WDUN (550

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that on ...

), known as "North Georgia's Newstalk", is a

news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the tes ...

talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

formatted AM

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

licensed to the city

Gainesville, Georgia The city of Gainesville is the county seat of Hall County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 42,296. Because of its large number of poultry processing plants, it is often called the "Poultry Capital of t ...

, in the

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

radio market. WDUN is licensed as a Class B AM broadcast facility by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

operating with 10,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s of power during the daytime using a non-directional

antenna Antenna ( antennas or antennae) may refer to: Science and engineering * Antenna (radio), also known as an aerial, a transducer designed to transmit or receive electromagnetic (e.g., TV or radio) waves * Antennae Galaxies, the name of two collid ...

signal pattern, and 2,500 watts during nighttime using a directional antenna pattern. The station is currently owned by JWJ Properties, Inc., doing business as Jacobs Media Corporation, which also operates

WDUN-FM WDUN-FM (102.9 MHz) is a radio station broadcasting a news/ talk format. Licensed to Clarkesville, Georgia, the station serves the Northeastern Georgia area. The station is currently owned by JWJ Properties, Inc., doing business as Jacobs Media ...

Clarkesville, Georgia Clarkesville is a city that is the county seat of Habersham County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 1,911, up from the 2010 census population of 1,733, up from 1,248 at the 2000 census. History Clarkesvill ...

Programming

The radio station features locally originated shows like Mornings on Maine Street, The Martha Zoller Show and Newsroom as part of its weekday programming line up. Nationally syndicated hosts include Mike Gallagher,

Todd Starnes Todd Starnes (born October 28, 1967) is a conservative American columnist, commentator, author and radio host. He has appeared on ''Fox and Friends'' and ''Hannity''. In June 2017, Starnes began hosting a syndicated talk radio show on Fox News ...

Dave Ramsey David Lawrence Ramsey III (born September 3, 1960) is an American personal finance personality, radio show host, author, and businessman. An evangelical Christian, he hosts the nationally syndicated radio program ''The Ramsey Show''. Ramsey has ...

, Ken Coleman,

Ben Shapiro Benjamin Aaron Shapiro (born January 15, 1984) is an American attorney, businessman, columnist, conservative political commentator, and media personality. At age 17, he became the youngest nationally syndicated columnist in the United States. ...

, Charlie Kirk,

Jim Bohannon James Everett Bohannon (January 7, 1944 – November 12, 2022) was an American broadcaster who worked in both television and radio. He is best known for hosting the nationally syndicated late night radio talk show ''The Jim Bohannon Show'' orig ...

George Noory George Ralph Noory (born June 4, 1950) is an American radio talk show host. Since January 2003, Noory has been the weekday host of the late-night radio talk show ''Coast to Coast AM''. The program is syndicated to hundreds of radio stations in ...

, John Trout and

Leo Laporte Leo Laporte (; born November 29, 1956) is the host of ''The Tech Guy'' weekly radio show and a host on TWiT.tv, an Internet podcast network focusing on technology. He is also a former TechTV technology host (1998–2008) and a technology author. O ...

. WDUN's sports programming includes

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

football, and local prep play-by-play coverage covering a ten-county area. They also air all NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series and Most NASCAR Xfinity Series Races from either

Motor Racing Network Motor Racing Network (MRN) is a U.S. radio network that syndicates broadcasts of auto racing events, particularly NASCAR. MRN was founded in 1970 by NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. and broadcaster Ken Squier, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of N ...

Performance Racing Network The Performance Racing Network (PRN) is a radio syndication network controlled by Speedway Motorsports (SMI) founded in 1981. PRN airs NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series events held at Speedway Motorsports and Penske Corporation-owned and manag ...

History

About a year after World War II ended, The Atlanta Constitution newspaper was granted a construction permit to build a station on the enviable 550 kHz spot. The paper erected a four -tower, in -line directional array off Defoors Ferry Road, Fulton County, Georgia. WCON hit the southern airwaves in 1947 as a 5000-watt ABC affiliate. Its studios and ample staff were located in the Constitution Building. The FCC suspected that the station's antenna pattern might not be as predictable in practice as it was (in theory) on the application form. When the readings didn't look manageable, the Commission backed away from fully licensing WCON beyond its initial construction permit and program test authorization. Whether the station could have been fixed to the FCC's satisfaction became an academic question when, a year or so later, the Constitution merged with rival The Atlanta Journal. Because (in those pre-duopoly days) the Journal already owned one of the South's finest stations, 50,000-watt WSB 750, the resulting media company (Atlanta Newspapers, Inc.) was only allowed one Atlanta-area AM, so it quickly took troubled WCON dark. Reportedly, much of the equipment was sold to another then-fledgling Atlanta station, WQXI 790.https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Short-Wave/Archive-Popular-Communications-IDX/IDX/00s/Popular-Communications-2003-07-OCR-Page-0075.pdf As part of the station's history, "WDUN 550" and sports formatted 1240 ESPN Radio (WGGA) swapped dial positions in the 1983.

References

External links

WDUN official website

DUN A dun is an ancient or medieval fort. In Ireland and Britain it is mainly a kind of hillfort and also a kind of Atlantic roundhouse. Etymology The term comes from Irish language, Irish ''dún'' or Scottish Gaelic ''dùn'' (meaning "fort"), ...

Radio stations established in 1949 1949 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) {{GeorgiaUS-radio-station-stub