History of
WSAG/WCBK/WKBJ, St. Petersburg
This page was last revised on Aug. 15, 2017.
Here is an extremely incomplete (and confusing) timeline on WSAG,
St. Petersburg, Florida, the first licensed radio station in St.
Petersburg, and the perhaps related WCBK and WKBJ. It is based on
the monthly Radio Service Bulletins, issued by the Department of
Commerce and describing events of each month.
July 2, 1923. The Radio Service Bulletin shows
WSAG as a new station licensed to "City of St. Petersburg (Loren
V. Davis)," operating on 1230 kHz with 10 watts.
Dec. 21, 1923. The Radio Service Bulletin
reports the following change: WSAG is now operated and controlled
by "Loren V. Davis and George Prestman Sr."
Apr. 1, 1924. The Radio Service Bulletin shows
WCBK as a new station at 2801 Central Avenue, St. Petersburg,
licensed to E. Richard Hall, authorized for 500 watts on 1130 kHz.
July 1, 1924. The Radio Service Bulletin has
"strike out all particulars" for WSAG. Thus the license had
expired.
Feb. 2, 1925. The Radio Service Bulletin shows
the new station WSAG, St. Petersburg, licensed to the Gospel
Tabernacle, on 1130 kHz with 500 watts. It also has "strike out
all particulars" for WCBK; thus the WCBK license had expired.
Feb. 4, 1925. The St. Petersburg Times reports, “Radio Station
WSAG, completed Tuesday at the Gospel Tabernacle, was in operation for the first time
Tuesday evening, and musical selections by the tabernacle orchestra and by B. B. Bosworth,
musical director of the Bosworth evangelistic party, were broadcast during the evening’s
services. The radio station is under the charge of Loren Davis and has a 266 meter
wave length.”
March 31, 1925. The St. Petersburg Times reports, “The
radio installed at the Gospel Tabernacle early in the season has again been put in use
after several weeks inactivity during which time the instrument has been out of order. Repairs
were completed during the past week and broadcasting was resumed Sunday evening at the service conducted
by the Rev. R. A. Forrest, dean of the Taccoa Falls Bible
Institute and his party of students and instructors from the school. The
station is known as WSAG.”
Sept. 1, 1925. The Radio Service Bulletin has
"strike out all particulars" for WSAG. Thus the license had
expired.
Aug. 31, 1926. The Radio Service Bulletin shows
WKBJ St. Petersburg as a newly authorized station, at 5th Avenue
and 10th Street South, licensed to the Gospel Tabernacle.
April 30, 1927. A listing of stations does not include
WKBJ St. Petersburg. Thus the license had expired by this date,
although I have not seen the actual RSB showing the deletion of
WKBJ. According to a source, the Gospel Tabernacle donated its station to the Toccoa Falls Institute.
Aug. 31, 1927. The Radio Service Bulletin shows
WKBJ as a new station in Toccoa, Georgia, licensed to Toccoa Falls
Institute, with 250 watts on 1070 kHz.
1927. A web page on the history of WLET, Toccoa Falls
College, has:
In 1927, Dr. R. A. Forrest and the Toccoa Falls
Institute established a 200-watt radio station in the basement of
the Presbyterian Church in Toccoa, Georgia. First called WBIT, it
was soon changed to WTFI (representing Toccoa Falls Institute). It
was the second radio station to be established in North Georgia.
In 1928, power was increased to 500 watts, and the station was
granted unlimited airtime. Kelly Barnes served as announcer and
manager of WTFI. In 1930, the power was raised to 1,000 watts and
studios were moved to the Albemarle Hotel, now the Alexander
Apartments. The station was rated as the second most popular
station in Georgia. In 1931, the station was sold and moved to
Athens, Georgia, and later it was bought by the Bulova Watch Co.
and changed calls to WGAU (Georgia University); later it was
moved, again, to Atlanta, where it became WAGA (representing
Atlanta, GA).
[I am reasonably certain that the WBIT call was not officially
issued in the 1920s and that the Radio Service Bulletins
show the Toccoa Falls station only as WKBJ and then WTFI. -jm]
1934. A 1934 list of stations shows WTFI Athens, Ga.,
with 500 watts, licensed to Liberty Broadcasting Co.
1942. A 1942 list of stations shows WGAU in Athens, Ga.,
on 1340 kHz.
In his personal history, Dr. William T. Watson, pastor of the
old St. Petersburg Gospel Tabernacle and the founder of Trinity
College wrote:
Some will remember the first radio station in St.
Petersburg, WSAG. It was located in the Gospel Tabernacle and the
towers were on the roof. There was no advertising in those days on
radio. It was a novelty or hobby by many. (In those days WSUN and
WFLA shared time on the same station and wave length being located
in Clearwater.) After more than a year, and in those days no tapes
and even records had to be played and sound picked up and
considering the expense, the church gave the station to Toccoa
Falls (College) in Georgia. It eventually became an outlet for
N.B.C. in Atlanta.
Thanks to Dr. Bill W. Lanpher, President of Trinity College in
Trinity, Florida, for providing the above excerpt.
I am somewhat confused by the statements that WGAU in Athens
moved to Atlanta and that it became an NBC outlet in Atlanta
because the 1950 Broadcasting Yearbook shows both a WGAU
in Athens and a WAGA in Atlanta (CBS).
I welcome improvements for this page.
Jeff Miller
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