WVMG Cochran

[daryll]

This subject came to mind with the 30th anniversary of the fire that totally destroyed WVMG Cochran on December 13, 1977. I can still vividly remember watching the studios burn that evening just after 5pm. In less than an hour, there was nothing left but the two transmitter shells for the AM and the FM and one equipment rack. The new owners, Georgia Communications Corporation, were granted the license transfer from the FCC just one week prior to the fire. I was told a faulty heater was the culprit and the studios were only insured for $40,000. It took well over $100,000 to get the place broadcasting again. By December 28th, a new doublewide trailer became the new studios and all Harris equipment was on the air. Less than two years later, their southern gospel format wasn't paying the bills and this opened the door for "Happy Howard" Williamson to purchase the stations. He was fresh from his stormy exit at WBBT Lyons. The huge debt service he absorbed plus his on-going legal problems eventually caught up with Happy, too. In the late 80's, the stations were sold in bankruptcy court to some of his creditors. Ironically, the station burned again in the early morning hours of September 12, 1992. IMHO, the station has never seemed to recover from it's own internal losses or lost opportunities. With the 80-90 docket, the FM could have moved to the next adjacent and gotten 100Kw on 96.9 with a 1,000 foot tower just south of Cochran. It had additional chances to get either 25 or 50kw but the lawsuits against Happy kept him distracted. He eventually became mayor of Cochran. Now it's a highly notched 6kw FM that protects 96.5 Gray. From April 1980 to May 1983, it was my first job and to this day, I still get asked "Where is Happy Howard?" Maybe someone here knows.

 

[fwillis]

Somebody back in the early 90s told me he was in Augusta, at that time.
I remember Happy Howard as Larry Munson's colorman back in 1975.

 

[kyscott]

Somebody back in the early 90s told me he was in Augusta, at that time.
I remember Happy Howard as Larry Munson's colorman back in 1975.

Howard Williamson. Man, there's a name I haven't heard in a long time. What happened with the 1992 fire?

 

[daryll]

From what I remember, they were off the air for a couple of weeks and set-up shop in another trailer in '92. A new concrete block transmitter building was built about 50 feet from the studio near the base of the tower. Previously, the transmitters were directly in front of the FM controlroom in the first studios that burned and the first doublewide. They were one of the first stations in mid Georgia to use the Orban 8200 Digital Optimod. At first, the 8200 wasn't setup correctly and the audio was like a 3K phone line. Then Oscar Leverette spent about an hour with it and made it sound like magic (or as good as possible for the first generation 8200). Oscar has the ear for great processing! However, when the power was interrupted, it would default to some horrid sounding processing. Clear Channel bought WVMG in '99 or so to upgrade 96.5 Gray and they eventually hauled off the newer trailer and left only the block transmitter building. After being dark for awhile, the station is now owned by Georgia Eagle and another trailer is used for the studios.

Another side note from my first summer there, the blistering heat of July 1980, the inside temperature near the transmitters would reach close to 100 degrees. With a tin roof, all that sunshine would just cook the inside of the building and the transmitters weren't vented properly either. The heat really cooked the FM 2.5K's final and capacitors. The MW-1 AM transmitter limped along in the heat, too.
Someone suggested running a soaker hose across the length of the roof and letting the water do it's thing. I must say it worked and the building temp dropped about 10-15 degrees. Humorously, a Harris System 90 automation system was in another part of the trailer and ANY amount of static electricity (dragging feet on the carpet, using the electronic calculator on a nearby desk, you name it) would send it's four IGM Go-Carts into a seemingly never ending Wheel of Fortune mode with all four carousels just spinning out of control. Dead air seemed to rule the day.

As for Happy, I spoke with him in '99 while he was the marketing director with Horton Homes in Eatonton. I haven't heard from him since. He turned 65 this year and I too, wonder what he is up to. I have so many stories, memos, newspaper articles and some audio tape from my time there I could write the proverbial book. All of his legal problems escalated with the April 8, 1981 "bring a six pack of Miller beer and $5 admission" to the Stillwater concert at the Jaycee fairgrounds and the subsequent call-in show it spawned, "REACT".

My original intent of this post was to hear other stories of stations that lost studios, transmitters or towers and rose again to broadcast another day. Sorry I got sidetracked. I know there are some good stories to be heard.

 

[kyscott]

My original intent of this post was to hear other stories of stations that lost studios, transmitters or towers and rose again to broadcast another day. Sorry I got sidetracked. I know there are some good stories to be heard.

I interviewed with Howard in '84. I had worked in Hawkinsville, Ocilla and my hometown of Vienna. When I was driving up to the studios, I knew I did not want to work there, but when through with the meeting anyway. I remember working with a guy in Vienna that worked sign on with Howard. It was just as he described. Current studio was hauled in over the foundation of the burned out studio with about six other mobile homes around it. They called it "Howardville".

 

[BSteve]

You probably didn't think you were having fun back then....but isn't it fun to reminisce about the good old days, and the characters we have encountered along the way.

 

[kyscott]

You probably didn't think you were having fun back then....but isn't it fun to reminisce about the good old days, and the characters we have encountered along the way.

I wouldn't trade what I have done for a thing. Working with cheep owners made me a better engineer. When you have to figure things out on your own, makes it easier to work under pressure!

 

[jovialjay]

I worked at WVMG for a few months (a few months was all most owners could take of me) in 1973. I did 9 'till noon M/F, and 6A 'till 3P on Sunday. Oh, I was also assigned sales duties in the afternoon...in McRae and all of Telfair County. Unfortunately, you couldn't hear the station in McRae.

At the time, WVMG was owned by Raymond Forehand, an engineer retired from NASA...or so he said. Raymond's son-in-law, Freddie Frye, was the program director/morning man, and did local sales. Forehand's daughter (and Freddie's wife) Sue Ann was in sales. Forehand's wife handled the books, and the old man worked on the air at night. Rick Wimberly did news and afternoons.

The station was (and still is) located in the industrial park, and at the time, was housed in tiny building. There was a small control room, a small 'live' studio, transmitters (both 1967 CCA's), a cramped office area, a tiny bathroom, and a production room that was in a closet. No, I'm not kidding...it was a closet. The production board was a little Shure mixer, with one turntable, a reel to reel machine and a cart record/playback. The control board was one of the first Spotmaster boards...an 8 channel stereo model. There were two Gates/Harris mini-Criterion cart decks, and two QRK turntables with Shure tone-arms. There was one EV 635-A microphone, and that was it.

Although the building was built to house the operation, the original studios were above Red Dykes furniture store in downtown Cochran. I went up there one time, years ago, but after the studios had moved to the transmitter. The studios had a panoramic view of the downtown area.

The Forehands and Fryes came to Cochran from Jesup, where they'd all worked at WLOP/WIFO. At the time I worked for them, they were granted a CP for a new FM in Jesup...a 3 kilowatter on 98.3. It went on the air as WSOJ, with an all southern gospel format. The studios/transmitter for WSOJ was north of Jesup, way back in the woods. If you didn't have good directions, you could get lost for a week, trying to find it. Of course, that station later became the station that's the Big 98, licensed to Midway, and operating from Savannah.

Forehand sold WVMG to J.W. "John" Johnson (known as the talkin' totem pole...he stood about 6'5") and his wife. John had worked at WCEH for about a hundred years. The Johnson's didn't do well with the station...not only because of the debt service from rebuilding, but also because John was (as we say in south Georgia) bad to take a drink.

There's more to the story, but that can wait 'till later.

 

[kyscott]

here's more to the story, but that can wait 'till later.

Seriously Jay, I think you should consider writing a book. How's Charlie Hill doing these days?

 

[jovialjay]

daryll said:
My original intent of this post was to hear other stories of stations that lost studios, transmitters or towers and rose again to broadcast another day. Sorry I got sidetracked. I know there are some good stories to be heard.

TOWER(S)
WGAC/Augusta (2 of 4)
WSIZ/Ocilla
WWNS/Statesboro

STUDIOS
WBBK/Blakely
WBYG/Savannah

TRANSMITTER
WGAC/Augusta
WMLT/Dublin

STUDIOS & TRANSMITTER
WISK/Americus
WDEC/Americus
WRDW/Augusta
WBSG/Blackshear
WGRA/Cairo
WFAV/Cordele
WFPM/Fort Valley
WLOP/Jesup
WMGA/Moultrie
WSYL/Sylvania
WLOV/Washington

I'm sure there are a number of others, but these are all I could remember.

 

[jovialjay]

here's more to the story, but that can wait 'till later.

Seriously Jay, I think you should consider writing a book. How's Charlie Hill doing these days?

I don't know about Charlie. I haven't visited with him & Annette in a few months, but I plan to remedy that before the end of the year.

As for the book, I'm working on it. As best we can calculate, it'll weigh in at roughly 124 pounds. Some of the stories are really heavy, you know. Seriously, I have to make sure the statute of limitations on 'everything' has fully expired!

 

[fwillis]

A few more.WACL Waycross lost one of three towers in a severe thunderstorm back in'86. WVOH Hazelhurst lost their tower in '77
due to an ice storm. WBTY Homerville burned to the ground, just a few weeks after signing on in'79. WDBL Wrightsville burned to the ground back around'91. In the mid 70's WGAF Valdosta lost it's studios due to a fire. WDMG Douglas suffered severe studio damage, due to an overturned space heater in the early 80s. They broadcasted with a hole in the control room's roof for several days with several pieces of melted down equipment.

 

[daryll]

Kudos to all for sharing. As a kid, I remember thinking that radio and television stations were invincible to the elements or other tragedies since we depended on them for critical news or severe weather. We all know otherwise. Although this is the radio board, in mid-March 1976, WALB-TV lost a significant portion of their studio/offices to a late night fire. I remember them using a mobile production truck from WESH Daytona Beach/Orlando for sometime there after. A small mention of the fire and a couple of pictures are in one of the anniversary books they produced. In June of '06, both WALB and WFXL lost their towers in Doerun due to the unsuccessful attempt to fell the damaged Fox 31 tower. It was a week after the military helicopter hit it. In 1988, another aircraft hit the old WVGA-TV tower outside of Valdosta. I think there were fatalities in that tower collapse.

How about iPod version of Jay's book?

 

[kyscott]

here's more to the story, but that can wait 'till later.

Seriously Jay, I think you should consider writing a book. How's Charlie Hill doing these days?

I don't know about Charlie. I haven't visited with him & Annette in a few months, but I plan to remedy that before the end of the year.

As for the book, I'm working on it. As best we can calculate, it'll weigh in at roughly 124 pounds. Some of the stories are really heavy, you know. Seriously, I have to make sure the statute of limitations on 'everything' has fully expired!

I doubt he'd remember me, it's been 20 years since I worked in Hawkinsville. 20 years? Sheese, where has the time gone.

BTW, I worked at channel 10 from 1990-93. It was the only television station I knew of that had a full time engineer at the tower in Doerun. The story was that the studio end of the remote control burned in the fire back in '76. They never saw fit to replace it and kept the engineers there. I pulled a shift every other Wednesday. The attended site ended when we purchased a remote control with the new Larcan transmitter in late 1992.

 

[jovialjay]

How about iPod version of Jay's book?

Well, I WAS thinking about an Ipeed visio..er..version.

 

[kyscott]

How about iPod version of Jay's book?

Well, I WAS thinking about an Ipeed visio..er..version.

That's usually what you do after drinking a pot of coffee during your morning shift.

 

[jovialjay]

A WVMG story

When I was working at WCEH, and later at WVMG, I had, as the song says, "fallen in with bad companions". It's a long story, but a neighbor was a heavy poker player, and would play in these illegal games. Innocent (as the driven snow) me got sucked into this stuff, and I'm lucky I lived to tell about it. The details are not germane at this time. I'll save all that for the book, but I will tell this.

One particular Saturday night, this game started around dark. The location was somewhere in Dooly County, way back up in the woods. The game was held inside this old, abandoned, school bus body, with lights rigged to run off a 12 volt car battery. Over the course of the night, I ended up winning more than I came with, and suddenly realized it was after 4 o'clock in the morning...Sunday morning. I had to sign-on at WVMG at 6, and I was exhausted...starved for sleep.

Well, the guy that was running the game told me not to worry...he had something to help me. He reached in his pocket, and came out with a matchbox. From the matchbox, he extracted a couple of pills and handed them to me. When I asked, he said they were "prescription strength" No-Doz. He told me take one then, and keep the other 'till later, and only take it if I needed it.

I took the pill, then drove to the Waffle House that used to be at Unadilla. I had a bite to eat, and drank two cups of coffee. I was still asleep on my feet, so I took the other pill.

Okay, okay, okay. We all NOW know that he'd given me some speed, which I don't think I'd ever heard of. I really was naive and innocent in those days.

By the time I drove to Cochran, I was W-I-D-E awake. The shift was 9 hours, and it literally flew by. There was a couple of times there that I had to run around the building a few times, as I was SO full of energy, and thought that'd be a good way to burn off some of that energy. I can only imagine what I sounded like on the air, introducing the Florida Boys and the Happy Goodman family!!!

When my shift ended, I drove to Hawkinsville. After a little something to eat, I began to get sleepy, so I went to bed. It was about 5 o'clock Sunday afternoon. I woke up with the sun streaming through the window. I looked at my watch, and it was 8:30. I had to be on the air at 9, so I jumped into my clothes and zipped to Cochran.

When I walked in, Freddie Frye wanted to know what the hell had happened to me. I stood there with a puzzled look on my face. He asked "where were you yesterday?" I told him I was there...that I had worked from 6AM 'till 3PM. He said, "I know you were here SUNDAY...I wanna know where you were YESTERDAY".

Yes, friends...when I went to sleep, I slept all the way through Monday! That was my first and last time of "speedin' my young life away".

Some other time, I'll tell you about how it was when Raymond Forehand fired me, and how I had to walk all the way to Hawkinsville, 'cause he took my car away from me. It was a black '63 Buick Riviera with wire wheels.

Forest Gump said it best...stupid is as stupid does.

 

[kyscott]

Re: A WVMG story

One particular Saturday night, this game started around dark. The location was somewhere in Dooly County, way back up in the woods.

Well there is your first mistake there. Folks in Dooly County will cut you over a card game! ;D

 

[kturnerga]

I wish we had Happy Howard in Macon. There would be few radios not tuned to him in Middle Georgia!