hill, SC on AM-1150)
1010 WGUN Decatur 50kw-D (1959) (currentlycovers Valdosta, GA on AM-950)
1570 WBAD College Park 1kw-D (3/21/59) (currently covers Greenville, MS on FM-94.3)
101.5 WBIE Marietta 3.5kw (11/1960) (see 1080)
96.1 WKLS Atlanta 6.4kw (12/2/60) (currently covers Gadsden, AL on FM-105.9)
1550 WYNX Smyrna 10kw-D (3/1962) (currently not being used)
94.9 WPCH Atlanta 8.1kw 170' (10/24/62) (currently covers West Point & LaGrange, GA on AM-1310)
1310 WOMN Decatur 500w-D (8/11/64) (currently covers Frankinton, LA (near N.O.) on AM1110)
680 WRNG North Atlanta 5kw-D 9/1/65 (currently not being used)
97.1 WFOX Gainesville 100kw 376' (11/1/65) (currently covers Stamford & Bridgeport, CT on FM-95.9)
1570 WSSA Morrow 1kw-D (1972) (currently not being used)
970 WKLS Atlanta 5kw-D, DA (1978) (see 96.1)

I'm sure you have more to add. Please share.

 

[RadioDoogie]

Still don’t understand why 96.1 (WGAA originally) didn’t take the former WAPW calls used on 99.7 (originally WLTA) 8 years ago when they created Power 96-1. Or even keep the heritage WKLS calls. Still baffles me.

 

[jabba17]

The WKLS in Gadsden is a mom-and-pop run by an AOR fan who was a big 96 Rock fan. When those calls became available, he snatched them up.

There's also:

WLAG and WJYF and WYAI, all used on 104.1 (WYAI was also used on 105.3 when it was at 105.5)
WWID and WWLT on 106.7

 

[alleo]

Acording to the FCC files WGAA FM was on the air 10 years before Don and Gordon bought it .One am station you might add is 540 in Gainsville it was WCON AM that never did get on the air I think

 

[jabba17]

Back when the FCC wouldn't let an FM sister with a different city of license have the same callsign, the FM side of 1420 WAVO (Avondale Estates, later Decatur) was 94.9 WAVQ (Atlanta), and the FM side of WQXI (Atlanta) was 94.1 WKXI (Smyrna).

WSB (750 and 98.5, both Atlanta), WBIE (1080 and 101.5, both Marietta), WAGA/WPLO (590 and 103.3, both Atlanta), and WGKA (1190 and 92.9, both Atlanta) didn't have that problem.

 

[secondchoice]

Still don’t understand why 96.1 (WGAA originally) didn’t take the former WAPW calls used on 99.7 (originally WLTA) 8 years ago when they created Power 96-1. Or even keep the heritage WKLS calls. Still baffles me.

Management wanted the entire focus on the new format. A total break from the past. No going back. When you flip a station’s format you kill the “heritage” anyways. That “heritage” FAILED which is why the station flipped. The failure could be poor execution of the format, audience aging out of money demographics, format fails to develop new artists, or occasionally management screws up (Y106 / Eagles 106 dropping country).

Same in retailing, store fails and closes. The next retailer moves in switches signs and merchandise (think call letters, nickname or brand) but still occupies the same space (transmitter, tower, and frequency).

There an old country song with the hook line "There ain't no future in the past"

 

[On the Dial]

Of course, there's less reason to change call letters these days, because most stations use their frequencies, not their call letters, to market themselves.

 

[trusty]

Still don’t understand why 96.1 (WGAA originally) didn’t take the former WAPW calls used on 99.7 (originally WLTA) 8 years ago when they created Power 96-1. Or even keep the heritage WKLS calls. Still baffles me.

WGGA (550/Gainesville) may have objected to it because the calls were too similar. I remember when WDYX (1460 Buford) objected to WSMA’s (1550 Smyrna) application to change its calls to WYNX in 1965. The change was approved because the COL’s were far enough apart.

 

[trusty]

Acording to the FCC files WGAA FM was on the air 10 years before Don and Gordon bought it .One am station you might add is 540 in Gainsville it was WCON AM that never did get on the air I think

According to Broadcasting Yearbook(s), WGAA/96.1 was on the air 1948-1951 and licensed to Cedartown. Also, WCON/550 (Atlanta Constitution) was on the air 1947-1449 and licensed to Atlanta. (I believe they had to drop WCON when the newspapers merged. They weren't about to drop WSB.) The FCC finally moved the 550 allocation to Gainesville.