WDIA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia WDIA City of Memphis, Tennessee license Broadcast Memphis, Tennessee area Branding AM 1070 WDIA Slogan The Heart and Soul of Memphis Frequency 1070 kHz KJMS 101.1 FM HD-2 (simulcast) First air date June 7, 1947 Format Urban Oldies/Classic Soul Power 50,000 watts daytime 5,000 watts nighttime Class B Facility ID 69569 Callsign DIAne, name of original owner's daughter meaning We Did It Again (when owners also launched similar station in Jackson, Mississippi, after World War II) Owner iHeartMedia, Inc. Sister KJMS, WEGR, WHAL-FM, WHRK,WREC stations Under LMA: KWAM Webcast Listen Live Website http://www.mywdia.com/main.html WDIA is a radio station based in Memphis, Tennessee. Active since 1947, it soon became the first radio station in America that was programmed entirely for African Americans.[1] It featured black radio personalities; its success in building an audience attracted radio advertisers suddenly aware of a "new" market among black listeners. The station had a strong influence on music, hiring musicians early in their careers, and playing their music to an audience that reached through the Mississippi Delta to the Gulf Coast. The station started the WDIA Goodwill Fund to help and empower black communities. Owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., the station's studios are located in Southeast Memphis, and the transmitter site is in North Memphis. Contents [hide] • 1 History • 2 References • 3 Further reading • 4 External links History[edit] WDIA went on the air June 7, 1947,[2] from studios on Union Avenue. The owners, John Pepper and Dick Ferguson, were both white, and the format was a mix of country and western and light pop. The station did not do well.[3] Nat D. Williams, a syndicated columnist and high-school teacher, started Tan Town Jubilee in October 1948. This was the first radio program in the United States to appeal to black listeners, and WDIA soon became the number-2 station in Memphis. After a switch to all-black programming, WDIA became the city's top station.[4] In June 1954 WDIA was licensed to increase its power to 50,000 watts. Its powerful signal reached the Mississippi Delta’s dense African-American population and was heard from the Missouri Bootheel to the Gulf Coast. WDIA reached 10% of the African-American population in United States.[3][5] Future WJLB strong jock, Martha Jean “The Queen” Steinberg became known as "Princess Premium Stuff." Ernest Brazzell gave crop advice, and Robert Thomas became a DJ named “Honeyboy” after he won a city-wide amateur competition. Among other notable personalities were Maurice "Hot Rod" Hulbert, Theo "Bless My Bones" Wade, and Ford Nelson, who continued as of 2013 as an active gospel DJ on WDIA.[3] WDIA is known for its community efforts throughout the years. A.C. Williams, a former disc jockey for the station, helped create the Goodwill Fund in 1954. Originally, the fund provided transportation to school for disabled black children. Later the fund expanded to include college scholarships, establish boy clubs, provide 125 Little League Teams to Memphis and neighboring communities, and help provide low cost supplemental housing (Wilson). "We have raised over $900,000 over the years," A.C. Williams says.[6] Many music legends got their start by working at WDIA, including B.B. King and Rufus Thomas.[7] Elvis Presley was greatly influenced by the station. B.B. King joined WDIA in early 1949. He had a daily 15-minute show, promoting first a patent medicine called Pep-Ti-Kon, and laterLucky Strike cigarettes, the first major advertiser for the station. The next year he took a DJ position on an afternoon show previously hosted by Maurice "Hot Rod" Hulbert.[8] King credits his days on the station for building his audience and launching his career, describing the station as providing a sense of freedom.[7] Williams ended his show in 1972 following a stroke. Thomas continued to work at WDIA until he died in 2001. Bobby O'Jay became a popular host. The station's management had been mostly white. In 1972 Chuck Scruggs became its first black general manager and vice president, serving for 12 years. Scruggs played a major role in organizing the foundation and raising money to preserve the Lorraine Motel and found the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.[9] In addition, he contributed to the redevelopment of Beale Street and Soulsville, USA.[citation needed]--> In the 1970s and 1980s the owners of WDIA also owned KDIA, a similarly formatted station in the San Francisco Bay Area. This callsign, however, is now assigned to an unrelated Christian- programmed station. In 1996 Clear Channel Communications bought WDIA. References[edit] 1. Jump up ^ "WDIA". Africana: the encyclopedia of the African and African American experience. Vol. 5 (2nd ed.). Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press. 2005. ISBN 9780195170559. 2. Jump up ^ "WDIA, Sixth Memphis Station, Is Launched" (PDF). Broadcasting. June 16, 1947. Retrieved 28 September 2014. 3. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Celebrating 65 Years of Goodwill & Good Times. The History of WDIA". mywdia.com. Retrieved 2013-03- 13. 4. Jump up ^ Radio Center: A Landmark of American Music. 2008. Retrieved on 2009/03/12. 5. Jump up ^ Cantor, Louis. Wheelin' on Beale: How WDIA- Memphis Became the Nation's First All-Black Radio Station and Created the Sound that Changed America, Pharos Books, 1992, 264 pages, ISBN 0-88687-633-8, ISBN 978-0-88687-633-3. 6. Jump up ^ "Celebrating 65 Years of Goodwill & Good Times." 1070 WDIA, N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2013 7. ^ Jump up to: a b Fisher, Marc. Something in the Air. Random House. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-375-50907-0. 8. Jump up ^ Kostelanetz, Richard, ed. (2005). The B.B. King Reader: 6 Decades of Commentary. Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 5–6. ISBN 9780634099274. 9. Jump up ^ "TV host 'Mr Chuck' Scruggs Passes Away". Memphis: WHBQ-TV/Fox 13. 2013-02-04. Retrieved 2013-13- 13. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help) Further reading[edit] • Cantor, Louis (1992). Wheelin' on Beale: How WDIA-Memphis Became the Nation's First All-Black Radio Station and Created the Sound that Changed America. Pharos Books. ISBN 978-0-88687-633-3. • Gordon, Robert (1996). It Came from Memphis. Farrar Straus & Giroux. ISBN 9780571198818.. Reprint 2001, ISBN 9780743410458. External links[edit] • WDIA's official website. • Sound Documentary on WDIA • Query the FCC's AM station database for WDIA • Radio-Locator Information on WDIA • Query Nielsen Audio's AM station database for WDIA [hide] • V • T • E Radio stations in the Memphis, Tennessee m By FM frequency 87.7 88.1 88.1 88.5 89.3 89.9 90.5 91.1 91.7 92.5 92.7 92.9 93.5 93.9 94.1 94.7 94.9 95.3 95.7 96.1 96.3 97.1 97.7 98.1 98.9 99.3 99.7 101.1 101.9 102.7 103.5 103.9 104.5 105.3 105.5 105.9 107.1 107.3 107.3 107.5 560 600 640 680 730 790 830 860 910 950 990 By AM frequency 1030 1070 1180 1210 1240 1250 1340 1380 1430 1480 1600 NOAA Weather Radio 162.475 frequency By callsign K213CN W257CY KAKJ KAMJ KARH KCJF KERL KHLS KJMS KLCN KLJK KOSE KQPN KQXF KWAM KWNW KWYN-FM KXHT KXJK WAVN WBBP WCRV WDIA WEBL WEGR WEVL WGKX WGSF WGUE WHAL-FM WHBQ WHBQ-FM WHRK WIVG WKBL WKBQ WKIM WKNO-FM WKRA-FM WKVF WLFP WLOK WLRM WMC WMC-FM WMFS WMFS-FM WMPS WMQM WOWW WPGF-LP WQOX WRBO WREC WRVR WUMR WUMY WURC WXK49 WXMX WYPL Defunct WSTN 1410 AM Tennessee radio markets Chattanooga Jackson Johnson City–Kingsport–Bristol Knoxville Memphis Nashville Other Tennessee radio regions Clarksville Cookeville Mississippi radio markets Biloxi-Gulfport-Pascagoula Jackson Laurel-Hattiesburg Memphis, TN Meridian New Orleans, LA Oxford Tupelo Other Mississippi radio regions Clarksdale Columbus-Starkville-West Point McComb-Brookhaven Natchez Vicksburg Yazoo City Arkansas radio markets El Dorado Fayetteville Ft. Smith Hot Springs Jonesboro Little Rock Memphis, TN Texarkana Other Arkansas radio regions Arkadelphia See also List of radio stations in Tennessee List of radio stations in Mississippi List of radio stations in Arkansas Coordinates: 35°16′05″N 90°01′03″W Categories: • Radio stations in Memphis, Tennessee • Urban oldies radio stations • IHeartMedia radio stations Navigation menu • Create account • Not logged in • Talk • Contributions • Log in • Article • Talk • Read • Edit • View history Go • Main page • Contents • Featured content • Current events • Random article • Donate to Wikipedia • Wikipedia store Interaction • Help • About Wikipedia • Community portal • Recent changes • Contact page Tools • What links here • Related changes • Upload file • Special pages • Permanent link • Page information • Wikidata item • Cite this page Print/export • Create a book • Download as PDF • Printable version Languages • Deutsch.