WSOK

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WSOK
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Broadcast area
Savannah metropolitan area
[[Frequency|FrequencTemplate:Pluralize from text]]1230 kHz
Branding99.7 WSOK
Programming
FormatUrban gospel
AffiliationsPremiere Networks
Ownership
OwnerPage Template:Plainlist/styles.css has no content.
WAEV, WLVH, WQBT, WTKS, WYKZ
History
First air date
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Former call signs
WFRP (1946–1959)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
50406
ClassC
Power1,000 watts (unlimited)
Transmitter coordinates
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[[Broadcast relay station|TranslatorTemplate:Pluralize from text]]Template:Radio Relay
Links
Public license information
Template:FCC Licensing and Management System facility
WebcastListen live (via iHeartRadio)
Website1230wsok.iheart.com

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WSOK (1230 AM) is a radio station licensed to Savannah, Georgia, United States, broadcasting an urban gospel format. The station is currently owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. Its studios are located in Garden City (with a Savannah address) and utilizes a transmitter located east of historic downtown Savannah. The station is also heard on translator W259DE (99.7 FM) and available online via iHeartRadio.

History

WFRP

After applying in 1944, Frank R. Pidcock and James M. Wilder were granted a construction permit for 1230 AM in Savannah in 1946, which took the call letters WFRP. The station opened on October 30, 1946.[2] It was Savannah's only independent (non-network) station,[3] though in the early 1950s it was the local outlet for the short-lived Liberty Broadcasting System,[4] and in 1952 it picked up the ABC affiliation.[5]

WSOK

In 1958, Albert Fisher, who had previously owned stations in Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina, bought WFRP from the Georgia Broadcasting Company for $87,500.[6] Fisher changed the station's call letters to WSOK on January 5, 1959.[7] As the sale concluded, an application was filed to increase WSOK's daytime power to 1,000 watts, which was granted in November 1961.[7]Template:R/superscript By this time, the station had been sold again to Joe Speidel for $221,000.[8] The callsign change and new ownership turned WSOK into a soul-formatted radio station, even though WSOK's owner was white; in 1970, a Race Relations Information Center noted that five white-owned groups (including Speidel) owned 22 soul stations, at which African Americans held 34 of the 84 executive positions. Many of them, however, were in name only; for instance, WSOK disc jockey Charles Anthony was also the program director, news director and public affairs director.[9]

In 1971, WSOK was sold to B. C. C. Georgia, Inc.,[7]Template:R/superscript known as Black Communications Group,[10] for $400,000.[11] Ben Tucker owned 40 percent of the company, while jazz pianist Billy Taylor owned another 10 percent.[11]Template:R/superscript[12] A concerted effort was made to pull WSOK out of the trap that befell many white-owned soul outlets. While not the musical director, Taylor helped steer the format at WSOK away from its prior heavy focus on chart music: according to him, "Most black stations are owned by white owners. They think they know what is best for us, and they're chart-oriented."[12]Template:R/superscript Tucker expanded the station's album collection from 20 to 4,000 selections; in addition, the station began offering Mutual Black Network news and increased its commitment to local news and public affairs programming.[10]Template:R/superscript The improvements at WSOK, the 15th black-owned radio station in the United States, had raised it to number one in the local ratings within nine months of Black Communications Group taking over[13] and led to a tenfold increase in the number of advertisers on the station.[10]Template:R/superscript

After more than a decade of ownership, Black Communications Group sold the station to Bay Communications of Biloxi, Mississippi, in 1984. The $375,000 sale made it a sister to WAEV,[14] creating the city's only AM-FM duopoly; Tucker remained on as a consultant.[15] Love Broadcasting's radio division was acquired by the Opus Communications Group in 1989 for $11 million.[16] In turn, Opus sold WAEV and WSOK to Southern Broadcasting for $2.35 million in 1995,[17] Patterson Broadcasting acquired the stations plus WLVH for $11 million in 1996,[18] and the entire 36-station Patterson portfolio was sold to Capstar—the forerunner of today's iHeartMedia—in a $215 million sale in 1997.[19]

WSOK's tradition of public affairs programming remained strong. Despite being an AM outlet, it was the number two radio station in Savannah in 1995 and ranked fifth in the market in billing, which station management attributed to its higher-than-normal talk output.[20] Among the talk shows from 1978 to 1994 was one hosted by future Savannah mayor Otis Johnson, titled "Message from the Grass Roots", which aired on Sunday afternoons.[21] WSOK maintained its ratings position in 1998 despite the market having five urban stations.[22] However, Clear Channel came under fire in 2004 for axing most of the station's live talk programming while not doing the same to sister WTKS, with a primarily white audience.[23]

WSOK first began broadcasting on an FM translator in 2015, on W278BO at 103.5 FM. This translator was leased by iHeart from the Educational Media Foundation and was replaced in 2019 by newly licensed translator W259DE (99.7 FM).[24]

FM translator

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References

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  1. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Facility Technical Data for WSOK". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Staff Members Named For WFRP In Savannah" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 4, 1946. p. 76. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Federal Communications Commission Reports. V. 1-45, 1934/35-1962/64; 2d Ser., V. 1- July 17/Dec. 27, 1965-. FCC. 1973. p. 149.
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."WFRP Joins Liberty" (PDF). Broadcasting. July 9, 1951. p. 74. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Seven ABC Affiliates" (PDF). Broadcasting. August 4, 1952. p. 90. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  6. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Two Stations Sold; NTA Control Purchased by National Theatres" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 1, 1958. p. 9. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  7. ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."History Cards for WSOK". Federal Communications Commission. (Guide to reading History Cards)
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."WSOK sold for $221,000" (PDF). Broadcasting. May 15, 1961. p. 10. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Roberts, Jack (October 1, 1970). "The 'soul' station -- good or harmful?". Miami News. p. 5A. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  10. ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Joiner, Robert (April 13, 1973). "Black Radio Station Fills Needs Not Wants". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 2D. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  11. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Ownership changes" (PDF). Broadcasting. May 31, 1971. p. 64. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  12. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Campbell, Mary (September 21, 1972). "Billy Taylor Has Active Life". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Associated Press. p. 15. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Black-Owned Radio Station Number One in Savannah, Ga". Pittsburgh Courier. August 26, 1972. p. 14. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. August 13, 1984. p. 75. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Savannah station sold". Atlanta Constitution. May 3, 1984. p. 2-B. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 25, 1989. p. 44. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  17. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. June 26, 1995. p. 43. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  18. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Transactions" (PDF). Radio & Records. August 2, 1996. p. 8. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  19. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. April 21, 1997. pp. 43–44. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  20. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Love, Walt (March 29, 1996). "WSOK: This AM Is Still In The Game" (PDF). Radio & Records. p. 40. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  21. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Dickstein, Corey; Skutch, Jan (June 4, 2013). "Savannah music icon Ben Tucker killed in golf cart crash". Savannah Morning News. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  22. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Love, Walt (April 23, 1999). "Stiff Competition Down South In Savannah" (PDF). Radio & Records. p. 53. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  23. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Change in format at Savannah station prompts criticism". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Associated Press. April 20, 2004. p. 3B. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  24. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."W259DE Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.

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