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NEWS/(C6e Cbarlntte
Thursday, December 4, 2003
WMi WGlVs passing, black radio loses groundbreaker
Continued from page 1A
munity has lost part of its
heritage.
“For years it was the only
radio station I knew,” he
said. ‘When I went in the car
it was on WGIV. Everywhere
I went the station was on.
Back in the day we used to
carry the small transistor
radios and listened to the
station. Teachers confiscated
the radios. That’s where I got
all of my information.”
In the ‘50s WGIVs staff
was half white and half
black.
Before long, the station
became the birthplace of
black radio veterans.
Legends like Genial Gene
Potts worked there. Potts
was one of the “Original 13,”
the first group of full-time
black radio announcers in
the South. Other legends
passed through, like
“Rockin”’ Ray Gooding and
“Chatty” Hattie keeper.
WGIVs studio was later
named after keeper, who
founded a communication
school after retirement.
“A lot of listeners felt a
grave loss and were shocked
when they heard the news of
our closing,” on-air personal
ity Altheresa Goode-Howard
said. “Just the name 24 hour
gospel means something. I
will miss listeners like Daisy
Redfern and Evangelist
Byron Brown who would call
every day. We had daily
things like Scripture of the
Day and Word of the Day.
Goode-Howard, who will
switch over to WPEG for
gospel on Sundays, says she
is grateful for the time she
worked at the station.
“I’m also thankful for the
people and management
that allowed us to stay on
the air,” she said. “I could
look at the situation in the
negative. But I choose to
thankful. The saddest the
about GIV, as we affection
ately call it is that it won’t be
here. It’s one thing when you
as an individual no longer
work at a place. It’s another
thing when the place is no
longer there. It carries a dif
ferent feeling of loss.
‘We’re feeling sorrow and
grief but the gospel will go
forward.”
Avery says she believes
WGIVs flagging listenership
had more to do "with sound
quality than format.
“I’d like to see a FM station
go gospel,” she said. “I think
that would work. People
want to hear clear music
these days. I believe that’s
where the low listenership
comes fium.”
Ken Koontz, managing
general partner of All-Stars
Communication and a veter
an of Charlotte radio and
television, compared the his
torical significance of WGIV
to Second Ward High School,
which was razed in the 1960s
along 'with an entire black
neighborhood downtown.
‘We have lost the broadcast
equivalent of urban renewal
that wiped out our traditions,
legacies and history,” he said.
‘WGIV had a rich, long and
strong legacy in this commu
nity. That means something.
“It’s like black schools dur
ing desegregation when our
black schools were deemed
not to have value and were
shut down. And the history
and legacy of those schools
were obliterated. I’m big on
preserving history. WGIV
has historic significance.
Talk to people 40 years old
and up. That station means
something to them. Even
people 25 and up know and
heard the station’s legacy.
There’s something to be said
about reviving that tradi
tion.”
Although New York-based
Infinity has decided WGIV
outlived its usefulness,
Koontz says that’s ridicu
lous.
“Sa^ng WGIV has out
lived its purpose is like say
ing Johnson C. Smith
(University) has outlived its
purpose because now we can
go to UNC-Chapel Hill.
People need to write to
Infinity and the FCC to
express their concerns.
“When the FCC was here
two months ago Infinity
knew they were not going to
renew WGIVs license. I’ll
assure you it was a well-kept
secret. My thing is some
times people that are so
detached from the situation
and the community don’t
have the sensitivity of the
people at he local level. The
detached people are the ones
that decide to take WGIV off
the air.”
Koontz admits Infinity was
within its rights to puU the
plug on WGIV. He wishes
something could’ve been
done locally to keep the sta
tion on air.
“I’m not upset and angry
with Infinity for making the
right business decision for
them. I have a greater con
cern that we missed an
opportunity to salvage a sig
nificant part of Charlotte’s
ethnic identifiable communi
ty.”
Goode-Howard can be reached
at altheresah@aol.com.
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