WMAC

For the Anglican Church of Australia school in Karrabin, Queensland, Australia, see West Moreton Anglican College. For the airport in Benta, Pahang, Malaysia assigned the ICAO code WMAC, see Benta Airport.
WMAC
City of license Macon, Georgia
Broadcast area Middle Georgia
Branding News Talk 940 WMAC
Frequency 940 kHz
First air date 1922 (as WMAZ) (experimental 1910–1922)
Format News/Talk
Power 50,000 watts (day)
10,000 watts (night)
Class B
Facility ID 46998
Callsign meaning W MACon (also sounds like original calls)
Former callsigns WMAZ (1922–1996)
Affiliations ABC News
Atlanta Braves (MLB)
Georgia Bulldogs (NCAA)
Owner Cumulus Media
(Cumulus Licensing LLC)
Sister stations WDDO, WDEN, WIFN, WLZN, WMGB, WROK-FM, WPEZ
Webcast Listen Live
Website wmac-am.com

WMAC (940 AM, "News Talk 940") is a radio station serving the Macon, Georgia area with a News/Talk format from the ABC News & Talk radio network. This station broadcasts on AM frequency 940 kHz and is under ownership of Cumulus Media. WMAC also Georgia Bulldogs (NCAA) games and is an affiliate of the Atlanta Braves radio network, the largest radio affiliate network in Major League Baseball.[1]

WMAC has a daytime power of 50,000 watts and a non-directional antenna; nighttime power is 10,000 watts using a five-tower directional antenna.

History

This station started out as part of a radio experiment by Mercer University professor C.R. Fountain's physics class. In 1922, Mercer obtained a commercial license under the calls WMAZ. Mercer soon found itself in over its head operating a radio station, and sold it to the Macon Junior Chamber of Commerce, forerunner of the Macon Jaycees, in 1927. A group of Macon businessmen formed Southeastern Broadcasting Company and leased the station in 1929 before buying it outright in 1935.[2] In 1937, it became a CBS Radio affiliate and broadcast its first live Soap Box Derby. In 1941, it was granted authorization to broadcast after sundown as well. It eventually spawned Macon's first FM station and first television station. The FM frequency is now occupied by WDEN, while the television station still bears the WMAZ-TV calls.

In the late 1950s, WMAZ-AM-FM-TV produced middle Georgia's first radio-television simulcast (during the 24th Annual Bibb County Spelling Bee). In 1958, its power was boosted to 50,000 watts, making it the second-most powerful station in Georgia.

Southeastern sold WMAZ-AM-FM-TV to Southern Broadcasting Corporation in 1963, which merged with the News-Piedmont Company to form Multimedia, Inc. in 1967. Multimedia merged with Gannett in 1995. Gannett had by this time decided to pull out of radio, so it sold off the radio stations. The new owners changed AM 940's call letters to WMWR (callsign to have stood for Macon-Warner Robins), but a year later, the station was sold as part of a group purchase by U.S. Broadcasting. At that time, the station changed to its current callsign, WMAC. The calls not only stand for MACon, but are a nod to the heritage calls the station used for three-quarters of a century.

In 2002, U.S. Broadcasting sold this station as part of a group purchase by Cumulus Media, and to this day maintains its News/Talk format.

References

  1. ↑ "Affiliate Radio Stations". The Official Site of the Atlanta Braves.
  2. ↑ "Cargill Group in Control" (PDF). Broadcasting. April 15, 1935. Retrieved 24 October 2014.

External links

Coordinates: 32°53′06″N 83°43′50″W / 32.88500°N 83.73056°W / 32.88500; -83.73056


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