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Broadcast area | Atlanta metropolitan area |
Frequency | 750 kHz |
Branding | 95.5 WSB |
Programming | |
Format | News/talk |
Affiliations | |
Ownership | |
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History | |
First air date | March 15, 1922 |
Former frequencies |
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Call sign meaning | Randomly assigned; backronymed to mean "Welcome South, Brother" |
Technical information [1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 73977 |
Class | A |
Power | 50,000 watts (unlimited) |
Transmitter coordinates | 33°50′38.37″N84°15′11.72″W / 33.8439917°N 84.2532556°W |
Repeater(s) |
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Links | |
Public license information | |
Webcast |
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Website | www |
WSB (750 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Atlanta, Georgia. It simulcasts a news/talk radio format with 95.5 WSBB-FM, Doraville. WSB and WSBB-FM are the flagship stations for Cox Media Group which also owns three other Atlanta radio stations and WSB-TV. WSB is among the highest billing stations in the U.S. [2] The station's studios and offices are in the WSB Television and Radio Group Building on West Peachtree Street in Midtown Atlanta.
WSB is powered at 50,000 watts, the maximum for commercial AM stations. WSB is a clear-channel Class A station and uses a non-directional antenna. The transmitter and radiating tower are seven miles (11 kilometers) northeast of Atlanta at the Northlake Tower Festival Shopping Center, off Lavista Road in Tucker, Georgia. Its daytime coverage area is not as large as 50,000-watt AM stations in other parts of the country due to Georgia's poor ground conductivity; as such, a number of outer Atlanta suburbs only receive a grade B signal. At night, when radio waves travel farther, WSB can be heard with a good radio across much of the Southeastern United States, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. Though the station is licensed for HD Radio operations, like many stations, it shut off the capability due to RF interference, a lack of demand for AM stations in the format, and the establishment of WSBB-FM to address audio quality concerns. [3]
WSB was one of the first radio stations in the South. [5] In early 1922, there was a tremendous public interest in the then-new technology of radio broadcasting. [6] By the end of the year, the number of authorized stations exceeded 500. In many communities, a race broke out to see who would be the first to get a station on the air. In Atlanta, the primary contenders were the two major newspapers, the Atlanta Journal and the Atlanta Constitution. [7] The Journal established a makeshift studio on the fifth floor of its building at 7 Forsyth Street. A transmitter had been ordered, but facing a delay, the newspaper arranged for the equipment used by Gordon Heidt for his amateur station to be temporarily installed. A broadcasting license was normally needed before a station could go on the air, but it was arranged to have an initial telegraphed authorization, which was sent by the Department of Commerce on the evening of March 15, 1922. The station's debut broadcast took place that evening. [8] [9] The transmitter had only 100 watts of power and ice was used to cool the batteries. [10]
The Journal's new station was issued the randomly assigned call letters WSB. [11] Station management would claim the call letters stood for "Welcome South, Brother", even though the Journal did not specifically request those call letters. [12] The Constitution's station, WGM, debuted two days later on March 17. Because it also was transmitting on 360 meters, the two newspapers had to set up a time-sharing agreement allocating broadcast hours. Competition was so fierce between the two that WSB's manager, Lambdin "The Little Colonel" Kay, banned any person who had previously appeared on WGM from broadcasting over WSB. [8]
In September 1922, the Department of Commerce set aside a second entertainment wavelength, 400 meters (750 kHz) for "Class B" stations that had quality equipment and programming. [13] Both WSB and WGM were assigned to this new wavelength. In May 1923, additional "Class B" frequencies were made available, and Atlanta was assigned the use of 700 kHz. [14] Once again, both WSB and WGM were assigned to this new frequency. [15] However, at the end of July, WGM permanently ceased operations, which gave WSB exclusive use of the assignment.
In 1927, WSB became an affiliate of the NBC Red Network. [16] The station carried NBC's dramas, comedies, news and sports during the "Golden Age of Radio". The trademark three-tone NBC chimes were first played in the WSB studios.
In the summer of 1927, WSB began transmitting on 630 kHz. [17] On November 11, 1928, under the provisions of the Federal Radio Commission's General Order 40, WSB was reassigned to a "clear channel" frequency of 740 kHz. [18] WSB was the dominant station nationally on this frequency. In March 1941, as part of the implementation of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA), WSB moved to 750 kHz, where it has been heard ever since.
Part of WSB's programming was southern gospel music, gaining popularity throughout the region, with shows hosted by Charles Davis Tillman. The Shelby Star newspaper, in an issue dated November 1985, wrote that the talented Dan Hornsby, after the 1929 crash of the stock market, found himself working no longer for Columbia Records. He got work as the first morning show announcer for WSB. Lambdin Kay called Hornsby "90% of the local talent on WSB".
In 1939, the Journal newspaper and WSB radio station were sold to James Middleton Cox, the founder of what would become Cox Enterprises. Wright Bryan, a WSB news reporter as well as managing editor of the Atlanta Journal, was also a stringer for NBC during World War II. He was the first war correspondent to broadcast an eyewitness account of the D-Day invasion. Bryan reported from London in the early hours of June 6, 1944. Elmo Ellis, who programmed WSB in the 1950s and 1960s, is remembered as an innovator among Southern broadcasters. He provided the on-air editorials for the station, and in the 1960s, consistently supported civil rights.
WSB won a 1946 Special Citation of Honor Peabody Award. It was awarded for its program "The Harbor We Seek". [19]
From 1925 to 1956, WSB radio, along with later co-owned stations WSB-FM and WSB-TV, operated out of the top floor of the Atlanta Biltmore Hotel in Midtown Atlanta. Afterward, the WSB stations were housed in a Colonial-style mansion with its interior specially built for broadcasting, informally known as "White Columns". [20] That location was where Peachtree Street crosses West Peachtree Street near Ansley Park. In 1998, all of the Cox's Atlanta radio stations, as well as WSB-TV, moved into a new "Digital White Columns" on the same property. The original White Columns was demolished afterward.
In 1948, WSB added an FM sister station, WSB-FM, originally broadcasting on 104.5 MHz. [21] The Atlanta Constitution had also been experimenting with FM radio, putting WCON-FM on the air the year before. When the two newspapers merged under Cox ownership in 1952, WCON-FM and WSB-FM went silent. WSB-FM returned to the air in 1955 on WCON-FM's dial position, 98.5 FM. While it has the call letters of WSB-FM, the station traces its founding to when WCON-FM first signed on.
During its early years, when few people had FM radio receivers, WSB-FM mostly simulcast the programming on WSB. That included programs from the NBC Red Network, as well as local shows. As network programming moved from radio to television in the 1950s, WSB-AM-FM began airing a full service, middle of the road format of popular music, news, sports and information. By the late 1960s, WSB-FM was separately programmed with a beautiful music format.
Also in 1948, WSB-TV first signed on the air on September 29. It originally broadcast on Channel 8. It is the second-oldest TV station south of Washington, D.C., after WTVR-TV in Richmond, Virginia. Just as WSB aired NBC Red Network radio programming, WSB-TV was originally a primary NBC-TV affiliate. WSB-TV also carried some ABC shows. While Channel 8 was assigned to The Atlanta Journal, Channel 2 was assigned to The Atlanta Constitution, although the Constitution never got its TV station on the air. After the two newspapers came under Cox ownership, WSB-TV moved to Channel 2. The station switched networks with WXIA-TV in 1980 to become an ABC affiliate.
WSB formerly broadcast in AM stereo using the Motorola C-QUAM system during the 1980s, a period when music could still be heard on the station. The on-air talent in this era included morning hosts Russ Spooner and Dick Hemby, as well as longtime Atlanta Braves baseball announcer Skip Caray presenting morning sportscasts. As WSB's format progressed to a full-time news-talk radio format by 1987, the AM stereo system was turned off, as it was superfluous since music had been discontinued.
Also in the 1980s, WSB discontinued its NBC affiliation. Its own news staff delivered all the newscasts, with sound and actualities supplied by AP Radio. In 2018, WSB affiliated with ABC News Radio for its world and national news coverage. Co-owned WSB-TV has been an ABC television affiliate since 1980. [22] In 2020, the station switched to CBS News Radio. [23]
On August 16, 2010, WSB began a full-time simulcast on co-owned WBTS 95.5 FM, which previously played rhythmic contemporary music under the branding "95.5 The Beat". [24] That October 1, WBTS's call letters were changed to WSBB-FM; the extra "B" was added to the FM call letters because Cox already owns a station with the WSB-FM call sign on 98.5. On July 31, 2019, WSB and WSBB-FM began calling themselves "95.5 WSB". Despite the AM station's wide coverage, 750 is now mentioned, along with WSBB-FM's true call letters, during the hourly FCC-mandated station identification in a rushed form. [25]
Cox Enterprises sold majority control of Cox Media Group to Apollo Global Management on December 17, 2019. [26] While Cox Enterprises retains a minority stake in the company, the sale effectively separated the WSB stations from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution , which remains wholly owned by Cox Enterprises. [27]
WSB's Scott Slade hosted Atlanta's Morning News until February 2023, when he stepped back from full-time hosting. He was succeeded by evening news anchor Chris Chandler, and remains semi-retired as a fill-in host. In April 2023, 31-year morning news host Marcy Williams retired from WSB. [28] She calculated she wrote more than 300,000 radio news stories.
WSB and WSBB-FM mostly air local news and talk shows. Weekdays begin with Atlanta's Morning News, anchored by Chris Chandler, Judd Hickinbotham and Cheryl Castro. Airborne traffic reports and weather forecasts are featured every six minutes. Clark Howard provides consumer reports. In middays, afternoons and early evenings, local talk hosts include Erick Erickson, Mark Arum, Eric Von Haessler and Shelley Wynter. [29] At 9 pm, WSB carries The Sean Hannity Show recorded that afternoon. Overnight, repeats of local weekday shows are heard.
Weekends feature shows on gardening, home repair, cars, real estate, health and money, some of which are paid brokered programming. Syndicated weekend shows include Bill Handel on the Law, The Kim Komando Show, Eye on Travel with Peter Greenberg and Face The Nation . WSB and WSBB-FM are affiliates of CBS News Radio. The stations have a news sharing agreement with WSB-TV.
WSB has long served as the flagship radio station for the University of Georgia Bulldogs Radio Network, carrying its football and basketball games. In past years, WSB also served as the flagship station for Atlanta Braves baseball, Atlanta Falcons football and Atlanta Hawks basketball. WSB carried Braves baseball coverage from 1966, the year the Milwaukee Braves moved to Atlanta, until 1991. Braves games moved to 640 WGST from 1992 until 1994.
In 1995, the team returned to WSB, the season in which the Braves won the World Series. That same year, Atlanta Hawks game coverage was also picked up by the station. From 1995 until 2004, WSB branded itself as the "Sports Voice of the South", carrying play-by-play game coverage of Braves baseball, Hawks basketball and Bulldogs football and basketball. In 2019, Braves baseball moved to 680 WCNN. The Falcons and Hawks are now heard on 92.9 WZGC.
WSB-FM is a commercial radio station in Atlanta, Georgia. It carries an adult contemporary radio format and is owned by the Cox Media Group, serving as the group's flagship FM station. WSB-FM is the oldest FM radio station in Atlanta. The studios and offices are on Peachtree Street NE in Atlanta, in the WSB-TV and Radio Group Building.
WALR-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Palmetto, Georgia and serving Metro Atlanta. It is owned by the Cox Media Group and airs an urban adult contemporary radio format. The studios are co-located with other Cox-owned radio stations and WSB-TV in Midtown Atlanta on West Peachtree Street.
WUBL is a commercial radio station known as 94-9 The Bull. It is owned by iHeartMedia and it plays a country music radio format. The studios and offices are located at the Peachtree Palisades Building in the Brookwood Hills district of Atlanta. It has local DJs in the daytime and at nighttime it carries two syndicated Premiere Networks country music programs, The Bobby Bones Show and After MidNite With Granger Smith. The station's radio transmitter is located just northeast of Atlanta near Druid Hills Road in North Druid Hills, with several other stations.
WSBB-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Doraville, Georgia, and serving Metro Atlanta. WSBB-FM and co-owned WSB simulcast a news/talk radio format. The stations are owned by the Cox Media Group and are among the highest-billing stations in the U.S. On the air, the two stations are referred to as "95.5 WSB", only occasionally mentioning the FM station's call sign or the AM station's frequency.
WSRV – branded 97.1 The River – is a commercial radio station licensed to Gainesville, Georgia, and serving Metro Atlanta. It is owned by the Cox Media Group. WSRV broadcasts a classic rock radio format. The studios and offices are in the Cox Television and Radio Facility on West Peachtree Street near the Brookwood neighborhood of Atlanta.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) is an American daily newspaper based in metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the result of the merger between The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution. The two staffs were combined in 1982. Separate publication of the morning Constitution and the afternoon Journal ended in 2001 in favor of a single morning paper under the Journal-Constitution name.
WSB-TV is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is the flagship television property of locally based Cox Media Group, which has owned the station since its inception, and is sister to radio stations WSB, WSBB-FM (95.5), WSRV, WSB-FM (98.5) and WALR-FM (104.1). The stations share studios at the WSB Television and Radio Group building on West Peachtree Street in Midtown Atlanta; WSB-TV's transmitter is located on the border of the city's Poncey-Highland and Old Fourth Ward neighborhoods.
WXIA-TV is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate WATL. The two stations share studios at One Monroe Place on the north end of midtown Atlanta; WXIA-TV's transmitter is located in the city's east section, near Kirkwood. Atlanta is the largest television market where the NBC station is not owned and operated by the network.
WBIN is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Atlanta, Georgia. It is owned by iHeartMedia, through its subsidiary iHM Licenses, LLC. It serves the Atlanta metropolitan area as its affiliate for the Black Information Network. The station's studios and offices located at the Peachtree Palisades Building in the Brookwood Hills district. The transmitter site is off Joseph E. Boone Boulevard Northwest in the Center Hill neighborhood of Atlanta.
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.
WPCH-TV, branded as Peachtree TV, is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is owned by locally based Gray Television alongside CBS affiliate and company flagship WANF, and low-power, Class A Telemundo affiliate WKTB-CD. WPCH-TV and WANF share studios on 14th Street Northwest in Atlanta's Home Park neighborhood; WPCH-TV's transmitter is located in the Woodland Hills section of northeastern Atlanta.
The following is a list of media in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
WYFQ and WYFQ-FM are two radio stations in the Charlotte metropolitan area of North Carolina that serve as the flagship stations of the Bible Broadcasting Network. The AM station operates with a power of 5,000 watts daytime and 1,000 watts nighttime, and is licensed to Charlotte. A directional antenna system is used during the station's nighttime hours. The FM station operates with an effective radiated power of 8,700 watts, and is licensed to the Wadesboro, North Carolina. The FM station serves mainly as a repeater for the eastern portion of the Charlotte radio market.
WAGA-TV is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, serving as the market's Fox network outlet. Owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division, the station maintains studios and transmitter facilities on Briarcliff Road Northeast in the Druid Hills area of unincorporated DeKalb County, just outside the Atlanta city limits.
This article is intended to give an overview of the History of television in Atlanta.
WGKA branded AM 920 The Answer is a commercial conservative talk radio station licensed to Atlanta, Georgia, serving primarily the Atlanta metropolitan area. Currently owned by Salem Media Group, WGKA serves as the Atlanta affiliate for the Salem Radio Network and the Clemson Tigers football radio network. WGKA's studios are located on Peachtree Street in Atlanta, while its transmitter is located near the Morningside Nature Preserve.
WDUN, known as "North Georgia's Newstalk", is a news/talk formatted AM radio station licensed to the city Gainesville, Georgia, in the Atlanta, Georgia radio market. WDUN is licensed as a Class B AM broadcast facility by the Federal Communications Commission operating with 10,000 watts of power during the daytime using a non-directional antenna signal pattern, and 2,500 watts during nighttime using a directional antenna pattern. The station is currently owned by JWJ Properties, Inc., doing business as Jacobs Media Corporation, which also operates WDUN-FM in Clarkesville, Georgia.
WXKT is a radio station broadcasting an adult hits format as "103.7 Chuck FM". Licensed to Maysville, Georgia, it serves the Gainesville area and can generally be heard as far west as Doraville and as far south as Athens. It first began broadcasting in 1989 under the call sign WBIC. It is currently owned by Cox Radio. Its studios are located in Bogart, and its transmitter is in Lula, Georgia.
WGM was an Atlanta, Georgia AM radio broadcasting station, operated by the Atlanta Constitution newspaper from March 17, 1922 to July 29, 1923. Although the station gained national prominence, it was shut down by its owner after just over a year of operation. The station equipment was then donated to Georgia Tech, where it was used in early 1924 to help set up radio station WBBF.
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