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| |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 93.3 MHz |
| Programming | |
| Format | Blues/gospel |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
| Founded | 2014 |
First air date | 2015 |
Call sign meaning | West Memphis; tribute to former KWEM |
| Technical information | |
| Facility ID | 193203 |
| ERP | 45watts |
| HAAT | 45 meters (148 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 35°11′24.3″N 90°15′26.3″W / 35.190083°N 90.257306°W / 35.190083; -90.257306 |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | kwemradio |
KWEM-LP is a low-power FM radio station in West Memphis, Arkansas, United States, owned by Arkansas State University Mid-South. The station airs a format of blues and gospel music and is also used as a training ground for students in the community college's digital media program.
The call letters and format are a tribute to a former West Memphis radio station, KWEM (990 AM), which began in 1947; moved across the Mississippi RivertoMemphis, Tennessee, in 1953; and changed call letters in 1959. The station was influential in the early careers of several blues and rockabilly musicians.
The owners of Little Rock-area radio station KXLR sought to build a statewide network of stations to carry Arkansas Razorbacks football, and they felt that the Memphis area would provide important coverage and exposure for the football program.[1] After delays, KWEM (990 AM) began operating on February 9, 1947,[2] with official opening two weeks later.[3]
West Memphis was described as the "Las Vegas of the South" in this era, and its programming drew from the musicians playing clubs in that era.[1] Howlin' Wolf had a show on the station from 1949 to 1952, and Sam Phillips heard him and signed him to a contract with Sun Records;[4] his program aired after music by rockabilly guitarist Paul Burlison;[5] B.B. King was first heard over the station, getting his break on a show helmed by Sonny Boy Williamson II;[6] Stax Records founder Jim Stewart started at KWEM, as did James Cotton and Hubert Sumlin;[7] Johnny Cash's first radio broadcast was on KWEM in 1953.[1][8] The station allowed aspiring performers to pay for 15-minute blocks of air time.[9] Elvis Presley made his first radio appearance on KWEM in 1953, which did not go well because he lacked a band and moved around too much;[4] George Klein worked there as a DJ after its move to Memphis;[10] so did Eddie Bond.[11]
KWEM was purchased by Dee Rivers in 1951.[12] Rivers moved the station to Memphis, where from studios on Flicker Street, it continued to be an influential hotbed of talent; the transmitter remained on the Arkansas side of the river.[13] This lasted through the end of the decade, when KWEM became KWAM,[13] and it eventually stopped playing live music.[9]
In 2009, Dale Franklin purchased assets to relaunch KWEM as an online-only station, playing the genres of music where it had the most influence.[8] In addition, he acquired such historic artifacts as a recording lathe used by Ike Turner.[4] Franklin's goal was to increase recognition of KWEM's historical role and increase musical tourism on the Arkansas side of the Mississippi by restoring the original studio on Broadway Street.[9] He then opted to sell these assets to Mid-South Community College in West Memphis.[14] Streaming returned under MSCC management in 2014 ahead of the station's 2015 sign-on on FM.[15]
Franklin, who was described by the president of MSCC as having a "John the Baptist type fervor" for the project,[4] died in 2017.[16]
