WSJS

"For the television station formerly known as WSJS, see WXII."Infobox Radio Station
name = WSJS


city = Winston-Salem, North Carolina
area = Piedmont Triad
branding = News/Talk 600/1200 WSJS
slogan =
airdate = April 18, 1930 (Good Friday)
frequency = 600 (kHz)
repeater = 1200 (kHz) WSML, Graham, North Carolina
format = News/Talk
power = 5,000 watts
class = B
callsign_meaning = Winston-Salem Journal Sentinel (named for the city's two daily papers, the Winston-Salem Journal and the Twin City Sentinel
owner = Curtis Media Group
website = [http://www.wsjs.com www.wsjs.com] |

WSJS is a radio station based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina that broadcasts at 600 AM (and broadcasts programming at WSML 1200 AM). It has a news/talk radio format and its slogan is "News/Talk for the Triad", where "Triad" refers to the Piedmont Triad.

History

In 1929, entrepreneur and radio engineer Doug Lee began talking with Owen Moon, publisher of the two Winston-Salem newspapers, "The Winston-Salem Journal" and "The Twin City Sentinel".

WSJS signed on the air on April 17, 1930, Holy Thursday. Three days later, the station aired live coverage of the Easter Sunrise Service from God's Acre in Old Salem. That broadcast has continued every year since, and is believed to the be longest continuously aired special program in radio history.

WSJS was originally owned by the local newspapers, and the original studios were in the newspaper newsroom in downtown Winston-Salem.Roger Moore, "WSJS, City's First Radio Station Was Born and Raised in the Journal Newsroom," "Winston-Salem Journal", April 3, 1997.] . The transmitter was in that building also and the antenna was a long wire suspended from two towers (one on the Journal Building and the other on the roof of the Carolina Theater building)Fact|date=August 2008.

In 1933, WSJS became a CBS Radio Network affiliate, moving to NBC Radio in 1940. Gordon Gray bought the newspapers and the radio station in 1937, and Harold Essex of Chicago became the manager. Together, they made WSJS as important to the area as the newspapers, increasing the station's power and moving WSJS from 1310 AM to 600 AM. An FM station, WMIT, was added near Mount Mitchell, and later WSJS-FM (which became WTQR) began in Winston-Salem.

The station was co-located with WSJS TV for a number of years. Radio and TV were sold when the FCC decided newspapers shouldn't own broadcast facilities. The stations were operated by Summit Cable until the FCC said cable operators should not own TV stations. The television facility was sold and it became WXII. WSJS moved to its present location at 5th and SummitFact|date=August 2008.

Wally Williams hosted "Carolina in the Morning" from 1954 to 1979. The show included the "good word for the day" and a daily devotional. Williams had started as an announcer on the TV station, where he continued to do the weather. When he retired, Winston-Salem mayor Wayne Corpening declared May 31 "Wally Williams Day." Wayne Willard did the news during most of Williams' years on the station, and also served as the station's news director [Michelle Johnson, "Longtime Local Radio Host Wally Williams Dies in Surry at Age 88," "Winston-Salem Journal" October 26, 2001.] .

George Lee joined WSJS radio in 1968. Among his characters were Blue the Bionic Dog and Magnolia Sweetbreath. when signing off he would tell people to drive carefully so "that the life you save may be mine. Myself, I would rather be a little late than be the late George Lee." He and Tom Chambers would tell punch lines to jokes on the air--just the punch lines, because the jokes themselves were dirty. Before WSJS, he was on WAIR, and he was one of the "Good Guys" on WTOB. In 1976 he became program director of WSJS and WTQR. Lee left radio in 1982 but his career included roles in several movies and TV shows, and he was the narrator of "Beyond the Wheel", a program about NASCAR on The Speed Channel [Melissa Hall, "'Good Guy': Broadcaster George Lee Made Mark, Left a Smile," "Winston-Salem Journal", October 5, 2006.] [Mark Burger, "Man Behind the Voice, George Lee, Dies at 67; He Was Active in Radio and Acting," "Winston-Salem Journal" September 30, 2006.] . In 1979, Glenn Scott moved from WXII to WSJS to replace Williams as morning host, a position he held for almost 30 years. For the last few years, he did the show from his home in Horse Shoe, near Hendersonville, after moving closer to his children. He almost considered retiring but changed his mind when the station made arrangements for the remote broadcastsTim Clodfelter, "Popular WSJS Voice Will Retire," "Winston-Salem Journal", May 15, 2007.] [Tim Clodfelter, "Morning-Man Glenn Scott Coming to You from Out There," "Winston-Salem Journal", May 29, 2006.] .

In 1988, Bob Costner became WSJS news director, a position he would hold for nearly 20 years [Tim Clodfelter, "Costner, the News Director at WSJS, Leaving to Be Editor, Reporter on TV," "Winston-Salem Journal", October 21, 2006.] .

NewMarket Media Corp. sold WSJS and WTQR to Radio Equity Partners of Norwalk, Connecticut, in a deal completed in April 1994 and worth in excess of $100 million, as the Connecticut company expanded into the Southeast, looking for the best stations possible [Sheila Long, "Top Triad Radio Stations to Be Sold; WTQR and WSJS Won't Change Formats," "Greensboro News & Record", December 29, 1993.] .

After more than 20 years, Wake Forest University stopped airing its football and basketball games on WSJS, moving to the first of several stronger FM stations [Ed Hardin, "Deacons Replacing WSJS with New Station," "Greensboro News & Record", March 2, 1995.] . Gene Overby, also WSJS sports director prior to his death in 1989, was play-by-play announcer for Wake Forest for 17 years [Tom Steadman, "Scores and More: Jack LaFaivre Brings Conversational Sports to Area Radio Listeners," "Greensboro News & Record", April 20, 1990.] ["Sandra Hughes Receives Award," "Greensboro News & Record", October 20, 1990.] .

Even before CBS dropped Gil Gross, WSJS replaced him with "ESPN GameNight [David Watson, "SAM," "Winston-Salem Journal", September 18, 1998.] ."

In August 1998, WSML in Graham, North Carolina, formerly a gospel music station, began airing the same programming as WSJS most of the time, and legendary Greensboro DJ Dusty Dunn joined the stations [Jeri Rowe, "Radio Personality Lands at WSJS," "Greensboro News & Record", August 13, 1998.] . WSJS Program director Mike Fenley began a talk show on WSML which aired in the late morning, at the time WSJS was airing Dr. Laura. While WSJS aired Rush Limbaugh, WSML had Paul Harvey and religious programming. WSJS aired UNC football and basketball, while WSML carried N.C. State [David Watson, "SAM," "Winston-Salem Journal", September 18, 1998.] . Dunn left WSJS/WSML after a year because new station management wanted more of a focus on political talk [Jeri Rowe, "Dusty Dunn Returns to Greensboro Airwaves," "Greensboro News & Record", October 28, 1999.] .

WSML was the only area station airing the NHL Carolina Hurricanes early in the 1998-99 season. WSJS had the NFL Carolina Panthers] and the NBA Charlotte Hornets, but the NBA lockout gave WSJS a reason to add the team's games later in the season [Dustin Long, "Hurricanes Getting Air Time in Georgia, But Not Greensboro," "Greensboro News & Record", November 18, 1998.] .

WSJS and WTQR were sold to Clear Channel Communications in 1997. When Clear Channel merged with AMFM, WSJS was sold to CBS Radio (then called Infinity) in 2000 [Melissa Midgett, "Three Local Radio Stations Sold - Radio Stations WMFR, WSJS and WSML Are Sold to Infinity Broadcasting," "Greensboro News & Record", March 7, 2000.] . The Infinity purchase meant WSJS dropped Paul Harvey and added Charles Osgood and "The Dan Rather Report", and that CBS newscasts replaced those from ABC Radio [Ronda Bumgardner, "SAM", "Winston-Salem Journal", December 21, 2000.] .

WSJS carried the Winston-Salem Warthogs minor league baseball team for two seasons starting in 2003 ["WSJS, Warthogs Will Partner for at Least Next Two Seasons," "Winston-Salem Journal", March 4, 2003.] .

WSJS dropped Dr. Laura late in 2003, replacing her with Laura Ingraham in the late morning slot; Ingraham had been on WSJS late at night ["Fear Not: MTV's Scary Game Show Fell Victim to Low Ratings," "Winston-Salem Journal", December 13, 2003 ] .

Beth Ann McBride was a producer and assistant continuity director in 2002 and 2003, and she became producer of the Don and Mike Show before returning to WSJS in December 2005 as program director and afternoon host, replacing Fenley [Tim Clodfelter, "Playback: McBride Returns to WSJS, to Both Sides of Mike," "Winston-Salem Journal" December 7, 2005.] .

On February 14, 2007, WSJS (along with its sister station WMFR and simulcast partner WSML) was sold by CBS to Raleigh-based Curtis Media Group. This move marries WSJS with FM news/talk station WZTK, which covers both the Triad and Triangle (as well as southern Virginia and as far south as Fayetteville) [Richard Craver, "Curtis Media Group Plans to Buy WSJS," "Winston-Salem Journal", November 23, 2006.] ["Baptist Turns in Application for Imaging Center," "Winston-Salem Journal", February 15, 2007.] .

This was the beginning of big changes at WSJS during 2007. McBride left her jobs as program director and host of the afternoon show "The Ride with McBride" in order to "pursue other opportunities." News director Costner had already left the station for News 14 Carolina late in 2006 [Tim Clodfelter, "WSJS Brings in Florida Anchor to Take Over Its Afternoon Show," "Winston-Salem Journal", April 5, 2007.] . Ed Skurka, news director for Clear Channel's Greensboro-area stations, became WSJS/WMFR news anchor ["People in Business," "Winston-Salem Journal" April 15, 2007.] . Also in 2007, Brian Freeman became news and programming director, as well as morning host, replacing Scott, who announced his retirement May 14. Freeman had worked six years in Miami, and in Dallas, Baltimore, Washington, and Philadelphia. Smith Patterson and J. R. Snider remained a part of the show. Among Freeman's changes was the addition of high school football games from outside Forsyth County. Only one game during the 2007 season was between two forsyth teams, though some of the others were between a Forsyth team and an out-of-county team. But Freeman wanted WSJS to cover the entire area, and the station had always had listeners in Greensboro ["WSJS Now Going Outside Forsyth for Football Games," "Winston-Salem Journal", September 7, 2007.] .

References

External links

* [http://www.wsjs.com WSJS]
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