WING
Encyclopedia
WING "ESPN 1410" is a commercial AM radio station in Dayton, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...

 operating with 5,000 watts at 1410 kHz with studios, offices and transmitter located on David Road in Kettering
Kettering, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 57,502 people, 25,657 households, and 15,727 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,077.4 people per square mile . There were 26,936 housing units at an average density of 1,441.6 per square mile...

. It is the first (and oldest) full-time commercial radio station in Dayton. It is currently an affiliate of ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio is an American sports radio network. It was launched on January 1, 1992 under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN." ESPN Radio is located at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut...

, but is best known and remembered as Dayton's first Top 40-formatted station.

Early history

WING was founded on May 24, 1921 under the original call sign WXAX with only 5 watts of power but changed to WDBS (for Dayton Broadcasting Service, its original company which also stood for "Watch Dayton's Broadcasting Station") at the beginning of radio's golden age, then becoming WSMK in 1926 (for Stanley M. Krohn who founded the station and the company). It also upgraded its power to one thousand watts that same year. Programming hours were sporadic and operated on several different frequencies. Its first studio was located in the former Beckel House Hotel on East Third Street in downtown Dayton. Actor/dancer/singer/musician Scatman Crothers
Scatman Crothers
Benjamin Sherman "Scatman" Crothers was an American actor, singer, dancer and musician known for his work as Louie the Garbage Man on the TV show Chico and the Man, and as Dick Hallorann in The Shining in 1980...

 got his start at the station during the WSMK era in 1932. Another ownership change took place in 1939 when Cincinnati businessman Charles Sawyer bought the station from Krohn and switching the calls to WING to become synonymous with Dayton's aviation history. It then moved to the Lowes Theater also located downtown where it remained until 1960. It was that same year when WING was granted by the FCC to upgrade its power to 5 thousand watts and to construct a new transmitter site on David Road in Kettering.

"High Flying" WING in the 50s, 60s and 70s

It was in the 1940s during the Big Band era and later with the advent of R&B-fusioned rock n' roll in the 1950s when WING became Dayton's original hit music station. Charlie Reeder, inducted into the Dayton Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2007 was one of its first morning personalities during this era with his program "Sunny Side Up". Local DJ legend Gene "By Golly" Barry came on board with the evening program "Swingin' With Wing" and became a staple there from that point up through the 1960s when WING (then, owned by Dayton-based Air Trails Broadcasting, later Great Trails Broadcasting) became Dayton's first official Top 40 station. It was also the chain's flagship station. Its sister stations included WIZE
WIZE
WIZE — branded WIZE AM 1340 — is a commercial radio station in Springfield, Ohio owned by Clear Channel Communications as part of their Dayton cluster...

 in Springfield and the legendary WCOL (AM) (now Fox Sports Network station WYTS) in Columbus which all had the same format at that time as well. During this time a downtown studio with a showcase window was opened in 1960 at 128 West First Street in the Talbott Tower building...which became the affectionately nicknamed "WING Island."

A weekly "super hot hits" survey was issued regularly to record shops and other retailers across the Miami Valley. With that, the format was tightened with a stable of personalities who became known as WING's "Lively Guys" (possibly inspired by WSAI's "Good Guys" in Cincinnati) which included Barry along with such personalities over the years as Lou Swanson, Jerry Kaye, Ken Warren, Big Jim Quinn, Dave Parks, Al Morgan (the former morning disk jockey from WTUE-Dayton), Goldie, Bob Holiday, Ritchie "Duke of Dayton" Allen, Jerry "Big D" Dennis, Don Robertson, Dan Clover, John Alexander, let's not forget Chuck McKibben who later worked as a producer for Mel Blanc in Hollywood, WING radio news staff was headed by National Broadcasters Hall Of Fame inductee Rod Williams who won numerous awards including a commendation from the Ohio General Assembly for his combat reporting in Vietnam. Broadcasters Hall Of Fame induction ceremony http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1527972980220648955#
Jack Wymer "Dayton's Man On The Street," among countless others and a young Johnny Walker who came to WING by way of sister
station WIZE
WIZE
WIZE — branded WIZE AM 1340 — is a commercial radio station in Springfield, Ohio owned by Clear Channel Communications as part of their Dayton cluster...

 who later moved to WKEF
WKEF
WKEF, virtual channel 22, is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Miami Valley area of Ohio, which is licensed to Dayton. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 51 from a transmitter at their Broadcast Plaza studios near the New Chicago section of the city...

-TV in 1970.

Wolfman Jack
Wolfman Jack
Robert Weston Smith, known commonly as Wolfman Jack was a gravelly voiced US disc jockey who became famous in the 1960s and 1970s.-Early career:...

 was aired late at night in syndicated form in the 1970s.

Aside from Gene "By Golly" Barry, the "lively guy" who enjoyed the most extended stay from 1967 to 1992 was morning man Steve Kirk (formerly from Cincinnati's WSAI
WSAI
WSAI is an AM radio station broadcasting out of Cincinnati, Ohio. Its studios are in the Towers of Kenwood building next to I-71 in the Kenwood section of Sycamore Township and its transmitter is located in Mount Healthy.WSAI is known as "Fox Sports 1360," including The Dan Patrick Show and The...

) best known for his telephone "put-ons" and other screwball on-air gags and drop-ins from 1966 until well into the late 1980s. He was equally known for his familiar and flamboyant on-air self-introduction: "Hi-ya gang...Kirkie here...ha-chi-chi-chi-chi-chi!"

Its news department was also legendary with Jim Briggs, George Wymer (Jack's son), G. Paul Tantum, Terry Lafferty, Doug Ritter (Doug Ritterling, who began his WING newscasting career at 17 years of age, then became a disc jockey at sister stations, WCOL-AM & 92X, Columbus), Randall Carlisle (who later gained fame as a sensational newscaster at CKLW-Windsor/Detroit), Mark Greco (Mark Giangreco, who later became a sportscaster on the NBC Television network), Bill Nance, Roy Dittman, Dave Thomas (who also worked at sister stations WCOL-FM, Columbus, and WJAI-FM, Eaton, and later became an award-winning broadcaster in Colorado), Kathy O' Connor (Dayton's first female news reporter) and Retha Phillips among others. Nance and Phillips were also 2007 inductees into the Dayton Broadcasters Hall of Fame. In the early 1960s it was at first a top of the hour "rip and read" newscast from wire services with an echoed voice shouting the dateline location at the beginning of a story (replaced in 1965 by a tone chord simulating an electronic telegraph key sounder). The newscast was also upgraded by world news actualities from Metromedia
Metromedia
Metromedia was a media company that owned radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and owned Orion Pictures from 1986-1997.- Overview :...

 Radio, a predecessor of UPI Audio Network who bought the news-feed service in 1971. By 1968, it switched to the Drake
Bill Drake
Bill Drake , born Philip Yarbrough, was an American radio programmer who co-developed the Boss Radio format with Gene Chenault via their company Drake-Chenault.-Early career:...

-inspired "20-20" News (aired at 20 minutes before and after the hour) with expanded local news coverage. Top of the hour news returned in 1980 from ABC Radio's American Information Network followed by a local newscast and weather without the catchy elements of the 1960s.

"High Flying WING" was the theme of a high energy upbeat jingle package in the mid 1960s produced by PAMS
PAMS
PAMS , based in Dallas, Texas, was the most famous jingle production company in American broadcasting. It produced identification packages for radio stations around the world, as well as some commercial music.-History:The company was founded by William B. Meeks, Jr. PAMS (an acronym for Production,...

 Productions in Dallas. In the early 70s, the famous Drake
Bill Drake
Bill Drake , born Philip Yarbrough, was an American radio programmer who co-developed the Boss Radio format with Gene Chenault via their company Drake-Chenault.-Early career:...

 "rum-pum" Boss Radio
Boss Radio
Boss Radio was the name of two radio programming formats, both launched in the early 1960s: One in the United States, and one in the United Kingdom. Although the names were the same, the formats were quite different.-Boss Radio in the United States:...

 jingles featuring the Johnny Mann
Johnny Mann
Johnny Mann is an American arranger, composer, conductor, entertainer, and recording artist.-Career:...

 Singers were used, the same package used by then-legendary CKLW
CKLW
CKLW is a 50,000 watt AM radio station broadcasting on 800 kHz and located in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and serving Windsor and Detroit. Additionally, its signal can be heard as far west as Belding, Michigan; as far east as Batavia, New York; as far south as Edgewood, Kentucky; and as far...

 in Windsor, Ontario during the late 60s and 70s.

Adult Radio 1410 WING

In the mid 1970s FM rock stations started to chip away at AM radio's Top 40 audiences. During this transitional time, WING began to soften its format to adult contemporary as "Adult Radio 1410." "Kirkie" continued his morning show (followed by John Alexander on mid-days) with the addition of John King and Terry Dorsey doing afternoons. The highly popular mock ads and comedy sketches of the fictitious Babs Knieiven's Bar and Grill of New Carlisle, Hiney Wine and a comedic spoof on current events called "The King and Dorsey Report" kept its fans laughing and listening, even with the 80s onslaught of FM competitors WTUE
WTUE
WTUE is a classic rock formatted radio station with studios in Dayton, Ohio. Its transmitter is located in Moraine, Ohio and can be heard clearly throughout Southwest Ohio, including in Cincinnati....

 and WDJX in nearby Xenia (now WXEG
WXEG
WXEG is a modern rock formatted radio station based in Dayton, Ohio, and owned by Clear Channel Communications. The station broadcasts at 103.9 MHz with an effective radiated power of 2900 watts. It has three towers located in its city of license of Beavercreek, Ohio, two are...

 licensed to Beavercreek). It was also during this time when Great Trails decided to acquire an FM sister station for the now declining WING..in so doing purchased the original WCTM
WCTM
WCTM were the call letters assigned to an FM radio station, and later an AM station, both licensed to Eaton, Preble County, Ohio, U.S.A.-WCTM-FM:...

-FM in nearby Eaton from Stanley Coning re-naming it WJAI with the branding "WJ-93"(inspired by the Florida sport known as Jai-Alai) at first continuing WCTM's beautiful music until 1979 when it switched to country (later Big Band/Nostalgia) and adding one of its first female on-air personalities Kim Faris.

End of an era

WING in the 1980s and 90s showed more signs of listener burnout as even more listeners switched to FM. "Adult Radio 1410" added a supplemental tagline "Your Fun Oldies Station" with its vast record and jingle library featuring "The Sixties at 6" with King and Dorsey. An on-air reunion of the original WING Lively Guys took place in 1985.

Eventually its Top 40 format was moved to its Eaton FM sister re-branded in 1984 as WGTZ
WGTZ
WGTZ "Fly 92.9" is a commercial FM station licensed in Eaton, Ohio at 92.9 MHz serving the Dayton and Springfield market area with an Adult Hits format. The previous CHR/Pop format commenced Sunday, March 15, 1984 at Noon when Dayton-based Great Trails Broadcasting owned the station at the time...

 "Z-93" (formerly WCTM
WCTM
WCTM were the call letters assigned to an FM radio station, and later an AM station, both licensed to Eaton, Preble County, Ohio, U.S.A.-WCTM-FM:...

-FM and WJAI respectively, and now "Fly 92.9" with an Adult Hits
Adult hits
Adult hits is a radio format, popular in the early 2000s, that does not adhere to a specific music genre, but instead draws from a wider playlist...

 format) which at first used the catchy (and barely legal) ID "WGTZ Eaton/Dayton and Springfield ALIVE!" (as in "Eatin' Dayton and Springfield ALIVE!" when said fast) and with it John King moving to mornings with Terry Dorsey on a tape-delayed basis from a station in Texas where he was working at the time. Kim Faris, already there since the WJAI days stayed there doing mid-days and later as a morning sidekick to Jeff Wicker. Faris (who now works at WLQT after briefly moving to sales in 2007 for Z-93) occasionally did late evenings at WING in the mid 1980s as well. Carl Day did afternoon drive for a period of time after John King moved to mornings at Z-93.

WING switched to a satellite oldies format during daytime hours after Kirkie's morning show. A talk program with Stacy Taylor was added to the early evening shift with Mutual's Larry King
Larry King
Lawrence Harvey "Larry" King is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards....

 Show from midnight to 6am. After Steve Kirk's departure for a brief gig at Beavercreek's WYMJ-FM "Oldies 104" he retired and eventually moved to Florida where he resides today. WING's "High Flying" era was now a thing of the past.

In the fall of 2006,former newsman Bill Nance (now with WFCJ
WFCJ
WFCJ is a radio station broadcasting a Religious format. Licensed in Miamisburg, Ohio, USA, it serves the Dayton area. The station is currently owned by Miami Valley Christian Broadcasting Association and has been on the air since 1961...

 in Miamisburg) and Z-93's Kim Faris (now with FM competitor WLQT
WLQT
WLQT is a radio station broadcasting a Soft Adult Contemporary format. Licensed to Englewood, Ohio, USA, the station serves the Dayton area...

) organized a reunion party of WING's past and present air personalities at the Holiday Inn near Dayton Mall with a special memorial tribute to Gene "By Golly" Barry who died in 2001.

WING Today

After a stint as a CNN Radio affiliate in the 1990s and various network talk programs, it found its new niche in sports/talk as a competitor to WONE (AM)
WONE (AM)
WONE is an AM radio station in Dayton, Ohio operating on 980 kHz with a Sports Talk format. It carries programming from Fox Sports Radio, as well as the Jim Rome Show and the Dan Patrick Show .-History:The station took the air in 1949, licensed to Skyland Broadcasting Corp...

 (which it also competed with in the 1960s for its Top 40 audience.)
WING now airs the programming of ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio is an American sports radio network. It was launched on January 1, 1992 under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN." ESPN Radio is located at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut...

 in addition to local sports coverage of Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State Buckeyes
The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of The Ohio State University, named after the state tree, the Buckeye. The Buckeyes participate in the NCAA's Division I in all sports and the Big Ten Conference in most sports...

 Football and Basketball.
Mike and Mike in the Morning
Mike and Mike in the Morning
Mike and Mike in the Morning is an American sports-talk radio show hosted by Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg on ESPN Radio and simulcast on television, normally on ESPN2. If ESPN is broadcasting a live sporting event during the show's timeslot, Sportscenter will air on ESPN2, and the show's...

  (Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg) is aired here. Dan Patrick
Dan Patrick
Daniel Patrick Pugh , professionally known as Dan Patrick, is an American sportscaster, radio personality, and actor from Mason, Ohio...

's afternoon program was also aired prior to his departure from ESPN on August 17, 2007. Patrick was best known in Dayton by his real name Dan Pugh who was an air personality on WING's FM competitor, album rock-formatted WTUE
WTUE
WTUE is a classic rock formatted radio station with studios in Dayton, Ohio. Its transmitter is located in Moraine, Ohio and can be heard clearly throughout Southwest Ohio, including in Cincinnati....

 in the early 1980s.
WING was owned by Radio One which acquired its previous owner, Cincinnati-based Blue Chip Broadcasting in 1999.

On May 17, 2007 Philadelphia-based Main Line Broadcasting announced the acquisition of Radio One's stations in the Dayton and Louisville market areas. Main Line took over the Dayton stations on September 14, 2007

The current Program Director of WING is Mark Neal, and he has held that position since April 2006. Neal hosts Dayton Sports Scene, which can be heard on WING 5p -6p weekdays. Starting for the 2011 season WING became the Dayton affiliate for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....

.

See also

  • ESPN
    ESPN
    Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

  • ESPN Radio
    ESPN Radio
    ESPN Radio is an American sports radio network. It was launched on January 1, 1992 under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN." ESPN Radio is located at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut...

  • Radio One (Former owners)
  • WROU-FM
    WROU-FM
    WROU-FM is an Urban Adult Contemporary radio station at 92.1 FM licensed in West Carrollton, Ohio serving the Dayton area and owned and operated by Main Line broadcasting.-History:...

  • WGTZ
    WGTZ
    WGTZ "Fly 92.9" is a commercial FM station licensed in Eaton, Ohio at 92.9 MHz serving the Dayton and Springfield market area with an Adult Hits format. The previous CHR/Pop format commenced Sunday, March 15, 1984 at Noon when Dayton-based Great Trails Broadcasting owned the station at the time...

  • WDHT
    WDHT
    WDHT, "Hot 102.9", is an Rhythmic Contemporary radio station in Urbana, Ohio serving the Dayton/Springfield area that broadcasts on the 102.9 frequency. WDHT is currently owned by Main Line Broadcasting which also owns WING-AM, WROU-FM, WCLI-FM and WGTZ-FM...

  • WCLI-FM

External links

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