For more than 40 years, Elmo Ellis was a fixture in Atlanta radio. Dubbed "The Dean of WSB Radio," Ellis served as a national radio guru in the 1950s at the time the medium was falling behind television. A prolific writer and producer, Ellis brought innovations to Atlanta radio that are still being applied by stations across the country.

Origins

  Ellis was born in 1918, in Alabama. He attended West Blocton High School (where he played quarterback on his high school football team) and was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of The University of Alabama in 1940. A cousin of radio great Mel Allen, Ellis studied journalism at Alabama, but he did not take radio courses until his senior year. He applied for a job at WSB in Atlanta after his graduation and was hired as the station's promotions and publicity director. His first award came in 1940, from Variety, for best local station programming.

During World War II, Ellis joined the Army Air Corps and worked as a military broadcaster, writing and producing programs for every network. He also worked with Glenn Miller. Ellis told The Atlanta Constitution he was in Fort Worth, Texas, and had collaborated with Miller on a 1942 Army Air Corps radio show. Ellis said the bandleader had liked his work and wanted Ellis to join his radio production unit in New York, but the commanding officer rejected the transfer request. Ellis was still stateside when Major Miller, his band, and staff crashed into a foggy English Channel in December 1944.

In 1944, Ellis married his wife, Ruth, whom he had met in Texas. When he left the Army, Ellis worked in New York before returning to WSB and Atlanta in 1947. The station was about to launch its television efforts, and Ellis' former bosses wanted him back for the transition.

Postwar Activities

  WSB-TV went on the air 29 September 1948, with Ellis producing previews in Atlanta. Planning had been underway for more than one year, and Ellis was at the heart of the operation. He introduced the station's first game shows, do-it-yourself shows, and talk shows. Ellis and WSB-TV were a huge success in those early years.

In late 1951, WSB Radio and TV officials asked Ellis to return to the radio side as program director. Radio as an industry was dying, since most of the night-time stars and revenue had migrated to the younger medium. "I hadn't thought much about radio in four years," Ellis told The Atlanta Constitution. "But I have always been a loyal type person, and I felt my bosses really needed me over there." He said in a 1994 interview that he did not want to return to radio, but as the radio side of WSB was languishing, Ellis obliged. WSB AM became known as "Atlanta's Radio-Active Station," and Ellis became its program director. He went on to write a list of 100 pointers that were published by Broadcast Music Incorporated, then he penned a groundbreaking article for Broadcasting magazine called "Removing the Rust from Radio." In the article-and subsequent speaking engagements across the country-Ellis simply told station managers what had worked for him at WSB radio. According to The Atlanta Constitution, Ellis suggested radio "get off its podium, drop its pomposity and put on its roller skates. Mingle with the citizens, collecting and reflecting actions and opinions." He suggested theme days (Old Timers Day, Sweet Music Day, etc.). Congratulate newly elected civic club leaders, he said. Promote radio's flexibility with station breaks such as, "You can take a bath and still listen to WSB Radio." Ellis wrote, "We must change from an entertainment-dominated medium to a locally oriented service. Remember, radio brings the event to the audience. This is different from television, which takes the audience to the event."

During his tenure, Ellis contributed a number of well­ respected programs to the station. The musical format was middle of the road, and the programming covered everything from news to sports to entertainment. One innovation, "sky­ copter traffic," is still being used today. The Shining Light award, which he introduced, is still being awarded on a regular basis after a hiatus.

Ellis also contributed to the scholarly world of radio, collaborating with Cox Broadcasting Corporation president J. Leonard Reinsch on the textbook Radio Station Management and writing Opportunities in Broadcast Careers. The latter is still in print, most recently updated in 1999.

In late 1981, after close to 30 years on the radio side of WSB, Ellis retired at age 63 as vice president and general·manager of WSB AM-FM. He had held the general manager position for 17 years and had been a vice president of Cox Broadcasting for 12 years.

But Ellis did not leave the field of journalism. He began writing weekly opinion columns for the Marietta Daily Journal and Neighbor newspapers, and he continued to be on the air with "Life Management" spots aired weekly on smaller radio stations in Georgia. He is still an on-demand speaker and volunteer in his Sandy Springs community.

Ellis has won almost every award a Georgia broadcast journalism can win. In addition to the Peabody he won in 1966 for his "Viewpoint" editorials and "Pro and Con," Ellis is a Hall of Fame member of the University of Georgia's Di Gamma Kappa Broadcasting Honor society. In 1985, Ellis was the third person to be elected to the Georgia Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. In September 1995, he won the Georgia Music Hall of Fame's Mary Tallent Pioneer Award. When he won the Ralph McGill Award from the Society of Professional Journalists at its annual Green Eyeshade banquet, he told The Atlanta Constitution, "Having been a member of the organization for more than 50 years, I am wondering if this award isn't just for longevity. I accept it as a tribute to the memory of Ralph McGill." In 1995, Ellis was one of three Atlanta broadcasters named to Radio Ink magazine's list of 75 people who "made a distinctive and major impact on the radio industry." He joined, among others, Ronald Reagan and Rush Limbaugh on that list.