[BC] WKRP...the real story

[jaybraswell@bellsouth.net]

The "real" WKRP (licensed to Dallas, Georgia) took to the air in September, 
1979. The station was a two-tower DA on 1500, with 1kw-D/500w-CH. WKRP had 
to protect WDEN in Macon, Ga, WVSM in Rainsville, Al, and WLEJ in Ellijay, 
Ga, all on 1500, according to Scott Baxter, the station's consultant. Only 
one problem...WLEJ was NOT on 1500, it was on 1560. Even so, the DA would've 
likely been required, due to WDEN, but primarily due to WVSM. CH protection 
to WTOP was required. In 2003, the station was granted a power increase to 
5kw, still with 500w-CH, continuing to use the original DA pattern.

The original transmitter was a Collins 20V-3, with a "field built" phasor, 
which was assembled in an old Signal Corps cabinet. The Collins always gave 
trouble, and I replaced it with a new CSI in late 1980. I wanted a new 
Collins (or was it Continental by then?), but Dr. Dangerous Dave Hultsman 
wouldn't sell me one (just kidding...we needed something quickly, and Dallas 
couldn't get us one as fast as ol' Bernie Gellman. I'll have to tell you 
about the trip to Boynton Beach, Fl, one of these days).

We had a "homemade" console in the control room, built from parts from the 
Radio Shack. God, it was a piece of junk. But, that's okay, as WKRP in 
Cincinnati also had a "custom" console. Remember the cart machine(s) built 
into the board? In the production room, we had a little 5-channel Russco 
board. We had Shure SM-7 mics, Russco turntables, BE cart decks, and Ampex 
ATR-700 reel machines.

The station originally applied for "W-D-L-S", which was rejected after a 
protest from Atlanta's WKLS. Supposedly, it was the station's original CE 
(whose name I can't remember) that made an off-handed remark...something 
like, "with all the crap the keeps coming up, you oughta call it WKRP", 
which was said to be the inspiration for the decision to request the 'KRP 
call-sign. MTM Productions, owner of the television show, did indeed protest 
the call-sign request. They had asked the FCC to put a hold on the call 
letters, which the FCC said wasn't sufficient, in that MTM was not a 
licensee of any type broadcast facility. MTM tried suing in civil court, but 
they were denied, as they held the copyright to "WKRP in Cincinnati", not 
"WKRP" by itself. Once all the legal wrangling was over, MTM sent Paulding 
Productions, Inc (WKRP's licensee) a letter of apology, saying that it was 
nothing personal, that they were only trying to protect their intellectual 
property. The letter wished them good luck, and offered any assistance that 
could be provided. The station used the WKRP call-sign for nearly 10 years, 
until the change to the current WDPC in 1989.

In typical WKRP style, when the station's original GM, Mitch Leopard, played 
the 1st song, it was a 45 that was started with the turntable on 33. That 
1st song? Believe it or not, it was "Lonesome Loser" by the Little River 
Band! Perhaps Mitch had himself some o' that ESPN stuff goin' on, 'cause it 
was a very fitting introductory tune.

The station gots lots of press coverage, due to a Knight-Ridder writer's 
feature story, but it didn't help business. Mitch was asked to leave, and I 
took the reins in June, 1980. We made some progress, but the station barely 
broke even, and didn't a couple of my months there. There were too many 
signals from Atlanta, FM had really begun to catch on, and our business base 
in Paulding county was very small. Today, Paulding County has more 
quadrupled in population, truly becoming a bedroom community for Atlanta.

We did have some drops from the WKRP in Cincinnati folks...Richard Sanders 
("ooooooo"), Howard Hessman ("booger" and "hello fellow babies"), Gordon 
Jump ("does mama know about this?") and Loni Anderson ("down boy"), along 
with some other, custom stuff, but we also had a personalized version of the 
theme song, courtesy of Steve Carlisle. Our version said "I'm livin' on the 
air in Dallas Georgia, Dallas Georgia W-K-R-P", and finished with "I'm at 
W-K-R-P in Dallas Georgia". Somewhere, in some box, in one of the FOUR 
warehouses I'm paying rent on, are the tapes with that stuff, plus our three 
sets of William B. Tanner (appropriate, don't you think?) jingles.

We tried to work a deal with channel 5 in Atlanta (the then CBS affiliate), 
who was having some of the show's cast at their fall preview party, to have 
them come over to Dallas for an appearance. As I recall, it was going to 
cost us well over five grand, so we declined.

One of my favorite memories from WKRP, was having well known southern gospel 
artist Wendy Bagwell to visit, and watch him tell his famous "Rattlesnake 
Story" live on the air. Wendy lived in nearby Hiram, and visited with us 
several times. He was a genuinely nice guy. I also learned a whole lot about 
bluegrass music while I was there. We put on a three-hour bluegrass show on 
Saturday morning, and even broadcast live from several of the big bluegrass 
festivals in the area. I got to know a lot of genuinely good folks, and got 
to hear some damn good music.

The original owners of the station were Griffin & Maxine White (husband & 
wife), Bill Hathcock, and Howard Gordon, each holding 25% of the stock. It 
was a strange crew...all of these folks were in the building business. 
Griffin and Maxine owned PKW Supply (building supplies) and White 
Construction Co, Hathcock owned Paulding Concrete (ready Mixed concrete and 
supplies), and Hathcock and Gordon were partners in a residential building 
firm. I never learned what brought them into getting into the radio 
business.

In April, 1981, Hathcock and Gordon, who'd had a "falling out" with the 
Whites, brought some guy in, purportedly to buy the White's stock, and to 
run the station. He (I can't remember his name) knew absolutely nothing 
about radio, but he told a good story, and he drove a vintage Corvette. The 
new guy invited me to stay, but I politely declined (going from $18k to less 
than $8k "+ commission" helped greatly with my decision). He wasn't there 
very long, and was "un-hired" after failing to come up with the bucks to buy 
the stock, AND after "getting the station's money mixed up with his personal 
money", or so I was told. After a few months, Hathcock bought out the Whites 
and Gordon, then quickly sold to Bill Rucker from Douglasville. Bill's 
mother, Della, had worked for Bob Schwab (WLSB-Copperhill, Tn; WPPL-Blue 
Ridge, Ga; WLEJ-Ellijay, Ga; WYYZ, Jasper, Ga) for years and years, and Bill 
had bought the Ellijay and Jasper stations from Schwab, and his mother was 
running them. A year or so later, Bill had a massive and fatal heart attack, 
and WKRP was donated to West Georgia College (Carrollton). There were a 
couple of owners after that, but the station was sold in the late 80's to a 
group from Douglasville, who also owned WDCY in Douglasville. To my 
knowledge, the stations (along with WNEA in Newnan) simulcast a Christian 
format.

In case you've forgotten (or never knew), the TV show's creator, Hugh 
Wilson, worked at WQXI in Atlanta. Dr. Johnny Fever was supposed to be a 
mixture of Skinny Bobby Harper and Dr. Donald D Rose. Les Nessman was a 
loving takeoff on WSB's Aubrey Morris, Herb Tarlek was a blend of WQXI's 
(and later WFOM's) Red Jones (who wore "stylish" clothes), WIIN's Fred 
Wagenvoord and WPLO's Herb Golombeck, and the Big Guy was Kent Burkhart. 
Additionally, Arthur Carlson (the character's name) was the real name of 
Susquehanna's VP, and Gordon Jump (who played Mr. Carlson) was an almost 
identical twin to WQXI's Jerry Blum.

"At now we come to the close of another broadcast day. WKRP in Dallas, 
Georgia is owned and operated by Paulding Productions, Inc., and operates on 
an assigned frequency of 1500 kilohertz, with a maximum power output of 
1,000 watts, with a reduced power output of 500 watts two hours following 
sunrise, and two hours prior to sunset, utilizing a directionalized antenna 
during all periods of operation. WKRP's offices and studios are located at 
362 W. Memorial Drive in Dallas, with transmitting facilities located 
east-northeast of Dallas, just off the Highway 62 spur. WKRP is a member of 
the Georgia Association of Broadcasters, and provides up to the minute news, 
weather and sports from the wires of the Associated Press, the APRadio News 
Network and the Georgia Radio News Service. Speaking on behalf of our 
advertisers and staff, this is Jay Braswell, bidding you all a most pleasant 
good evening, and inviting you to join us at sunrise tomorrow, to spend 
another day in the country with fifteen-hundred radio, W-K-R-P. And now, 
ladies and gentlemen...our national anthem."

Geez...I can remember all that stuff, but I cannot remember my damned cell 
phone number!!!






>
> A am station in Dallas, Georgia,  just west of Atlanta applied to  change 
> its
> call letter to WKRP a short time after the program became so  popular.
> According to Jay Braswell,  they were initially turned down  by the FCC 
> because the
> call letter was assigned to a reserve list.
>
> The station's attorney questioned the issue and found that there was an
> informal memo about issuing the call sign.  They questioned the policy and 
> the
> station had the call sign for many years while the TV show was  running.
>
> Another bit of trivia,  whose tower was shown during the openeing  shot?