WWDM

Infobox Radio Station
name = WWDM|

city = Sumter, South Carolina
airdate = 1961
frequency = "101.3" (MHz)
area = South Carolina
format = Adult Urban Contemporary
owner = Inner City Broadcasting
erp = 100,000 watts | branding = "The Big DM 101FM"
slogan = "Your #1 Station For R&B"
callsign_meaning = WW DM = used in "Big DM 101 FM branding
class = C1
website = http://www.thebigdm.com
sister_stations = WARQ, WHXT, WZMJ, WMFX, WOIC, WWDM

WWDM, also known as The Big DM 101 FM, is an Adult Urban Contemporary station licensed by the FCC to Sumter, South Carolina at 101.3 MHz., but targeting the capital city of Columbia. Its 100kw. signal is one of the strongest in the state and can be heard throughout much of South Carolina as well as parts of Georgia and North Carolina.

Station history

101.3 begin as WFIG-FM in 1961, broadcasting to Sumter with 3,000 watts of power. At the time the station was simulcasting the Country format of sister AM WFIG 1290. Both stations were owned by one-time South Carolina State Senate candidate John Miles.

In 1973, a DJ by the name of Pete Boss convinced Miles to allow him the opportunity to program R&B music on WFIG-FM during the evening hours of 7 to 10 PM in exchange for selling the advertising time for his show. The R&B show became successful and the hours were eventually extended throughout the rest of the broadcast day on WFIG-FM. In 1975, the FM call letters was changed to WWDM to solidify its change to full-time Urban Contemporary.

In 1976, WWDM increased its transmitting power from the 3,000 watts that it was licensed at sign-on, to 100,000 watts. Because of the station's geographical location near the center of the state, as well as the few number of high powered FMs in the area at the time, the station became an important voice in the South Carolina African-American community. It has won numerous awards over the years for its news programming and features. This contributed to WWDM's dominance over most Urban stations in the market that came and went. By the late 1990's, WWDM suffered a minor setback when it was outranked in listenership by newcoming Urban stations WXBT, WLXC (the only other Urban AC) and WHXT. WWDM, at the time, played Hip Hop and R&B; to curtail excessive competition, ICBC (the owners) bought WHXT, and WWDM restructured its Urban Contemporary format to serve the Adult Black demographics.

Today WWDM is home to two syndicated shows: Steve Harvey Morning Show and The Michael Baisden Show in the afternoons.

The station is owned by Inner City Broadcasting, which also owns Urban Contemporary WHXT, Classic rock WMFX, Alternative WARQ, ESPN Radio outlet WZMJ and Air America Radio outlet WOIC in the Columbia radio market.

External links

* [http://www.thebigdm.com The Big DM's official website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/wwdm The Big DM's MySpace page]
* [http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?list=0&facid=58398 WWDM's FCC entry]