WABB is a radio station

Radio station

Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...

 broadcasting a news and talk radio

Talk radio

Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...

 format serving the Mobile, Alabama

Mobile, Alabama

Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...

, metropolitan area. The station is currently owned by Dittman Broadcasting.

History

WABB began broadcasting at 1480 kHz on June 19, 1948, when it was owned by the Mobile Register under call letters meaning "Alabama's Best Broadcasters" and had a country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 format

Radio format

A radio format or programming format not to be confused with broadcast programming describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. Radio formats are frequently employed as a marketing tool, and constantly evolve...

.

WABB had an FM simulcast

Simulcast

Simulcast, shorthand for "simultaneous broadcast", refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are often...

 from the very beginning, starting with 107.9 MHz and later 102.1 MHz until it was discontinued in the 1950s.

Shortly after owner Bernie Dittman

Bernie Dittman

Bernard Sidney Dittman was the longtime owner, president, and general manager of radio stations WABB and WABB-FM in Mobile, Alabama...

 moved to Mobile from his native Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

 to join his father J.W. at the station, Top-40 music became the new format.

WABB 97.5 FM signed on for the first time on February 5, 1973 with the song Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again

Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again

"Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again" is a song written by Bob Dylan that appears on his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde. The album version also appears on 1971's Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II. A live version of this song appears on the 1976 album Hard Rain; and was also released as...

by Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

. WABB-FM was originally a simulcast of its sister station before moving toward the format of album oriented rock.

When WABB-FM made the move to its current contemporary hit radio

Contemporary hit radio

Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...

 format in 1984, the AM station continued to play Top-40 music. Eventually, the economics of AM radio in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 meant a move away from music and the station adopted a talk radio format.

WABB's longtime owner, president, and general manager Bernie Dittman died on October 25, 2006 after suffering from a stroke the previous week. Dittman's daughter Betsey succeeded him after relocating to Mobile from Chicago, Illinois.

Programming

The AM station features a line-up of primarily nationally syndicated conservative talk programming along with some locally-produced programs. Some of the personalities on WABB-AM include national hosts such as Laura Ingraham

Laura Ingraham

Laura Anne Ingraham is an American radio host, author, and conservative political commentator. Her nationally syndicated talk show, The Laura Ingraham Show, airs throughout the United States on Talk Radio Network...

, Clark Howard

Clark Howard

Clark Howard , is a popular U.S. talk radio host of the nationally syndicated consumer advocate program The Clark Howard Show. The show covers consumer and financial news, with advice on how to spend less, save more and avoid rip-offs...

, and Sean Hannity

Sean Hannity

Sean Hannity is an American radio and television host, author, and conservative political commentator. He is the host of The Sean Hannity Show, a nationally syndicated talk radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks. Hannity also hosts a cable news show, Hannity,...

. WALA-TV

WALA-TV

WALA-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Southern Alabama, Southeastern Mississippi, and the Western Florida Panhandle that is licensed to Mobile. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 9 from a transmitter in Spanish Fort, Alabama...

's morning newscast is simulcast

Simulcast

Simulcast, shorthand for "simultaneous broadcast", refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are often...

 weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. WABB-AM was the radio home of Mobile's minor league baseball

Minor league baseball

Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

 team the Mobile BayBears

Mobile BayBears

The Mobile BayBears are a minor league baseball team based in Mobile, Alabama, United States. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks major league club. The BayBears play in Hank Aaron Stadium, named after baseball's former all-time home...

 from the 2001 through the 2006 seasons.

WABB currently broadcasts from midtown Mobile's Springhill Avenue, its home since 1969 after leaving its former Government Street studio in downtown Mobile.