branding am 1070 wdia slogan the heart and soul of memphis frequency 1070 khz kjms 101.1 fm hd 2 simulcast first air date june 7 1947 format urban oldies classic soul power 50 000 watts daytime 5 000 watts nighttime class b facility id 69569 callsign meaning diane name of original owner s daughter we did it again when owners also launched similar station in jackson mississippi after world war ii owner iheartmedia inc. cc licenses llc sister stations kjms wegr whal fm whrk wrec under lma kwam webcast listen live website http www.mywdia.com main.html wdia is a radio station based in memphis tennessee . active since 1947 it soon became the first radio station in the united states that was programmed entirely for african americans . 1 it featured black radio personalities ; its success in building an audience attracted radio advertisers suddenly aware of a new market among black listeners . the station had a strong influence on music hiring musicians early in their careers and playing their music to an audience that reached through the mississippi delta to the gulf coast . the station started the wdia goodwill fund to help and empower black communities . owned by iheartmedia inc. the station s studios are located in southeast memphis and the transmitter site is in north memphis . contents 1 history 2 references 3 further reading 4 external links history edit wdia went on the air june 7 1947 2 from studios on union avenue . the owners john pepper and dick ferguson were both white and the format was a mix of country and western and light pop . the station did not do well . 3 nat d. williams a syndicated columnist and high school teacher started tan town jubilee in october 1948 . this was the first radio program in the united states to appeal to black listeners and wdia soon became the number 2 station in memphis . after a switch to all black programming wdia became the city s top station . 4 in june 1954 wdia was licensed to increase its power to 50 000 watts . its powerful signal reached the mississippi delta s dense african american population and was heard from the missouri bootheel to the gulf coast . wdia reached 10 % of the african american population in united states . 3 5 future wjlb strong jock martha jean the queen steinberg became known as princess premium stuff . ernest brazzell gave crop advice and robert thomas became a dj named honeyboy after he won a city wide amateur competition . among other notable personalities were maurice hot rod hulbert theo bless my bones wade and ford nelson who continued as of 2013 as an active gospel dj on wdia . 3 wdia is known for its community efforts throughout the years . a.c. williams a former disc jockey for the station helped create the goodwill fund in 1954 . originally the fund provided transportation to school for disabled black children . later the fund expanded to include college scholarships establish boy clubs provide 125 little league teams to memphis and neighboring communities and help provide low cost supplemental housing wilson . we have raised over 900 000 over the years a.c. williams says . 6 many music legends got their start by working at wdia including b.b. king and rufus thomas . 7 elvis presley was greatly influenced by the station . b.b. king joined wdia in early 1949 . he had a daily 15 minute show promoting first a patent medicine called pep ti kon and later lucky strike cigarettes the first major advertiser for the station . the next year he took a dj position on an afternoon show previously hosted by maurice hot rod hulbert . 8 king credits his days on the station for building his audience and launching his career describing the station as providing a sense of freedom . 7 williams ended his show in 1972 following a stroke . thomas continued to work at wdia until he died in 2001 . bobby o jay became a popular host . the station s management had been mostly white . in 1972 chuck scruggs became its first black general manager and vice president serving for 12 years . scruggs played a major role in organizing the foundation and raising money to preserve the lorraine motel and found the national civil rights museum in memphis . 9 in addition he contributed to the redevelopment of beale street and soulsville usa . citation needed in the 1970s and 1980s the owners of wdia also owned kdia a similarly formatted station in the san francisco bay area . this callsign however is now assigned to an unrelated christian programmed station . in 1996 clear channel communications bought wdia . references edit wdia . africana the encyclopedia of the african and african american experience . vol . 5 2nd ed . . oxford ; new york oxford university press . 2005 . isbn 9780195170559 . wdia sixth memphis station is launched pdf . broadcasting . june 16 1947 . retrieved 28 september 2014 . a b c celebrating 65 years of goodwill & good times . the history of wdia . mywdia.com . retrieved 2013 03 13 . radio center a landmark of american music . 2008 . retrieved on 2009 03 12 . cantor louis . wheelin on beale how wdia memphis became the nation s first all black radio station and created the sound that changed america pharos books 1992 264 pages isbn 0 88687 633 8 isbn 978 0 88687 633 3 . celebrating 65 years of goodwill & good times . 1070 wdia n.p. n.d. web . 29 apr. 2013 a b fisher marc . something in the air . random house . p. 44 . isbn 978 0 375 50907 0 . kostelanetz richard ed . 2005 . the b.b. king reader 6 decades of commentary . hal leonard corporation . pp. 5 6 . isbn 9780634099274 . tv host mr chuck scruggs passes away . memphis whbq tv fox 13 . 2013 02 04 . retrieved 2013 13 13 . check date values in access date help further reading edit cantor louis 1992 . wheelin on beale how wdia memphis became the nation s first all black radio station and created the sound that changed america . pharos books . isbn 978 0 88687 633 3 . gordon robert 1996 . it came from memphis . farrar straus & giroux . isbn 9780571198818 . . reprint 2001 isbn 9780743410458 . external links edit wdia s official website . sound documentary on wdia query the fcc s am station database for wdia radio locator information on wdia query nielsen audio s am station database for wdia v t e radio stations in the memphis tennessee market by fm frequency 87.7 88.1 88.1 88.5 89.3 89.9 90.5 91.1 91.7 92.5 92.7 92.9 93.5 93.9 94.1 94.7 94.9 95.3 95.7 96.1 96.3 97.1 97.7 98.1 98.9 99.3 99.7 101.1 101.9 102.7 103.5 103.9 104.5 105.3 105.5 105.9 107.1 107.3 107.3 107.5 by am frequency 560 600 640 680 730 790 830 860 910 950 990 1030 1070 1180 1210 1240 1250 1340 1380 1430 1480 1600 noaa weather radio frequency 162.475 by callsign k213cn w257cy kakj kamj karh kcjf kerl khls kjms klcn kljk kose kqpn kqxf kwam kwnw kwyn fm kxht kxjk wavn wbbp wcrv wdia webl wegr wevl wgkx wgsf wgue whal fm whbq whbq fm whrk wivg wkbl wkbq wkim wkno fm wkra fm wkvf wlfp wlok wlrm wmc wmc fm wmfs wmfs fm wmps wmqm woww wpgf lp wqox wrbo wrec wrvr wumr wumy wurc wxk49 wxmx wypl defunct wstn 1410 am nearby radio markets cape girardeau sikeston clarksdale jackson jonesboro little rock oxford tupelo see also list of radio stations in tennessee list of radio stations in mississippi list of radio stations in arkansas v t e iheartmedia corporate officers bob pittman chairman ceo board of directors lowry mays irving azoff b. j. red mccombs j. c. watts john h. williams radio stations list of radio stations owned by iheartmedia radio networks fox sports radio premiere networks premium choice total traffic and weather network miscellaneous clear channel outdoor clear channel uk iheartradio list of programming syndicated by iheartmedia mediabase radio computing services coordinates 35 16 05 n 90 01 03 w 35.26806 n 90.01750 w 35.26806 ; 90.01750 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title wdia & oldid 737306682 categories radio stations in memphis tennesseeurban oldies radio stationsiheartmedia radio stations1947 establishments in tennesseeafrican american radioradio stations established in 1947hidden categories cs1 errors datesall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from march 2013coordinates on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages deutschfran ais edit links this page was last modified on 1 september 2016 at 23 19 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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