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WDAS (AM)
Encyclopedia
WDAS is a radio station licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
. The station airs an urban oldies format.
At noon on November 23, 2011, the station flipped to its current format and returned to the locally historic WDAS call sign.
signed on in July 1922 at 1200 AM. The station was owned by Howard R. Miller. WIAD eventually relocated to Philadelphia. In 1928, per order of the FRC
(Federal Radio Commission), the station moved to 1370 AM. In 1929, calls changed to WELK.
In 1934, Miller sold the station, and the new owners, silk manufacturers Dannenbaum & Steppacher, adopted the WDAS call sign
. WDAS broadcast various ethnic programming in languages such as Italian, Yiddish and Polish. In 1941, WDAS moved to 1400 AM, then about 15 years later to its current position of 1480 AM.
In 1950, candy manufacturer Max Leon
purchased the station for $495,000 from William Goldman, a theater chain owner. The programming at the time consisted of big band music, ethnic and cultural shows. Leon, the founder and conductor of the original Philly Pops Orchestra, added an all-night classical music
show.
The next year, Leon promoted his son-in-law, Bob Klein, to general manager. Klein saw an opportunity in the marketplace and quickly adopted programming geared toward the local African-American community. The music consisted of jazz
and rhythm & blues. WDAS added a number of young personalities, including Georgie Woods
, Jimmy Bishop, Carl Helm, Butterball Tamburro, Jocko Henderson and Hy Lit
. The station also added black-oriented public affairs and news programs, and provided in-depth coverage of the unfolding civil rights movement
, featuring award-winning and groundbreaking journalists Joe Rainey and Jim Klash,along with Walt Sanders, Carl Stubbs, Bill Adams, Dave Colman, Jimmy Carter and later, reporter Ed Bradley
(later of TV's 60 Minutes
). The station employed many blacks, in on-air, office and management positions. The station also took on an activist role in the movement. WDAS was commended by many in the industry and in the civil rights movement.
Leon and Klein signed on a sister FM station, WDAS-FM
, in 1959. By the early 1970s, the station would launch a groundbreaking and influential urban contemporary
format still used today.
The station retained the R&B format throughout the 1960's, while adding gospel music with Louise Williams. Many people involved in the civil rights movement, including Martin Luther King and Malcolm X
, visited and were heard on the station.
Klein filed a class action lawsuit against the Arbitron rating service in 1972, on behalf of all black radio stations, protesting that black radio listenership was undercounted. Arbitron settled the suit after four days of testimony and amended its methodologies and policies.
Leon sold the station in November 1979 to the minority-owned Unity Broadcasting Network. In the 1980s, WDAS added the National Black Network (NBN) news, and tried a news format in the mornings (anchored locally by Karen Warrington, E. Steven Collins and Wynne Alexander) and afternoons (via the NBN feed) to compete with KYW-AM. This was unsuccessful, and the station returned with a mix of gospel, R&B and talk shows.
In 1988, the station switched to a full-time gospel music and religious format.
Beasley Broadcasting purchased WDAS and WDAS-FM in 1994. Two years later, the station was sold to Evergreen Media, which soon merged with Chancellor Broadcasting (later AMFM Inc.). In August 2000, after a series of mergers, the two stations would become properties of Clear Channel Communications
.
On May 16, 2007, WDAS and the all-gospel format ended when sister station "Rumba 104.5" moved its programming and WUBA call sign to 1480 AM (104.5 would flip to modern rock). The WDAS calls were officially retired on 1480 AM on May 23, 2007.
WUBA served as the Spanish language flagship radio station of the Philadelphia Phillies
.
On November 22, 2011, Clear Channel announced that the frequency would once again become WDAS starting November 23. The station is initially broadcasting R&B Christmas music
, followed by an R&B oldies format after the holidays.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. The station airs an urban oldies format.
At noon on November 23, 2011, the station flipped to its current format and returned to the locally historic WDAS call sign.
History
WIAD in Ocean City, New JerseyOcean City, New Jersey
Ocean City is a city in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States. It is the principal city of the Ocean City Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Cape May County. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 11,701...
signed on in July 1922 at 1200 AM. The station was owned by Howard R. Miller. WIAD eventually relocated to Philadelphia. In 1928, per order of the FRC
FRC
The three-letter acronym FRC can have several different meanings:*Facultad Regional Cordoba, a technical university.*False Roman Cancel, a technique used in the fighting game series Guilty Gear...
(Federal Radio Commission), the station moved to 1370 AM. In 1929, calls changed to WELK.
In 1934, Miller sold the station, and the new owners, silk manufacturers Dannenbaum & Steppacher, adopted the WDAS call sign
Call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...
. WDAS broadcast various ethnic programming in languages such as Italian, Yiddish and Polish. In 1941, WDAS moved to 1400 AM, then about 15 years later to its current position of 1480 AM.
In 1950, candy manufacturer Max Leon
Max Leon
Maximino León Molino is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from through for the Atlanta Braves...
purchased the station for $495,000 from William Goldman, a theater chain owner. The programming at the time consisted of big band music, ethnic and cultural shows. Leon, the founder and conductor of the original Philly Pops Orchestra, added an all-night classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
show.
The next year, Leon promoted his son-in-law, Bob Klein, to general manager. Klein saw an opportunity in the marketplace and quickly adopted programming geared toward the local African-American community. The music consisted of jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and rhythm & blues. WDAS added a number of young personalities, including Georgie Woods
Georgie Woods
Georgie Woods was an American radio personality who was best known for his broadcasting career in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area....
, Jimmy Bishop, Carl Helm, Butterball Tamburro, Jocko Henderson and Hy Lit
Hy Lit
Hyman Aaron "Hy" Lit was an American DJ based in the Philadelphia area from the 1950s until 2005. In his 50 year career, Hy Lit broadcast from WIBG-AM, WDAS/WDAS-FM, WKBS-TV, WIFI, WSNI/WPGR, KPOL, WKXW, among many others. His last station was WOGL, where he broadcast from 1989 until his...
. The station also added black-oriented public affairs and news programs, and provided in-depth coverage of the unfolding civil rights movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
, featuring award-winning and groundbreaking journalists Joe Rainey and Jim Klash,along with Walt Sanders, Carl Stubbs, Bill Adams, Dave Colman, Jimmy Carter and later, reporter Ed Bradley
Ed Bradley
Edward Rudolph "Ed" Bradley, Jr. was an American journalist, best known for twenty-six years of award-winning work on the CBS News television program 60 Minutes...
(later of TV's 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
). The station employed many blacks, in on-air, office and management positions. The station also took on an activist role in the movement. WDAS was commended by many in the industry and in the civil rights movement.
Leon and Klein signed on a sister FM station, WDAS-FM
WDAS-FM
WDAS-FM is an Urban Adult Contemporary radio station that features R&B and Classic Soul, and is licensed to the city of Philadelphia. The station is widely regarded as one of the originators of the Urban AC format which mixes R&B oldies with non-rap contemporary R&B and is now found in many major...
, in 1959. By the early 1970s, the station would launch a groundbreaking and influential urban contemporary
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 still used today.
The station retained the R&B format throughout the 1960's, while adding gospel music with Louise Williams. Many people involved in the civil rights movement, including Martin Luther King and Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
, visited and were heard on the station.
Klein filed a class action lawsuit against the Arbitron rating service in 1972, on behalf of all black radio stations, protesting that black radio listenership was undercounted. Arbitron settled the suit after four days of testimony and amended its methodologies and policies.
Leon sold the station in November 1979 to the minority-owned Unity Broadcasting Network. In the 1980s, WDAS added the National Black Network (NBN) news, and tried a news format in the mornings (anchored locally by Karen Warrington, E. Steven Collins and Wynne Alexander) and afternoons (via the NBN feed) to compete with KYW-AM. This was unsuccessful, and the station returned with a mix of gospel, R&B and talk shows.
In 1988, the station switched to a full-time gospel music and religious format.
Beasley Broadcasting purchased WDAS and WDAS-FM in 1994. Two years later, the station was sold to Evergreen Media, which soon merged with Chancellor Broadcasting (later AMFM Inc.). In August 2000, after a series of mergers, the two stations would become properties of Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
.
On May 16, 2007, WDAS and the all-gospel format ended when sister station "Rumba 104.5" moved its programming and WUBA call sign to 1480 AM (104.5 would flip to modern rock). The WDAS calls were officially retired on 1480 AM on May 23, 2007.
WUBA served as the Spanish language flagship radio station of the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
.
- See also WRFFWRFFWRFF is a modern rock FM radio station located in and licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications and is known on-air as "Radio 104.5."-WRCP-FM:...
On November 22, 2011, Clear Channel announced that the frequency would once again become WDAS starting November 23. The station is initially broadcasting R&B Christmas music
Christmas music
Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music normally performed or heard around the Christmas season, which tends to begin in the months leading up the actual holiday and end in the weeks shortly thereafter.-Early:...
, followed by an R&B oldies format after the holidays.