WWKB
From Free net encyclopedia
WWKB (formerly WKBW) is a radio station in Buffalo, New York that operates on an AM frequency of 1520. It is owned and operated by Entercom. The station carries a liberal-leaning talk format, and is known on air as "Buffalo's Left Channel". In addition to a local program hosted by former WGR host Leslie Marshall, WWKB carries a number of syndicated talk programs. Among the station's syndicated offerings is The Stephanie Miller Show, hosted by Lockport, New York native Stephanie Miller.
WKBW was founded in 1926 as a religious station. The call letters stood for "Well Known Bible Witness". The station later broadcast a wide variety of ethnic, country and western and religious programming, including pioneer rock and roll and rhythm and blues shows by disk jockey George "Hounddog" Lorenz.
In 1958, WKBW was converted into a Top 40 music radio station, which it remained for over 20 years. It was one of the first stations to present traffic reports in cooperation with police and state and local authorities. Disk jockeys included Dick Biondi, Danny Neverath, Sandy Beach, Jack Armstrong, and the Amazin' Jim Quinn. Capital Cities Communications purchased the WKBW combo in 1961.
The station continued with a Top 40 Format until about 1981 when the station evolved to more of an Adult Contemporary format. By 1983 they leaned rock and roll oldies while still playing AC songs. They also added talk radio shows in the evenings by 1984. In 1986, the call letters were changed to WWKB (in order to keep the long-standing "KB" slogan) after ABC, which had just merged with Capital Cities, sold the station to Sinclair Broadcast Group (the WKBW calls remained on WWKB's now former sister TV station WKBW-TV Channel 7, which ABC would later sell to Queen City Broadcasting). In 1987 the station moved to a full service oldies format and in 1988, the station became a talk radio station and had a variety of business, sports, news, and talk programming until 2003.
In 1999, Sinclair sold its entire radio stations unit, including WWKB, to Entercom Communications.
On January 27, 2003, WWKB returned to music, playing oldies from the 1950's and 1960's, featuring artists such as Elvis Presley, Beatles, The Beach Boys, Frankie Lymon, The Four Seasons, The Four Tops, The Everly Brothers, Fats Domino, Ricky Nelson, Lovin Spoonful, and many others. The oldies format was an attempt to recreate the station's history as a popular music station.
On February 6, 2006, WWKB ended a three year run as an oldies station with a format change to liberal talk. A syndicated overnight show hosted by former WKBW personality Joey Reynolds survived the format change.
Broadcast range
WWKB has a 50kW (50,000 watt) transmitter located in Hamburg, New York, with an antenna designed for maximum nighttime range. Transcontinental range has been reported. During the exclusive "Daydream Believer" broadcast in 1967, a recording was made in Sidi Yahia, Morocco [1].
Programming
- Bill Press, Syndicated host 6-9 AM
- Stephanie Miller, Syndicated host 9 AM-12 noon and 7-10 PM
- Leslie Marshall, Local host 12 noon-3 PM
- Ed Schultz, Syndicted host 3-7 PM
- Lionel, Syndicated host 10 PM-1 AM
- Joey Reynolds, Syndicated host 1-6 AM
Of the hosts, Reynolds, Miller, and Marshall have all worked in the Buffalo area in the past. Miller worked at the station now known as WHTT and is a native of Lockport, NY. Marshall worked at WGR in the 1990s and Reynolds was a DJ on WKBW many years ago.