Got this idea from the Tennessee board. Feel free to chime in on your the worst radio "hell holes" of all time.
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WORST NC STATIONS OF ALL TIME
- Thread starter TheMaestro
- Start date
The old 1350 in Black Mountain WBMS. Crappy equipment cir 1980, tried to be an Asheville Station without enough signal to cover downtown. I will not say much about the management, because as my Grandmother use to say "If you can't say anything good, then do not say anything at all".
I have heard the name "Bishop Willis" but never any details. Is he a preacher that gave himself the "Bishop" title, or was that his first or air name?RadioDaze said:
I'm not sure how he got the "Bishop" title, but Levi Willis was a Norfolk, Va.-based broadcaster that owned lots of black gospel-formatted radio stations--mostly AM--across the southeastern U.S. In North Carolina, these included such stations as WGTM 590 in Wilson, WSRC (now WRJD) 1410 in Durham, WAGR 1340 in Lumberton, WCRY 1460 in Fuquay-Varina, and WBXB 100.1 in Edenton. Stations were well-known for multiple technical violations, but were relicensed until 2004 (I think), when the FCC finally cracked down and made the Bishop sell many of these operations, and some, such as WCRY, had to turn in their licenses. I've seen pictures of the WGTM and WBXB plants and the deteriorated condition they were (and still are) in. I actually worked at WSRC successor WRJD, and we struggled with the Willis legacy. Many potential advertisers who knew we were the old WSRC were very hesitant to talk business even after trying to assure them the station was under new ownership/management. And, there were those few who had continued since the WSRC days, and I was continually amazed by their stories of the way things used to be. Davidson made improvements to the physical plant in 2006 that greatly improved the technical sound of the station from the WSRC days, when it was hands-down the worst sounding signal in the market. The station is now head-and-shoulders above where it was in the Willis days, which is saying alot.
I've had the pleasure of visiting a few of willis' radio establishments over the years... from willis telling the staff at WBXB to just paint the lower 20ft of the tower so if FAA comes snooping around, tell them they are in the progress of painting, none of their facilities running at licensed power on frequency...... back in 2001 WBTE 990 in windsor was owned by them they ran 24/7 for months simulcasting WBXB/WURB from a clock radio hooked directly into the transmitter.....when the 20kw TX at WBXB croaked they set up a cassette deck at WURB and changed the 60 min tape out once a week...to get WBXB back on the air they moved the 3kw tx from WURB to WBXB...put a 1kw amp in its place..which reflected 990 watts
WSRC.WRJD.. 1410 Day... 14..something at night, it would literally hop around between 1380 and 1450
WCRY 1460...their tower site is still maintained lsat time..
WHFD FM 105.5 lawrenceville va...I mean 105.1 105.3 105.5 105.7 105.9 and 106.1 that goes off the air when it rains because the tx is sitting on a screened porch
the engineers at WOWI padlocking the transmitter site because of non payment.
BTW... WBXB is for sale lol
WSRC.WRJD.. 1410 Day... 14..something at night, it would literally hop around between 1380 and 1450
WCRY 1460...their tower site is still maintained lsat time..
WHFD FM 105.5 lawrenceville va...I mean 105.1 105.3 105.5 105.7 105.9 and 106.1 that goes off the air when it rains because the tx is sitting on a screened porch
the engineers at WOWI padlocking the transmitter site because of non payment.
BTW... WBXB is for sale lol
I can remember the old WSRC broadcasting off-frequency back in the early 2000s. I worked at WCHL (1360) at the time and you could hear the interference in our air monitors. The Continental transmitter they were probably using at the time is still there at the now WRJD E. Club Blvd transmitter site, but non-functioning. There's an even older Gates 1kW transmitter there thats also non-operational. The station runs on a Harris Z2-CD now 5kW day/290w night (unless a power outage has reset the automation--a frequent occurence--during which the station stays at 5kW until this is reprogrammed). There's a lot of Willis-era equipment in that shack...scary!
WVCB-AM, Shallotte. Worst radio station I ever listened to in NC
RadioDaze said:
Daze,
WVCB is absolutely horrible. I went in there one time and they had the mic hanging from a chain in the ceiling in the control room. Summer before last, I drove thru Shallotte from Myrtle Beach. I could not pick them up from the NC/SC state line, not even at the big car dealership at the south end of town...I faintly picked them up about a half mile before I got into town, but really didn't get the signal good until I was at the red light where the BB&T is at the south end of town, and I lost them when I turned onto the 17 by-pass at the north end of town...and almost all I heard was the lady(I guess the owner's daughter??) talking about the weather for "our friends in the mountains around Asheville)....no spots, 1 gospel song then the weather for the state. Sad.
WGTL Kannapolis 870am Bad hum on the air and lots of old equipment. Great signal though for 1,000 watts!
Mike Sheridan said:
if you're going to mention WGTL you might as well bring up WAAK. ;D
i was there twice, proving once and for all i had no talent. once during the fred whitley days of playing ANY song at ANY time, and only talking 4 times an hour, time/temp on the quarters and half, and a live used car ad and station ID at the TOH. then again during the marlow brothers reign, who INSISTED that the station id was "DOUBLE A K, DALLAS" when i mentioned that legally it had to be WAAK DALLAS, they said to do it THEIR WAY -- that DOUBLE A K was a "regional pronouncation" for WAAK.
D
DaveArnold
Guest
WAAK 96 was a good station for a while I recall.
WOW, LOL! It's funny, but it isn't. BTW, in all this discussion of the Bishop Willis stations, no one thus far, has even brought up WTNC, Thomasville! I remember the beginning of the end for them, that is, of the Willis days. Someone, I have no idea who, decided to start running the preaching broadcasts from the main station, (I believe it was in the Virginia Beach, VA area), via telephone, even their IDs! I called up TNC and asked them why they were doing this and the guy, who I assume was the one who chose to do this said something to the effect of, we want the most ministry programming we can air. Shortly thereafter, they went Southern Gospel and I believe Stan Thomas came over from WPET to be the GM.EncSpy said:
A man for whom Christ died,
Josh
http://www.thegladtidingsbroadcast.sermon.tv
This was actually the thread that first caught my interest on this site; because I happen to live in WBXB territory (we have a guy at our church that worked there at two different stints and I remember hearing some of his horror stories from the station).
Early on in my dad becoming pastor; we had a show on WBXB (early 1990s on Saturday mornings) until the station actually began running an actual show (or an infomercial-type ad; after nearly 20 years not sure) for a local psychic (keep in mind, this is a gospel station). The radio show ended around that time and I think that's when the man at our church left the first time (the more recent stint ended due to complaints about his not being a supporter of President Obama).
Lately about the only thing WBXB's signal has done is manage to interfere with WYFI's.
Early on in my dad becoming pastor; we had a show on WBXB (early 1990s on Saturday mornings) until the station actually began running an actual show (or an infomercial-type ad; after nearly 20 years not sure) for a local psychic (keep in mind, this is a gospel station). The radio show ended around that time and I think that's when the man at our church left the first time (the more recent stint ended due to complaints about his not being a supporter of President Obama).
Lately about the only thing WBXB's signal has done is manage to interfere with WYFI's.
HamptonRoadsMediaFan said:
Now, all I've got to say about that is, wow, what a joke of a station, WBXB that is. Oh and you brought up WYFI, I assume you're talking about the former flagship of BBN? I listened some to WHPE, High Point, back when I lived in NC. Not my favorite NC station, but not the worst, BTW.
A man for whom Christ died,
Josh
http://www.thegladtidingsbroadcast.sermon.tv
BroJoshOwens said:
That indeed would have been BBN's original (and now former) flagship. Mainly I listen more for some of the teaching shows vis-a-vis music.
R
radioman1290
Guest
Definitely WHKY - AM - FM - TV in the late 1970s and early 1980s.... a footnote in history: the grand empire that could have been but never was because of a dysfunctional family ownership structure. The stations in their full glory were all licensed to and located in Hickory, NC, with a CP for the FM and great potential to expand, as I am sure other board members can attest to their own experiences with this broadcast group.
Not only did they have the most decrepit, albeit somewhat functional, equipment in the area at the time, but despite paying the standard broadcast wage at the time (minimum wage, or less); to add insult to injury, the paltry paychecks would bounce on a regular basis even though a member of the board of directors of this local family broadcast circus was also an official of the local bank that issued the bouncing paychecks...eventually tellers at said bank got tired of dealing with radio employees, bounced checks and overdrawn accounts, and the word got out among employees to take your check on payday before the ink has dried and go to the company bank, get cash for the paycheck, purchase a money order, and then deposit those certified funds into your checking account...
Although the funds themselves didn't last long, even 45+ years ago when gas was under a dollar a gallon, at least they were certified funds....
Not only did they have the most decrepit, albeit somewhat functional, equipment in the area at the time, but despite paying the standard broadcast wage at the time (minimum wage, or less); to add insult to injury, the paltry paychecks would bounce on a regular basis even though a member of the board of directors of this local family broadcast circus was also an official of the local bank that issued the bouncing paychecks...eventually tellers at said bank got tired of dealing with radio employees, bounced checks and overdrawn accounts, and the word got out among employees to take your check on payday before the ink has dried and go to the company bank, get cash for the paycheck, purchase a money order, and then deposit those certified funds into your checking account...
Although the funds themselves didn't last long, even 45+ years ago when gas was under a dollar a gallon, at least they were certified funds....
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