WHER (defunct)
Broadcast area | Memphis, Tennessee |
---|---|
Branding | WHER |
Slogan | "1,000 Beautiful Watts" |
Frequency | 1430 kHz |
First air date | October 29, 1955 |
Format | popular, jazz, talk |
Power | 1000 watts |
Class | IV |
Callsign meaning | W "Her" |
Owner | Sam Phillips and Kemmons Wilson |
WHER (1430 kHz AM) was the first "All-Girl" radio station when it went on the air in October 1955. Staffed almost exclusively by women (including broadcasting pioneer Vida Jane Butler), the station spawned a series of imitators, but later evolved into a mixed-gender staff rechristened WWEE.
The radio station was the brainchild of Sam Phillips, who used a portion of the $35,000 he made from the sale of Elvis Presley's recording contract to RCA Records to finance the station. A portion of the balance of the funding came from Holiday Inn founder Kemmons Wilson, who also provided the station's first home, in a part of the third Holiday Inn ever built.
As of 2008, the 1430 kHz frequency is occupied by WOWW, a Radio Disney affiliate.
External links
- Kitchen Sisters documentary on WHER
- "NPR Revisits WHER - The World's First All-Girl Radio Station"
- "Golden Girls", On the Media, October 28, 2005. '
- "Talk on Lost and Found Sound's", Peter Guralnick
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