WDYT
Encyclopedia
WDYT is a silent radio station licensed to Kings Mountain, North Carolina
, serving the Charlotte, NC area. The station is currently owned by CRN Communications, LLC. According to an FCC filing, Iglesia Nueva Vida is buying the station. The format is expected to change to Spanish
.
Bridges, who once worked at WOHS in Shelby
, played "Oh Lonesome Me
" by Don Gibson
in 1957 on WKMT.
The format of country
, bluegrass
and gospel music
stayed the same for many years.
Veteran announcer Hugh Dover of Shelby joined WKMT in 1984. Dover had spent the previous 38 years as the morning man on WOHS in Shelby, signing the station on the air in 1946. The popularity of Dover's "Carolina in the Morning Show" on WOHS carried over to his "Hugh Dover Get Together" on WKMT. Dover would describe his 1-3pm show as an "informal get together with the radio audience in which we play southern gospel music, put on information about school, civic, and church activities, as well as entertaining our sick and shut in friends." Dover continued with WKMT until his death in 1998. Ending 52 years on the airwaves of Cleveland County.
During the 1990s, Tommy Faile
of Arthur Smith and the Crackerjacks was a DJ on WKMT. His sidekick was Curly Howard
, who also did the morning show. Howard spent 18 years at WKBX
in Winston-Salem
and later worked at WCGC
and WSVM
. He was known for being just like his listeners, even hanging out at the store with them.
WKMT aired high school football
for more than 10 years starting in the 1980s.
Bridges sold WKMT in November 2004 to Geddings & Phillips Broadcasting, who planned to continue programming that included country and gospel music, high school football and basketball, and Kings Mountain city council meetings. Jim Arp would remain as a DJ after more than 35 years.
When Kevin and Kris Geddings switched the format of WXNC
radio to talk, they announced WKMT would change to a simulcast of most of WXNC's programming. This would allow programming such as CNN News to be heard at night in some areas when WXNC was off the air. Soon after WXNC's change to talk, though, that station switched to Spanish language
programming and WKMT was country again.
Three years after WBT (AM)
and Danny Fontana parted ways, Danny Fontana announced he would buy WKMT. The station had received permission in May 2005 to increase its power from 1000 to 10,000 watts during the day to better cover Charlotte, and the station also was applying for a new tower location.
In April 2006, CRN completed the purchase of WKMT from Geddings & Phillips Broadcasting. The station's signal was 1000 watts during the day and 106 watts at night. An increase to 25,000 watts during the day was planned, with an eventual signal improvement at night.
Jon Robinson
, former co-host of "Charlotte's Morning News" on WBT, and Liz Luke, previously an anchor on the WWMG
morning show, co-hosted the first morning show, "Think Mornings." Robinson said the station would focus on solutions to problems rather than just talking about them. Luke said the station would do "adult humor" but that the material would be clean and make people think. She also said the station would not be Christian
, but there would be a spiritual component. Charlotte radio production veteran John Moore was brought on board as producer and Senior Technical Director. CRN executive vice president Casey Shannon said the station would be an alternative to 50,000-watt WBT, targeting listeners over 25.
Fontana hosted the afternoon show and a financial advice show called "THINK Money" at noon. He was already doing an early afternoon show on WKMT from CRN studios at Fourth and College Streets in Charlotte, which was distributed by Charis Radio Network and was being aired on iLifeTV on cable.
The power increase was approved in March 2007. At that time the station announced plans to affiliate with ABC Radio and to add comedian Dennis Miller
in the late morning. Also, Bill O'Reilly
would replace Fontana's early afternoon show. TV advertising soon followed, even though the station's signal increase was not expected to be complete until July. First, the station increased to 6250 watts during the day. WDYT began broadcasting at 25,000 watts during the day in September. Also in September, Luke found out she would no longer be a host of the morning show.
On July 18, 2008, general manager Deanna Greco said the morning show was being dropped temporarily for a syndicated show until advertising revenues improved. Robinson had been off the air since May 2008 due to treatment for squamous cell carcinoma
, but he hoped to return.
On August 4, 2008, the new morning lineup debuted with a move of the Danny Fontana Show from afternoons to mornings to create THINK Mornings with Danny Fontana. Molly Carroll was retained from the former morning show and has joined Bo Thompson to create "AM 1220 with Molly and Bo" from 9a-10a. There were other changes in the programming lineup as well, extending many current national syndicated shows to their full live time slot.
Despite adding such hosts as Bill O'Reilly
and Sean Hannity
, WDYT ranked no. 21 in the ratings, and on January 26, the station told the FCC it would stop broadcasting. CRN would continue to hold the license for 30 days, and its agreement with the FCC could be extended later for a year. Fontana blamed the poor economy, which caused advertising to decline, and said the station might return with a new format, or it could even be sold.
The station signed back on (in testing mode) with a Spanish
format in August 2009. In November 2009, it was reported that High Point, North Carolina
-based Iglesia Nueva Vida, a religious broadcaster, is buying WDYT for $425,000 with plans for a Spanish format.
Kings Mountain, North Carolina
Kings Mountain is a small suburban city of Gastonia and Charlotte in Cleveland and Gaston counties, North Carolina, United States. The population was 9,693 at the 2000 census....
, serving the Charlotte, NC area. The station is currently owned by CRN Communications, LLC. According to an FCC filing, Iglesia Nueva Vida is buying the station. The format is expected to change to Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
.
History
Jonas Bridges joined WKMT in Kings Mountain when it signed on in 1953, eventually becoming the owner. He never attempted to compete with large FM stations, focusing instead on making WKMT a good local station. The white concrete building built in the 1920s once was home to a "beer joint" which someone actually was looking for after the station had been there 15 years.Bridges, who once worked at WOHS in Shelby
Shelby, North Carolina
Shelby is a city in Cleveland County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 19,477 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Cleveland County.-Geography:Shelby is located at ....
, played "Oh Lonesome Me
Oh Lonesome Me
"Oh Lonesome Me" is a popular song written and recorded by Don Gibson with Chet Atkins producing for RCA Victor in Nashville in 1958. The song topped the country chart for eight non consecutive weeks, in addition to reaching #7 on the Billboard Hot 100...
" by Don Gibson
Don Gibson
Donald Eugene "Don" Gibson was an American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson penned such country standards as "Sweet Dreams" and "I Can't Stop Loving You", and enjoyed a string of country hits from 1957 into the early 1970s.-Biography:Don Gibson was...
in 1957 on WKMT.
The format of country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
and gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
stayed the same for many years.
Veteran announcer Hugh Dover of Shelby joined WKMT in 1984. Dover had spent the previous 38 years as the morning man on WOHS in Shelby, signing the station on the air in 1946. The popularity of Dover's "Carolina in the Morning Show" on WOHS carried over to his "Hugh Dover Get Together" on WKMT. Dover would describe his 1-3pm show as an "informal get together with the radio audience in which we play southern gospel music, put on information about school, civic, and church activities, as well as entertaining our sick and shut in friends." Dover continued with WKMT until his death in 1998. Ending 52 years on the airwaves of Cleveland County.
During the 1990s, Tommy Faile
Tommy Faile
Tommy Faile was an American songwriter and singer best known for composing "Phantom 309" and singing "The Legend of the Brown Mountain Lights"...
of Arthur Smith and the Crackerjacks was a DJ on WKMT. His sidekick was Curly Howard
Curly Howard (DJ)
Howard Sisk , known on the air as Curly Howard, was a disc jockey on several North Carolina radio stations....
, who also did the morning show. Howard spent 18 years at WKBX
WSMX
WSMX is a radio station broadcasting a Religious format. Licensed to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA. The station is currently owned by Gospel Media, Inc..-History:...
in Winston-Salem
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to...
and later worked at WCGC
WCGC
WCGC is a radio station broadcasting a Christian radio format. Licensed to Belmont, North Carolina, USA, it serves the Charlotte/Gastonia area. The station is currently owned by WHVN Inc. The station is simulcast onto WHVN at 1240 AM.-History:...
and WSVM
WSVM
WSVM is a radio station broadcasting a classic hits format, Licensed to Valdese, North Carolina, USA, it served Burke and Caldwell counties...
. He was known for being just like his listeners, even hanging out at the store with them.
WKMT aired high school football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
for more than 10 years starting in the 1980s.
Bridges sold WKMT in November 2004 to Geddings & Phillips Broadcasting, who planned to continue programming that included country and gospel music, high school football and basketball, and Kings Mountain city council meetings. Jim Arp would remain as a DJ after more than 35 years.
When Kevin and Kris Geddings switched the format of WXNC
WXNC
WXNC in Charlotte, North Carolina is a Spanish language station known as "Pepe Charlotte", also heard on WGSP at 1310 AM.-History:For many years WMAP was a 1000-watt station in Monroe, North Carolina. The station added an FM frequency at 102.3, but later separated from that station and eventually...
radio to talk, they announced WKMT would change to a simulcast of most of WXNC's programming. This would allow programming such as CNN News to be heard at night in some areas when WXNC was off the air. Soon after WXNC's change to talk, though, that station switched to Spanish language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
programming and WKMT was country again.
Three years after WBT (AM)
WBT (AM)
WBT is a radio station in Charlotte, North Carolina, broadcasting on the AM dial at 1110 kHz. A 50,000-watt clear-channel station, it can be heard across most of the eastern half of North America at night. It simulcasts on WBT-FM, at 99.3 MHz in Chester, South Carolina. It is owned by Greater...
and Danny Fontana parted ways, Danny Fontana announced he would buy WKMT. The station had received permission in May 2005 to increase its power from 1000 to 10,000 watts during the day to better cover Charlotte, and the station also was applying for a new tower location.
In April 2006, CRN completed the purchase of WKMT from Geddings & Phillips Broadcasting. The station's signal was 1000 watts during the day and 106 watts at night. An increase to 25,000 watts during the day was planned, with an eventual signal improvement at night.
Jon Robinson
Jon Robinson (announcer)
Jon Robinson was a longtime radio and television personality in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was also the public address announcer for the NFL's Carolina Panthers from the team's inception in 1995 until midway through the 2009 season...
, former co-host of "Charlotte's Morning News" on WBT, and Liz Luke, previously an anchor on the WWMG
WWMG
WWMG is an urban adult contemporary music formatted radio station licensed to Millbrook, Alabama, USA. The station is known as "Magic 97" and serves the Montgomery, Alabama, area....
morning show, co-hosted the first morning show, "Think Mornings." Robinson said the station would focus on solutions to problems rather than just talking about them. Luke said the station would do "adult humor" but that the material would be clean and make people think. She also said the station would not be Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
, but there would be a spiritual component. Charlotte radio production veteran John Moore was brought on board as producer and Senior Technical Director. CRN executive vice president Casey Shannon said the station would be an alternative to 50,000-watt WBT, targeting listeners over 25.
Fontana hosted the afternoon show and a financial advice show called "THINK Money" at noon. He was already doing an early afternoon show on WKMT from CRN studios at Fourth and College Streets in Charlotte, which was distributed by Charis Radio Network and was being aired on iLifeTV on cable.
The power increase was approved in March 2007. At that time the station announced plans to affiliate with ABC Radio and to add comedian Dennis Miller
Dennis Miller
Dennis Miller is an American stand-up comedian, political commentator, actor, sports commentator, and television and radio personality. He is known for his critical assessments laced with pop culture references...
in the late morning. Also, Bill O'Reilly
Bill O'Reilly (commentator)
William James "Bill" O'Reilly, Jr. is an American television host, author, syndicated columnist and political commentator. He is the host of the political commentary program The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, which is the most watched cable news television program on American television...
would replace Fontana's early afternoon show. TV advertising soon followed, even though the station's signal increase was not expected to be complete until July. First, the station increased to 6250 watts during the day. WDYT began broadcasting at 25,000 watts during the day in September. Also in September, Luke found out she would no longer be a host of the morning show.
On July 18, 2008, general manager Deanna Greco said the morning show was being dropped temporarily for a syndicated show until advertising revenues improved. Robinson had been off the air since May 2008 due to treatment for squamous cell carcinoma
Squamous cell carcinoma
Squamous cell carcinoma , occasionally rendered as "squamous-cell carcinoma", is a histologically distinct form of cancer. It arises from the uncontrolled multiplication of malignant cells deriving from epithelium, or showing particular cytological or tissue architectural characteristics of...
, but he hoped to return.
On August 4, 2008, the new morning lineup debuted with a move of the Danny Fontana Show from afternoons to mornings to create THINK Mornings with Danny Fontana. Molly Carroll was retained from the former morning show and has joined Bo Thompson to create "AM 1220 with Molly and Bo" from 9a-10a. There were other changes in the programming lineup as well, extending many current national syndicated shows to their full live time slot.
Despite adding such hosts as Bill O'Reilly
Bill O'Reilly (political commentator)
William James "Bill" O'Reilly, Jr. is an American television host, author, syndicated columnist and political commentator. He is the host of the political commentary program The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, which is the most watched cable news television program on American television...
and Sean Hannity
Sean Hannity
Sean Hannity is an American radio and television host, author, and conservative political commentator. He is the host of The Sean Hannity Show, a nationally syndicated talk radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks. Hannity also hosts a cable news show, Hannity,...
, WDYT ranked no. 21 in the ratings, and on January 26, the station told the FCC it would stop broadcasting. CRN would continue to hold the license for 30 days, and its agreement with the FCC could be extended later for a year. Fontana blamed the poor economy, which caused advertising to decline, and said the station might return with a new format, or it could even be sold.
The station signed back on (in testing mode) with a Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
format in August 2009. In November 2009, it was reported that High Point, North Carolina
High Point, North Carolina
High Point is a city located in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina. As of 2010 the city had a total population of 104,371, according to the US Census Bureau. High Point is currently the eighth-largest municipality in North Carolina....
-based Iglesia Nueva Vida, a religious broadcaster, is buying WDYT for $425,000 with plans for a Spanish format.