#WINSTON SALEM NEWS STATION PLUS#
#WINSTON SALEM NEWS STATION TV#

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.

#WINSTON SALEM NEWS STATION TV#

Williams had started as an announcer on the TV station, where he continued to do the weather. The show included the 'good word for the day' and a daily devotional. Wally Williams hosted 'Carolina in the Morning' on WSJS 600 from 1954 to 1979. When the FCC ruled that one person could not own a television station and a cable system in the same market, Gray sold off WSJS-TV. Gray also acquired the cable franchise for Winston-Salem, Summit Cable. The newspapers were sold to Media General in 1968, but longtime publisher Gordon Gray formed Triangle Broadcasting to hold onto the WSJS-AM-FM-TV. Channel 12 WSJS-TV was co-located with WSJS 600 AM for a number of years.

In 1947, 104.1 WSJS-FM (today WTQR) began in Winston-Salem. The Radio Center Studios building at 419 Spruce Street was built for the stations in 1942. In 1941, Gray added an FM station W41MM with its tower near Mount Mitchell, hence the call letters WMIT. In 1943 the tower was moved again and power increased to 5000 watts. WSJS had been powered at 100 watts at its founding but increased to 250 watts when it moved to AM 600, and 1,000 watts a short time later. Together, they made WSJS as important to the area as the newspapers. Gordon Gray bought the newspapers and the radio station in 1937, and Harold Essex of Chicago became the manager. Switching to the NBC Red Network in June 1940, the station aired Fibber McGee and Molly, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, and shows hosted by Red Skelton, Bob Hope, Kay Kyser, Fred Allen and Fred Waring. On June 30, 1933, WSJS began broadcasting Camel Caravan from CBS Radio Network, though it never became a full-time CBS affiliate. In May 1941 the studios were moved to a building on North Spruce Street designed for broadcasting and the frequency changed from 1310 to 600 kHz. On May 16, 1939, a new tower on Liberia Street was the tallest in the state at 382 feet. 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). The transmitter was also in that building. With WSJS owned by the two local newspapers, the original studios were in the papers' newsroom in downtown Winston-Salem.

WSJS broadcast a total of seven hours a day at first. That broadcast has continued every year since (except when there were technical problems in 2020 and a previous year's service was broadcast) and is believed to be the longest continuously airing special program in radio history. Three days later, the station aired live coverage of the Easter Sunrise Service from God's Acre in Old Salem. WSJS signed on the air on April 17, 1930, Holy Thursday.

#WINSTON SALEM NEWS STATION PLUS#

The call letters refer to the newspapers, 'Winston-Salem Journal' plus 'Sentinel'. In the late 1920s, 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 about creating a radio station. During talk programming hours, WSJS carries hourly updates from Townhall Radio News. Some paid brokered programming and religious shows air on weekend mornings. Weekends feature live sports as well as CBS Sports Radio and Westwood One sports programming. In the evening, syndicated shows include Rich Eisen and CBS Sports Radio. Sports shows begin in afternoon drive time, starting with The Drive with Josh Graham. In middays, syndicated shows include Brian Kilmeade, Todd Starnes and Charlie Kirk. In morning drive time, Jeffrey Griffin hosts Triad Today. Early weekday mornings, the station carries two syndicated shows, Our American Stories with Lee Habeeb and America in The Morning with John Trout. On weekdays, WSJS has a talk radio format. WSJS is also heard on four FM translators: 93.7 W229CH in Greensboro, 101.5 W268CG in Winston-Salem, 103.1 W276DS in Winston-Salem and 104.9 W285EU in High Point.

The station operates with 5,000 watts, using a directional antenna with a four- tower array. WSJS's AM transmitter is near Robinhood Road in Winston-Salem. WSJS is owned by the Truth Broadcasting Corporation, with studios and offices in The Factory Building on North Main Street in Kernersville. WSJS (600 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and broadcasting to the Greensboro/Winston-Salem/ High Point media market.

Winston salem news station