Radio personality-turned-media mogul Len Ellis remembers when country music was country-western.

Much of the genre's popularity "happened because of the emphasis of country-western music and how it was incorporated in the big-screen movie Westerns of years ago," said Ellis, 81, who began his career at WJOB-AM in Hammond (1951-1960) before launching a string of Valparaiso-based radio stations under the umbrella of Radio One Communications.

"The 'Western' tag stayed with country right into the 1990s, until the passing of the greats like Gene Autry and others."

"Uncle Len," known for his stories about famous tunes and interviews with such greats as Dolly Parton, George Jones, Minnie Pearl and Johnny Cash, is celebrating a landmark anniversary. His string of family-owned Northwest Indiana radio stations turn 45 this month.

To celebrate, Radio One and The Times are sponsoring an online contest at nwi.com/cmaawardscontest. Readers and listeners are invited to predict the winners of ABC's 43rd Annual Country Music Awards on Wednesday. See sidebar for details.

It's an ideal promotional contest, considering Len was one of 15 people in 1957 who cofounded the Country Music Association which telecasts the awards. He's the proud holder of CMA membership card No. 1. Today the organization has more than 200,000 voting members.

When Len first entered broadcasting, he worked on air at WJOB and as a concert promoter.

"In the early 1950s, in addition to my radio shows, I was also responsible for booking entertainment for the Hammond Civic Center," he said.

"In 1953, I booked a newcomer named Jerry Reed who was trying to get exposure on the concert scene and all it cost me was the $27.50 to pay for his bus ticket from Atlanta to Hammond."

Broadcasting as "Uncle Len," he and his wife, Bee, left Hammond, moved to Valpo and decided to start their own station. After securing financing and a small plot of land in a field a mile south of U.S. 30, they began their first broadcast day as WAYK-AM 1500 on Election Day, November 1964.

As for his duties as a concert promoter, one of the first acts he booked in 1954 was George Jones aka "The Possum" at the Hammond Civic Center.

And 55 years later, Len will be on stage with Jones again this month, introducing him when Jones headlines a Nov. 27 concert with Janie Fricke at Star Plaza Theatre.

From the start, Len favored a country music format, which he believed supported family and Midwest values reflective of Northwest Indiana. By 1966, he changed the call letters of the AM station to WAKE-AM to prepare for new broadcast opportunities.

"When I began investigating adding an FM radio station, all of my contemporaries thought I was crazy," Len said.

"They never thought it would last. And Chicago radio was still firmly rooted in AM."

In 1967, his launch of WAKE-FM 105.5-FM was heralded as the first full-time FM radio station in Chicagoland. In 1974, the call letters changed to WLJE in homage to the founder's own initials: Leonard J. Ellis.

Today Indiana 105.5 WLJE reaches faithful listeners from Chicago to South Bend.

"For many of those early years, when I was pushing and promoting country music for WJOB in Hammond, I was told time and time again that this region would not embrace this sound," he said.

"Even though every major city had its own country music 'Barn Dance' radio show, many backers still had doubts."

In the late 1950s, Len even staged a "country music" parade through downtown Gary to prove to advertisers that crowded streets of fans meant faithful listeners.

By 1975, Len's son, Leigh, began broadcasting while easing into his present role of president and general manager of Radio One Communication.

"We've worked hard to take what were once Porter County radio stations and elevate them to broadcasting to serve all of Northwest Indiana," Leigh said.

"As we expand, we remain both family owned and invested in the communities we broadcast to each day."

In addition to Indiana 105.5 WLJE-FM and WAKE-AM 1500, Radio One Communications other sister stations include WZVN-FM 107.1 and WXRD-FM 103.9.

While releasing control to his son, Len continued focusing on his love to promote country music as the number one programming on radio airwaves.

"There was a time early on in my career when I seriously thought about leaving this region to anchor my career in Nashville right in the heart of the country music capital," Len said.

"Ralph Emery wanted to give me $90 a week to do a daily radio show, plus an additional $25 to do a short air shift on Saturday nights to help with the live Grand Ole Opry broadcast. I decided I wanted to stay here and strive to bring that same kind of quality to the airwaves of Indiana."

Today, Leigh continues to further the mission his father began 40 years ago.

"Our first commitment is to our community and our listeners," Leigh said.

"That was the number one rule I learned right away from my father. From there, as a radio station that wants to grow and diversify, we also stay focused on quality, technology with attention to all of the numbers."

Station identification

* Len Ellis has always had diverse holdings in media communications. In 1970, Ellis owned WAYT-FM in Wabash, Ind. The year before, he spearheaded an investment movement to start the first cable television station in Valparaiso under the name CATV.

* While most radio stations were still using reel-to-reel technology, Len invested $1,300 in the mid-1960s for his first radio cart player.

* When Len appeared on "Hee Haw" in 1978, he appeared in the show's weekly trademark "cornfield" sketch. He was paid $130 for his one-episode appearance and had to give up all rights to residuals for future airings of the segment.

* Len's radio stations have almost always been affiliated with national ABC broadcast programming.

* Legendary "Dean of the Radio Airwaves" Paul Harvey's program "The Rest of the Story" was a part of regularly scheduled programming at Ellis radio stations since its inception until Harvey's death last year.

* Besides son Leigh, Len and Bernice Ellis, who married in 1954,have two daughters. Each also has worked in radio in addition to careers in broadcast sales and book publishing.

* For more than two decades, the Ellis radio stations have supported and sponsored an annual search, most recently called the Colgate Country Showdown, looking for new country music talent, beginning with a talent show at the local county fairs and sending winners on to regional and even the national finals.

Radio One Communications and The Times have a special promotional contest with the online edition at nwi.com/cmaawardscontest allowing readers and listeners to submit online ballots to guess who will win Wednesday's 43rd Annual Country Music Awards which will be telecast on ABC. Readers have until midnight Tuesday to cast votes.