WGVM
Encyclopedia
WGVM is an American radio station
licensed
to serve the community of Greenville, Mississippi
, USA. The station was established in 1948 by David M. Segal and owned by him for nearly six decades. WGVM is currently owned and operated by ARK-LA-MS Radio Group, LLC. An AM daytimer, WGVM broadcasts from sunrise to sunset.
The station began with an eclectic array of live programming including blues
and Gospel music
, transitioned to rockabilly
-influenced Top 40 in the 1950s, and became a top-rated country music
station in the 1960s and 1970s. WGVM's fortunes followed the general decline of AM radio stations in the United States and the station went off the air
for several months in 2006 before finding a new owner and a new direction. WGVM now serves the "Ark-La-Miss" region with live sports and sports talk programming.
format
to the "Ark-La-Miss" region bounded by Pine Bluff, Arkansas
, to the northwest, Batesville, Arkansas
, to the northeast, Monroe, Louisiana
, to the southwest, and Jackson, Mississippi
, to the southeast. WGVM is a Class D "AM daytimer", restricted to broadcasting only during daylight hours to protect the nighttime coverage areas of more powerful regional Class B stations and other local Class D stations. The station switched to sports programming when WGVM returned to the air after it was sold in 2006.
WGVM is an affiliate of the Fox Sports Radio
network and receives select programs from the ESPN Radio
and Premiere Radio
networks. In addition to sports talk programming, the station airs live sports as part of the Southern Miss Golden Eagles
' baseball
and football
radio networks and as part of the Ole Miss Rebels
baseball
and men's basketball
radio networks. The station also broadcasts coach's shows from both schools.
s of power on 1260 kilohertz as the second radio station licensed to serve Greenville, Mississippi
. The station was assigned the call sign
"WGVM" by the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC). This was Greenville's second radio station as WJPR (now WNIX
, 1330 AM) signed on in 1937. WGVM was founded by owner David M. Segal who also served as general manager
. Other key personnel at launch included Merle Stein as station manager and Welton H. Jetton as chief engineer
.
was transferred to a new company, the Cotton Belt Broadcasting Company, owned by Segal who was also the company's president. By 1953, the name of the company was changed to Cotton Belt Broadcasting Corporation of Mississippi to reflect the fact that WGVM was now part of the Cotton Belt Group, seven radio stations across Texas
, Arkansas
, Missouri
, and Mississippi that were all owned or controlled by David M. Segal. Just two years later, the company name was changed to Mid-America Broadcasting Company, reflecting the shift in location of the other stations in the group. Segal now controlled just four stations with two in Missouri and one each in Colorado
and Mississippi.
by 1950. By 1951, David M. Segal resumed his general manager role and Wallace Hoy became WGVM's program director. In late 1953, Wayne McChristian became the station's chief engineer. In 1956, Joseph C. Gunter was named chief engineer for the station and Jack R. Stull took on both the general manager and commercial manager roles. However, just two years later Edward M. Guss was brought in as general manager and Stull moved to the commercial manager slot fulltime.
WGVM initially featured a variety of musical styles, including live blues music programs plus Gospel music
on Sundays. Early show hosts included future blues legends Willie Love
and Little Milton
. Regular Sunday performers included the Famous St. John Gospel Singers whose young guitarist, Riley King, would later find fame in Memphis as the "Blues Boy of Beale Street" and become known as B.B. King.
In the late 1950s, WGVM aired a rockabilly
-influenced Top 40 radio format featuring artists such as Elvis Presley
, Ricky Nelson
, and Frankie Avalon
. Along with the Top 40 songs, WGVM continued to program blocks of Gospel, blues, and rhythm and blues
music (lumped together in broadcast industry publications of the day as "Negro music") with roughly 30 hours per week in 1958 but just over 22 hours per week in 1959.
by the FCC to increase its signal strength from 1,000 watt
s to 5,000 watts, still restricted to daylight-only operation. The station began broadcasting with the stronger signal by 1963. Joel Netherland was hired as program director and news director in 1966. By 1968, those duties would be split again as Cal Adams became program director and Bill Brown was hired as news director. Also in 1968, Robert Meador became WGVM's chief engineer. Adams and Brown's tenure would prove short-lived as Art Baca became program director in 1969 with Andy Roberts taking the news director position.
In the 1960s the station flipped to country music
which proved a boon to the station's ratings. The format switch meant a decrease in "Negro music" programming from 24.5 hours per week in 1963 to just 16 hours per week, mostly on weekends, by 1965. This programming would continue to disappear from WGVM with just three hours per week by 1967 and the station reporting itself as "100%" country & western in 1968.
In December 1967, sister station
WGVM-FM
(100.7 FM) signed on the air as a simulcast of WGVM during daylight hours and continuing a similar country music format at night and overnight. By 1970, the FM station was renamed WDMS
after owner David M. Segal and derived only 25% of its programming from WGVM.
(1340 AM) in Shreveport, Louisiana
, and Burt Brown moved up into the position for WGVM. Brown told Billboard
that he would "soften" the top-ranked station's country format in an effort to appeal to a younger demographic. In the late 1990s, the station shifted again, this time to an older-skewing classic country
format.
In addition to its regular music programming, in 1999 WGVM broadcast college football
games as a member of both the Delta State Statesmen and Southern Miss Golden Eagles
sports radio networks. Sports broadcasts continued into the early 2000s as the station broadcast University of Southern Mississippi men's basketball and football
plus National Football League
games as a member of the Tennessee Titans
, and later New Orleans Saints
, radio networks.
temporarily while a search for a new owner for the station was conducted. Station ownership told the FCC that station founder and primary owner David M. Segal was elderly and suffering "some health issues" which made it difficult to oversee station operations from his California residence. In addition, the station was having "a difficult time" retaining managers and sales people plus the money saved by taking WGVM off the air temporarily would be used to speed the process of finding a buyer for the ailing station.
In July 2006, a buyer was found with John R. Salyer and Wesley K. Gerald teaming up with WGVM's then-current general manager Robert J. "Bob" Ghetti to form a new corporation, WDMS Inc. The new company agreed to purchase both WGVM and FM sister station
WDMS
from Segal's Mid-America Broadcasting Company for a combined sales price of $780,000. The FCC approved the transaction on September 15, 2006, and the deal was formally consummated on November 9, 2006. This ended nearly six decades of continuous WGVM ownership by station founder David M. Segal.
: sports and sports talk as an affiliate of ESPN Radio
. While the primary network affiliation later switched to Fox Sports Radio
, WGVM has maintained this sports radio
format since the 2006 return to the air.
In 2008, John Rickey Salyer, the majority owner of license-holder WDMS Inc., filed for bankruptcy protection. At the time of the filing, Salyer owned 57% of the company, Robert J. Ghetti owned 18%, and Wesley K. Gerald owned 25%. Control of WGVM was involuntarily tranferred from Salyer to Jeffrey A. Livingston as an interim trustee in May 2008. In June 2008, Livingston reached an agreement to transfer Salyer's share of the corporation to Robert J. Ghetti an partial resolution to Salyer's debts. The voluntary transfer of control was approved by the FCC on July 22, 2008, and the deal was formally consummated on September 11, 2008. Righetti now owned 75% of WDMS Inc. with Wesley K. Gerald retaining his 25% stake.
on King Biscuit Time
in the late 1940s, Delta blues
pianist Willie Love
became the host of his own radio show on WGVM. Love, after years of heavy drinking, died in August 1953 at the age of 46.
Before receiving his first recording contract with Sun Records
in 1953 and going on to become "one of the world’s leading performers of blues and soul music" as a singer and guitarist, "Little Milton
" Campbell hosted a program on WGVM. Little Milton would go on to be inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame
in 1988.
In November 1959, WGVM program director Wallace "Wally" Hoy was elected to the board of directors of the Disk Jockey Association. The DJA was founded in Chicago
in 1957.
Joe Ray, then general manager of WGVM and sister station
WDMS
, served as president of the Mississippi Association of Broadcasters for the 1981 calendar year.
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
licensed
City of license
A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator....
to serve the community of Greenville, Mississippi
Greenville, Mississippi
Greenville is a city in Washington County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 48,633 at the 2000 census, but according to the 2009 census bureau estimates, it has since declined to 42,764, making it the eighth-largest city in the state. It is the county seat of Washington...
, USA. The station was established in 1948 by David M. Segal and owned by him for nearly six decades. WGVM is currently owned and operated by ARK-LA-MS Radio Group, LLC. An AM daytimer, WGVM broadcasts from sunrise to sunset.
The station began with an eclectic array of live programming including blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
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....
, transitioned to rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
-influenced Top 40 in the 1950s, and became a top-rated country music
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...
station in the 1960s and 1970s. WGVM's fortunes followed the general decline of AM radio stations in the United States and the station went off the air
Dark (broadcasting)
In the broadcasting industry, dark is a term used to describe a radio station or television station that has gone off-the-air for an indefinite period of time, or as defined by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission , a "silent" station...
for several months in 2006 before finding a new owner and a new direction. WGVM now serves the "Ark-La-Miss" region with live sports and sports talk programming.
Programming
WGVM broadcasts a sports radioSports radio
Sports radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A popular format with an almost exclusively male demographic in most areas, sports radio is characterized by an often-boisterous on-air style and extensive debate and analysis by both hosts and...
format
Radio format
A radio format or programming format not to be confused with broadcast programming describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. Radio formats are frequently employed as a marketing tool, and constantly evolve...
to the "Ark-La-Miss" region bounded by Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Pine Bluff is the largest city and county seat of Jefferson County, Arkansas, United States. It is also the principal city of the Pine Bluff Metropolitan Statistical Area and part of the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Pine Bluff, Arkansas Combined Statistical Area...
, to the northwest, Batesville, Arkansas
Batesville, Arkansas
Batesville is the county seat and largest city of Independence County, Arkansas, United States, 80 miles northeast of Little Rock, the state capital. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city was 9,556...
, to the northeast, Monroe, Louisiana
Monroe, Louisiana
Monroe is a city in and the parish seat of Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 53,107, making it the eighth largest city in Louisiana. A July 1, 2007, United States Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 51,208, but 51,636...
, to the southwest, and Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
, to the southeast. WGVM is a Class D "AM daytimer", restricted to broadcasting only during daylight hours to protect the nighttime coverage areas of more powerful regional Class B stations and other local Class D stations. The station switched to sports programming when WGVM returned to the air after it was sold in 2006.
WGVM is an affiliate of the Fox Sports Radio
Fox Sports Radio
Fox Sports Radio, abbreviated FSR, is an international radio network consisting of sports talk programming. The network is a service of Premiere Networks...
network and receives select programs from the 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...
and Premiere Radio
Premiere Radio Networks
Premiere Networks is an American radio network. It is the largest syndication company in the United States based on popularity of programming...
networks. In addition to sports talk programming, the station airs live sports as part of the Southern Miss Golden Eagles
Southern Miss Golden Eagles
The Southern Miss Golden Eagles represent The University of Southern Mississippi in Division I athletics. The teams compete in Conference USA....
' baseball
Southern Miss Golden Eagles baseball
The Southern Miss Golden Eagles baseball team represents the University of Southern Mississippi in NCAA Division I college baseball. They participate as a member of Conference USA....
and football
Southern Miss Golden Eagles football
The Southern Miss Golden Eagles football program represents the University of Southern Mississippi in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The Eagles are members of Conference USA and player their home games at M. M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg, Mississippi...
radio networks and as part of the Ole Miss Rebels
Ole Miss Rebels
University of Mississippi sports teams, originally known as the "Mississippi Flood" , were re-named the Rebels in 1936 and compete in the twelve-member Southeastern Conference of the NCAA's Division I. The school's colors are cardinal red and navy blue , purposely chosen to mirror the school...
baseball
Ole Miss Rebels baseball
The Ole Miss Rebels baseball team represents the University of Mississippi in NCAA Division I college baseball. The team participates in the West division of the Southeastern Conference. They are currently coached by head coach Mike Bianco and assistant coaches Carl Lafferty and Matt Mossberg. They...
and men's basketball
Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball
Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball represents the University of Mississippi in intercollegiate men's basketball. They have participated in the National Invitation Tournament in 1980, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1989, 2000, 2007, 2008, and 2010. In 2008, they made it to the Final Four of the NIT. The Rebels...
radio networks. The station also broadcasts coach's shows from both schools.
Early days
The station launched in December 1948 with 1,000 wattWatt
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 on 1260 kilohertz as the second radio station licensed to serve Greenville, Mississippi
Greenville, Mississippi
Greenville is a city in Washington County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 48,633 at the 2000 census, but according to the 2009 census bureau estimates, it has since declined to 42,764, making it the eighth-largest city in the state. It is the county seat of Washington...
. The station was assigned the 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...
"WGVM" by 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). This was Greenville's second radio station as WJPR (now WNIX
WNIX
WNIX is a radio station broadcasting a talk format. Licensed to Greenville, Mississippi, USA, the station is currently owned by Debut Broadcasting Mississippi.On May 31, 2010, WNIX changed their format from oldies to classic country....
, 1330 AM) signed on in 1937. WGVM was founded by owner David M. Segal who also served as general manager
General manager
General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...
. Other key personnel at launch included Merle Stein as station manager and Welton H. Jetton as chief engineer
Chief Engineer
In marine transportation, the chief engineer is a licensed mariner in charge of the engineering department on a merchant vessel. "Chief engineer" is the official title of someone qualified to oversee the entire engine department; the qualification is colloquially called a "chief's...
.
1950s
By 1950, the broadcast licenseBroadcast license
A broadcast license or broadcast license is a specific type of spectrum license that grants the licensee the privilege to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses are generally straddled with additional restrictions that...
was transferred to a new company, the Cotton Belt Broadcasting Company, owned by Segal who was also the company's president. By 1953, the name of the company was changed to Cotton Belt Broadcasting Corporation of Mississippi to reflect the fact that WGVM was now part of the Cotton Belt Group, seven radio stations across Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, and Mississippi that were all owned or controlled by David M. Segal. Just two years later, the company name was changed to Mid-America Broadcasting Company, reflecting the shift in location of the other stations in the group. Segal now controlled just four stations with two in Missouri and one each in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
and Mississippi.
People
Turnover in key positions was steady through the 1950s with Howard E. Gurney assuming the general manager role and Louis A. Kurtz as program directorProgram director
In service industries, such as education, a program director or programme director researches, plans, develops and implements one or more of the firm's professional services...
by 1950. By 1951, David M. Segal resumed his general manager role and Wallace Hoy became WGVM's program director. In late 1953, Wayne McChristian became the station's chief engineer. In 1956, Joseph C. Gunter was named chief engineer for the station and Jack R. Stull took on both the general manager and commercial manager roles. However, just two years later Edward M. Guss was brought in as general manager and Stull moved to the commercial manager slot fulltime.
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....
on Sundays. Early show hosts included future blues legends Willie Love
Willie Love
Willie Love was an American Delta blues pianist. He is best known for his association with, and accompaniment of Sonny Boy Williamson II.-Biography:...
and Little Milton
Little Milton
James Milton Campbell, Jr. , better known as Little Milton, was an American electric blues, rhythm and blues, and soul singer and guitarist, best known for his hit records "Grits Ain't Groceries" and "We're Gonna Make It."-Biography:Milton was born James Milton Campbell, Jr., in the Mississippi...
. Regular Sunday performers included the Famous St. John Gospel Singers whose young guitarist, Riley King, would later find fame in Memphis as the "Blues Boy of Beale Street" and become known as B.B. King.
In the late 1950s, WGVM aired a rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
-influenced Top 40 radio format featuring artists such as Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, Ricky Nelson
Ricky Nelson
Eric Hilliard Nelson , better known as Ricky Nelson or Rick Nelson, was an American singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, and actor...
, and Frankie Avalon
Frankie Avalon
Frankie Avalon is an American actor, singer, playwright, and former teen idol.-Career:By the time he was 12, Avalon was on U.S. television playing his trumpet. As a teenager he played with Bobby Rydell in Rocco and the Saints...
. Along with the Top 40 songs, WGVM continued to program blocks of Gospel, blues, and rhythm and blues
Rhythm 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...
music (lumped together in broadcast industry publications of the day as "Negro music") with roughly 30 hours per week in 1958 but just over 22 hours per week in 1959.
1960s
In 1961, after a decade under Wally Hoy, WGVM brought in James B. Ashley as program director and split off the news director role to David Smith. James Jared Tugwell became the station's new chief engineer. Also in 1961, the station was granted a construction permitConstruction permit
A construction permit or building permit is a permit required in most jurisdictions for new construction, or adding on to pre-existing structures, and in some cases for major renovations. Generally, the new construction must be inspected during construction and after completion to ensure compliance...
by the FCC to increase its signal strength from 1,000 watt
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 to 5,000 watts, still restricted to daylight-only operation. The station began broadcasting with the stronger signal by 1963. Joel Netherland was hired as program director and news director in 1966. By 1968, those duties would be split again as Cal Adams became program director and Bill Brown was hired as news director. Also in 1968, Robert Meador became WGVM's chief engineer. Adams and Brown's tenure would prove short-lived as Art Baca became program director in 1969 with Andy Roberts taking the news director position.
In the 1960s the station flipped to country music
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...
which proved a boon to the station's ratings. The format switch meant a decrease in "Negro music" programming from 24.5 hours per week in 1963 to just 16 hours per week, mostly on weekends, by 1965. This programming would continue to disappear from WGVM with just three hours per week by 1967 and the station reporting itself as "100%" country & western in 1968.
In December 1967, sister station
Sister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio and/or television stations operated by the same ownership....
WGVM-FM
WDMS
WDMS is an American radio station licensed to Greenville, Mississippi, USA. The station is currently owned by WDMS, Inc. WDMS transmits 100,000 watts from a 135 meter tower, located in Greenville, Mississippi.-Engineer death:...
(100.7 FM) signed on the air as a simulcast of WGVM during daylight hours and continuing a similar country music format at night and overnight. By 1970, the FM station was renamed WDMS
WDMS
WDMS is an American radio station licensed to Greenville, Mississippi, USA. The station is currently owned by WDMS, Inc. WDMS transmits 100,000 watts from a 135 meter tower, located in Greenville, Mississippi.-Engineer death:...
after owner David M. Segal and derived only 25% of its programming from WGVM.
Musical changes
In September 1973, program director Chuck Alan moved on to KRMDKRMD (AM)
KRMD is a general talk formatted radio station licensed to Shreveport, Louisiana and serving the Ark-La-Tex region. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and based at the Louisiana Boardwalk in Bossier City, Louisiana.-Programming:...
(1340 AM) in Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
, and Burt Brown moved up into the position for WGVM. Brown told Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
that he would "soften" the top-ranked station's country format in an effort to appeal to a younger demographic. In the late 1990s, the station shifted again, this time to an older-skewing classic country
Classic country
Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country hits from past decades.This genre generally follows one of two formats: those specializing in hits from the 1920s through the early 1970s, and focus primarily on innovators and artists from country music's Golden...
format.
In addition to its regular music programming, in 1999 WGVM broadcast college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
games as a member of both the Delta State Statesmen and Southern Miss Golden Eagles
Southern Miss Golden Eagles
The Southern Miss Golden Eagles represent The University of Southern Mississippi in Division I athletics. The teams compete in Conference USA....
sports radio networks. Sports broadcasts continued into the early 2000s as the station broadcast University of Southern Mississippi men's basketball and football
Southern Miss Golden Eagles football
The Southern Miss Golden Eagles football program represents the University of Southern Mississippi in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The Eagles are members of Conference USA and player their home games at M. M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg, Mississippi...
plus National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
games as a member of the Tennessee Titans
Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...
, and later New Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....
, radio networks.
Falling silent
On May 11, 2006, WGVM ceased broadcastingDark (broadcasting)
In the broadcasting industry, dark is a term used to describe a radio station or television station that has gone off-the-air for an indefinite period of time, or as defined by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission , a "silent" station...
temporarily while a search for a new owner for the station was conducted. Station ownership told the FCC that station founder and primary owner David M. Segal was elderly and suffering "some health issues" which made it difficult to oversee station operations from his California residence. In addition, the station was having "a difficult time" retaining managers and sales people plus the money saved by taking WGVM off the air temporarily would be used to speed the process of finding a buyer for the ailing station.
In July 2006, a buyer was found with John R. Salyer and Wesley K. Gerald teaming up with WGVM's then-current general manager Robert J. "Bob" Ghetti to form a new corporation, WDMS Inc. The new company agreed to purchase both WGVM and FM sister station
Sister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio and/or television stations operated by the same ownership....
WDMS
WDMS
WDMS is an American radio station licensed to Greenville, Mississippi, USA. The station is currently owned by WDMS, Inc. WDMS transmits 100,000 watts from a 135 meter tower, located in Greenville, Mississippi.-Engineer death:...
from Segal's Mid-America Broadcasting Company for a combined sales price of $780,000. The FCC approved the transaction on September 15, 2006, and the deal was formally consummated on November 9, 2006. This ended nearly six decades of continuous WGVM ownership by station founder David M. Segal.
New beginning
WGVM returned to the air in late 2006 under new ownership and with a new formatRadio format
A radio format or programming format not to be confused with broadcast programming describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. Radio formats are frequently employed as a marketing tool, and constantly evolve...
: sports and sports talk as 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...
. While the primary network affiliation later switched to Fox Sports Radio
Fox Sports Radio
Fox Sports Radio, abbreviated FSR, is an international radio network consisting of sports talk programming. The network is a service of Premiere Networks...
, WGVM has maintained this sports radio
Sports radio
Sports radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A popular format with an almost exclusively male demographic in most areas, sports radio is characterized by an often-boisterous on-air style and extensive debate and analysis by both hosts and...
format since the 2006 return to the air.
In 2008, John Rickey Salyer, the majority owner of license-holder WDMS Inc., filed for bankruptcy protection. At the time of the filing, Salyer owned 57% of the company, Robert J. Ghetti owned 18%, and Wesley K. Gerald owned 25%. Control of WGVM was involuntarily tranferred from Salyer to Jeffrey A. Livingston as an interim trustee in May 2008. In June 2008, Livingston reached an agreement to transfer Salyer's share of the corporation to Robert J. Ghetti an partial resolution to Salyer's debts. The voluntary transfer of control was approved by the FCC on July 22, 2008, and the deal was formally consummated on September 11, 2008. Righetti now owned 75% of WDMS Inc. with Wesley K. Gerald retaining his 25% stake.
Station alumni
Along with his work with Sonny Boy WilliamsonSonny Boy Williamson II
Willie "Sonny Boy" Williamson was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, from Mississippi. He is acknowledged as one of the most charismatic and influential blues musicians, with considerable prowess on the harmonica and highly creative songwriting skills...
on King Biscuit Time
King Biscuit Time
King Biscuit Time is the longest-running daily American radio broadcasts in history. The program is broadcast each weekday from KFFA in Helena, Arkansas, United States and has won the George Foster Peabody Award for broadcasting excellence and is currently broadcast from the KFFA studio located in...
in the late 1940s, Delta blues
Delta blues
The Delta blues is one of the earliest styles of blues music. It originated in the Mississippi Delta, a region of the United States that stretches from Memphis, Tennessee in the north to Vicksburg, Mississippi in the south, Helena, Arkansas in the west to the Yazoo River on the east. The...
pianist Willie Love
Willie Love
Willie Love was an American Delta blues pianist. He is best known for his association with, and accompaniment of Sonny Boy Williamson II.-Biography:...
became the host of his own radio show on WGVM. Love, after years of heavy drinking, died in August 1953 at the age of 46.
Before receiving his first recording contract with Sun Records
Sun Records
Sun Records is a record label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, starting operations on March 27, 1952.Founded by Sam Phillips, Sun Records was known for giving notable musicians such as Elvis Presley , Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash...
in 1953 and going on to become "one of the world’s leading performers of blues and soul music" as a singer and guitarist, "Little Milton
Little Milton
James Milton Campbell, Jr. , better known as Little Milton, was an American electric blues, rhythm and blues, and soul singer and guitarist, best known for his hit records "Grits Ain't Groceries" and "We're Gonna Make It."-Biography:Milton was born James Milton Campbell, Jr., in the Mississippi...
" Campbell hosted a program on WGVM. Little Milton would go on to be inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame
Blues Hall of Fame
The Blues Hall of Fame is a listing of people who have significantly contributed to blues music. Started in 1980 by the Blues Foundation, it honors those who have performed, recorded, or documented blues.-1980:*Big Bill Broonzy*Willie Dixon*John Lee Hooker...
in 1988.
In November 1959, WGVM program director Wallace "Wally" Hoy was elected to the board of directors of the Disk Jockey Association. The DJA was founded in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
in 1957.
Joe Ray, then general manager of WGVM and sister station
Sister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio and/or television stations operated by the same ownership....
WDMS
WDMS
WDMS is an American radio station licensed to Greenville, Mississippi, USA. The station is currently owned by WDMS, Inc. WDMS transmits 100,000 watts from a 135 meter tower, located in Greenville, Mississippi.-Engineer death:...
, served as president of the Mississippi Association of Broadcasters for the 1981 calendar year.