WHAS/WAMZ-FM

WHAS-FM is the youngest of it's currently operating sister stations. It has had several incarnations since it first came on the air as an experimental station on 45.5MHz. The following is the brief history of WHAS and FM as we know it.

July 22, 1944 W9XEK went on the air @ 45.5MHz

Apr 20, 1947    Program service on WCJT started. Little is
                 known about WCJT except for it was on 99.7MHz
                 and the call letters stood for Courier Journal
                 Times. The antenna was at WHAS' Eastwood site.

May 7, 1948 W9XEK taken off the air

May 21, 1948 Authority granted to change call letters of WCJT
to WHAS-FM.

Dec 31, 1950 FM license canceled and WHAS-FM goes dark.

Sept 7, 1966    WHAS-FM takes back to the air on 97.5 MHz with
                 100kW ERP and classical music format. The station
                 is also automated.

Sept 3, 1975    WHAS-FM changes call letters and formats. The new
                 call sign is WNNS and it began one of the first
                 all news formats.

Feb 28, 1977    Another call sign and format change. This time
                 the new call sign is WAMZ and the new format is
                 country. This is where the station remains today

1985 Station, along with WHAS-AM sold to Clear Channel.

Here is an FM announcer. Notice the "stereo" mic setup. I'm sure it would sound odd if he turned his head to reach for a piece of copy or a cigarette while he was still reading? Didn't they have mono channels on consoles then?!

Here's a shot of the FM control room. Notice the techs loading new reels on the automation machines. Everyone who has worked with a reeled automation machine, raise your hand. Everyone that has had a reel break on the air with nothing else to go to, raise YOUR hand. Everyone that had a takeup reel motor stop without being noticed and had to hand spool the tape back on the reel, raise your hand! Alright, my arm's getting tired. That's all.

A closer view of the automation system. Looks like it was pieced together of scrap parts from a '45 Ford!

Cueing up a record. I would say these three pictures are from the late 60's. Notice on the wall where it says "FM-WHAS".

These three pictures are actually negatives. I scanned them, then reversed the resulting picture. The top one looks like Drew Carey working on the transmitter. The middle one is a shot of the building. I keep thinking there was a country artist that had a song to the effect of "little brown shack in the woods". That's what it reminds me of. The third is a shot of the antenna on the tower.

Back to the beginning.