WAOK (AM)
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| City | Atlanta, Georgia |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Atlanta metropolitan area |
| Branding | "News & Talk 1380, WAOK" |
| Slogan | The Voice of the Community |
| Frequency | 1380 (kHz) analog 103.3 (MHz) HD-3 digital |
| First air date | March 15, 1954 |
| Format | Urban talk |
| Power | 25,000 watts (daytime) 4,200 watts (nighttime) |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 63775 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 33°45′36″N 84°28′45″W / 33.76000°N 84.47917°WCoordinates: 33°45′36″N 84°28′45″W / 33.76000°N 84.47917°W |
| Callsign meaning | W Atlanta O K (former owners of the station) |
| Affiliations | CBS Radio |
| Owner |
CBS Radio (sale to Entercom pending) (CBS Radio East Inc.) |
| Sister stations | WVEE, WZGC, WUPA |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | CBSAtlanta.net |
WAOK, News & Talk 1380, is an urban talk radio station that serves the Atlanta, Georgia market. WAOK operates on 1380 kilohertz with 25,000 watts of power during the daytime and with 4,200 watts of power with a directional signal at night from a transmitter in West Atlanta, and broadcasts from its studios at Colony Square in Midtown Atlanta. WAOK is Georgia's fifth-oldest continuously licensed AM broadcast station.
WAOK went on the air (with brand new call letters) on March 15, 1954, adopting a Rhythm and Blues and urban contemporary gospel music format. Featured performers included legendary R&B disc jockey Zenas "Daddy" Sears and local musician Piano Red, as well as early shock jock Alley Pat Patrick and singer Zilla Mays, the "Dream Girl", who broadcast sultry talk and soft music in the early-morning hours.
The studios were moved from 201 Henry Grady Building to a new facility at 70 Houston Street NE.
WAOK was acquired by The Atlanta OK Broadcasting Company (Stan Raymond, Zenas Sears, and Dorothy Lester each one third owners) in January 1956. (The AOK designation preceded the popular astronaut slang expression A-OK by many years.)
At a WAOK-sponsored concert held at Herndon Stadium in Atlanta on May 28, 1959, Sears used an Ampex monaural recorder and a single microphone to make one of the most famous live albums of all time, Ray Charles in Person (Atlantic 8039). The recording was unsolicited, but after Sears had listened to what he'd recorded, he sent the tape to Atlantic Records who paid Sears royalties that put his twins through college. The recording is famous not only as a documentary of Ray Charles's music before he became a crossover star, but also for its technical excellence, capturing the band, the crowd, and the singer in balance. The final song in the concert was the premiere of "What'd I Say". WAOK turned it into a hit even though there was no released version. Due to popular demand, Atlantic Records decided to release the live album and to send Charles to the studio immediately to remake "What'd I Say".
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Wikipedia