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WBEN (AM)
Encyclopedia
WBEN is an AM and FM radio station
serving the Niagara
, Buffalo
and Western New York
area, broadcasting on 930 AM and, as of April 5, 2011, simulcasting on sister station WLKK at 107.7 FM. It previously simulcasted between 1946 and 1960 on 102.5 FM as WBEN-FM. Both stations retained the WBEN callsign after the co-owned TV station, WBEN-TV, was sold separately to become WIVB in 1977. Its AM transmitter is located in Grand Island, New York
. The present FM transmitter is in Wethersfield, NY in Wyoming County. Its AM radio signal can be picked up quite strongly as far as Toronto
, Ontario
and the FM covers both the Buffalo and the Rochester markets.
at 833 kHz. The station later moved its transmitter to North Tonawanda
(broadcasting at 1130 kHz there) and then landing on 900 kHz, with 1000 watts of power, as a result of General Order 40
, which realigned American AM radio allocations in 1927–28. In the late 1920s WMAK was acquired by the Buffalo Broadcasting Company, based at Buffalo's Rand Building, which also controlled WGR and WKBW in Buffalo. WMAK was a charter member of the CBS Radio Network
, being one of the 16 stations that aired the first CBS network program on September 18, 1927. The comedy duo of Stoopnagle and Budd
began their careers at WMAK in 1930.
WMAK was closed in the spring of 1930 as federal regulators began probing concentration of media ownership
in the nation's largest radio markets. Buffalo Broadcasting Company chose to retain WGR and WKBW while shutting down WMAK and another daytime-only station, WKEN in suburban Kenmore, New York. At the same time, the Buffalo Evening News was granted a broadcast license of its own, purchased the decommissioned transmitting facility of WMAK on Shawnee Road in Martinsville, and relicensed it as WBEN. A new studio complex was built at the Statler-Hilton Hotel in downtown Buffalo, and served WBEN, its sister fm station and sister television station (which opened in the spring of 1948) for more than 25 years. In 1941, the station moved to its current position on the dial, at 930 kHz, as a result of the North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement
(NARBA). The station had also relocated its transmitter to Grand Island at almost the same time, increasing fulltime power to its current 5,000 watts in the process. The Grand Island transmitter plant is still in use today.
WBEN, like its predecessor WMAK, was among the most active experimenters in Buffalo radio. In 1928, then-WMAK joined with General Electric-powned station WGY in Schenectady to demonstrate television
technology. It was, by today's standards, a crude, mechanical scan system, with only 30 line vertical resolution (compared with today's 1080 line high definition digital television). But the result made history because GE's experimental facility was the first American television station with a regular broadcast schedule, as well as the forerunner of current Capital District CBS-TV affiliate WRGB
. In 1934, WBEN launched W8XH, the first ultra-shortwave radio
station of its kind, considered today by owner Entercom to be a predecessor of current FM station WTSS
.
Buffalo in general, and WBEN in particular, was an incubator of national radio and television talent. In the early 1940s, WBEN's morning host was comedian and future national late-night television star Jack Paar
(he left the station when drafted into the military in 1943 during World War II
, and opted not to return to Buffalo after the war). Paar's place was taken by Clint Buehlman, who was recruited from competing station WGR when Paar went to war and remained for 34 years until retiring in 1977. He was in turn succeeded by Jefferson Kaye, who later became the voice of NFL Films and WPVI-TV
. Kaye came to Buffalo via Boston, MA and was a most creative DJ, highlighting belly dancing and wine tasting on air.
WBEN was also the station where longtime national commercial spokesman Ed Reimers launched his career, In 1946, WBEN was one of the first radio stations in the United States to launch an FM radio station, which originally was located at 106.5 MHz on the dial. In May 1948, it launched what would become WIVB, the first television station
in Buffalo and only the second in upstate New York, following WRGB.
WBEN-FM would later move to 102.5, increase its signal strength to 110 kilowatts to become the most powerful FM station in New York State, and eventually become WTSS
; it is still WBEN's corporate sister to this day. (The 106.5 frequency is now occupied by WYRK
which is not under common ownership with WBEN and WTSS.)
WBEN long enjoyed a premier position as a full-service radio station, first under Buffalo Evening News ownership, and then under the ownership and management of Larry Levite's locally-based Algonquin Broadcasting Company. The station won numerous regional and statewide awards for its news and public-service efforts. Levite presided over the gradual transition of WBEN from an adult contemporary format to its current news/talk format. In the early 1990s, he sold the WBEN stations to Kerby Confer's Keymarket Communications organization, and retired from the broadcasting business. Keymarket, in turn, later sold the properties to River City Broadcasting, which then merged with Sinclair Broadcasting. In 1999, Entercom Communications bought WBEN, as well as its competitor WGR, and most of Sinclair's other radio stations, when Sinclair decided to exit radio. Both had been hybrid news and sports talkers, and the two stations swapped personnel, so that WGR became all sports, and WBEN became the market's principal commercial news/talk station.
On April 4, 2011, Entercom announced that its Classic Rock/Triple-A hybrid sister station WLKK will become a simulcast of WBEN, effective at midnight on April 5, 2011. As of 2011, WLKK will not be able to acquire the WBEN-FM
call signs, because WBEN-FM is already in use on another station (not owned by Entercom) in the Philadelphia area. The "Lake" format will continue on WLKK, but only on the HD2
digital subchannel
.
Nowadays WBEN competes with country-format WYRK
for the leadership in total audience in most quarterly ratings surveys. As of the most recent Arbitron book, WBEN was in "fourth or fifth place" among persons 25 to 54 during the morning drive time (as opposed to second overall); that, along with an operating loss on WLKK and the national trend of simulcasting AM stations on FM outlets, prompted Entercom to add the simulcast on WLKK in the hopes of pushing those numbers to "second or third."
WBEN is an affiliate of the CBS Radio Network
.
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...
serving the Niagara
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...
, Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
and Western New York
Western New York
Western New York is the westernmost region of the state of New York. It includes the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Niagara Falls, the surrounding suburbs, as well as the outlying rural areas of the Great Lakes lowlands, the Genesee Valley, and the Southern Tier. Some historians, scholars and others...
area, broadcasting on 930 AM and, as of April 5, 2011, simulcasting on sister station WLKK at 107.7 FM. It previously simulcasted between 1946 and 1960 on 102.5 FM as WBEN-FM. Both stations retained the WBEN callsign after the co-owned TV station, WBEN-TV, was sold separately to become WIVB in 1977. Its AM transmitter is located in Grand Island, New York
Grand Island, New York
Grand Island is a town and an island in Erie County, New York, USA. As of the 2010 census, the town population is 20,374. This represents an increase of 9.41% from the 2000 census figure . The current town name derives from the French name La Grande Île, as Grand Island is the largest island in...
. The present FM transmitter is in Wethersfield, NY in Wyoming County. Its AM radio signal can be picked up quite strongly as far as Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
and the FM covers both the Buffalo and the Rochester markets.
History
WBEN signed on September 8, 1930. It initially used the facility built by the Norton Laboratories organization and licensed as WMAK. When WMAK was launched in 1922 it operated initially out of Lockport, New YorkLockport
- Places :In Canada:* Lockport, Manitoba* Lockeport, Nova ScotiaIn the United States of America:* Lockport, Illinois* Lockport, Indiana* Lockport, Kentucky in Henry County, Kentucky* Lockport, Louisiana* Lockport , New York...
at 833 kHz. The station later moved its transmitter to North Tonawanda
North Tonawanda, New York
North Tonawanda is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 31,568 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is named after Tonawanda Creek, its south border...
(broadcasting at 1130 kHz there) and then landing on 900 kHz, with 1000 watts of power, as a result of General Order 40
General Order 40
General Order 40 was an order issued on August 30, 1928 by the new Federal Radio Commission under the Radio Act of 1927 which provided for a reallocation of the commercial broadcast radio spectrum....
, which realigned American AM radio allocations in 1927–28. In the late 1920s WMAK was acquired by the Buffalo Broadcasting Company, based at Buffalo's Rand Building, which also controlled WGR and WKBW in Buffalo. WMAK was a charter member of the CBS Radio Network
CBS Radio Network
The CBS Radio Network provides news, sports and other programming to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by CBS Corporation, and operated by CBS Radio ....
, being one of the 16 stations that aired the first CBS network program on September 18, 1927. The comedy duo of Stoopnagle and Budd
Stoopnagle and Budd
Stoopnagle and Budd were a popular radio comedy team of the 1930s, who are sometimes cited as forerunners of the Bob and Ray style of radio comedy...
began their careers at WMAK in 1930.
WMAK was closed in the spring of 1930 as federal regulators began probing concentration of media ownership
Concentration of media ownership
Concentration of media ownership refers to a process whereby progressively fewer individuals or organizations control increasing shares of the mass media...
in the nation's largest radio markets. Buffalo Broadcasting Company chose to retain WGR and WKBW while shutting down WMAK and another daytime-only station, WKEN in suburban Kenmore, New York. At the same time, the Buffalo Evening News was granted a broadcast license of its own, purchased the decommissioned transmitting facility of WMAK on Shawnee Road in Martinsville, and relicensed it as WBEN. A new studio complex was built at the Statler-Hilton Hotel in downtown Buffalo, and served WBEN, its sister fm station and sister television station (which opened in the spring of 1948) for more than 25 years. In 1941, the station moved to its current position on the dial, at 930 kHz, as a result of the North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement
North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement
The North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement, usually referred to as NARBA, is a treaty that took effect in March 1941 and set out the bandplan and interference rules for mediumwave AM broadcasting in North America. Although mostly replaced by other agreements in the 1980s, the basic bandplan...
(NARBA). The station had also relocated its transmitter to Grand Island at almost the same time, increasing fulltime power to its current 5,000 watts in the process. The Grand Island transmitter plant is still in use today.
WBEN, like its predecessor WMAK, was among the most active experimenters in Buffalo radio. In 1928, then-WMAK joined with General Electric-powned station WGY in Schenectady to demonstrate television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
technology. It was, by today's standards, a crude, mechanical scan system, with only 30 line vertical resolution (compared with today's 1080 line high definition digital television). But the result made history because GE's experimental facility was the first American television station with a regular broadcast schedule, as well as the forerunner of current Capital District CBS-TV affiliate WRGB
WRGB
WRGB, channel 6, is a television station located in Schenectady, New York, USA. WRGB is owned by Freedom Communications, and is the CBS affiliate for the Albany-Schenectady-Troy television market...
. In 1934, WBEN launched W8XH, the first ultra-shortwave radio
Apex (radio band)
Apex was an experimental radio broadcasting system introduced in the United States in 1934 that used high frequencies between roughly 25 and 42 MHz and wideband AM modulation to achieve high fidelity sound with less static and distortion than medium wave AM stations in the so-called standard...
station of its kind, considered today by owner Entercom to be a predecessor of current FM station WTSS
WTSS
-History:The station now known as WTSS actually began as early as 1934 as W8XH, an ultra-shortwave radio station operating as a sister outlet to The Buffalo Evening News and AM station WBEN and broadcasting at a wavelength of 5 meters , predating the country's first FM station by three years. The...
.
Buffalo in general, and WBEN in particular, was an incubator of national radio and television talent. In the early 1940s, WBEN's morning host was comedian and future national late-night television star Jack Paar
Jack Paar
Jack Harold Paar was an author, American radio and television comedian and talk show host, best known for his stint as host of The Tonight Show from 1957 to 1962...
(he left the station when drafted into the military in 1943 during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and opted not to return to Buffalo after the war). Paar's place was taken by Clint Buehlman, who was recruited from competing station WGR when Paar went to war and remained for 34 years until retiring in 1977. He was in turn succeeded by Jefferson Kaye, who later became the voice of NFL Films and WPVI-TV
WPVI-TV
WPVI-TV, channel 6, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. WPVI has its studios located on the border between Philadelphia and Bala Cynwyd, and its transmitter is located in the...
. Kaye came to Buffalo via Boston, MA and was a most creative DJ, highlighting belly dancing and wine tasting on air.
WBEN was also the station where longtime national commercial spokesman Ed Reimers launched his career, In 1946, WBEN was one of the first radio stations in the United States to launch an FM radio station, which originally was located at 106.5 MHz on the dial. In May 1948, it launched what would become WIVB, the first television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
in Buffalo and only the second in upstate New York, following WRGB.
WBEN-FM would later move to 102.5, increase its signal strength to 110 kilowatts to become the most powerful FM station in New York State, and eventually become WTSS
WTSS
-History:The station now known as WTSS actually began as early as 1934 as W8XH, an ultra-shortwave radio station operating as a sister outlet to The Buffalo Evening News and AM station WBEN and broadcasting at a wavelength of 5 meters , predating the country's first FM station by three years. The...
; it is still WBEN's corporate sister to this day. (The 106.5 frequency is now occupied by WYRK
WYRK
WYRK is a country music formatted radio station located in Buffalo, New York. It broadcasts from the top of the Rand Building in Buffalo, where its studios are located on the 12th floor....
which is not under common ownership with WBEN and WTSS.)
WBEN long enjoyed a premier position as a full-service radio station, first under Buffalo Evening News ownership, and then under the ownership and management of Larry Levite's locally-based Algonquin Broadcasting Company. The station won numerous regional and statewide awards for its news and public-service efforts. Levite presided over the gradual transition of WBEN from an adult contemporary format to its current news/talk format. In the early 1990s, he sold the WBEN stations to Kerby Confer's Keymarket Communications organization, and retired from the broadcasting business. Keymarket, in turn, later sold the properties to River City Broadcasting, which then merged with Sinclair Broadcasting. In 1999, Entercom Communications bought WBEN, as well as its competitor WGR, and most of Sinclair's other radio stations, when Sinclair decided to exit radio. Both had been hybrid news and sports talkers, and the two stations swapped personnel, so that WGR became all sports, and WBEN became the market's principal commercial news/talk station.
On April 4, 2011, Entercom announced that its Classic Rock/Triple-A hybrid sister station WLKK will become a simulcast of WBEN, effective at midnight on April 5, 2011. As of 2011, WLKK will not be able to acquire the WBEN-FM
WBEN-FM
WBEN-FM, known as "95.7 Ben FM," is an adult hits station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station plays a mix of 1970s, 1980s and 1990s hits, with some current hot adult contemporary rock singles. Named after Benjamin Franklin, the station pioneered a "Playing Anything We Feel Like" radio...
call signs, because WBEN-FM is already in use on another station (not owned by Entercom) in the Philadelphia area. The "Lake" format will continue on WLKK, but only on the HD2
HD Radio
HD Radio, which originally stood for "Hybrid Digital", is the trademark for iBiquity's in-band on-channel digital radio technology used by AM and FM radio stations to transmit audio and data via a digital signal in conjunction with their analog signals...
digital subchannel
Digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...
.
Nowadays WBEN competes with country-format WYRK
WYRK
WYRK is a country music formatted radio station located in Buffalo, New York. It broadcasts from the top of the Rand Building in Buffalo, where its studios are located on the 12th floor....
for the leadership in total audience in most quarterly ratings surveys. As of the most recent Arbitron book, WBEN was in "fourth or fifth place" among persons 25 to 54 during the morning drive time (as opposed to second overall); that, along with an operating loss on WLKK and the national trend of simulcasting AM stations on FM outlets, prompted Entercom to add the simulcast on WLKK in the hopes of pushing those numbers to "second or third."
- Portions of the above come from the Buffalo Broadcast Pioneers Web site.
Programming
- Buffalo's Early News, morning news program, John Zach and Susan Rose
- Technical Producer: Chris Johnson
- Show Producer: Randy Bushover
- Engineers: Tom Matte, Sam Hixon
- Tom Bauerle, midday talk host
- Technical Producer: Chris Johnson
- Call Screener: Connor Wolfley
- Rush LimbaughThe Rush Limbaugh ShowThe Rush Limbaugh Show is an American talk radio show hosted by Rush Limbaugh on Premiere Radio Networks...
, syndicated talk host - Sandy Beach, afternoon drive host
- Board Operator: Tony Caliguiri
- Buffalo's Evening News, evening news magazine hosted by Tom Puckett
- Sean HannityThe Sean Hannity ShowThe Sean Hannity Show is a talk radio show hosted by Sean Hannity on Citadel Media and Premiere Radio Networks. The program is broadcast live every weekday, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m...
, syndicated talk host (broadcast on tape delay, replaced Dr. Joy BrowneJoy BrowneJoy Browne also named Dr. Joy, is an American radio psychologist.-Early life:Browne was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and educated at Rice University in Houston, TX.-Career:...
in June 2008) - Jim BohannonJim BohannonJames E. "Jim" Bohannon is an American broadcaster who has worked in both television and radio.During the 1980s he was a fill-in for Larry King when King had his popular nighttime national radio program. He also does much work with the Smithsonian Associates...
, syndicated talk host (added 2009) - Coast to Coast AMCoast to Coast AMCoast to Coast AM is a North American late-night syndicated radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics, but most frequently ones that relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was created by Art Bell and is distributed by Premiere Radio Networks. The program currently...
, overnights - Cigar DaveCigar DaveDavid Zeplowitz , is the creator and host of Smoke This!-- a nationally syndicated radio program devoted entirely to cigar smoking and its accompanying lifestyle.-Biography:...
, syndicated (but originally from the Buffalo area) weekend talk host - Bob BrinkerBob BrinkerBob Brinker is the host of the radio show Moneytalk, which has been on the air nationally since 1986. He previously had a show on local New York radio on WMCA. Prior to that Brinker hosted talkradio programs on WCAU and WWDB in Philadelphia...
, syndicated weekend talk host - Meet the PressMeet the PressMeet the Press is a weekly American television news/interview program produced by NBC. It is the longest-running television series in American broadcasting history, despite bearing little resemblance to the original format of the program seen in its television debut on November 6, 1947. It has been...
- Buffalo BisonsBuffalo BisonsThe Buffalo Bisons are a minor league baseball team based in Buffalo, New York. They currently play in the International League and are the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets...
Baseball, Sunday games only (in season) - Buffalo SabresBuffalo SabresThe Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League .-Founding and early success: 1970-71—1980-81:...
ice hockey, playoff games only (in season) - NFL Football, in Season
- Ron Dobson (fill in host, formerly 7pm - 10pm weeknight host)
- Larry Hunter (fill in host)
WBEN is an affiliate of the CBS Radio Network
CBS Radio Network
The CBS Radio Network provides news, sports and other programming to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by CBS Corporation, and operated by CBS Radio ....
.
External links
- WBEN
- The WBEN History Page by Buffalonian Steve Cichon
- WBEN jock history (billdulmage.com)