WWDM
Encyclopedia
WWDM is a Urban Adult Contemporary
radio station licensed to Sumter, South Carolina
and serves the Columbia, South Carolina
market. The Inner City Broadcasting outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) to broadcast at 101.3 MHz with an effective radiated power
(ERP) of 100 kW. The station goes by the name 1013 THE BIG DM and its current slogan is "Your #1 Station for R&B."
format of sister AM WFIG 1290. Both stations were owned by one-time South Carolina State Senate candidate John Miles.
In 1973, DJ Pete Boss convinced Miles to allow him the opportunity to program R&B music on WFIG-FM during the evening hours of 7 to 10 PM in exchange for selling the advertising time for his show. The R&B show became successful and the hours were eventually extended throughout the rest of the broadcast day on WFIG-FM. In 1975, the FM call letters was changed to WWDM to solidify its change to full-time urban contemporary
.
In 1976, WWDM increased its transmitting power from the 3,000 watts that it was licensed at sign-on, to 100,000 watts. Because of the station's geographical location near the center of the state, as well as the few number of high powered FMs in the area at the time, over time, with excellent programming and attention paid to public service,the station became an important voice in the South Carolina African-American community. It has won numerous awards over the years for its news programming and features. This contributed to WWDM's dominance over most Urban stations in the market that came and went.
In the mid 1980s the station languished in the middle of the Columbia ratings, bested by lower power stations in similar formats, licensed to Columbia. Then-owner and General Manager John Marshall
sought higher ratings and sales. He engaged consultant Dean Landsman to conduct market research and to consult the station. Under Landsman's programming (with heavy research and computer programs written by Marshall and Landsman) the station became format dominant, as well as going on to rank either #1 or #2 in the Columbia Arbitron ratings. Landsman remained as consultant, and brought in Program Director Andre Carson. Under Carson as PD the station ranked at the top of the market. Marshall retired and put the station in the hands of Steve Paterson as GM.
By the late 1990s, long after Landsman and Carson were gone, and Marshall had sold the property, WWDM suffered a minor setback when it was outranked in listenership by newcoming Urban stations WXBT
, WLXC
(the only other Urban AC) and WHXT. WWDM, at the time, played Hip Hop and R&B; to curtail excessive competition, ICBC (the owners) bought WHXT, and WWDM restructured its Urban Contemporary format to serve the Adult Black
demographics.
Today WWDM is home to two syndicated shows: Steve Harvey Morning Show
and The Michael Baisden Show
in the afternoons.
The station is owned by Inner City Broadcasting, which also owns Urban Contemporary
WHXT
, Classic rock
WMFX
, Alternative
WARQ
, ESPN Radio
outlet WZMJ
and Air America Radio
outlet WOIC
in the Columbia radio market.
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...
radio station licensed to Sumter, South Carolina
Sumter, South Carolina
-Demographics:, there were 59,180 people, 34,717 households, and 4,049 families living in the city. The population density was 4,469.5 people per square mile . There were 416,032 housing units at an average density of 603.0 per square mile...
and serves the Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...
market. The Inner City Broadcasting outlet is licensed 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) to broadcast at 101.3 MHz with an effective radiated power
Effective radiated power
In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...
(ERP) of 100 kW. The station goes by the name 1013 THE BIG DM and its current slogan is "Your #1 Station for R&B."
History
101.3 begin as WFIG-FM in 1961, licensed to Sumter, SC with 3,000 watts of power. At the time the station was simulcasting the countryCountry 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...
format of sister AM WFIG 1290. Both stations were owned by one-time South Carolina State Senate candidate John Miles.
In 1973, DJ Pete Boss convinced Miles to allow him the opportunity to program R&B music on WFIG-FM during the evening hours of 7 to 10 PM in exchange for selling the advertising time for his show. The R&B show became successful and the hours were eventually extended throughout the rest of the broadcast day on WFIG-FM. In 1975, the FM call letters was changed to WWDM to solidify its change to full-time 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...
.
In 1976, WWDM increased its transmitting power from the 3,000 watts that it was licensed at sign-on, to 100,000 watts. Because of the station's geographical location near the center of the state, as well as the few number of high powered FMs in the area at the time, over time, with excellent programming and attention paid to public service,the station became an important voice in the South Carolina African-American community. It has won numerous awards over the years for its news programming and features. This contributed to WWDM's dominance over most Urban stations in the market that came and went.
In the mid 1980s the station languished in the middle of the Columbia ratings, bested by lower power stations in similar formats, licensed to Columbia. Then-owner and General Manager John Marshall
John Marshall
John Marshall was the Chief Justice of the United States whose court opinions helped lay the basis for American constitutional law and made the Supreme Court of the United States a coequal branch of government along with the legislative and executive branches...
sought higher ratings and sales. He engaged consultant Dean Landsman to conduct market research and to consult the station. Under Landsman's programming (with heavy research and computer programs written by Marshall and Landsman) the station became format dominant, as well as going on to rank either #1 or #2 in the Columbia Arbitron ratings. Landsman remained as consultant, and brought in Program Director Andre Carson. Under Carson as PD the station ranked at the top of the market. Marshall retired and put the station in the hands of Steve Paterson as GM.
By the late 1990s, long after Landsman and Carson were gone, and Marshall had sold the property, WWDM suffered a minor setback when it was outranked in listenership by newcoming Urban stations WXBT
WXBT
WVOC-FM is a news/talk station licensed to West Columbia, South Carolina and serves the Columbia, South Carolina market. The Clear Channel Communications outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to broadcast at 100.1 MHz with an ERP of 5.9 kW...
, WLXC
WLXC
WLXC is an Urban Adult Contemporary radio station licensed to Columbia, South Carolina and serves the Columbia market. The Cumulus Media outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to broadcast at 103.1 MHz with an effective radiated power of 6 kW...
(the only other Urban AC) and WHXT. WWDM, at the time, played Hip Hop and R&B; to curtail excessive competition, ICBC (the owners) bought WHXT, and WWDM restructured its Urban Contemporary format to serve the Adult Black
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...
demographics.
Today WWDM is home to two syndicated shows: Steve Harvey Morning Show
Steve Harvey
Broderick Steven "Steve" Harvey is an American actor, comedian, entertainer, television and radio personality and best-selling author. He is best known as the star of the WB sitcom The Steve Harvey Show, and as one of the four comedians featured in the Spike Lee film The Original Kings of Comedy...
and The Michael Baisden Show
Michael Baisden
Michael Baisden is an American author, motivational speaker, host of the TV One talk show Baisden After Dark, and host of his own nationally-syndicated radio show.-Career:...
in the afternoons.
The station is owned by Inner City Broadcasting, which also owns 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...
WHXT
WHXT
WHXT is an urban contemporary radio station licensed to Orangeburg, South Carolina and serves the Columbia, South Carolina market. The Inner City Broadcasting outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to broadcast at 103.9 MHz with an effective radiated power of 9.2 kW...
, Classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
WMFX
WMFX
WMFX is a Classic rock radio station licensed to St. Andrews, South Carolina and serves the Columbia, South Carolina market. The Inner City Broadcasting outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to broadcast at 102.3 MHz with an effective radiated power of 6 kW...
, Alternative
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
WARQ
WARQ
WARQ is a Modern Rock radio station licensed to Columbia, South Carolina and serves the Columbia market. The Inner City Broadcasting outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to broadcast at 93.5 MHz with an effective radiated power of 2.8 kW...
, 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...
outlet WZMJ
WZMJ
WZMJ is an all-sports station licensed to Batesburg, South Carolina and serves the Columbia, South Carolina market. The Inner City Broadcasting outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to broadcast at 93.1 MHz with an effective radiated power of 3 kW...
and Air America Radio
Air America Radio
Air America was an American radio network specializing in progressive talk programming...
outlet WOIC
WOIC
WOIC is a News/Talk radio station licensed to Columbia, South Carolina. It serves the Columbia market. The Inner City Broadcasting outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to broadcast at 1230 kHz with an effective radiated power of 1 kW full time...
in the Columbia radio market.