WSGN-AM

WSGN-AM (AM 610, called The Big 610, and, later, Music 610 and Real Music 610) was Birmingham's first Top 40 radio station.

WSGN's call letters, standing for "The South's Greatest Newspaper", were adopted when the former WKBC-AM, with its studios in the Tutwiler Hotel, was sold to the Birmingham News in Spring 1934. The new owners built a secondary studio in Bessemer and transmitted on AM 1310.

In the 1940s the station carried the NBC Blue network's programs (arts, public affairs, and news). On March 29, 1941, under the requirements of the new North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA), the station moved to AM 610 and built a pair of self-supporting towers at the Alabama State Fairgrounds.

WSGN was the first Birmingham station to adopt a Top 40 format in December 1955 under program director Jim Taber. Its on-air team of "Good Guys" included Duke Rumore, Tommy Charles, and Doug Layton. Other notable announcers were Bill Bolen and Neal Miller.

During the 1950s the station moved its studio to the Southern Life & Health Insurance Building at 2320 7th Avenue South. It also built a "Sky Castle" studio in the parking lot of Eli's Drive-In where deejays took live requests from teenagers cruising the area. In the Summer of 1964 the station opened a new studio in the penthouse of the City Federal Building under station manager Ben McKinnon.

WSGN was soon challenged by WYDE-AM and WVOK-AM in the pop format, but both of those faded by 1965. The next major challenge came from the new WERC-AM in 1972.

Rick Dees hosted the morning drive program from 1973 to 1974. Amaysa Kincaid and Jon Anthony also worked at the station in the 1970s.

The station remained competitive in the Top 40 market until true FM top 40 radio came to Birmingham with WKXX-FM in 1977. By 1981 WSGN was targeting older listeners as adult-contemporary/oldies format "Music 610: The Station That Grew Up With You." The station was one of the first to adopt the "AM Stereo" format for owners Harte-Hanks Broadcasting.

In 1984, unable to compete with WMJJ-FM, WSGN went for an even older demographic, playing big bands and adult standards. A year later the station was sold and became a simulcast partner for country-format WZZK-FM, soon adopting its call letters as WZZK-AM.

References

• "WAGG." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 30 Oct 2007, 09:02 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 29 Dec 2007 [1].
• Wells, Russell (October 21, 2007) Radio/TV at Birmingham Rewound

External links

• WSGN surveys 1958-71 at the Airhead's Radio Survey Archive