WDIA
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| City | Memphis, Tennessee |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Memphis, Tennessee |
| Branding | AM 1070 WDIA |
| Slogan | The Heart and Soul of Memphis |
| Frequency | 1070 kHz KJMS 101.1 FM HD-2 (simulcast) |
| First air date | June 7, 1947 |
| Format | Urban Oldies/Classic Soul |
| Power | 50,000 watts daytime 5,000 watts nighttime |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 69569 |
| Callsign meaning |
DIAne, name of original owner's daughter We Did It Again (when owners also launched similar station in Jackson, Mississippi, after World War II) |
| Owner |
iHeartMedia, Inc. (CC Licenses, LLC) |
| Sister stations | KJMS, WEGR, WHAL-FM, WHRK, WREC, KWAM |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | mywdia |
WDIA is a radio station based in Memphis, Tennessee. Active since 1947, it soon became the first radio station in the United States that was programmed entirely for African Americans. It featured black radio personalities; its success in building an audience attracted radio advertisers suddenly aware of a "new" market among black listeners. The station had a strong influence on music, hiring musicians early in their careers, and playing their music to an audience that reached through the Mississippi Delta to the Gulf Coast.
The station started the WDIA Goodwill Fund to help and empower black communities. Owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., the station's studios are located in Southeast Memphis, and the transmitter site is in North Memphis.
WDIA went on the air June 7, 1947, from studios on Union Avenue. The owners, John Pepper and Dick Ferguson, were both white, and the format was a mix of country and western and light pop. The station did not do well.
Nat D. Williams, a syndicated columnist and high-school teacher, started Tan Town Jubilee in October 1948. This was the first radio program in the United States to appeal to black listeners, and WDIA soon became the number-2 station in Memphis. After a switch to all-black programming, WDIA became the city's top station. In June 1954 WDIA was licensed to increase its power to 50,000 watts. Its powerful signal reached the Mississippi Delta’s dense African-American population and was heard from the Missouri Bootheel to the Gulf Coast. WDIA reached 10% of the African-American population in United States.
Future WJLB strong jock, Martha Jean “The Queen” Steinberg became known as "Princess Premium Stuff." Ernest Brazzell gave crop advice, and Robert Thomas became a DJ named “Honeyboy” after he won a city-wide amateur competition. Among other notable personalities were Maurice "Hot Rod" Hulbert, Theo "Bless My Bones" Wade, and Ford Nelson, who continued as of 2013 as an active gospel DJ on WDIA.
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Wikipedia