WAME

Infobox Radio station
name = WAME


city = Statesville, North Carolina
area =
branding =
slogan = "Country Legends 550"
airdate = 1955
frequency = 550 kHz
format = classic country
power = 500 Watts (day)
53 Watts (night)
class = D
facility_id = 63146
coordinates = coord|35|47|43.00|N|80|51|17.00|W|region:GB_type:city
callsign_meaning =
former_callsigns = WDBM, WDRV, WIST
owner = Statesville Family Radio Corporation
licensee =
sister_stations =
webcast =
website =
affiliations = Real Country (ABC Radio)

WAME (550 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a classic country format. Licensed to Statesville, North Carolina, USA. The station is currently owned by Statesville Family Radio Corporation and features programing from ABC Radio and broadcasts local high school football every fall.

History

The station on 550 AM in Statesville, North Carolina began in 1955 as WDBM, and operated during daytime hours only with a power of 500 watts. Because of the low dial position, WDBM was regularly heard from Winston-Salem to Hickory to Charlotte. The station originally programmed an easy-listening format, but soon began airing Dwight Barker's bluegrass show during the midday hours.

WDBM was founded by Walter B. Duke, and the call letters supposedly stood for "Walter Duke's Beautiful Music" station. In 1967, the Duke family started WDBM-FM at 96.9 FM, now known as WKKT, which initially was simulcast with WDBM. WDBM-FM continued to broadcast easy-listening music in the evenings after WDBM signed off.

The Duke family sold the stations in 1973, and the new owners, the Ferguson Family, separated the operations of the AM and FM, and the AM began broadcasting a country music format. The FM was given the calls WOOO and on-air was called "Triple-O 97".

In 1979, both WDBM and WOOO were sold to Metrolina Communications Corporation. While the new owners sank big bucks into making the FM station viable in the Charlotte, North Carolina market, they also spent money to improve the AM station as well. Call letters and formats were changed as well. WDBM became WDRV and became an adult contemporary format. WOOO became an easy-listening format with the call letters WLVV.

Through a succession of owners in the 1980's WDRV was sold separately to Statesville Family Communications, a subsidiary of GHB Broadcasting. The format was changed to Southern gospel music and preaching ministries, essentially a clone of GHB's Charlotte station WHVN. In 1992, GHB acquired local marketing rights to Charlotte Station WAME, which under the ownership of evangelist Jimmy Swaggart had been WHVN's chief competition for the religious program preachers in Charlotte. They moved the call letters to the 550 AM signal in Statesville in order to dissociate WAME's former frequency of 1480 AM (now WGFY) from program preaching.

Later, the WAME calls were moved to another GHB station in Camden, South Carolina (now WEAF (AM)) and 550 AM was given the call letters WHYM.

In 1996 WAME became WIST "Station of the Stars," an affiliate of the Music of Your Life adult standards network. [Joe Marusak, "Radio Station Pleases WIST-ful '40s Fans," "The Charlotte Observer", August 4, 1996.] This proved to be a temporary move, as the station's owners were planning some changes in all of their Charlotte-area stations.

In 1997 GHB Broadcasting attempted to create a Charlotte-oriented talk network called Total Radio, and as part of the effort changed the station's call letters to WTLI and simulcast the station with other stations in Charlotte and Rock Hill, South Carolina. [Kay McFadden, "Talk-Radio Station Signs on to Battle for WBT Listeners", "The Charlotte Observer", July 8, 1997.] [Jim Morrill, "The Unlikely Rebel Behind the Microphone," "The Charlotte Observer", October 19, 1997.] The format was a failure [Kay McFadden, "Format Change Will Be Blow to Charlotte Talk Radio," "The Charlotte Observer", November 22, 1997.] , and by 1998 the WAME call letters were back, with the Real Country format on the station.

In the early 2000's, long-time radio legend J. D. Benfield began doing the morning show on the station, and the remainder of the day's programming was changed to the Stardust satellite format from ABC Radio Networks.

In February 2008, after numerous requests from Benfield, and nearly two years after the demise of WFMX, WAME began calling itself "Country Legends 550." [Mark Washburn,"More Than a Little Bit Country," "The Charlotte Observer", Mar. 15, 2008.]

References

External links

*AMQ|WAME
*AML|WAME
*AMARB|WAME