WDAK

Infobox Radio station
name = WDAK


city = Columbus, Georgia
area = W Central GA/E Central AL
branding = "Newsradio 540"
slogan =
airdate = 1940
frequency = 540 kHz
format = News Talk Information
power = 4000 watts (day)
38 watts (night)
class = D
facility_id = 60764
coordinates = coord|32|25|58.00|N|84|57|2.00|W|region:GB_type:city
callsign_meaning =
former_callsigns =
owner = Clear Channel Communications
licensee = CC Licenses
sister_stations = [http://newsradio540.com/cc-common/streaming_new/index.html Listen Live]
website = http://www.newsradio540.com
affiliations = Westwood One, CNN Radio, Fox News Radio

WDAK (540 AM, "Newsradio 540") is a radio station broadcasting a News Talk Information format. [cite web |url=http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?call=WDAK |title=WDAK Facility Record |work=United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division] Licensed to Columbus, Georgia, USA, the station serves the Columbus/Phenix City/Auburn area. The station is currently owned by Clear Channel Communications (as CC Licenses) and features programing from Westwood One, CNN Radio and Fox News Radio. [cite web |url=http://www.arbitron.com |title=Station Information Profile |work=Arbitron]

History

The station began broadcasting in 1940 on a frequency of 1340kHz with a power of 250 watts. Studios were located in the Martin Building in downtown Columbus. Co-owned WDAK-TV began operation in 1953 on Channel 28. After the TV station was sold in 1958, WDAK was granted 5,000 watts day, 500 watts night on 540kHz with a new transmitter site and three towers located 5 miles west of Phenix City, Alabama. In April 1967, WDAK moved to Wynnwood, an antebellum mansion at 1846 Buena Vista Road that was placed on the US Department of the Interior lists of historical sites in 1972. During this entire period, WDAK was owned by the Woodall Family of Columbus, programmed Top 40, and was known as "Big Johnny Reb" or "The Giant of the Valley." [cite web |work=Alabama Broadcast Media Page |url=http://members.aol.com/zachr330/almediapage/profiles/wdak.html |title=AM Technical Profile: WDAK |quote=WDAK was top 40 in the 60's, one of several in a chain of stations owned by Woodall Broadcasting Co. All of their stations called themselves "Big Johnny Reb Radio". Station logo included a rebel flag and caricature of a Confederate soldier.] Signal and audience-wise, it was the dominant station in the Chattahoochee Valley for decades. In the late 1970s, the station first switched to country music then to various other formats and under different owners.

References

External links

*AMQ|WDAK
*AML|WDAK
*AMARB|WDAK