Jw's old broadcasting

by Patriot 6 Replies latest jw friends

  • Patriot
    Patriot

    I was looking for something else and came across this old radio information pertaining to Jws.

    WPOW - 1330 AM, New York

    Jehovah's Witnesses was one of the first religious organizations to enter the broadcasting field.
    In 1923, the International Bible Students' Association (as it was then called - the name 'Jehovah's Witnesses' waa adopted in 1931) bought the equipment of radio station WDT (see Page 1) at Stapleton, Staten Island, which the Ship Owners Radio Service was shutting down.

    A year later, on February 24, 1924, Judge Franklin Rutherford, successor to the sect's founder, Charles Taze Russell, dedicated the new station, called WBBR, at Rossville in southwestern Staten Island.
    Facilities and accomodations for the staff were in the 2½ story "Big House" at 111 Woodrow Rd.
    WBBR's programming schedule included programs in several languages, including Yiddish and Arabic.

    Judge Rutherford later expanded the radio operations into ownership of at least 7 stations in the United States and Canada, including outlets in the Chicago, Toronto, and Oakland areas.
    On August 5, 1928, Rutherford broadcast on a chain of 96 stations, the largest radio network organized till that time.
    Later, broadcasts were beamed via shortwave to over 400 stations worldwide, sometimes originating from WBBR's studios.
    In the New York area, the Witnesses also bought time on WBNX (see Page 5), WOV (see above), WGBB, WFAS and WNEW (see Page 3).
    But, Rutherford's attacks on other religions led many stations to drop his programs, sometimes cutting him off before he was finished.

    WBBR started off on a frequency of 1230 AM in 1924, then moved to 1100 later that year.
    In 1925, the station moved to 720 AM, unauthorized.

    In 1927, WBBR moved again to 1170, and in 1928 to 1300 - in both instances, sharing time with other stations.
    In 1931, the main studios were moved from Rossville to the sect's headquarters at 124 Columbia Heights in Brooklyn Heights, which also served as a residence for church workers.

    In 1941, WBBR's license was transferred to the Watchtower Bible And Tract Society, the religion's publishing arm, and in March of that year, WBBR (and its share-time partners) moved to 1330 AM.
    Judge Rutherford died in 1942 and was buried at Rossville in a Methodist cemetary within sight of the WBBR towers.
    A fire at the Rossville transmitter in February 1945 put the station off the air briefly.
    In 1946, WBBR erected a 411-foot, three-tower array at Rossville and two years later, the power was increased to 5000 watts.
    A new structure housed the transmission equipment.
    For all its days on the air, WBBR was powered by its own electrical generator.

    In 1957, choosing to emphasize its publishing activity and stating that WBBR "no longer served the interests of the Kingdom," the Watchtower Bible And Tract Society sold its station to H. Scott Killgore's Tele-Broadcasters Of New York Inc. for $133,000.

  • Poztate
    Poztate
    In 1957, choosing to emphasize its publishing activity and stating that WBBR "no longer served the interests of the Kingdom," the Watchtower Bible And Tract Society sold its station to H. Scott Killgore's Tele-Broadcasters Of New York Inc. for $133,000.
    Thanks for the info. I think they originally tried to sell for 144,000 but they came up short then too.
  • one
    one

    up until recently (1980 ?) the WT had some radio programs, topics tightly regulated, actually the jw presenter(s) just could read the material provided by the WT Broollyn, they have never allowed elders or anyone to talk freely on any radio program, even if the station does not charge for air time.

    The reason is no one become prominent and detract from the main objective of "leterature distribuion"

    Rado is cheap, if the WT think they are unique that would be a good way to acomplish the difficult task of getting allowed to enter people's homes with a free message, if that was the real objective.

    They could choose the best public speakers and have interaction with the public

  • Aude_Sapere
    Aude_Sapere

    I remember listening to the society's radio program on the radio in the early '70's.

    Early Sunday mornings. I think it was WNEW.

    I think it was about 15minutes of modern-day drama and then 15minutes of discussion or talk.

    Brought to us by the WTB&TS and presented by Jehovah's Witnesses.

    -Aude.

  • one
    one

    yes, only 15 min

    btw it shows that they having shunning technology (when convinient) Knorr was a Walmart excutive wanabe, who saw an opportunity in the printing business, Freddy was his perfect match a prolific writer, did he ever get to use a pc by the way?, i doubt it.

    With a lot less manpower they could become a good or supreme competitor to radio tv evangelists, just need to ask for donations over the radio waves, 'utilizing' their best public speakers, but they choosed the printed media instead

    Using radio they could reach the whole world in any language , (their goal?), branches only had to sell radios ( and batteries of course) (shortwave, long wave fm, am you name it) in devloping countries they could exchange *as they did for lieterature), for eggs and later trade it for money at the local open market

  • homejah
    homejah

    What was the scripture of Isaiah on the radio mast? Is it 43:10 or another Isaiah scripture?

  • HappyDad
    HappyDad

    I remember the old broadcasts from the 1970's into the early 1980's on WEDO in Mckeesport,PA.

    HappyDad

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