1536 WJR
In 1990 WJR changed to an adult contemporary music/ See also Adventures in Good Music; Columbia Broadcasting news /talk format but dropped the music in 1993. On 9 Febru- System; Coughlin, Father Charles; National Broadcasting ary 1996 Capital Cities /ABC, including WJR, was purchased Company by the Walt Disney Company, and its licensee name was short- ened to ABC. WJR continued into the zist century as "The Further Reading Great Voice of the Great Lakes" with its award- winning news On the Air: History of Michigan Broadcasting,
WLAC
Nashville, Tennessee Station
WLAC is the powerful radio station in Nashville, Tennessee, middle- Tennessee record store. WLAC's management soon rec- that played an influential role in the national diffusion of ognized the revenue potential of selling access to its wide- music recorded by African -American artists from the late spread night -time audience on a per- inquiry (PI) basis. As 194os through the mid- 196os. The call letters represent the network programming dwindled, PI programming on WLAC Life and Casualty Insurance Company of Tennessee, which was gradually extended into the earlier evening hours. During established the station in 1926. In its early years WLAC was the height of WLAC's PI years, the station maintained a large known as the "Thrift Station," reflecting the inscription mail room to handle the orders for products advertised nightly "Thrift -the Cornerstone" chiseled on the Life and Casualty such as 45 -rpm recordings, pomade, petroleum jelly, and live headquarters building in downtown Nashville. baby chicks. These orders were delivered daily to the station After operating the station for about a decade, in 1935 Life by the postal service in large canvas bags. WLAC also sold and Casualty sold WLAC to a company executive, J. Truman blocks of time at night for paid religious broadcasts. Ward. During Ward's tenure as licensee, WLAC enjoyed a In addition to Gene Nobles, the night-time announcing staff close relationship with the Columbia Broadcasting System included Herman Grizzard, John Richbourg ( "John R "), Bill
(CBS). Ward's station manager, F.C. Sowell, served as head of Allen ( "The Hossman "), Hugh Jarrett ( "Huey Baby "), and the CBS affiliate group, and the network carried a few of newscaster Don Whitehead. The music varied according to the WLAC's local programs coast to coast. products being pitched. On -air descriptions included "the WLAC began operation with I,000 watts of power and sweet and the beat," "rock and roll," "rhythm and blues," increased to 5,000 watts within a few years, but in 1941 Ward "spirituals," and "gospel." Several African- American artists won a class 1 -B clear channel assignment. For full -time opera- who became major recording stars after Motown brought tion with 50,000 watts at 1510 kilohertz, WLAC engineers rhythm and blues music into the cultural mainstream have designed a new transmitter facility about seven miles north of attributed their early success to WLAC airplay in general and Nashville. The antenna system accentuated night -time skywave in particular to Bill Allen and John Richbourg, both of whom radiation, resulting in a reliable signal that carried the CBS maintained close ties to the recording industry. prime -time schedule into 28 states and parts of Canada. Truman Ward sold WLAC back to Life and Casualty in Following World War II, WLAC developed a lucrative niche 1953 during the early years of the music -and -news era. His advertising market by promoting the products of the many son, Jim Ward, later served as the station's general manager small, independent record companies of the period that spe- during Life and Casualty's second period as licensee. Although cialized in "race music" or "sepia and swing." Sometime well positioned for a television license, Life and Casualty chose around 1946 or 1947 WLAC announcer Gene Nobles began to merge interests with two competing local applicants in order to generate a large volume of mail by playing African- Ameri- to facilitate the construction of Nashville's third television sta- can artists on a late-night disc jockey program sponsored by a tion, WLAC -TV, in 1954. From 1964 to 1967, WLAC -TV