WDUR
Broadcast areaRaleigh-Durham
Frequency1490 kHz
Branding"AM 1490"
Programming
FormatIndian/South Asian
Ownership
Owner
  • Ravi Cherukuri
  • (Arohi Media LLC)
History
First air date
February 29, 1948
Former call signs
WSSB
Call sign meaning
Durham
Technical information
Facility ID36943
ClassC
Power1,000 Watts (unlimited)
Transmitter coordinates
35°58′04″N 78°53′17″W / 35.96778°N 78.88806°W / 35.96778; -78.88806
Translator(s)101.9 W270DT (Durham)
Repeater(s)99.9 WCMC-HD4 (Holly Springs)
Links
WebcastListen live (via TuneIn)
Websitewdurfm.com

WDUR (1490 AM) is an Indian/South Asian radio station in Durham, North Carolina, owned by Ravi Cherukuri, through licensee Arohi Media LLC. The station plays primarily Bollywood Hits while embracing the rest of the South Asian culture through news, Tamil/Telugu Music and much more.

History

WSSB signed on the air on February 29, 1948,[1] occupying the 1490 kHz frequency that cross-town station WDNC abandoned that same day to move down the dial to 620 kHz. In late 1951, WSSB merged operations with another Durham station, Mutual Broadcasting System affiliate WHHT 1590 AM (which subsequently left the airwaves).

Charles Cook was a DJ when the station was the number one Top 40 station in Durham in the late 1960s. He played white and black artists, and he was one of the few white DJs to acknowledge black schools and their accomplishments.[2]

Ed Clinton was ownership in the 1950s, Lex Diamond introduced a 40 format and the studio left Durham to the transmitter. Steve Robbins ("Rockin' Robin") and Gaylord "Jay" Wood were DJ's. (Ed Clinton adopted "Jay" as his official nickname.)

During the 1980s and 1990s WDUR played music targeting the black community. The station simulcast WFXC and WFXK until 1994, when it began playing R&B oldies.[3] A gospel format began in October 1997 on WDUR and WZZU[4] which became what is now WNNL The Light 103.9.

By the mid-1990s, the station was owned by Clear Channel Communications and, by the year 2000, simulcasted then-oldies WTRG. For part of the 2000s the station aired the same programming as WTSB, a sports talk station. It was during that time when Clear Channel sold WDUR to Triangle Sports Broadcasters.

On August 27, 2007, an application[5] was filed with the FCC to transfer the license to Prieto Broadcasting, which agreed to pay $900,000 contingent on FCC approval, which was granted on October 15, 2007. Prieto Broadcasting is located in Doraville, Georgia, and specializes in Spanish language radio targeting the Hispanic community.[6] WDUR later became Radio Luz 1490 AM, and aired the Regional Mexican programming of WETC.

The FCC process cited in the authorization requires that the parties notify the FCC within 90 days after approval that the transfer of the license and station to the new owner has been consummated. However, that notice was not received by the FCC and the license remained with Triangle Sports Broadcasters.[7]

Triangle Sports Broadcasters sold WDUR, and filed an application (314) on April 7, 2014 with FCC for license transfer to Arohi Media LLC., a Texas-based company owned by Ravi Cherukuri. FCC released a public notice on April 9, 2014 as part of this process.[8] On July 8, 2014, WDUR returned to the airwaves after a two-year hiatus under Arohi Media's ownership with Indian radio programming for South Asian community – a first for the market. By January 2017, however, WDUR was simulcasting WRSV 92.1 FM, a hip-hop formatted station in Rocky Mount, NC.

WDUR began broadcasting on FM translator W252DK 98.3 MHz FM on August 18, 2016. However, the translator was alleged to cause interference to WLUS, a country station licensed to Clarksville, Virginia whose transmitter is located near Bullock near the North Carolina/Virginia border whose signal reaches the outer fringes of the Raleigh-Durham area. WLUS's parent company Lakes Media LLC encouraged its listeners in Durham, Wake, and Granville counties to submit a "listener declaration form" to the station in an attempt to convince the FCC to force WDUR's translator off the air, although Arohi Media denies this.[9][10]

After nearly a year of debate between Arohi Media, and Lakes Media LLC, the Federal Communications Commission sent Arohi a letter requiring that translator W252DK cease operation immediately.[11][12] The translator's license has been suspended and is no longer found in the FCC database.[13]

The FCC has accepted a Petition for Reconsideration filed by Arohi Media on June 1, 2017.[14]

On August 22, 2017 WDUR’s translator on 98.3 FM went off the air, only to return in the summer of 2018 at low power. In November 2018, the station moved to 101.9 FM as W270DT.

As of late December 2017, WDUR has reverted to its South Asian format, breaking off the simulcast with WRSV. In addition to being heard at 1490 AM and the 101.9 FM translator, WDUR is also heard on WCMC-FM 99.9 FM HD4.

References

  1. ↑ "WSSB Durham Launched; Guy Griffen Is Manager" (PDF). Broadcasting. March 8, 1948. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  2. ↑ Laura Collins, "'Country Boy' Radio Personality Dies at 82," The Herald-Sun, August 13, 2008.
  3. ↑ Stark, Phyllis (July 30, 1994). "Vox Jox". Billboard. Vol. 106, no. 31. p. 122.
  4. ↑ David Menconi, "ZZU Gospel Format Right Outta the Can", News & Observer, October 27, 1997.
  5. ↑ Application for consent to assignment of broadcast station license
  6. ↑ Prieto Broadcasting official website
  7. ↑ "Contract Filed for KDB-USC-SMC Deal".
  8. ↑ "Inside Radio, The Most Trusted News in Radio". www.insideradio.com. Archived from the original on 2014-04-28.
  9. ↑ "Baltimore & Raleigh-Durham FMS Fight New Translators".
  10. ↑ http://wdurfm.com/2016/09/05/wdur-1490-am-and-wdur-98-3-fm/
  11. ↑ "In re: W252DK, Durham, NC Interference Complaint" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. May 9, 2017. Retrieved May 12, 2017.
  12. ↑ Ashworth, Susan (May 10, 2017). "Translator Ordered Off the Air after Interference Complaints". Radio World. Retrieved May 12, 2017.
  13. ↑ "W252DK Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  14. ↑ Ashworth, Susan (June 6, 2017). "FCC Taking Second Look at Translator Ordered Off the Air". Radio World. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
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