History of WOAY Radio, Oak Hill

WOAY-AM signed on the air on December 22, 1947 on 860 kHz. WOAY-FM went on the air in 1948. I do not have much history of the stations, but I do know that a 1948 application for the FM station requested 96.5 MHz, 15,500 watts, although I believe the station signed on the air on its current 94.1 MHz frequency.

An ad in the Beckley Post-Herald of Jan. 19, 1948, showing the program schedule, is woay1948.gif.

On January 8, 1952, an application was made to increase the power of WOAY-AM from 5 to 10 kw, and the station subsequently operated with 10 kw except 5 kw during critical hours.

In 1990 Thomas Broadcasting sold both the AM and FM stations to a Bluefield broadcaster. The FM station changed call letters to WVMA and then to WAXS.

In 1997 the FM station was owned by Paul Gonzales and the AM station was owned by Gene Ellison.

In the late 1990s, WOAY 860 featured a religious format.

On Dec. 31, 2001, the website of WOAY AM 860 showed the following staff: Wayne Boone, Chief Engineer; Steve Bush, Announcer; Bettie Day, Traffic Manager; Gene Ellison, Pres/Gen Mgr.; Judy Ellison, Admin. Assistant; Janet McClung, Announcer/Marketing; Wes Caldwell, Announcer/Operator; Shirley Love and Bob Workman, Sports.

On April 2, 2001, WAXS-FM 94.1 (operated by Southern Communications) adopted the name "Groovy 94.1FM" and switched to an oldies format.

On Dec. 31, 2001, the website of Groovy 94.1 showed the following lineup: Paul Van Scott, 5-10am; Michael Meredith, 10-3pm; Shane Randall, 3-7pm; Kevin Williams, 7pm-Midnight; Dell Moore, weekends.

In 2002 the studios of WCIR-FM, WTNJ-FM, WMTD-AM/FM, WAXS-FM, WWNR, and WIWS were moved to 306 South Kanawha Street in Beckley (the old Appalachian Power Company building).

In November 2006, announcement of the sale of Commissioned Communications Inc., which operates WOAY-AM 860, to Mountaineer Media Inc. was made. The sale was expected to ocur by the end of 2006, after regulatory approval. Gene Ellison, the primary owner of Commissioned Communications, said that the station would remain a Christian format station. Mountaineer owner Thomas H. Moffit Jr. said he would continue WOAY’s Christian programming, emphasizing Bible teaching and family life.

WOAY at 50: Times Change, But Format Stays Timeless

By NEALE R. CLARK

OAK HILL -- The evolution of WOAY-AM radio has been a variegated, perhaps sometimes painful one, 50 years of bearing witness to incredible and equally painful wrinkles in the cloth of history -- a "police action" in Korea, another in Vietnam; a wall went up and a wall came down; a president was murdered, another resigned.

Yet throughout these upheavals, WOAY has sought to appeal to the common folk as they exist in Southern West Virginia.

Its founder, Robert R. Thomas Jr., was no-nonsense when it came to anything that might violate his sense of propriety. According to engineer Don Moye, who has been with WOAY since Day One, Thomas even turned away profit as a matter of principle.

"He would never accept any beer advertising," Moye recalled. That restriction eventually faded, Moye explained, because of the addition of television, where Thomas had no control over network advertising content.

As a result of Thomas' sense of the public pulse, much of the air time was devoted to "religious" programming. There were devotionals, gospel hymn times and a host of preachers -- Freddie Steele and Mont Carr, Ernest Barley and Roy Tyree, Hilda Carr and Dorothy Osborne, and singing groups like Rex and Eleanor, Louise and Lodema.

A couple of years after the death of Bob Thomas, "religious" programming declined and eventually disappeared from WOAY-AM as general managers changed and formats were altered. Then, in 1983, an 18-year veteran broadcaster returned to the station with a mission.

Gene Ellison, a 1966 graduate of Nuttall High School, first came to WOAY in August 1972, doing an odd lot of duties, including AM board work, television news and selling advertising for all three divisions.

He left the WOAY station 1979 to further his professional career. By 1982, he was part-owner and general manager of an all-bluegrass radio station in Hurricane.

Although business was good, he was driving 81 miles each way every day so he could continue living on his small farm near Oak Hill. Eventually, the demands of management began to bear.

"The pressure of the job was so great, I really started going back to my Christian roots because I had no other place to turn."

To help himself focus, he turned to the radio during each morning's 81-mile drive. "All I listened to was Christian programming ... just to make sure I got on the right track at the beginning of the day. I got blessed from it every day. What I was hearing was what I needed."

On Sundays, the Hurricane station ran an all-religious format. A local pastor brought Ellision a tape of programming generated by Moody Broadcasting Network. Satellite programming delivery was just beginning, and it was a concept that fascinated Ellison.

In time, the Christian messages he listened to during each morning's drive had their effect. "Through that process, the Lord indicated to me that that was the reason He put me in radio in the first place, to broadcast that type of programming."

In the fall of 1983 he came back to WOAY-AM, and by the following spring the Moody network was on the air at 860 on the AM dial.

Then in 1990, Thomas Broadcasting decided to sell off its radio stations. Both AM and FM initially were bought by a Bluefield broadcaster. The FM operation went its separate way, first operating as Y94, then becoming WVMA and most recently WAXS, now owned by Paul Gonzales. Ellison bought the AM side.

Although the station is part of a network, Ellison has his own sense of what the people need to hear.

"We might deal with a syndicator and get a better time for a good program than what the network put on. Also, one of the best black preachers was at first turned down by Moody. I went directly to his ministry and said we'll find a place for you."

The network has since picked up that dynamic preacher, the Rev. Tony Evans of Dallas, but WOAY refuses to move him from the original 12:30 time slot."

"We try to maintain as much consistency as possible," Ellison explained. "We don't want to have the station sound one way one hour and another way the next hour."

Local ministers are afforded access. "We do want to work with every church we possibly can," Ellison said, "because we feel we're hand-in-hand with this kind of work. We just feel a partnership, and we do realize that some might not feel that way, but we do. Part of what we're here for is to help fill up their churches on Sundays."

In 1985, Ellison hired a new employee. "I came to work in 1985," recalled Ed Neal, "fresh out of Midland Trail High School." He had no radio experience. "Gene said he'd be willing to show me if I'd be willing to learn. I worked for him for six years the first time."

Then Neal got married and left WOAY, taking a job with his father-in-law's trucking company. "I always took my lunch break and listened to Tony Evans, the urban alternative black ministry out of Dallas."

At the same time, Neal remained in close contact with Ellison. "We worked together, I helped with a couple of concerts."

Finally, Ellison made Neal an offer to return. He came back in early 1996 as promotions director.

"I really got into it for my love of music," he said.

"I feel that Christian radio is a companion. The message that we have helps so many people in encouragement and enlightenment."

He noted the misconception that the majority of people who listen to Christian radio are Christians. "We have found that a lot of people listen because we have programs on finances, about family, on psychological counseling. Of course, we have news and sports, but we offer so much more -- a message of hope."

Neal added that everyone at the station is a Christian. "Our staff is small, but they are all dedicated and all have positions in their local church."

The staff includes veteran Steve Bush as program director. Bush, who brings 17 years of experience to the station, is a familiar voice in the region, including a host of "voicing" chores for local television.

Also on staff are office manager Bettie Day, announcers Ron Beaumont and Henry Dempsey, and "Sid" Sydnor in sales.

Like Bob Thomas years before, WOAY-AM restricts its advertising content -- no alcohol ads, no lottery promotions.

"That kind of advertising keeps other radio stations afloat," Neal explained. "But for us, it's off limits. So in addition to more standard advertisers, we depend on Christian businesses, churches and individuals to keep us on the air."

"Monetarily, we probably wouldn't be considered a highly successful business," Ellison noted. "But we have shown a slow, steady growth through the years. Each year gets a little bit better than the year before." Ellison said he remains committed to the mission. "There was never a time where I said if this doesn't work we'll change the format.

If someone said we must do that, I'll just find another Christian station somewhere."

The important thing, he added, is realizing that "success" is a relative term. "As far as life-changing things, of people's lives being changed forever, we've been very successful there."

Ellison said the station receives many letters and phone calls indicating that, and Neal added that network and syndicated ministries advise the station when people take the time to write them and include the WOAY call letters. For the month of January, 70 some people wrote such letters to the Rev. James Dobson's "Focus on the Family" ministry.

For its 50th anniversary year, Neal said the station has several projects in mind, the first being a concert March 22 in Beckley with Larnelle Harris, five-time Grammy and 10-time Dove Award winner. That event will feature a mass choir drawn from the community, directed by Daniel Spurgeon from United Methodist Temple.

Now operating with the slogan "family radio," WOAY has entered its 51st year with a clear sense of where it wishes to go. Part of that sense is based on the knowledge that people are seeking what the station has to offer.

As Ellison expressed it, "We believe God created us with an empty heart that can only be filled with Jesus Christ. Some people try to fit a round peg into a square hole, trying to fill that emptiness with fancy cars, expensive homes. But no thing will fill that void."

The WOAY format exists as one way of filling the emptiness, and Ellison restated his belief that what he is doing is what God wants him to do.

"There is a scripture, Ephesians 2:10, that says there was a plan for our lives before we were even created, that God had this plan for us.

And I fully believe with all my being that that's why God put me here, that I took my first radio job in 1965 to be trained to do this very thing."

Shirley Love - Oak Hill High School Hall of Fame

The following article was taken from a page of the Oak Hill High School website, features biographical information on the members of the OHHS Hall of Fame. See also the WOAY-TV History page.

For over 44 years, fans of all sports in the Plateau area have identified with the one true voice of sports broadcasting, that of Shirley Love. As an Oak Hill High School alumni, Shirley has remained loyal to his hometown and school. Married for the past 46 years to the former Audrey Painter, Shirley is the father of three and grandfather to six grandchildren.

Shirley began his career in broadcasting in 1954, broadcasting his first play by play football and basketball games over W.O.A.Y. radio in Oak Hill, West Virginia.

Love's extensive career lasted until retirement from W.O.A.Y. in 1997 although from time to time you can still tune in to his unique play by play action on Family Christian Radio W.O.A.Y. AM 860 and Hometown Productions Cablevision Channel 5.

Known as the "Voice of the Red Devils" it is estimated that Love has broadcast well over 1,000 Oak Hill High School basketball, football and baseball games.

Biased as he was, for the Oak Hill teams, even in a loosing situation, Love always kept high hopes alive for a victory down to the last few seconds. Slow to "call the dogs" on the game if Oak Hill teams were behind, Love was equally as quick to refer to the old coon hunters terminology and "put out the fire and call the dogs, this ones in the bag" if Oak Hill were on a winning trail.

Love became a master at making a game sound much more exciting whether the game was "a real barnburner" or a blowout.

In questioning him as to a most memorable game, Shirley referred to a game at Charmco against Greenbrier West. It was the first game for the new school and they did not have most of the bleachers or a press box completed. Love got permission to broadcast the game from the top of a R.C. Cola beverage truck that the school was using as a refreshment stand. At the completion of the games, the driver of the truck forgot about Love who was still on the top of the truck, and drove off with Love and his equipment still on top!!!!

On W.O.A.Y. TV Channel 4, Shirley hosted a 30 minute TV show on area high school football each Thursday night, featuring the Red Devil Clips of the previous weeks opponent along with the two team coaches.

Presently, Shirley is a State Senator for the 11th senatorial district.

Chuck Balding (Obituary)

OAK HILL - Charles Henry "Chuck" Balding, an early WOAY radio and television personality, died Saturday, June 10, 2000, of a heart attack at his home in Richmond, Va. He was 74. Mr. Balding was best known for his Juke Box Revue program on WOAY radio in the late 1940s. He was the first announcer for both WOAY radio and television. A sportscaster, he did play-by-play broadcasts for the Oak Hill Red Devils. He also worked for New River Supply Co. in Oak Hill. Mr. Balding later was manager of KXII-TV in Sherman, Texas, and then was employed by Broadcast Systems in Austin, Texas. At the time of his death he was employed by Professional Products Inc. in Richmond. A 1943 graduate of Montgomery High School, he attended Hampden-Sydney and Emory and Henry colleges in Virginia and Baylor University in Texas. He was a Methodist and active in the Young People's Group at Oak Hill Methodist Church, serving as lay leader. He was manager of the American Legion baseball team in Oak Hill and a catcher for the Page Mining Co. baseball team. He also was a member of the Oak Hill Alumni Association. Mr. Balding served in the U.S. Navy in World War II. He also was a licensed pilot. Born June 27, 1925, in Kincaid, he was the son of David Leroy and Georgia Marie (Payne) Balding. He was also preceded in death by his wife, Forrest Ann (Fox) Balding; and a brother, Franklin Delano Roosevelt "Bud" Balding. Survivors include two daughters, Lisa Carter-Loubat and her husband, Jean Loubat, of St. Louis and Melanie Hale and her husband, Tim, of Sherman, Texas; a brother, Leroy and his wife, Alma, of Charleston; a sister, Joyce B. Wood of Beckley; a brother-in-law, James Lee Wood Jr. of Beckley; two grandsons, Nathaniel and Zachary Hale; and two granddaughters, Christina Carter of Dallas and Candace Hale of Sherman. Friends may call 6 to 9 p.m. today at Tyree Funeral Home, Oak Hill. Mr. Balding's brother, Leroy, will preside at graveside rites in High Lawn Memorial Park, Oak Hill, at 1 p.m. Thursday. Pallbearers will be Nathaniel Hale; Larry Balding, nephew; Jared and Ben Eren, grand-nephews; James Lee Wood Jr. and Matt Thompson. Zachary Hale will serve as honorary pallbearer. There will be flower memorials by Christina Carter and Candace Hale, granddaughters. Memorial contributions may be made to the Chuck Balding Scholarship Fund of the Oak Hill Alumni Association, P.O. Box 462, Oak Hill, WV 25901. Arrangements by Tyree Funeral Home, Oak Hill.

Comments from Curt Atkinson (April 2003)

WOAY has a great history in the entertainment arena. Bob Thomas was a pioneer in the fact that he provided programs that met everyone's taste in music. For many years the morning voice of WOAY was that of a local man from over in Pax, W. Va., Elmer Hickman. He was a Country Western band leader, and Annoucer. His band was in favor of Ernest Tubb whom Elmer seemed to loved his music.

Elmer was crippled from early in life and walked with two crutches but it never slowed him down in ability to be a great on air personality. The days of program with local ministers were very widely listened to, Freddie Steele & Jimmy Pittman, Ernest Barley, And Mont Carr broadcasting from the Oak Hill Orphanage. Speaking of Elmer, he was to interview the Great Hank Williams on the morning show that fateful day on January, of course Hank passed away and was found dead in his limo in front of the Top Hat Drive-In across the street from WOAY.

The advent of TV only added to WOAY"s popular programs. But back to radio for a moment. There was another on air person that was a favorite and that was Billy O'Dell, a great Guitar Player. He played for the Rev. Mont Carr, and had played with Elmer Hickman's Band. Every night we would listen to the sound of Twilight Time with that we knew the AM side was signing off the air and the FM side would take over. This programing featured a number of on air personalities Chuck Baldwin, Billy O'Dell, Shirley Love, Arnell Church, etc. Its format was a more of the dance band music, big band sound (Bob Thomas was a great musician) this format signed off at midnight.

I will close for now let me hear from you, I will give more information on event at WOAY.

Thanks until next time.
Curt