Talk:WDIG (AM)

A fact from WDIG (AM) appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 25 October 2023 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that an Alabama radio station was described by its program director as a "no-format mess"?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2023/October. The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/WDIG (AM).

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Alabama

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Did you know nomination

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Lightburst talk 21:57, 15 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]

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Article history

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... that an Alabama radio station was a "no-format mess"? Source: https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/70s/1970/Billboard%201970-03-07.pdf#page=32 (not directly linked in favor of ProQuest)
- ALT1: ... that an Alabama radio station switched to broadcasting gospel music though it had no gospel albums to play? Source: https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-dothan-eagle-wwnt-radio-broadcast-fu/132549583/
- Reviewed: Template:Did you know nominations/Greenpeace Lyng GM maize action

5x expanded by Sammi Brie (talk). Self-nominated at 06:57, 28 September 2023 (UTC). Post-promotion hook changes for this nom will be logged at Template talk:Did you know nominations/WDIG (AM); consider watching this nomination, if it is successful, until the hook appears on the Main Page.[reply]

Article length okay, expansion start versus filing date okay, expansion is 15x. Neutrality and sourcing good, no evident signs of copyvio. QPQ done.

However, I am reluctant to go with ALT1, because while it is hooky if true, we'd be taking on face value what might be an invented tale told to build up a 'faith will be rewarded' image for the station and its new format – a format that doesn't seem as risky as they are claiming, for that matter, given they are in small-city Alabama. ALT0 is also hooky, but begs the question of what did the supposed mess consist of? Some talk here, some music there, some news, some variety, some what? To be honest it sounds preferable to a lot of heavily-formatting stations. Wasted Time R (talk) 00:22, 10 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@Wasted Time R: My problem is nobody really talks about the format in the sources I have, and the Dothan Eagle was not the greatest paper at talking about it, either. I gather they were a local, small-town-sounding, full-service station with a bit of everything. Keep in mind they had been under the same owner until that time. Sammi Brie (she/her • t • c) 04:14, 11 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@Sammi Brie: The Dothan Eagle did run radio program listings for the first couple of years that WDIG was on the air, so for example this one from January 1948 gives the full program listing for an evening and the next day. Seems to be a mixture of ABC network help/comedy/variety/drama shows and some local music shows and news and of course an early morning farming show. Alas the Eagle subsequently declared it wouldn't run tv and radio listings because they were free advertising, so for the next couple of decades you may have to look at paid ads there or brief stories in Billboard or other industry publications. I see some Metropolitan Opera and Johnny Mann on the music side, some religious programming on the weekends, and a predilection for some Dan Smoot/None Dare Call It Treason type political shows. Wasted Time R (talk) 23:06, 11 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I think a lot of stations looked like that in the Golden Age of Radio. Where I struggle is the 50s and 60s, which coincidentally are also quiet in WDIG's history. This newspaper obviously did not cover radio very well, and given the market size mentions in other publications are very few and far between. Sammi Brie (she/her • t • c) 05:14, 12 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@Sammi Brie: Agreed about the Golden Age. In addition to what I pointed to, I think I've found and added enough to describe the 1950s fairly well, however the 1960s I am less sure about and only added a little. Let me know what you think. Wasted Time R (talk) 00:17, 15 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Jess Swicegood was on the Mutual affiliates board in the 60s, but that was a detail I didn't bother to include. @Wasted Time R: The article reads a good bit better now. Sammi Brie (she/her • t • c) 01:18, 15 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Okay, I guess we have gone far enough on this one to be good to go ahead with ALT0. Wasted Time R (talk) 11:29, 15 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@Wasted Time R and Sammi Brie: The quote in ALT0 is one person's opinion and in our hook it is unattributed. I believe it needs attribution. Lightburst (talk) 18:16, 15 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@Lightburst: Try: Sammi Brie (she/her • t • c) 20:52, 15 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]

ALT0a: ... that an Alabama radio station was described by its program director as a "no-format mess"?

@Wasted Time R and Sammi Brie: That works for me. I assume Wasted Time would be ok with it since it is not a significant change from the original. Lightburst (talk) 21:55, 15 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]