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WAGI-FM featured in SCETV documentary
WAGI-FM is among several radio stations featured in a new documentary produced by South Carolina ETV.
ETV will air the documentary "Losing Their Voices" on Thursday, Oct. 9, at 10 p.m. The show takes a look at how some radio stations in the state are dealing with major changes in the industry, such as the emergence of multistation owners and satellite radio.
A crew from ETV spent a day at WAGI in the fall of 2006 shooting footage from the station's broadcasts of the morning show and the Gaffney Indians' football tailgate show. Station manager Dennis Fowler was among the WAGI employees interviewed for the documentary.
A year later, Davidson Media Group purchased WAGI and replaced the local programming with a Spanishspeaking format. Davidson is one of the largest multicultural radio groups in America and operates more than 40 radio stations in 17 states.
"This is very much the type of situation where local radio stations and newspapers have been in the community for as long as 100 years only to be gobbled up by a big company with lots of money," Fowler said. "These companies often don't care about their local communities."
Fowler has reached an agreement to purchase WEAC 1500 AM in Gaffney from Davidson Media Group. The sale is pending final approval by the Federal Communications Commission. Fowler's FBC Sports Company is leasing time on an FM station to continue a 26-year-old tradition of broadcasting Gaffney High football games.
Stations featured in the documentary are WRHI (Rock Hill), WBCU (Union), WBSC (Bennetsville), WCRE (Cheraw) and Georgia Carolina Radiocasting in Walhalla and Seneca.
The half-hour documentary has an interview with U.S. Congressman John Spratt. On the show, Spratt remembers voting results being announced by WRHI in Rock Hill from the steps of the courthouse as "better than a high school football game."
John David Sr., vice president of radio at the National Association of Broadcasters, summarizes the current outlook, saying "There's a long way to go to knock out local radio - a long way to go."
