WSJS is a radio station based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina that broadcasts at 600 AM. It has a news/talk radio format and its slogan is "The Triad's News Radio", where "Triad" refers to the Piedmont Triad.

Programming [link]

The station airs several nationally syndicated talk radio programs such as The Dennis Miller Show, The Dave Ramsey Show, The Mark Levin Show and Dr. Joy Browne.

History [link]

1920s–1960s [link]

In 1929, entrepreneur and radio engineer Doug Lee began talking with Owen Moon, publisher of the two Winston-Salem newspapers, The Winston-Salem Journal and The Twin City Sentinel. The call letters refer to the newspapers, "Winston-Salem Journal" plus "Sentinel".

WSJS signed on the air on April 17, 1930, Holy Thursday. Three days later, the station aired live coverage of the Easter Sunrise Service from God's Acre in Old Salem. That broadcast has continued every year since, and is believed to the be longest continuously aired special program in radio history.

WSJS was originally owned by the local newspapers, and the original studios were in the newspaper newsroom in downtown Winston-Salem.^[1] The transmitter was in that building also and the antenna was a long wire suspended from two towers (one on the Journal Building and the other on the roof of the Carolina Theater building)^{[citation needed]}.

In 1933, WSJS became a CBS Radio Network affiliate, moving to NBC Radio in 1940. Gordon Gray bought the newspapers and the radio station in 1937, and Harold Essex of Chicago became the manager. Together, they made WSJS as important to the area as the newspapers, increasing the station's power and moving WSJS from 1310 AM to 600 AM. An FM station, WMIT, was added near Mount Mitchell, and later WSJS-FM (which became WTQR) began in Winston-Salem.^[1]

The station was co-located with WSJS-TV for a number of years. Radio and TV were sold when the FCC decided newspapers shouldn't own broadcast facilities. The stations were operated by Summit Cable until the FCC said cable operators should not own TV stations. The television facility was sold and it became WXII. WSJS moved to its present location at 5th and Summit^{[citation needed]}.

Wally Williams hosted "Carolina in the Morning" from 1954 to 1979. The show included the "good word for the day" and a daily devotional. Williams had started as an announcer on the TV station, where he continued to do the weather. When he retired, Winston-Salem mayor Wayne Corpening declared May 31 "Wally Williams Day." Wayne Willard did the news during most of Williams' years on the station, and also served as the station's news director.^[2]

George Lee joined WSJS radio in 1968. (*George Lee Bowermaster) Among his characters were Blue the Bionic Dog and Magnolia Sweetbreath. when signing off he would tell people to drive carefully so "that the life you save may be mine. Myself, I would rather be a little late than be the late George Lee." He and Tom Chambers would tell punch lines to jokes on the air—just the punch lines, because the jokes themselves were dirty. Before WSJS, he was on WAIR, and he was one of the "Good Guys" on WTOB.

1970s [link]

In 1976 he became program director of WSJS and WTQR. (*George Brown was Program Director in 1979 and at least as late as 1982) Lee left radio in 1982 but his career included roles in several movies and TV shows, and he was the narrator of Beyond the Wheel, a program about NASCAR on The Speed Channel.^[3][4]

In 1979, Glenn Scott moved from WXII to WSJS to replace Williams as morning host, a position he held for almost 30 years. For the last few years, he did the show from his home in Horse Shoe, near Hendersonville, after moving closer to his children. He almost considered retiring but changed his mind when the station made arrangements for the remote broadcasts.^[5][6]

1980s [link]

In 1982, former WTOB news Anchor Smith Patterson joined the station and in 1983 was made fulltime by then Station manager-Roger Stockton. Patterson then joined Glenn Scott on the morning show for the rest of Scott's tenure 1984–2007. Patterson is still with the station doing the morning news with JR Snider and also hosts the 5 a.m. Early Morning News With Smith Patterson.

In 1988, Bob Costner became WSJS news director, a position he would hold for nearly 20 years.^[7]

1990s [link]

NewMarket Media Corp. sold WSJS and WTQR to Radio Equity Partners of Norwalk, Connecticut, in a deal completed in April 1994 and worth in excess of $100 million, as the Connecticut company expanded into the Southeast, looking for the best stations possible.^[8]

After more than 20 years, Wake Forest University stopped airing its football and basketball games on WSJS, moving to the first of several stronger FM stations.^[9] Gene Overby, also WSJS sports director prior to his death in 1989, was play-by-play announcer for Wake Forest for 17 years.^[10][11]

Even before CBS dropped Gil Gross, WSJS replaced him with "ESPN GameNight".^[12]

In August 1998, WSML in Graham, North Carolina, formerly a gospel music station, began airing the same programming as WSJS most of the time, and legendary Greensboro DJ Dusty Dunn joined the stations.^[13] WSJS Program director Mike Fenley began a talk show on WSML which aired in the late morning, at the time WSJS was airing Dr. Laura. While WSJS aired Rush Limbaugh, WSML had Paul Harvey and religious programming. WSJS aired UNC football and basketball, while WSML carried N.C. State.^[12] Dunn left WSJS/WSML after a year because new station management wanted more of a focus on political talk.^[14]

WSML was the only area station airing the NHL Carolina Hurricanes early in the 1998-99 season. WSJS had the NFL Carolina Panthers and the NBA Charlotte Hornets, but the NBA lockout gave WSJS a reason to add the team's games later in the season.^[15]

WSJS and WTQR were sold to Clear Channel Communications in 1997.

2000s [link]

When Clear Channel merged with AMFM, WSJS was sold to CBS Radio (then called Infinity) in 2000.^[16] The Infinity purchase meant WSJS dropped Paul Harvey and added Charles Osgood and The Dan Rather Report, and that CBS newscasts replaced those from ABC Radio.^[17]

WSJS carried the Winston-Salem Warthogs minor league baseball team for two seasons starting in 2003.^[18]

WSJS dropped Dr. Laura late in 2003, replacing her with Laura Ingraham in the late morning slot; Ingraham had been on WSJS late at night.^[19]

Beth Ann McBride was a producer and assistant continuity director in 2002 and 2003, and she became producer of the Don and Mike Show before returning to WSJS in December 2005 as program director and afternoon host, replacing Fenley.^[20]

On February 14, 2007, WSJS (along with its sister station WMFR and simulcast partner WSML) was sold by CBS to Raleigh-based Curtis Media Group. This move marries WSJS with FM news/talk station WZTK, which covers both the Triad and Triangle (as well as southern Virginia and as far south as Fayetteville).^[21][22]

This was the beginning of big changes at WSJS during 2007. McBride left her jobs as program director and host of the afternoon show "The Ride with McBride" in order to "pursue other opportunities." News director Costner had already left the station for News 14 Carolina late in 2006.^[23] Ed Skurka, news director for Clear Channel's Greensboro-area stations, became WSJS/WMFR news anchor.^[24]

Also in 2007, Brian Freeman became news and programming director, as well as morning host, replacing Scott, who announced his retirement May 14. Freeman had worked six years in Miami, and in Dallas, Baltimore, Washington, and Philadelphia. Smith Patterson and J. R. Snider remained a part of the show.^[5] Among Freeman's changes was the addition of high school football games from outside Forsyth County. Only one game during the 2007 season was between two forsyth teams, though some of the others were between a Forsyth team and an out-of-county team. But Freeman wanted WSJS to cover the entire area, and the station had always had listeners in Greensboro.^[25]

Freeman left WSJS in December 2009 for sister station WPTF in Raleigh, NC where he will take over duties as program director and morning show host.

Curtis Media Group announced that WSJS/WSML will no longer carry The Rush Limbaugh Show after December 31.^[26]

The WSJS simulcast on WSML ended on July 15, 2010, after WSML began carrying a sports radio format in tandem with WMFR and WCOG.^[27][28] The station realigned its programming on March 13, 2012, when a locally-produced show hosted by Brad Krantz and Britt Whitmire and the syndicated Neil Boortz and Clark Howard shows moved to WSJS, as well as sister station WPTK in Raleigh, from WZTK (which changed formats). WSJS also increased its news coverage, including the launch of an hour-long noon newscast.^[29]

References [link]

External links [link]

• Official website
• Query the FCC's AM station database for WSJS
• Radio-Locator Information on WSJS
• Query Arbitron's AM station database for WSJS

Coordinates: 36°07′00″N 80°21′26″W / 36.1166667°N 80.35722°W / 36.1166667; -80.35722