The first broadcast of Atlanta's first radio station, WSB, occurred on March 15, 1922. The call letters, which had been assigned that afternoon by the U.S. secretary of commerce, had formerly been used by a ship's wireless. The station was owned by the Atlanta Journal. On September 29, 1948, the first live commercial television program was broadcast in Georgia. Broadcasting on channel eight from the state's tallest structure at the time, a tower higher than 800 feet, the television arm of WSB Radio and its parent, Cox Broadcasting, began regular service.
For more information, see the article " WSB Radio" in the New Georgia Encyclopedia.
The correspondence and business files include general adminstrative files for WSB-TV and Radio, Cox Broadcasting Corp. (CBC), Clear Channel, and KTVU; departmental meeting minutes; correspondence regarding programming and WSB anniversaries; Elmo Ellis' files including scripts from speeches and broadcasts; and information about the Shining Light Award, a joint award give by Atlanta Gas Light Company and WSB.
The WSB-TV and WSB Radio records are organized into 6 series: sales; programming; press releases and clippings; awards; promotional/public relations; and correspondence and business files.
The correspondence and business files are organized into four subseries: general; correspondence; Elmo Ellis files; and Shining Light Award.
Though the collection is open for research, the audiovisual recordings do not have reference copies; however, reference copies can be made available upon request. Availability is dependent upon the format and condition of the recordings.
Related collections in this repository: Ray Moore papers, ms3774; Aubrey Morris papers, ms3766; Carolyn Elizabeth Hussey Mendenhall collection, ms3005; George Foster Peabody Awards records, ms3000
Related collections in other repositories: WSB-TV, Georgia Giant Documentary Files, Richard B. Russell Library; WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection, Walter. J. Brown Media Archive & Peabody Awards; WSB (Radio station : Atlanta, Ga.) collection, Emory University; Elmo Israel Ellis papers, ms616, Emory University.