WMAC

Last updated

WMAC
Broadcast area Central Georgia
Frequency 940 kHz
BrandingNews Talk 940 WMAC
Programming
Format News/talk
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
October 30, 1922;102 years ago (1922-10-30) (experimental 1910–1922)
Former call signs
  • WMAZ (1922–1996)
  • WMWR (1996–1998)
Call sign meaning
"Macon" (also disambiguation of original call sign)
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 46998
Class B
Power
  • 50,000 watts day
  • 10,000 watts night
Transmitter coordinates
 32°53′06″N83°43′50″W / 32.88500°N 83.73056°W / 32.88500; -83.73056
Repeater(s) 93.7 WPEZ-HD2 (Jeffersonville)
Links
Public license information
Webcast Listen live
Website www.wmac-am.com

WMAC (940 AM, "News Talk 940") is a commercial Class B radio station in Macon, Georgia. It is owned by Cumulus Media and airs a news/talk format. The studios and offices are on Mulberry Street in Macon. It is one of the oldest radio stations in Georgia. WMAC is a primary entry point for the Emergency Alert System (EAS).

Contents

WMAC is a Class B radio station, powered at 50,000 watts by day with a non-directional signal. It can be heard from Albany to the suburbs of Atlanta. But because it broadcasts on AM 940, a clear channel frequency reserved for XEQ in Mexico City, WMAC reduces its power at night to 10,000 watts, and uses a directional five-tower array, concentrating the signal in Central Georgia. The transmitter is located on Forsyth Road (U.S. Route 41) in Macon. [2]

Programming

Much of WMAC's schedule is made up of nationally syndicated conservative talk radio shows, most of them from the co-owned Westwood One Network. Weekdays begin with two information shows, America in the Morning and First Light, followed by Chris Plante, Mark Levin, Michael Savage and Red Eye Radio. From Premiere Networks, WMAC carries Sean Hannity in late evenings. On weekends, WMAC carries tech expert Kim Komando and consumer advocate Clark Howard. Some weekend hours are paid brokered programming. Most hours begin with world and national news from Fox News Radio. Local news and weather updates are provided by Channel 13 WMAZ-TV.

History

Early years

This station started out as part of a radio experiment by Mercer University professor C.R. Fountain's physics class in 1910. On October 30, 1922, Mercer obtained a commercial license under the call sign WMAZ. The university soon found itself in over its head operating a radio station. In 1927, it sold WMAZ to the Macon Junior Chamber of Commerce, forerunner of the Macon Jaycees.

A group of Macon businessmen formed the Southeastern Broadcasting Company and leased the station in 1929, before buying it outright in 1935. [3] In the 1930s, WMAZ was a daytimer, broadcast on 1180 kilocycles, first at 500 watts, and later at 1,000 watts, but required to sign off at sunset to protect WCAU in Philadelphia. In 1937, WMAZ became a CBS Radio network affiliate, carrying its schedule of dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows and big band broadcasts during the "Golden Age of Radio". It broadcast the Soap Box Derby live. By the late 1930s, WMAZ was permitted to remain on the air after sundown, but at reduced power to protect WCAU.

In 1941, with the enactment of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA), WMAZ moved to its current 940 kHz, a better spot on the dial. [4] The power was boosted to 5,000 watts around the clock, and by 1950, it increased to 10,000 watts.

FM and TV stations

In 1947, Macon's first FM station signed on, 99.1 WMAZ-FM (now WDEN-FM). [5] WMAZ-FM mostly simulcast its AM sister station for its first couple of decades. In 1953, the Southeastern Broadcasting Company added Macon's first VHF TV station, Channel 13 WMAZ-TV. [6] Because 940 WMAZ was a CBS affiliate, WMAZ-TV also ran CBS TV shows, with a secondary affiliation with ABC and the DuMont Television Network.

In the 1950s, as network programming moved from radio to TV, WMAZ-AM-FM switched to a full service middle of the road format of popular adult music, news and sports. In the late 1950s, WMAZ-AM-FM-TV produced middle Georgia's first radio-television simulcast for the 24th Annual Bibb County Spelling Bee. In 1958, 940 WMAZ's daytime power was boosted to 50,000 watts. [7] That made it the second-most powerful station in Georgia, after WSB 750 in Atlanta, powered at 50,000 watts around the clock. In the 1960 edition of Broadcasting Yearbook , an advertisement said 50,000 watt WMAZ is "the only station to cover completely the rich, 31-county Middle Georgia market".

Ownership changes

Southeastern sold WMAZ-AM-FM-TV to Southern Broadcasting Corporation in 1963, which merged with the News-Piedmont Company to form Multimedia, Inc. in 1967. In 1974, WMAZ-AM-FM-TV moved to a new studio facility on Gray Highway in Macon. Throughout the 1980s, the station had an adult contemporary format until 1989, when it switched back to its former MOR format.

Multimedia merged with Gannett in 1995. Gannett had by this time decided to pull out of radio, concentrating on its TV stations and newspapers. It sold off the radio stations in 1996. The new owners changed AM 940's call sign to WMWR on August 23, (standing for Macon-Warner Robins), but a year later, the station was sold as part of a group purchase by U.S. Broadcasting. On July 1, 1998, the station changed to its current call sign, WMAC. The call sign not only stands for Macon, but are a nod to the heritage call letters the station used for three-quarters of a century.

In 2002, U.S. Broadcasting sold this station as part of a group purchase by Cumulus Media. In 2015, WMAC switched to Westwood One News from ABC News Radio due to a corporate change by Cumulus Media. In August 2020, Westwood One News shut down; so WMAC aligned with Fox News Radio for national news. As the news department was scaled back due to budget cuts, news and weather updates began to be supplied by former sister station WMAZ-TV Channel 13.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WAKL (FM)</span> Radio station in Gainesville, Georgia

WAKL is a non-commercial FM Christian contemporary radio station licensed to Gainesville, Georgia. Owned by the Educational Media Foundation, WAKL serves the Atlanta metropolitan area as the local affiliate for the national K-Love network. Besides a standard analog transmission, WAKL broadcasts in the HD Radio hybrid format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WCNN</span> Radio station in North Atlanta, Georgia

WCNN is a radio station licensed to North Atlanta and serving the Atlanta-area radio market. It is owned by Dickey Broadcasting and airs a sports radio format. The station is commonly known by the on-air branding as "The Fan". Local sports shows are heard weekdays with the ESPN Radio Network airing nights and weekends. WCNN is the flagship of the Atlanta Braves Radio Network.

KABC is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, and serving the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts a conservative talk radio format. The studios are located in the Los Angeles suburb of Culver City. The transmitter is off West Martin Luther King Boulevard in the Crenshaw District, shared with KWKW and KFOX. KABC’s power is 6,600 watts daytime and 7,900 watts nighttime, using a directional antenna. The station is the Los Angeles affiliate of Armstrong & Getty, The Ben Shapiro Show, The Dan Bongino Show, The Michael Knowles Show, America in the Morning and Red Eye Radio. Local shows are hosted by John Phillips, Frank Mottek and Randy Wang. National news from NBC News Radio and local news updates begin each hour's broadcast. Former sister station KABC-TV simulcasts the 4-6:00 part of the morning newscast weekdays on KABC (AM).

WBOB is a commercial AM radio station in Jacksonville, Florida. The station airs a talk radio format and is owned by Chesapeake-Portsmouth Broadcasting Corporation. Weekdays begin with a local news and information show, followed by mostly syndicated programming, including shows from Mark Levin, Mike Gallagher, Dennis Prager, Jay Sekulow and Red Eye Radio. Most hours begin with Townhall News. Some hours are paid brokered programming. The station calls itself "Talkradio AM 600 & FM 101.1 WBOB".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KAAY</span> Radio station in Little Rock, Arkansas

KAAY is a commercial radio station in Little Rock, Arkansas, owned by Cumulus Media. It airs a Christian radio format of instruction and preaching, with most of the schedule made up of brokered programming featuring local and national religious leaders, including Charles Stanley, Jim Daly, John F. MacArthur, and Albert Pendarvis. Overnight, automated contemporary Christian music is heard. The station's studios are located in West Little Rock, and the transmitter is located off McDonald Road in Wrightsville. KAAY is Arkansas's primary entry point station for the Emergency Alert System.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WPHT</span> Talk radio station in Philadelphia

WPHT is a commercial radio station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station broadcasts a talk radio format and is owned by Audacy, Inc. Its studios are in Audacy's corporate headquarters on Market Street in Center City, and its transmitter and broadcast tower are on North Church Street in Moorestown, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WMAZ-TV</span> TV station in Macon, Georgia

WMAZ-TV is a television station in Macon, Georgia, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW Plus. The station is owned by Tegna Inc., and maintains studios on Gray Highway on the northeast side of Macon; its transmitter is located on GA 87/US 23/129 ALT along the Twiggs–Bibb county line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WQXK</span> Country radio station in Salem-Youngstown, Ohio

WQXK is a commercial radio station, licensed to Salem, Ohio, and serving the Youngstown metropolitan area and the Mahoning Valley. It is one of eight radio stations in the Youngstown radio market owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts a country music radio format. The studios and offices are in "The Radio Center" in Youngstown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WRVQ</span> Contemporary hit radio station in Richmond, Virginia

WRVQ is a commercial radio station licensed to Richmond, Virginia, and serving Central Virginia. WRVQ is owned and operated by Audacy, Inc. It airs a top 40 (CHR) radio format. The syndicated Elvis Duran show from former sister station WHTZ in New York City is heard in morning drive time. The studios and offices are located just north of Richmond city limits on Basie Road in unincorporated Henrico County, Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WAPI (AM)</span> Radio station in Birmingham, Alabama

WAPI is a commercial AM radio station in Birmingham, Alabama. It is owned by Cumulus Media and carries a news/talk format, simulcast with FM sister station 99.5 WZRR. The radio studios and offices are on Goodwin Crest Drive in Homewood.

WUXL is a radio station in Macon, Georgia, owned by Clifton G. Moor, through licensee B&GRS Enterprises, LLC. It is currently an urban contemporary gospel radio station.

WJCW is a commercial radio station, licensed to Johnson City, Tennessee and serving the Tri-Cities radio market. It is owned by Cumulus Media and airs a news/talk format.

KBOI is a commercial AM radio station in Boise, Idaho. It is owned by Cumulus Media and it simulcasts a news/talk radio format with co-owned 93.1 KBOI-FM. Studios and offices are on Bannock Street in Downtown Boise, while the AM transmitter site with its six-tower array is on Cloverdale Road in Kuna.

WJIM is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Lansing, Michigan. It is owned by Townsquare Media and broadcasts a news/talk format. It is also the flagship station of the Michigan Talk Network. Studios and offices are on Pinetree Road in Lansing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WXQW</span> Radio station in Fairhope, Alabama

WXQW is a news/talk radio station licensed to Fairhope, Alabama, and serving the Mobile metropolitan area. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and the broadcast license is held by Cumulus Licensing LLC. The radio studios and offices are on Dauphin Street in Midtown Mobile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WBMQ</span> Radio station in Savannah, Georgia (1939–2020)

WBMQ was a commercial AM radio station in Savannah, Georgia. It was owned by Cumulus Media and aired a news/talk format. The studios and offices were on Television Circle in Savannah. The transmitter was off Dulany Avenue near the Savannah River.

KRDO is a commercial radio station in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The station is owned and operated by the News-Press & Gazette Company of St. Joseph, Missouri and it airs a news/talk radio format, simulcast with KRDO-FM. Both stations are aided by the news department of co-owned KRDO-TV, with some TV newscasts also heard on the radio stations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WDEN-FM</span> Radio station in Macon, Georgia

WDEN-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Macon, Georgia. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and the broadcast license is held by Cumulus Licensing, LLC. WDEN airs a country music radio format. The studios and offices are on Mulberry Street.

KARN is a commercial AM radio station in Little Rock, Arkansas, owned and operated by Cumulus Media. It airs a sports radio format known as "920 AM The Sports Animal." The station's studios are located on Wellington Hills Road in West Little Rock. The transmitter tower is located off North Hills Boulevard in North Little Rock. KARN broadcasts at 5,000 watts, using a directional antenna at night to avoid interfering with other stations on AM 920. KARN is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to broadcast a digital HD signal, although it is not currently broadcasting in HD.

WLXF is a Christian radio station licensed to serve Macon, Georgia. It broadcasts a Contemporary Christian music format.

References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WMAC". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ↑ Radio-Locator.com/WMAC
  3. ↑ "Cargill Group in Control" (PDF). Broadcasting. April 15, 1935. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  4. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1943 page 86
  5. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1950 page 124
  6. ↑ Telecasting Yearbook 1954-1955 page 100
  7. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1960 page A-141
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.