.gif)
WAOK (AM)
Encyclopedia
WAOK, News & Talk 1380, is an urban
talk radio
station that serves the Atlanta, Georgia
market. WAOK operates on 1380 kilohertz with 5.0 kilowatt
s of power during the daytime and with 4.2 kilowatts of power with a directional signal at night from its studios at 1201 Peachtree Street, 400 Colony Square, Suite 800, Atlanta. WAOK is Georgia's fifth-oldest continuously licensed AM
broadcast station.
and urban contemporary gospel
music format. Featured performers included legendary R&B disc jockey
Zenas "Daddy" Sears and local musician Piano Red
, as well as early shock jock
Alley Pat Patrick and singer Zilla Mays, the "Dream Girl", who broadcast sultry talk and soft music in the early-morning hours.
The studios were moved from 201 Henry Grady Building to a new facility at 70 Houston Street, NE.
WAOK was acquired by The Atlanta OK Broadcasting Company (Stan Raymond, Zenas Sears, and Dorothy Lester each one third owners) in January 1956. (The AOK designation preceded the popular astronaut
slang
expression A-OK by many years.)
At a WAOK-sponsored concert in 1956, Sears used a monaural recorder and a single microphone to make one of the most famous live album
s of all time, Ray Charles in Person
. The recording is famous not only as a documentary of Ray Charles's music before he became a crossover star, but also for its technical excellence, capturing the band, the crowd, and the singer in balance. The final song in the concert was the premiere of "What'd I Say". WAOK turned it into a hit even though there was no released version. Due to popular demand, Atlantic Records
decided to release the live album and to send Charles to the studio immediately to remake "What'd I Say".
By 1957, the station was in operation 24 hours a day with an urban music
format. The studios were moved again in 1959 to 110 Edgewood Road, NE, Atlanta, and the station's licensee name was changed to the WAOK Broadcasting Company. It was changed again in 1962 to The Atlanta OK Broadcasting Company.
On November 29, 1963, Stan Raymond and Zenas Sears became fifty percent owners of WAOK's licensee, acquiring the late Dorothy Lester's 33% interest for $57,786 from a local bank serving as Executor of her estate. Studios were moved to new quarters at 75 Piedmont Road, Atlanta.
The Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) granted approval for the sale of the station on April 1, 1974 to Broadcast Enterprise Network, Inc. Ragan Augustus Henry, a Philadelphia attorney headed the new organization as President and 53% owner. He founded BENI (Broadcast Enterprises National, Inc.) in 1974 as a Black-owned business venture. BENI took control of the station May 14, 1974. In late May 1982, studios and offices were relocated to 401 West Peachtree Street, Atlanta.
WAOK was sold by the Atlanta OK Broadcasting Company on July 9, 1985 to the DKM Broadcasting Corporation. DKM (Dyson Kissner-Moran) sold Atlanta's WPLO (now WVEE) to buy WAOK on May 17, 1985. In the summer of 1985 , WAOK revamped its programming format - it now aired an Urban Adult Contemporary
music format while gospel programs were now heard from 5:00 a.m. until noon. Studios were then moved to 120 Ralph McGill Blvd.
On January 1, 1988, WAOK was sold, along with other DKM owned properties in Denver, Baltimore, Springfield, Lincoln, Akron, Dayton and Dallas, for $200 million to the Summit Communications Group, Inc. Also included in the sale was Atlanta's WVEE-FM, WAOK's sister FM station. WAOK was now a full time gospel station.
In March 1995, Summit sold its interests in WAOK to Granum Communications, Inc. (Herbert W. McCord, Peter Ferrara, and Michael Weinstein). Also included in the sale was sister station, WVEE-FM.
On March 15, 1996, Granum Communications sold WVEE-FM and WAOK-AM to Infinity Broadcasting.
On December 26, 2001, WAOK changed formats from urban contemporary gospel
to News & Talk. Tony Brown was named Program Director of the New WAOK—The Voice of the Community.
WAOK simulcasts in digital HD Radio
on sister station WVEE's HD-3 subchannel.
WAOK has applied to the FCC to increase its daytime power to 30.0 kilowatts with a non-directional signal pattern. This application has not yet been approved by the FCC. WAOK is classified as a Class-B AM broadcasting
facility by the FCC.
Urban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...
talk radio
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
station that serves the Atlanta, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
market. WAOK operates on 1380 kilohertz with 5.0 kilowatt
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
s of power during the daytime and with 4.2 kilowatts of power with a directional signal at night from its studios at 1201 Peachtree Street, 400 Colony Square, Suite 800, Atlanta. WAOK is Georgia's fifth-oldest continuously licensed AM
Amplitude modulation
Amplitude modulation is a technique used in electronic communication, most commonly for transmitting information via a radio carrier wave. AM works by varying the strength of the transmitted signal in relation to the information being sent...
broadcast station.
History
WAOK went on the air (with brand new call letters) on March 15, 1954, adopting a Rhythm and BluesRhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
and urban contemporary gospel
Urban contemporary gospel
Traditional black gospel is music that is written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music...
music format. Featured performers included legendary R&B disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
Zenas "Daddy" Sears and local musician Piano Red
Piano Red
William "Willie" Lee Perryman , usually known professionally as Piano Red and later in life as Dr. Feelgood, was an American blues musician, the first to hit the pop music charts. He was a self-taught pianist who played in the barrelhouse blues style...
, as well as early shock jock
Shock jock
Shock jock is a slang term used to describe a type of any radio broadcaster who attracts attention using humor that a significant portion of the listening audience may find offensive. The term is usually used pejoratively to describe provocative or irreverent broadcasters whose mannerisms,...
Alley Pat Patrick and singer Zilla Mays, the "Dream Girl", who broadcast sultry talk and soft music in the early-morning hours.
The studios were moved from 201 Henry Grady Building to a new facility at 70 Houston Street, NE.
WAOK was acquired by The Atlanta OK Broadcasting Company (Stan Raymond, Zenas Sears, and Dorothy Lester each one third owners) in January 1956. (The AOK designation preceded the popular astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
slang
Slang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
expression A-OK by many years.)
At a WAOK-sponsored concert in 1956, Sears used a monaural recorder and a single microphone to make one of the most famous live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
s of all time, Ray Charles in Person
Ray Charles in Person
In Person is a live album recorded by Ray Charles on May 28, 1959 on a rainy night in Atlanta, Georgia at Morris Brown College's Herndon Stadium. All tracks from this album together with those from Ray Charles at Newport were also released on the 1987 Atlantic compilation CD, Ray Charles Live.The...
. The recording is famous not only as a documentary of Ray Charles's music before he became a crossover star, but also for its technical excellence, capturing the band, the crowd, and the singer in balance. The final song in the concert was the premiere of "What'd I Say". WAOK turned it into a hit even though there was no released version. Due to popular demand, Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
decided to release the live album and to send Charles to the studio immediately to remake "What'd I Say".
By 1957, the station was in operation 24 hours a day with an urban music
Urban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...
format. The studios were moved again in 1959 to 110 Edgewood Road, NE, Atlanta, and the station's licensee name was changed to the WAOK Broadcasting Company. It was changed again in 1962 to The Atlanta OK Broadcasting Company.
On November 29, 1963, Stan Raymond and Zenas Sears became fifty percent owners of WAOK's licensee, acquiring the late Dorothy Lester's 33% interest for $57,786 from a local bank serving as Executor of her estate. Studios were moved to new quarters at 75 Piedmont Road, Atlanta.
The Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) granted approval for the sale of the station on April 1, 1974 to Broadcast Enterprise Network, Inc. Ragan Augustus Henry, a Philadelphia attorney headed the new organization as President and 53% owner. He founded BENI (Broadcast Enterprises National, Inc.) in 1974 as a Black-owned business venture. BENI took control of the station May 14, 1974. In late May 1982, studios and offices were relocated to 401 West Peachtree Street, Atlanta.
WAOK was sold by the Atlanta OK Broadcasting Company on July 9, 1985 to the DKM Broadcasting Corporation. DKM (Dyson Kissner-Moran) sold Atlanta's WPLO (now WVEE) to buy WAOK on May 17, 1985. In the summer of 1985 , WAOK revamped its programming format - it now aired an Urban Adult Contemporary
Urban Adult Contemporary
Urban adult contemporary is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have rap music on their playlists. The format was designed by Barry Mayo when he, Lee S. Simonson and Bill Pearson organized Broadcast...
music format while gospel programs were now heard from 5:00 a.m. until noon. Studios were then moved to 120 Ralph McGill Blvd.
On January 1, 1988, WAOK was sold, along with other DKM owned properties in Denver, Baltimore, Springfield, Lincoln, Akron, Dayton and Dallas, for $200 million to the Summit Communications Group, Inc. Also included in the sale was Atlanta's WVEE-FM, WAOK's sister FM station. WAOK was now a full time gospel station.
In March 1995, Summit sold its interests in WAOK to Granum Communications, Inc. (Herbert W. McCord, Peter Ferrara, and Michael Weinstein). Also included in the sale was sister station, WVEE-FM.
On March 15, 1996, Granum Communications sold WVEE-FM and WAOK-AM to Infinity Broadcasting.
On December 26, 2001, WAOK changed formats from urban contemporary gospel
Urban contemporary gospel
Traditional black gospel is music that is written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music...
to News & Talk. Tony Brown was named Program Director of the New WAOK—The Voice of the Community.
WAOK simulcasts in digital HD Radio
HD Radio
HD Radio, which originally stood for "Hybrid Digital", is the trademark for iBiquity's in-band on-channel digital radio technology used by AM and FM radio stations to transmit audio and data via a digital signal in conjunction with their analog signals...
on sister station WVEE's HD-3 subchannel.
WAOK has applied to the FCC to increase its daytime power to 30.0 kilowatts with a non-directional signal pattern. This application has not yet been approved by the FCC. WAOK is classified as a Class-B AM broadcasting
AM broadcasting
AM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation. AM was the first method of impressing sound on a radio signal and is still widely used today. Commercial and public AM broadcasting is carried out in the medium wave band world wide, and on long wave and short wave...
facility by the FCC.