WTMA, Charleston, SC Memories

WTMA Ink
This page was last updated Sunday, June 07, 2020

WTMA has had numerous articles published about it in the local print media since 1939. Some of them are included on this page.

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News and Courier and Evening Post Enter Radio Field in Charleston
News and Courier and Evening Post
October 14, 1939

The publishers of The News and Courier and The Charleston Evening Post yesterday announced that they have purchased Radio Station WTMA. Negotiations are underway for placing the station on a national network.

Mayor Henry W. Lockwood, speaking last night at a brief ceremony in the newspaper's news telegraph room, hailed the purchases as a "progressive step which will be greatly appreciated by the people of Charleston and the surrounding territory". He called the combination of the local newspapers and the radio station "a logical hookup, in that the public of Charleston can be immediately advised of important events between publication periods".

Hall T. McGee, business manager of the newspapers, declaring that application for a transfer of the station's license is being made to the Federal Communications Commission, added:

"Steps are now being taken for an association with a national network, and it is our hope and expectation that arrangements may be completed at an early date. Rapid changes are not to be expected, for a sure foundation is a much desired goal. It will, therefore, be the policy of the new management to gradually develop Radio Station WTMA into a real 'Newspaper of the Air', providing educational and entertaining features, and a coverage of worthwhile news, presented in a manner calculated to create public confidence."

Former Owner Speaks

Jesse W. Orvin, secretary-treasurer of the Atlantic Coast Life Insurance Company, in the name of which the station formerly was operated, expressed belief that the newspapers "are better fitted than any group to operate a broadcasting station, and to give to the public more news and better entertainment, while assuring a higher types of service to commercial advertisers.

David A. Skinner, assistant to the president of the chamber of commerce, offered the chamber's congratulations.

WTMA microphones were set up in the newsroom, on the third floor of the newspaper's building at 134 Meeting Street. They were only inches away from the teletype machines on which Associated Press, United Press and International News Service wires were bringing news items from every section of the world. Wylie Calder, immediately after he announced the conclusion of the ceremony, went on the air with first broadcast of Associated Press news direct from the newsroom.

The newspapers, in their afternoon announcement of the purchase, said: "A contract for the purchase of Charleston's newest radio station, WTMA, operating a studio in Wagener Terrace, at the north end of Tenth Street, has been entered into between Messrs. Y.W. Scarborough and J.W. Orvin, the original proprietors, and The Evening Post Publishing company and The News and Courier.

Orvin's Address

Mr. Orvin, the first speaker on last night's program, said:

"In turning over station WTMA to The Evening Post Publishing Company and the News and Courier Company, Mr. Scarborough and myself feel that we are rendering a service to the people of this community, inasmuch as the newspapers, in our opinion, are better fitted than any other group to operate a broadcasting station, and to give to the public more news and better entertainment, while assuring a higher type of service to commercial advertisers.

"We will also have the satisfaction of knowing that this radio station will still be owned, and conducted by local interests, on behalf of the welfare and progress of the City of Charleston. In closing, I would earnestly request that the people of this city who have so generously supported Mr. Scarborough and myself in the establishment and operation of this station will continue these same relations with our successors that were so deeply appreciated by us.

"Keep your dial tuned in on station WTMA: first, last and always ahead with the news in Charleston."

Text of McGee Speech

Mr. McGee said:

"Mr Orvin has just informed you that he and his associate, Mr. Y.W. Scarborough, have contracted to sell their interests in Radio Station WTMA to the publishers of The Charleston Evening Post and The News and Courier. Application for a transfer of the license is being made to the Federal Communication Commission.

"Radio is a comparatively new industry, yet because it has caught the public's interest, it has made tremendous strides, and though but twenty years of age, it has won a recognized place in American life.

"From its inception, radio has been fostered by newspapers, particularly through the great news gathering organizations, and from time to time features, popularized by newspapers, have been added to its airwaves."

Workman Appointed To Manage WTMA
News and Courier and Evening Post
October 14, 1939

News and Courier Reporter Assigned to Radio Post

William D. Workman, Jr., newly appointed manager of Radio Station WTMA, which has been taken over by the Charleston newspapers, had been a reported for The News and Courier for the last three years. He was born August 10, 1914 in Greenwood, but has lived most of his life in Greenville. He is the son of W. D. Workman (a Charlestonian and Citadel graduate of 1909) and Mrs. Vivian Virginia Watkins Workman.

A 1931 graduate of Greenville High School, where he was editor of the annual, he entered the Citadel and was graduated in 1935 with honors in history. He held the rank of cadet major, was editor of The Sphinx college yearbook; feature editor of The Bull Dog college newspaper; vice president of the senior class; and president of The Round Table, an honorary literary organization. He played football for four years, being varsity blocking back and quarterback his last two years, and boxed for a time during his junior year.

After graduation he went to Washington, where he studied law for one year at George Washington University and worked for more than a year as a civilian in the navy department. He helped reorganize and was secretary-treasurer of the Citadel Club of Washington.

Station WTMA Tells How Network Allots Programs
News and Courier and Evening Post
December 19, 1940

In response to several inquiries the change to the Red Network by WTMA, the radio station has made public the text of an answer to one letter which exemplified the questions of many listeners.

The letter explains some of the workings of the radio business which, like every other business, has special problems of its own.

A listener wrote to WTMA as follows:

"As an ardent Breakfast Club fan, it is putting it mildly to say I am disappointed in the changes announced in the papers. I surely expected you would give us a few outstanding programs, such as Lowell Thomas and 'One Man's Family', but it seems I'm wrong again. Why this change anyway? We were curtailed enough where NBC programs were concerned, and instead of improving the situation you seem to be giving us less and less of the cream of radio entertainment. Music can be had from any record any time. Give us something alive. What would we do without WJAX and WSB, even though they sometimes come in poorly?"

The radio station, in acknowledging this letter, went into detail to answer the questions and to point out the change in reality is an improvement in service.

Local, Sustaining and Commercial

The letter outlined the situation as follows:

"In addition to local programs prepared by a local station, there are two types of programs available through the big networks. First, there are commercial programs, which are created and paid for by advertisers. These advertisers buy time on stations in the territories in which they wish to advertise. The time is bought through the networks, such as NBC and CBS.

"Then, in addition to these, the networks themselves provide certain shows which are known as sustaining, such as the Breakfast Club. Lowell Thomas and 'One Man's Family' are commercial programs. Lowell Thomas is sponsored by Sun Oil company products and these products are not sold in Charleston. Therefore, the advertiser does not buy time on WTMA. WTMA does carry H.V. Kaltenborn (who incidentally has a higher rating nationally than Lowell Thomas) because he is sponsored by the Pure Oil company and it does have distribution in this territory.

"'One Man's Family 'is sponsored by Tender Leaf Tea. These people do not have sufficient distribution to warrant their use of this program in Charleston.

"WTMA has made and continues to make every possible effort to help these advertisers secure distribution and to make it profitable for them to use station WTMA.

"Now as to the recent to the exclusive Red Network affiliation. As explained in the advertisement in The News and Courier Sunday, this change has been made by the National Broadcasting Company. It became effective in the Southeastern area on December 15. All other sections of the country have been under this arrangement for some time.

"With the exception of the Breakfast Club and one or two other less popular sustaining programs, the Blue Network does not carry very many outstanding shows. As time goes on WTMA hopes to be able to secure a great many popular commercial shows that heretofore have not been available in this territory, because NBC had only one line for the two networks. 'Information Please' is certainly one of the greatest radio shows in America. This will be heard over WTMA commencing January 3, 1941. This program was not available under the old set-up.

"We note in your letter that you refer to WJAX and WSB. WTMA occupies exactly the same status relative to the network as these stations."

New Radio Dial Numbers Today
News and Courier and Evening Post
March 29, 1941

WTMA Now 1250, WCSC 1390 as Frequency Changes Go into Effect

Radio stations today begin operating on their new frequencies, which went into effect at 3 o'clock this morning as a part of a general reassignment of frequencies to stations throughout North America. In Charleston, station WTMA has moved from 1210 to 1250 kilocycles and station WCSC from 1360 to 1390 kilocycles.

Today has been proclaimed "Radio Moving Day" by the president, Governor Burnet R. Maybank and Mayor Henry W. Lockwood.

Under the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement, most of the stations are moving up thirty kilocycles. WTMA is moving up forty kilocycles because the power increase which has been authorized and which will be put into use soon would have made it necessary to take up a new wave length, even if the agreement had not been adopted. By making the change at this time, a second move is avoided.

James Lawson Fly, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, has described the North American agreement as an example of the American principle of settling international difficulties by peaceful means.

Before the agreement was reached, he said, chaos threatened the radio industry with the expansion of the number of stations, which resulted in too many being on the same wave length. To make matters worse, broadcasters barred from the United States were setting up stations south of the border and infringing on frequencies of regularly licensed stations. The recent development of directional antennae, letting these stations send their programming directly into the heart of this country, made it possible for them to drown out regularly licensed stations.

WTMA's Power To Be Jumped To 5,000 Watts
News and Courier and Evening Post
June 27, 1947

Radio station WTMA was granted a construction permit to increase its power from 1,000 to 5,000 watts by the Federal Communications Commission yesterday, Robert E. Bradham, station manager, announced.

A tentative order for a 5,000-watt Westinghouse transmitter was placed several months ago. The order was confirmed yesterday following the FCC grant. Cost of increasing the power will be between $35,000 and $40,000, Mr. Bradham said.

Construction to equip the WTMA transmitting house, situated on the west bank of the Ashley River near old Charles Town, for the 5,000-watt installation will begin immediately. Supervising the work will be D.M. Bradham, WTMA's technical director.

By increasing power to 5,000 watts during the daytime, WTMA will increase its effective listening radius at least two times. Broadcasts will be transmitted over the station's 432-foot tower. Radio listeners will continue to hear WTMA at 1250 on their radio dials.

WTMA is owned and operated by the Atlantic Coast Broadcasting Company. The organization also broadcasts daily over a frequency modulation station. WTMA-FM is heard over 95.1 megacycles between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. and between 4 and 9 p.m. daily.

A Real Radio Professional
By J. Douglas Donehue
News and Courier and Evening Post
January 19, 1988

Radio was going through some radical changes when the late Douglas Randolph Clements got into the business. Music formats were replacing personalities as the most important elements in a radio station's identification.

It was a transition that a lot of radio professionals didn't like, but the people who controlled the purse strings -- the owners -- set the course, and that's the way most radio stations went. The irony is that Clements, who was known as Doug Randall to thousands of radio listeners in the 1960s and 1970s, became a radio personality,

The late Charles E. "Chuck" Smith, who owned Radio Station WTMA, having purchased it from the Evening Post Publishing Co., gave Clements his first job as a radio announcer. Smith made WTMA the first rock 'n' roll station in Charleston. He told his announcers -- disc jockeys -- that people tuned in to hear the music and not the announcers.

A graduate of St. Andrews High School, Clements attended the College of Charleston before going to work for WTMA. He had a splendid radio voice and he was quick to learn. He recognized, with a maturity that actually belied his age, that Smith was the boss, and the boss was always right.

He became the dean of what Smith jokingly described as the "boiler room," or the control room in which the disc jockeys worked, spinning commercials and broadcasting commercials and news. Because he was on the air so much, Clements voice became more and more familiar to WTMA listeners.

Thus, the irony. In a period when on-air personalities were disappearing from radio, and music was the thing that people tuned in to hear, Clements became a radio personality in Charleston.

But Clements, once again displaying maturity that belied his age, knew that being a radio announcer was not going to be his career. Radio, yes, but being an announcer, no.

He started doing administrative work at the station. He even got into selling advertising. He liked both. He saw that running a radio station was far, far more than just sitting in front of a microphone and saying clever stuff, or spinning the popular rock 'n' roll records of the day.

His interest in advertising led Clements into activities that resulted in him being one of the founding members of the Advertising Federation of Charleston. He became the second president of the organization and later was governor of the S.C. Advertising Federation.

Eventually, he left WTMA and was, for a time, manager of Radio Station WQSN. Still later, he worked for WKTM and WNCG in North Charleston. By now his knowledge of every phase of radio station operations had spread far beyond the range of Charleston radio station transmitters.

Then, something quite unusual happened. He took a job as advertising director of the Summerville Journal, a weekly newspaper. When asked why he made such a move, Clements aid he felt he needed to expand his knowledge of the advertising business in areas other than broadcasting. He told friends that he found working in the newspaper advertising business even more stimulating than radio.

Not long after he went to work for the Summerville Journal, he told a friend: "Now I know what it's like in the real world."

But the lure of radio was too strong. Eventually, he left Summerville when he received an offer to go to Nebraska and build and operate a radio station. It was something Clements said he had always wanted to do.

He worked for a time in Lincoln, but then moved to Grand Isle where he supervised the building and equipping of a powerful FM radio station that covered much of the western part of Nebraska. It was like the fulfillment of a dream.

He remained in Grand Isle for three years and then moved on to Des Moines, Iowa, where he worked in radio before making what would be his last move to Ocean City, Maryland.

Last week, Douglas Randolph Clements (Doug Randall) died in a Salisbury, Maryland hospital. During a memorial service that was held at the St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, the minister read a eulogy that was written by a young employee of the radio station he worked at in Ocean City. It was a moving tribute to a consummate radio professional.

That's what Clements was.

You're On The Air
By David W. MacDougall
Of the Post-Courier staff
(Date unknown)

Dan Moon sits at the control panel of WTMA-AM radio. His large, beefy hand hovers over one of 10 black control knobs.

At 9:05 a.m., he fires up a Winston 100, takes a sip of cold black coffee and gives the control knob a gentle twist.

"Good morning. This is Open Forum and I'm Dan Moon. Turn your telephone into a microphone to the Lowcountry. Whether you're off, or at work, or just goofing off, whatever you're doing, give us a call and tell us what's on your mind."

Two decades ago, talk radio was largely the province of nerdy night owls and shift workers with nothing to do.

It was a marginal medium. At best, a forum for the forlorn; at worst, a gathering of grousers.

That was then and this is now. Talk radio has moved into the mainstream of American life. Smart people listen to talk radio. Powerful people listen, too.

It has become an instant ready-reference for those who want to know what people are thinking and talking about.

Almost every major city in the nation is served by at least one 24-hour talk station. In some markets, such as Chicago, these stations lead the ratings.

A full-length feature film, "Talk Radio," and a successful NBC television series, "Midnight Caller," highlight the medium, which last year demonstrated its political clout by galvanizing public opinion against Congress' proposed 50 percent pay raise.

In Charleston, the all-talk format was introduced by WKCN-AM in 1984. The station had local talk programs and satellite-fed nationwide programs around the clock. In 1989, WTMA, which operates at 1250 KHz, switched over to the all-talk format and acquired rights to broadcast some of the most popular nationwide shows. It also lured most of the local talk/news talent away from WKCN.

By 9:07, Moon is talking about his vacation. Then he talks about the weather before throwing out his first teaser of the morning.

"Well, let's see what's going on with the Charleston County School Board."

He mentions the recently passed $136 million budget, getting very excited and punctuating his remarks by pounding his hand on the control desk. He keeps an eye on the four-line telephone console, waiting for the first call to come in.

"556-1250. I've had enough of my grandstanding. What's on your mind this morning?"

The call board lights up. He flicks a switch and says, "Hi. Good morning. You're on TMA Talkradio."

His first caller in Charleston City Council member Robert Ford. He talks about the recent Democratic primary, not the school board.

At 9:13, Moon lights another cigarette and shuffles through some papers on his desk while Ford keeps talking.

Moon, 49, was operation manager at WTMA when the station changed formats. A veteran of 36 years in radio and television, he was dead-set against talk radio and… (rest of article incomplete)

Moon Fills Air Waves With Patriotism
By Dawn Brazell
Of the Post-Courier staff
February 3, 1991

A low, scratchy voice rasps over the air waves: "War monger. War moooongerrr. War moooongerrr."

WTMA-AM radio talk show host Dan Moon listens to the ominous monotone, trying to engage the anonymous caller in a conversation. The line goes dead.

It's a dramatic ploy that irritates Moon, especially since the phone lines to his morning talk show have been jammed since the war started with people who do want to talk -- who need to add a human, emotional dimension to the media-relayed war being fought on another continent.

The war on the home front can turn into a volatile situation as is, without citizens finding ways to inflame it, he says. Moon sees his talk show as a constructive outlet for democracy at home.

His challenge is to stimulate callers with diverse opinions, despite his pro-war stance. It used to be the name of the game was to please everybody, but then stations found the way to attract an audience was to be controversial and take stands on issues, he says.

That's fine for the former Marine, who's not bashful in stating his opinions. "You have to take a stand on something. I don't have a problem with that at all. You have to jump right in there. I'm not a war monger by any means, but I don't believe in a peace-at-all-costs situation either."

Moon says this situation's emotional intensity makes it trickier to handle.

"The key factor in being a talk show host at a time like this is making everybody feel comfortable on the air. It's hard to do."

Often Moon winds up rehashing the same issues day after day. But he says people need to voice their opinions and say why they feel something is right or wrong or what should be done.

"The average listener cannot call the president of the United States or the secretary of defense and say, 'I think you're crazy' or 'I love what you're doing.' So guess what they do? They call me. They have to get it off their chests."

Talk shows provide an emotional outlet to allow people to respond to a barrage of information pouring into their homes every day. People genuinely love to have other people listen to them, he says.

Moon has played an anti-war song (Marvin Gaye's "Mercy, Mercy Me") to see what reaction people would have. They asked him what was wrong with him -- afraid he had lost his mind, he recalls. "Just because I believe one way doesn't mean I can't have feelings or sympathy for the other side of the issue. I understand why people would hate this war situation. I hate it myself.

"The difference between me and the anti-war protestors is, though I hate this war. I feel it is the way to peace."

Often it's easy to find similarities in opinions, but there are issues Moon sees as having no gray areas, such as protestors who go too far. "They can protest to their hearts' desires as long as they don't interfere with other people's freedoms. When they stand in front of a federal building and forbid people to go inside, they have taken a freedom from those people."

Moon admits he has little patience for callers who advocate such actions. But, for the most part, he allows people to have their say, sometimes playing devil's advocate to elicit reaction. "When you get both sides calling up, you've got a great show."

On tough job requirement is that he has to keep up with the war. He takes six newspapers and keeps up with local newscasts. He also watches about six hours of CNN each day.

Moon says it's fine if someone calls up and asks him something he doesn't know. "But what the listener does not want to hear that I don't know what's going on."

Calls so far reflect national opinion polls, with an overwhelming majority in favor of the government's use of force. Moon says he feels it's positive to support patriotic feelings, so he plays the national anthem and the U.S. Navy Band's "We Are With You."

But Moon only takes it so far. He defends the rights of peace activists to have their say. "I've got my feelings and my philosophy. But also you have to remember that radio is part of the entertainment business. People don't mind me telling them my feelings, but they don't want me to preach on it."

If you become too extreme on either side, you lose the respect of everyone, he says. He also loses trust if he doesn't treat callers, whatever their opinion or IQ, with respect. He has found the best tactic in disarming people is to genuinely listen to them and answer in a way that causes no one to lose face, he says.

He also tries to keep an open mind. "Who knows? Maybe one day an anti-war protestor will change my mind," he says, smiling.

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