WAEC (AM)
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Branding | Playa 860 |
Programming | |
Format | Salsa music |
Ownership | |
Owner |
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History | |
First air date | 1948 |
Technical information | |
Facility ID | 22132 |
Class | B |
Power | 5,000 watts day 2,500 watts critical hours 500 watts night |
Transmitter coordinates | 33°43′46″N 84°19′19″W / 33.729323°N 84.32201°W |
Links | |
Website | playatampa.com |
WAEC (860
The station's programming features a wide variety of local and national ministries including J. Vernon McGee, Albert Pendarvis, Ken Hagin and local pastors. WAEC also broadcasts health, lifestyle, and entertainment programs.
Originally a 1,000-
History
WERD
WERD was the first radio station owned and operated by
was on the air a year earlier carrying black-oriented programming, the station was not owned by African Americans.Jesse B. Blayton Sr., an accountant, bank president, and Atlanta University professor, purchased WERD in 1949 for $50,000. He changed the station format to "black appeal" and hired his son Jesse Jr. as station manager.
Blayton sold the station in 1968,[3] and in 1969 its call letters were changed to WXAP.
WAEC
The station briefly changed to country music in the late 1970s under new owner, Mike Sears, before becoming WAEC on December 3, 1978. The first station to play contemporary Christian music in Atlanta, its new call letters stood for "Atlanta's Electric Church".
Don Stone was hired as general manager a year later and changed the slogan to "Love 86". Stone built the station to be one of the most successful Christian stations in the country, and created several publications for the station including the Atlanta Christian Business Directory and the Love 86 Express newspaper. Stone stayed at the station until 1994, when he departed to focus on publishing the Atlanta Christian Business Directory and The Love 86 Express, now Atlanta Christian Magazine.
Sears sold the station to Tampa-based Forus Communications in 1982, who sold the station 20 years later to Beasley Broadcasting.
On November 15, 2023, WAEC changed formats from christian talk to salsa music, branded as "Playa 860".[4]
References
- ^ "Blayton, Jesse B., Sr. (1879–1977) - The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed". 3 February 2009. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
- ^ a b "Prince Hall Masonic Building". The Historical Marker Database. Retrieved August 13, 2023.
- ^ "Jesse B. Blayton Jr., Headed Radio Station WERD for 20 Years," The Atlanta Constitution, November 8, 1986.
- ^ "Beasley Launches Playa on AM in Atlanta and HD in Five Markets". radioinsight.com. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
- Etling, Laurence W. (2006-04-12). "WERD". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2007-05-18.
- Barlow, William (1999). Voice Over: The Making of Black Radio. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press. ISBN 978-1-56639-667-7.
External links
- Official WAEC "Playa 860" Website
- WAEC in the FCC AM station database
- WAEC in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
- FCC History Cards for WAEC