WFMD
Encyclopedia
WFMD is a News
/Talk
/Sports
formatted broadcast
radio station
licensed to Frederick, Maryland
, serving Central Maryland. WFMD is owned and operated by Clear Channel
.
WFMD moved from the hotel to its own building at the intersection of 7th and Market Street in a large yellow building with the call letters spelled out in bright green letters. In the early 1970s, the station moved to its current location at 5966 Grove Hill Road. It shares the same building as its sister station WFRE. The station's Longest owner was local broadcaster Jim Gibbons. Before Mr. Gibbons bought the station. He was known as a local television sports anchor and the radio voice of the Washington Redskins.
During the time that the station ran live and often local country music, many famous musicians passed through the studio. Bud Messiner and his Saddle Pals, Buck Ryan and Sleppy McDaniels were examples. Several of these musicians even went on to become well known in Nashville, Tennessee
. Sleppy McDaniels went on to play steel guitar for Country Music Hall of Fame member Hank Snow
.
The two most well-known on-air staff of the station were "Happy" Johnny Zufall who came to the station in the 1950s to do the early morning shift. It is said that when local farmers had "Happy" Johnny on their barn radios the cows heard him and gave more milk. After retiring, "Happy" Johnny did a short program where he would read children's letters to Santa.
On January 12, 1971 "Happy" Johnny announced his retirement from WFMD. A young man from Florida named Tommy Grunwell, who was married to Jim Gibbons' daughter, took over the morning show until the station went to an all-talk format. Grunwell did the voices of an old man and woman with whom he would interact as if they were in the studio with him. He was also known to have two nicknames, The man who owned the morning in Frederick, and "The Great Grundoon". He often referred to his show as "The Great Grundoon bumper to bumper road show". In the 1970s Grunwell also hosted a Thursday night show called "The Merry Go Round", which he did from a local hotel. Also during this time Grunwellhosted a once monthly show called "The Breakfast Club", which he also did as a remote from a shopping mall located across the street from the station.
Some of the other on-air staff over the years have been:
For several years in this time period, the station ran a contest called Salute to Retail. In this contest listeners went to a local business to pick up a bumper sticker and then they would listen for their car tag number to be called over the air. When they heard their number the car owner would call the station within the allotted time to win a cash prize.
Christmas Cash for Kids takes pride in the fact that all donations collected go directly to the children. There are no overhead costs involved so that for every dollar collected CCFK gets up to $1.25 in buying power. This is done by working with local businesses to buy toys at a volume discounts, along with clothes and blankets.In 2008 Christmas Cash for Kids raised over $123,000 for the children of Frederick Country.
Many of the people who worked at the previous stations come back to WFMD to help this cause.
News Radio
News Radio can refer to:* NewsRadio, the NBC sitcom which aired from 1995–1999.* News radio, the all-news or news/talk radio format....
/Talk
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
/Sports
Sports radio
Sports radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A popular format with an almost exclusively male demographic in most areas, sports radio is characterized by an often-boisterous on-air style and extensive debate and analysis by both hosts and...
formatted broadcast
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
licensed to Frederick, Maryland
Frederick, Maryland
Frederick is a city in north-central Maryland. It is the county seat of Frederick County, the largest county by area in the state of Maryland. Frederick is an outlying community of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of a greater...
, serving Central Maryland. WFMD is owned and operated by Clear Channel
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
.
History
WFMD first went on the air January 1, 1936. Its first studios were located on the top floor of Winchester Hall on Church Street. Next the station moved into part of the Francis Scott Key Hotel. During this period the programing consisted of live performers, mostly local country music groups, along with programs from the CBS radio network.WFMD moved from the hotel to its own building at the intersection of 7th and Market Street in a large yellow building with the call letters spelled out in bright green letters. In the early 1970s, the station moved to its current location at 5966 Grove Hill Road. It shares the same building as its sister station WFRE. The station's Longest owner was local broadcaster Jim Gibbons. Before Mr. Gibbons bought the station. He was known as a local television sports anchor and the radio voice of the Washington Redskins.
During the time that the station ran live and often local country music, many famous musicians passed through the studio. Bud Messiner and his Saddle Pals, Buck Ryan and Sleppy McDaniels were examples. Several of these musicians even went on to become well known in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
. Sleppy McDaniels went on to play steel guitar for Country Music Hall of Fame member Hank Snow
Hank Snow
Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow was a Canadian-American country music artist. He charted more than 70 singles on the Billboard country charts from 1950 until 1980...
.
On-air staff
WFMD has had many well-known on on-air staff over the years, including George Rogers and Stu Kerr who, after leaving WFMD, both went to Baltimore to help start WMAR TV. While on WFMD Kerr was not a news man as on TV but was primarily known as a featured vocalist on the station. His main duet partner was a lady who performed under three different names: Dixie Rodgers, Princess Dreaming Water and Princess Summerfall Winterspring. The last two names reflected her Native American Heritage.The two most well-known on-air staff of the station were "Happy" Johnny Zufall who came to the station in the 1950s to do the early morning shift. It is said that when local farmers had "Happy" Johnny on their barn radios the cows heard him and gave more milk. After retiring, "Happy" Johnny did a short program where he would read children's letters to Santa.
On January 12, 1971 "Happy" Johnny announced his retirement from WFMD. A young man from Florida named Tommy Grunwell, who was married to Jim Gibbons' daughter, took over the morning show until the station went to an all-talk format. Grunwell did the voices of an old man and woman with whom he would interact as if they were in the studio with him. He was also known to have two nicknames, The man who owned the morning in Frederick, and "The Great Grundoon". He often referred to his show as "The Great Grundoon bumper to bumper road show". In the 1970s Grunwell also hosted a Thursday night show called "The Merry Go Round", which he did from a local hotel. Also during this time Grunwellhosted a once monthly show called "The Breakfast Club", which he also did as a remote from a shopping mall located across the street from the station.
Some of the other on-air staff over the years have been:
- Tommy Gibbons
- J.M. Gibbons (on-air as John Michaels)
- Charlie Weston (afternoon drive)
- Rick Lewis (middays and program director)
- Chris Rollins (nights and music director)
- Craig Windham (news director, now with NPR)
- Bill McMichales (afternoon drive after Charlie Weston)
- Gary Jagow (last afternoon music host First afternoon drive talk host)
- Tim May
- Bob Miller (current host of the Morning News Express)
- Ron Kitzmiller (first morning drive talk host replacing Tommy Grunwell)
- Rich Fulton (middays)
- Frank Mitchell (current program director and on-air fill in host)
- Blaine Young (also known as Frederick's youngest good ole boy )
- John Feisler (former program director and fill in host for Tommy Grunwell)
- Michael O' Connor (former news director and anchor)
- Bernard Adams (fFormer news anchor )
- Dianah Gibson (current news director and co-host of The Morning News Express)
- Rebecca Matthews (news director)
- Kim Dacey (news anchor)
- Lorretta Gains (news anchor)
- Kevin McMannous (news anchor)
- Jim Titus (on-air staff)
- Dick Denim (former station manager)
- Dave Conrad (former traffic reporter for The Morning News Express )
- Terry Cramer (part-time contributor to the Morning News Express, Sargent of Arms for the Blaine Young Show, co-host of WFMD's Christmas Cash For Kids)
- Pierce Michales (sports)
- Kathy Whiteside (middays)
- Dina Carroll (traffic reporter for The Morning News Express )
Events and community projects
In the 1970s and 1980s the station had a softball team named "The Towers". They played many charity softball games.For several years in this time period, the station ran a contest called Salute to Retail. In this contest listeners went to a local business to pick up a bumper sticker and then they would listen for their car tag number to be called over the air. When they heard their number the car owner would call the station within the allotted time to win a cash prize.
Christmas Cash for Kids
This community project was started at another local radio station before moving to WFMD. The project works with the local chapter of the Salvation Army to provide toys for local needy children in Frederick.This is held every year during the week following Thanksgiving.Christmas Cash for Kids takes pride in the fact that all donations collected go directly to the children. There are no overhead costs involved so that for every dollar collected CCFK gets up to $1.25 in buying power. This is done by working with local businesses to buy toys at a volume discounts, along with clothes and blankets.In 2008 Christmas Cash for Kids raised over $123,000 for the children of Frederick Country.
Many of the people who worked at the previous stations come back to WFMD to help this cause.