WEBC
Encyclopedia
WEBC is a radio station
located in Duluth, Minnesota
, airing programming from ESPN Radio
is owned by Townsquare Media.
The studios and offices are with its three other sister stations at 14 E. Central Entrance, on the west side of Duluth.
WEBC primarily competes with KFAN
affiliate KQDS
1490. ESPN 560 broadcasts Minnesota Vikings
games.
The station was temporarily raised to 500 watts in 1928 in order to provide radio service to President Calvin Coolidge who was vacationing nearby. The New York Times nicknamed it "The President's Station." WEBC joined NBC at this time, so as to provide the vacationing president with coverage of the national political conventions.
WEBC's owners founded WMFG in Hibbing, Minnesota in 1935 and WHLB Virginia, Minnesota in 1936. The three stations were linked for local programming as part of the Arrowhead Radio Network. WEBC's influence in regional programming was strengthened in 1942 when WMFG and WHLB switched to NBC from CBS.
WEBC and its NBC programming dominated the market in the 1930s and 1940s. Like most other stations in the "Golden Age of Radio", WEBC carried a general entertainment format as the local affiliate of the NBC Radio Network. In 1955, with radio losing listeners to TV, WEBC dropped NBC and adopted a hot new format—Top 40. WEBC featured announcers such as Lance "Tac" Hammer, Lew Latto, and "Doctor" Don Rose, among many others.
WEBC founded an FM station in Duluth in the 1940s, WDUL, but the project was a financial failure. This probably contributed to WEBC's decision to not go into television. Instead, WDSM and KDAL were able to finally overcome their longtime rival by going into TV in 1953. WDSM-TV's being an NBC-TV affiliate contributed to WEBC's 1955 switch to Top 40 programming.
WEBC began carrying ABC Radio newscasts in 1964.
WEBC was a top-rated station until the mid-1970s, when FM began to attract more listeners. WEBC briefly switched to country music
and then became one of the first stations to program a classic hits
format. Talk programming was added to the lineup by the late-1980s and took over the entire schedule by 1990. The format was then changed to Sports in 2003 after a sale to Clear Channel Communications
, which syndicated the "FAN" radio network from KFAN
in Minneapolis to a number of its stations in the region. After the station was sold to GapWest Broadcasting in 2007, WEBC joined ESPN Radio station (with "FAN" programming soon moving to rival KQDS). GapWest was folded into Townsquare Media on August 13, 2010.
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...
located in Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth is a port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Saint Louis County. The fourth largest city in Minnesota, Duluth had a total population of 86,265 in the 2010 census. Duluth is also the second largest city that is located on Lake Superior after Thunder Bay, Ontario,...
, airing programming from ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio is an American sports radio network. It was launched on January 1, 1992 under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN." ESPN Radio is located at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut...
is owned by Townsquare Media.
The studios and offices are with its three other sister stations at 14 E. Central Entrance, on the west side of Duluth.
WEBC primarily competes with KFAN
KFAN (AM)
* See also KFXN-FMKTCN —branded News/Talk 1130—is a commercial radio station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, broadcasting a conservative news/talk format. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications, and serves the Twin Cities market. KTCN's main studios are in St...
affiliate KQDS
KQDS (AM)
KQDS is a radio station in Duluth, Minnesota. The station is owned by Red River Broadcasting of Fargo, North Dakota. The studios are located at Grandma's Marketplace, 501 Lake Ave South in Canal Park, Duluth....
1490. ESPN 560 broadcasts Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...
games.
History
WEBC is the oldest radio station in the Duluth-Superior market. It signed on the air on June 1, 1924 in Superior, using 50 Watts on AM 1240. Duluth studios were established in 1926 and the community of license was later changed to Duluth, though WEBC's transmitter has always remained on the Wisconsin side of the bridge. The station ended up on 560 in the mid 1950's after a series of upgrades and frequency changes.The station was temporarily raised to 500 watts in 1928 in order to provide radio service to President Calvin Coolidge who was vacationing nearby. The New York Times nicknamed it "The President's Station." WEBC joined NBC at this time, so as to provide the vacationing president with coverage of the national political conventions.
WEBC's owners founded WMFG in Hibbing, Minnesota in 1935 and WHLB Virginia, Minnesota in 1936. The three stations were linked for local programming as part of the Arrowhead Radio Network. WEBC's influence in regional programming was strengthened in 1942 when WMFG and WHLB switched to NBC from CBS.
WEBC and its NBC programming dominated the market in the 1930s and 1940s. Like most other stations in the "Golden Age of Radio", WEBC carried a general entertainment format as the local affiliate of the NBC Radio Network. In 1955, with radio losing listeners to TV, WEBC dropped NBC and adopted a hot new format—Top 40. WEBC featured announcers such as Lance "Tac" Hammer, Lew Latto, and "Doctor" Don Rose, among many others.
WEBC founded an FM station in Duluth in the 1940s, WDUL, but the project was a financial failure. This probably contributed to WEBC's decision to not go into television. Instead, WDSM and KDAL were able to finally overcome their longtime rival by going into TV in 1953. WDSM-TV's being an NBC-TV affiliate contributed to WEBC's 1955 switch to Top 40 programming.
WEBC began carrying ABC Radio newscasts in 1964.
WEBC was a top-rated station until the mid-1970s, when FM began to attract more listeners. WEBC briefly switched to 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...
and then became one of the first stations to program a classic hits
Classic hits
Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes rock and pop music from 1964 to 1989. The term is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for the adult hits format, but is more accurately characterized as a contemporary style of the oldies format...
format. Talk programming was added to the lineup by the late-1980s and took over the entire schedule by 1990. The format was then changed to Sports in 2003 after a sale to Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
, which syndicated the "FAN" radio network from KFAN
KFAN (AM)
* See also KFXN-FMKTCN —branded News/Talk 1130—is a commercial radio station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, broadcasting a conservative news/talk format. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications, and serves the Twin Cities market. KTCN's main studios are in St...
in Minneapolis to a number of its stations in the region. After the station was sold to GapWest Broadcasting in 2007, WEBC joined ESPN Radio station (with "FAN" programming soon moving to rival KQDS). GapWest was folded into Townsquare Media on August 13, 2010.