WDIA
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| WDIA | |
| City of license | Memphis, Tennessee |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Memphis, Tennessee |
| Branding | AM 1070 WDIA |
| Frequency | 1070 kHz |
| Format | Urban Oldies/Classic Soul |
| ERP | 50,000 watts daytime 5,000 watts nighttime |
| Callsign meaning | DIAne, name of original owner's daughter We Did It Again = when owners also launched similar station in Jackson, MS after World War II |
| Owner | Clear Channel Communications |
| Sister stations | KJMS, WDIA, WEGR, WHAL-FM, WHRK, WREC Under LMA: KWAM TV stations WPTY-TV and WLMT pending sale to Providence Equity Partners |
| Website | [1] |
WDIA is an AM radio station in Memphis, Tennessee, in the United States of America. Its radio frequency is 1070 kHz. While it was the first U.S. radio station programmed by African Americans, its ownership was white. WDIA went on the air in October 1948. In October 1949, the first station owned by an African-American went on the air, WERD in Atlanta, owned by Jesse B. Blayton.
Many music legends got their start at WDIA, including B.B. King and Rufus Thomas[1]. Elvis Presley was greatly influenced by the station.
B.B. King had a daily 15 minute show, sponsored by Lucky Strike cigarettes, a first for a major advertiser and a local black show. King credits his days on the station for building his audience and launching his career describing the station as providing a sense of freedom.[2]
At one time, the owners of WDIA back in the 1970s and 1980s also owned KDIA, a similar formatted station in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is now a Christian programmed station.
An excellent resource for information about the early years of WDIA is a 1992 book by Louis Cantor, a former engineer at the station, "Wheelin' on Beale."
[edit] References
- ^ Fisher, Marc. Something in the Air. Random House, 44. ISBN 978-0-375-50907-0.
- ^ Fisher, Marc. Something in the Air. Random House, 45. ISBN 978-0-375-50907-0.
[edit] External links
- WDIA history from the station's own website.
- Sound Documentary on WDIA
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