WWKB
Encyclopedia
WWKB is an AM
radio station
in Buffalo, New York
that operates on a frequency of 1520 kHz. It is owned and operated by Entercom Communications
. The station carries a progressive talk radio
format. Declaring itself as A New Voice, A New Choice, The Voice of the New Majority; 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
. Aside from coverage of sporting events locally produced programming is limited to the weekends.
for a license to operate under the call signs WAY. That call sign, however, was being used for a ship at sea, so instead, Churchill chose the letters "WKBW," which were next in the random assignment pool. Churchill proclaimed the call letters to stand for "Well Known Bible Witness"; later usage referred to the middle letters "KB" standing for King of Buffalo (alluding to its 50,000 watt broadcast power).
WKBW changed frequencies from 1380 kHz to 1480 kHz in the late 1920s as a result of General Order 40
, and raised its power to 5,000 watts—the first Buffalo station to raise its power to that level. In March 1941 WKBW inaugurated a new transmitter plant south of Buffalo in the town of Hamburg, increased power to 50,000 watts around the clock and shifted to its current dial position at 1520 kHz as a result of NARBA
.
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 launched in the 1950s by disk jockey George "Hounddog" Lorenz, later founder of pioneer FM urban station WBLK
.
(channel 7) was launched, WKBW radio was converted into a personality-driven full service 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. Capital Cities Communications
, then known as Capital Cities Broadcasting, purchased the WKBW stations from Clinton Churchill in 1961.
On Halloween Night 1968, writer Dan Kriegler and then-program director Jefferson Kaye (now the voice of WPVI-TV
in Philadelphia
, which would become co-owned with WKBW-TV in 1971) commemorated the then-30th anniversary of Orson Welles' 1938 War Of The Worlds
by re-making the infamous broadcast, updating the storyline and changing locations to make it significant to Buffalo listeners. (you can read more about it here
.) Kaye (best known in much of the US as the voice of NFL Films) did another equally well-received remake of "War of the Worlds" in 1971 using a revised script and some new cast members from among the staffers on hand at the time, including Jackson Armstrong and newsmen Jim McLaughlin and Joe Downey. Debate continues among radio buffs in the eastern U.S. as to which of Kaye's two versions of "War of the Worlds" was the best.
During the 1960s and early 1970s, WKBW became a major force in pop radio over the East Coast. KB had a 50,000 watt transmitter (the maximum power allowed) at their transmitter site in Hamburg, New York. This high power caused WKBW to blanket the entire eastern U.S. with top 40 music every night, and the station actually had a better signal at night in the western Boston suburbs, than Boston's own top 40 station, WMEX, located at 1510, right next door to WKBW at 1520. Disk jockeys included future Price is Right announcer Rod Roddy
, Dick Biondi
, Danny Neaverth
, Sandy Beach, Jack Armstrong
, Joey Reynolds
, Steve Mitchell
, Bud Ballou
, Norm Marshall
, Tom Shannon
, and the Amazin' Jim Quinn
. Irv Weinstein
, later Buffalo's most popular television news anchor, served as news director.
In 1969, WKBW became the first radio station to air material from the Beatles' unreleased Get Back album. The recordings had been compiled out of material the Beatles recorded in London in January 1969, the same sessions that would be used to create the Beatles' Let It Be album, which was released in May 1970. Although WKBW was the first station to air the "Get Back" tapes, WBCN in Boston
would be better known for playing them, as its broadcast of the tapes was preserved on a high-quality reel, which spawned several widely-circulated Beatles bootlegs.
A recreated example of WKBW as an early 1960s-era pop radio station can be found on Ron Jacobs' "Cruisin' 1960" (Increase Records INCR 5-2005). This recreation features Dick Biondi
and includes several classic rock and pop songs of that era, contemporary commercials, and DJ patter.
shows in the evenings by 1984.
In 1986, the WKBW stations were broken up as a result of Capital Cities' purchase of the American Broadcasting Company
. WKBW radio was sold to Price Communications, who subsequently changed the station's call letters to the current WWKB, mainly in order to keep the long-standing "KB" slogan (the former calls remained on now-former sister station WKBW-TV, which Capital Cities/ABC would 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.
During the "talk" era the station, between 1993 and 1996, tried to launch a hot talk format on the station, acquiring J. R. Gach
from WGR
as the afternoon drive show and established syndicated hot talkers The Howard Stern Show (by this time now almost exclusively on the FM dial), G. Gordon Liddy
, Laura Schlessinger
, The Fabulous Sports Babe
, Tom Leykis
and (briefly, before Gach's arrival) Don and Mike
. John Otto
hosted a late night program in this era. Stern's and Gach's presence was not enough to revive interest in the AM dial in Buffalo, and by 1996 the format was flipped again to country music
(this despite there being three other country stations in Buffalo, WYRK
, WNUC
and WXRL
). Following that in 1998 was an all sports format, and eventually, when purchased by the current ownership, syndicated business talk (which proved unpopular in the troubled economy of Western New York
but cheap to maintain).
Price Communications filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1992. After a major company reorganization, WWKB was sold to Keymarket Communications (which also acquired WBEN
radio) in 1994. Keymarket then sold both WWKB and WBEN to St. Louis-based River City Broadcasting in 1995. Sinclair Broadcast Group
acquired WWKB and WBEN in 1996 through its purchase of River City. In 1999, Sinclair decided to exit radio station ownership, selling most of its radio stations, including WWKB, WBEN and WGR
(the latter being acquired by Sinclair in 1997), to Entercom Communications
.
, The 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, and while they maintained the official WWKB calls for station identification
, they also played the original "WKBW Buffalo" jingles and featured many of the classic WKBW jocks including Armstrong and Neaverth. While not performing very well in Arbitron
ratings, the revived "WKBW" earned the best ratings for the station since the 1990s, with approximately a 2 share.
WHLD
from successfully adopting a liberal talk format, sap its listeners and protect right leaning talk format sister station WBEN. Despite an increase in transmission power, WHLD found that Air America with local morning talk format unsustainable and dropped the format for the Totally Gospel Radio Network programming in December 2006.
WWKB still maintains a liberal talk format. On April 16, 2008 the station started airing Randi Rhodes
of the Nova-M Radio network, who was recently fired from Air America.
The classic "WKBW" was honored by XM Satellite Radio
on November 30, 2007 in a five-hour "Sonic Sound Salute" on The 60s on 6
.
On July 3, 2008, ForgottenBuffalo.com celebrated the 50th anniversary of KB's format switch to Top 40 with a sidewalk sock hop. The event was held in front of the original studios located at 1430 Main Street in Buffalo. KB alumni Danny Neaverth, Stan Roberts and Tom Donahue attended. A limited edition poster commemorating the anniversary was produced.
, with an antenna designed for maximum nighttime range. Transcontinental range has been reported. During the exclusive Monkees "Sleepy Jean"/"Daydream Believer
" broadcast in 1967, a recording was made in Sidi Yahia, Morocco
.
WWKB's signal is prohibited from transmitting westward due to the station sharing a frequency with KOKC
in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
(the former KOMA, another flame-throwing 50,000-watt top 40 powerhouse in the 1960s and 1970s). Thus, the station can be heard up and down the eastern coast of the United States at night, but despite its 50,000 watt signal, it cannot be heard 20 miles to the southwest. Its directional quality is due to the configuration of its transmitter tower array, which has resulted in some humorous consequences, such as the station being commonly heard very well in parts of Sweden at night during the winter months. A group of Scandinavian radio reception enthusiasts
actually travelled to the United States to have a conference at a Camp Road motel, with the purpose of viewing the array for themselves, apparently to photograph and measure it. Residents of the neighborhood remain largely unaware that the antenna array is internationally famous for sending the 1520 signal all the way to the outskirts of Stockholm on a regular basis!
There have been ongoing reports for the past several years that allege Entercom has cut back WWKB's signal power to 10,000 watts in an effort to save power. Entercom has not filed with the FCC to do so and such a signal reduction has yet to be confirmed.
Of the hosts, Marshall, Reynolds and Miller have all worked in the Buffalo area in the past. Miller is a native of Lockport, NY, where she started her radio career on hometown WLVL
and later worked at the station now known as WHTT
. Reynolds was a DJ on WKBW and WGR many years ago, and Marshall was a host on WGR as well as a substitute host on WBEN
.
The station had broadcast a "local" program hosted by Marshall remotely until 2007, when Ed Schultz moved his syndicated show into Marshall's slot and Air America's Randi Rhodes became available thanks to rival WHLD
dropping Air America. Marshall returned to the station in July 2007 when her syndicated show was picked up in the evening slot. However, beginning April 2008, Marshall's show was frequently pre-empted as the Buffalo Bisons
, who had spent the past three years on WECK
and WSPQ, returned to WWKB for the 2008 season.
Weekends consists of locally produced paid programs and public affairs such as "Buffalo Works", "Power Talk", "Car Connection", "Feel-Rite Nutrition Today", and "The Dollar Doctors Show", "The Rusk Report" and "On Target with Penny Wolfgang".
WWKB is the overflow channel for WGR
sports; when WGR has to air two sporting events at once, the more important event usually airs on WGR and the lesser event airs on WWKB. However, its 50,000-watt signal has made the station desirable for the city's second-tier sports teams: the Buffalo Bandits
have aired on the station since the 2006 season (moving from WGR
where it took the place of the locked-out Sabres in 2005), the Buffalo Bulls
basketball team, and, on and off, the Buffalo Bisons
, who moved back to the frequency in April 2008.
Portions of this page reference the Buffalo Broadcast Pioneers Visit website at www.BuffaloBroadcasters.com
AM broadcasting
AM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation. AM was the first method of impressing sound on a radio signal and is still widely used today. Commercial and public AM broadcasting is carried out in the medium wave band world wide, and on long wave and short wave...
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...
in Buffalo, New York
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...
that operates on a frequency of 1520 kHz. It is owned and operated by Entercom Communications
Entercom Communications
Entercom Communications Corporation is the fourth-largest broadcasting company in the United States. As of November 2009, Entercom operates 110 radio stations in 23 markets across the United States....
. The station carries a progressive 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. Declaring itself as A New Voice, A New Choice, The Voice of the New Majority; WWKB carries a number of syndicated talk programs. Among the station's syndicated offerings is The Stephanie Miller Show
The Stephanie Miller Show
The Stephanie Miller Show is a syndicated progressive talk radio program that discusses politics, current events, and pop culture using a fast-paced, impromptu style. The three-hour show is hosted by comedienne Stephanie Miller along with voice artist Jim Ward and the show's engineer and executive...
, hosted by Lockport, New York
Lockport (city), New York
Lockport is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 21,165 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from a set of Erie canal locks within the city. Lockport is the county seat of Niagara County and is surrounded by the town of Lockport...
native Stephanie Miller
Stephanie Miller
Stephanie Catherine Miller is an American comedienne and host of The Stephanie Miller Show, a progressive talk radio program produced in Los Angeles and syndicated nationally by Dial Global. Talkers magazine ranked her as the 24th most important radio talk show host in America for 2010.-Early...
. Aside from coverage of sporting events locally produced programming is limited to the weekends.
Early history
WKBW was founded in 1925 as a religious station, operating at the frequency of 1380 kHz. As the story goes, founder Clinton Churchill applied to the FCCFederal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
for a license to operate under the call signs WAY. That call sign, however, was being used for a ship at sea, so instead, Churchill chose the letters "WKBW," which were next in the random assignment pool. Churchill proclaimed the call letters to stand for "Well Known Bible Witness"; later usage referred to the middle letters "KB" standing for King of Buffalo (alluding to its 50,000 watt broadcast power).
WKBW changed frequencies from 1380 kHz to 1480 kHz in the late 1920s 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....
, and raised its power to 5,000 watts—the first Buffalo station to raise its power to that level. In March 1941 WKBW inaugurated a new transmitter plant south of Buffalo in the town of Hamburg, increased power to 50,000 watts around the clock and shifted to its current dial position at 1520 kHz as a result of NARBA
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...
.
The station later broadcast a wide variety of ethnic, country and western
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 religious programming, including pioneer rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
and rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
shows launched in the 1950s by disk jockey George "Hounddog" Lorenz, later founder of pioneer FM urban station WBLK
WBLK
WBLK is an Urban contemporary FM radio station licensed to Depew that serves Buffalo. WBLK plays the musical genres of hip hop, R&B, urban contemporary gospel, and soul. WBLK celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2005, making WBLK the oldest urban FM radio station in the United States of America. Its...
.
Top 40 Era
In 1958, a few months before companion station WKBW-TVWKBW-TV
WKBW-TV, channel 7, is the ABC affiliate for the Buffalo, New York television market, and is one of many local Buffalo TV stations seen over-the-air and on cable in Canada. Its transmitter is located at 8909 Center Street in Colden. The station is owned by the Granite Broadcasting Corporation, who...
(channel 7) was launched, WKBW radio was converted into a personality-driven full service Top 40 music radio
Music radio
Music radio is a radio format in which music is the main broadcast content. After television replaced old time radio's dramatic content, music formats became dominant in many countries...
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. Capital Cities Communications
Capital Cities Communications
Capital Cities redirects here. For the article about the seat of a government, see Capital .Capital Cities Communications was an American media company best known for its surprise purchase of the much larger American Broadcasting Company in 1985...
, then known as Capital Cities Broadcasting, purchased the WKBW stations from Clinton Churchill in 1961.
On Halloween Night 1968, writer Dan Kriegler and then-program director Jefferson Kaye (now the voice of 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...
in Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, which would become co-owned with WKBW-TV in 1971) commemorated the then-30th anniversary of Orson Welles' 1938 War Of The Worlds
The War of the Worlds (radio)
The War of the Worlds was an episode of the American radio drama anthology series Mercury Theatre on the Air. It was performed as a Halloween episode of the series on October 30, 1938, and aired over the Columbia Broadcasting System radio network. Directed and narrated by actor and future filmmaker...
by re-making the infamous broadcast, updating the storyline and changing locations to make it significant to Buffalo listeners. (you can read more about it here
The War of the Worlds (radio 1968)
The War of the Worlds was a radio drama, originally aired by Buffalo, New York radio station WKBW on October 31, 1968. It was a modernized version of the original radio drama aired by CBS in 1938.-Martians in Buffalo?:...
.) Kaye (best known in much of the US as the voice of NFL Films) did another equally well-received remake of "War of the Worlds" in 1971 using a revised script and some new cast members from among the staffers on hand at the time, including Jackson Armstrong and newsmen Jim McLaughlin and Joe Downey. Debate continues among radio buffs in the eastern U.S. as to which of Kaye's two versions of "War of the Worlds" was the best.
During the 1960s and early 1970s, WKBW became a major force in pop radio over the East Coast. KB had a 50,000 watt transmitter (the maximum power allowed) at their transmitter site in Hamburg, New York. This high power caused WKBW to blanket the entire eastern U.S. with top 40 music every night, and the station actually had a better signal at night in the western Boston suburbs, than Boston's own top 40 station, WMEX, located at 1510, right next door to WKBW at 1520. Disk jockeys included future Price is Right announcer Rod Roddy
Rod Roddy
Robert Ray "Rod" Roddy was an American radio and television announcer. He is primarily known for his role as an offstage announcer on game shows. Among the shows that he announced are the CBS game shows Whew!, Press Your Luck and The Price Is Right. On the latter two, Roddy appeared on camera on...
, Dick Biondi
Dick Biondi
Dick Biondi is an American Top 40 and Oldies disc jockey. Calling himself "The Wild I-tralian", he was one of the original "screamers," known for his screaming delivery as well as his wild antics on the air and off. In a 1988 interview, Biondi related he had been fired 23 times; both fits of...
, Danny Neaverth
Danny Neaverth
Dan "Danny" Neaverth is an American disc jockey and television personality from Buffalo, New York. He is best known for a run of over 25 years as the morning disc jockey at heritage top-40 and oldies station WKBW-AM/WWKB in Buffalo....
, Sandy Beach, Jack Armstrong
Big Jack Armstrong
Big Jack Armstrong , aka Jack Armstrong, Jackson W...
, Joey Reynolds
Joey Reynolds
Joey Reynolds is the pseudonym of Joey Pinto, host of the U.S. radio program The Joey Reynolds Show via the WOR Radio Network. Reynolds' broadcasting career started on TV- in Buffalo at WGR TV 2...
, Steve Mitchell
Steve Mitchell
Steve Mitchell is a retired American basketball player for the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He was selected with the 12th pick in the second round of the 1986 NBA Draft by the Washington Bullets.-Notes:...
, Bud Ballou
Bud Ballou
Bud Ballou was an American disc jockey and radio personality active for fifteen years on several commercial radio stations during the 1960s and 1970s....
, Norm Marshall
Norm Marshall
Norm Marshall was a Canadian radio and television broadcaster. He and Larry O'Brien were commentators for the first telecast of a Grey Cup football game 29 November 1952 on CBLT Toronto. CBC paid both Marshall and O'Brien CAD$250 for this inaugural broadcast.-Biography:Marshall's radio...
, Tom Shannon
The Rebels (band)
The Rebels were a surf music band from Buffalo, New York known for their instrumental "Wild Weekend." The personnel on the recorded version was Mickey Kipler-Tenor Sax, Jim Kipler-Lead Guitar, Paul Balon-Rhythm Guitar and Tom Gorman-Drums...
, and the Amazin' Jim Quinn
Jim Quinn
Jim Quinn is an American radio talk show host based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His program, The War Room with Quinn and Rose, is aired on 12 stations across the U.S. and is also heard on XM Satellite Radio Channel 166 from 6–9 a.m...
. Irv Weinstein
Irv Weinstein
Irwin "Irv" Weinstein is a retired local television news anchor. He hosted WKBW-TV's Eyewitness News in Buffalo, New York, for 34 years, from 1964 to 1998, becoming an iconic broadcaster well known in both the Buffalo area and in Southern Ontario, which was within WKBW's broadcast area. Weinstein...
, later Buffalo's most popular television news anchor, served as news director.
In 1969, WKBW became the first radio station to air material from the Beatles' unreleased Get Back album. The recordings had been compiled out of material the Beatles recorded in London in January 1969, the same sessions that would be used to create the Beatles' Let It Be album, which was released in May 1970. Although WKBW was the first station to air the "Get Back" tapes, WBCN in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
would be better known for playing them, as its broadcast of the tapes was preserved on a high-quality reel, which spawned several widely-circulated Beatles bootlegs.
A recreated example of WKBW as an early 1960s-era pop radio station can be found on Ron Jacobs' "Cruisin' 1960" (Increase Records INCR 5-2005). This recreation features Dick Biondi
Dick Biondi
Dick Biondi is an American Top 40 and Oldies disc jockey. Calling himself "The Wild I-tralian", he was one of the original "screamers," known for his screaming delivery as well as his wild antics on the air and off. In a 1988 interview, Biondi related he had been fired 23 times; both fits of...
and includes several classic rock and pop songs of that era, contemporary commercials, and DJ patter.
The '80s and '90s
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 radioTalk 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...
shows in the evenings by 1984.
In 1986, the WKBW stations were broken up as a result of Capital Cities' purchase of the American Broadcasting Company
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. WKBW radio was sold to Price Communications, who subsequently changed the station's call letters to the current WWKB, mainly in order to keep the long-standing "KB" slogan (the former calls remained on now-former sister station WKBW-TV, which Capital Cities/ABC would 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
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...
station and had a variety of business, sports, news, and talk programming until 2003.
During the "talk" era the station, between 1993 and 1996, tried to launch a hot talk format on the station, acquiring J. R. Gach
J. R. Gach
Jay Robert "J.R." Gach is a controversial talk radio host and shock jock from Schenectady, New York.Gach was born in 1952 to Joseph Harry Gach , a retired army colonel, and Dorothy Louise Shive...
from WGR
WGR
WGR, or WGR Sports Radio 550, is an all sports radio station in Buffalo, New York that broadcasts on 550 AM. It is the flagship station of the Buffalo Sabres and the Buffalo Bandits, and is currently the only full-time sports talk station in the city of Buffalo. Its studios are located in Amherst,...
as the afternoon drive show and established syndicated hot talkers The Howard Stern Show (by this time now almost exclusively on the FM dial), G. Gordon Liddy
G. Gordon Liddy
George Gordon Liddy was the chief operative for the White House Plumbers unit that existed from July–September 1971, during Richard Nixon's presidency. Separately, along with E. Howard Hunt, Liddy organized and directed the Watergate burglaries of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in...
, Laura Schlessinger
Laura Schlessinger
Laura Catherine Schlessinger is an American talk radio host, socially conservative commentator and author. Her radio program consists mainly of her responses to callers' requests for personal advice and has occasionally featured her short monologues on social and political topics...
, The Fabulous Sports Babe
The Fabulous Sports Babe
Nanci Donnellan, best known by her title of "The Fabulous Sports Babe," is an American sports radio broadcaster, currently broadcasting on WHBO in the Tampa Bay, Florida area. She is best known nationally for being syndicated across the United States on both ESPN Radio and ESPN2, from 1994 until 2001...
, Tom Leykis
Tom Leykis
Thomas Joseph Leykis is an American radio personality. He currently hosts The Tasting Room with Tom Leykis, a weekly lifestyle program dealing with fine food and drink, airing weekends mainly in West Coast markets...
and (briefly, before Gach's arrival) Don and Mike
Don and Mike
The Don and Mike Show was an American nationally syndicated radio talk show hosted by the shock jocks Don Geronimo and Mike O'Meara, which aired from December 1985 through April 2008, when Geronimo retired in order to focus on his personal life. After Geronimo's retirement, the remaining cast...
. John Otto
John Otto (radio personality)
John Otto was a radio talk show host in Buffalo, New York. He began his broadcasting career in the 1940s at the age of 19 at WBNY 1400 AM which has since changed its call sign. He spent most of his radio career doing an evening listener call in show branded Extension 55 at WGR...
hosted a late night program in this era. Stern's and Gach's presence was not enough to revive interest in the AM dial in Buffalo, and by 1996 the format was flipped again 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...
(this despite there being three other country stations in Buffalo, 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....
, WNUC
WLKK
WLKK is an American radio station located in Wethersfield, New York. Broadcasting on the frequency of 107.7 MHz, the station is currently owned by Entercom Communications and is operated out of the company's studios in Amherst, New York, a suburb of Buffalo...
and WXRL
WXRL
WXRL is an AM radio station located in Lancaster, New York, serving the greater Buffalo market. The station is owned and operated by Ramblin' Lou Schriver, a well known local country music performer, under the name Dome Communications.-History:...
). Following that in 1998 was an all sports format, and eventually, when purchased by the current ownership, syndicated business talk (which proved unpopular in the troubled economy of 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...
but cheap to maintain).
Price Communications filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1992. After a major company reorganization, WWKB was sold to Keymarket Communications (which also acquired WBEN
WBEN (AM)
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...
radio) in 1994. Keymarket then sold both WWKB and WBEN to St. Louis-based River City Broadcasting in 1995. Sinclair Broadcast Group
Sinclair Broadcast Group
The Sinclair Broadcast Group is an American telecommunications company that operates the largest number of local television stations in the United States. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, it owns a total of 57 stations across the country in 35 primarily small and medium markets, many of...
acquired WWKB and WBEN in 1996 through its purchase of River City. In 1999, Sinclair decided to exit radio station ownership, selling most of its radio stations, including WWKB, WBEN and WGR
WGR
WGR, or WGR Sports Radio 550, is an all sports radio station in Buffalo, New York that broadcasts on 550 AM. It is the flagship station of the Buffalo Sabres and the Buffalo Bandits, and is currently the only full-time sports talk station in the city of Buffalo. Its studios are located in Amherst,...
(the latter being acquired by Sinclair in 1997), to Entercom Communications
Entercom Communications
Entercom Communications Corporation is the fourth-largest broadcasting company in the United States. As of November 2009, Entercom operates 110 radio stations in 23 markets across the United States....
.
The Legend Returns
On January 27, 2003, WWKB returned to music, playing oldies from the 1950s and 1960s, featuring artists such as Elvis PresleyElvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
, Frankie Lymon
Frankie Lymon
Franklin Joseph "Frankie" Lymon was an American rock and roll/rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, best known as the boy soprano lead singer of a New York City-based early rock and roll group, The Teenagers. The group was composed of five boys, all in their early to mid teens...
, The Four Seasons
The Four Seasons (group)
The Four Seasons are an American rock and pop band who became internationally successful in the mid-1960s. The Vocal Group Hall of Fame has stated that the group was the most popular rock band before The Beatles...
, The Four Tops, The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers are country-influenced rock and roll performers, known for steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing...
, Fats Domino
Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
, Ricky Nelson
Ricky Nelson
Eric Hilliard Nelson , better known as Ricky Nelson or Rick Nelson, was an American singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, and actor...
, Lovin Spoonful, and many others. The oldies format was an attempt to recreate the station's history as a popular music station, and while they maintained the official WWKB calls for station identification
Station identification
Station identification is the practice of radio or television stations or networks identifying themselves on air, typically by means of a call sign or brand name...
, they also played the original "WKBW Buffalo" jingles and featured many of the classic WKBW jocks including Armstrong and Neaverth. While not performing very well in Arbitron
Arbitron
Arbitron is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio audiences. It was founded as American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging with L.A. based Coffin, Cooper and Clay in the early 1950s...
ratings, the revived "WKBW" earned the best ratings for the station since the 1990s, with approximately a 2 share.
WWKB Today
Nevertheless, Entercom found the personality oldies format too expensive to maintain for only a 2 share and so on February 6, 2006, WWKB ended a three year run as an oldies station with a format change to progressive talk. A syndicated overnight show hosted by former WKBW personality Joey Reynolds survived the format change. The move was a hasty attempt to block brokered stationBrokered programming
Brokered programming is a form of broadcast content in which the show's producer pays a radio or television station for air time, rather than exchanging programming for pay or the opportunity to play spot commercials...
WHLD
WHLD
WHLD is an AM radio station licensed to Niagara Falls, New York with an adult standards format. The station resides at 1270 kHz on the dial and is owned by Citadel Communications.-History and programming:...
from successfully adopting a liberal talk format, sap its listeners and protect right leaning talk format sister station WBEN. Despite an increase in transmission power, WHLD found that Air America with local morning talk format unsustainable and dropped the format for the Totally Gospel Radio Network programming in December 2006.
WWKB still maintains a liberal talk format. On April 16, 2008 the station started airing Randi Rhodes
Randi Rhodes
Randi Rhodes is an American progressive talk radio personality, formerly featured on Air America Radio and Nova M Radio and now on Premiere Radio Networks. Her eponymous program, The Randi Rhodes Show, airs live Monday through Friday from 3 pm to 6 pm Eastern Time.-Early life:Rhodes was born in...
of the Nova-M Radio network, who was recently fired from Air America.
The classic "WKBW" was honored by XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio is one of two satellite radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Radio. It provides pay-for-service radio, analogous to cable television. Its service includes 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional...
on November 30, 2007 in a five-hour "Sonic Sound Salute" on The 60s on 6
The 60s on 6
The '60s on 6 is a commercial-free, satellite radio station on the Sirius XM Radio platform. It plays music from the 1960s and early '70s, mostly Top 10 hits from the second half of the decade. Airing on XM since 2001, the channel became available to Sirius subscribers on November 12, 2008,...
.
On July 3, 2008, ForgottenBuffalo.com celebrated the 50th anniversary of KB's format switch to Top 40 with a sidewalk sock hop. The event was held in front of the original studios located at 1430 Main Street in Buffalo. KB alumni Danny Neaverth, Stan Roberts and Tom Donahue attended. A limited edition poster commemorating the anniversary was produced.
Broadcast range
WWKB has a 50 kW (50,000 watt) transmitter located in Hamburg, New YorkHamburg (village), New York
Hamburg is a village in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 10,116 at the 2000 census. The village is reportedly named after Hamburg, a city in Germany...
, with an antenna designed for maximum nighttime range. Transcontinental range has been reported. During the exclusive Monkees "Sleepy Jean"/"Daydream Believer
Daydream Believer
"Daydream Believer" is a song composed by John Stewart shortly before he left the Kingston Trio. The song was originally recorded by The Monkees, with Davy Jones singing lead vocals. The single hit the number one spot on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in December 1967, remaining there for four...
" broadcast in 1967, a recording was made in Sidi Yahia, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
.
WWKB's signal is prohibited from transmitting westward due to the station sharing a frequency with KOKC
KOKC (AM)
KOKC is a talk radio station located in Oklahoma City among a cluster of stations in the market owned by Pennsylvania-based Renda Broadcasting. KOKC is an affiliate of the CBS Radio Network.-The early years:...
in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...
(the former KOMA, another flame-throwing 50,000-watt top 40 powerhouse in the 1960s and 1970s). Thus, the station can be heard up and down the eastern coast of the United States at night, but despite its 50,000 watt signal, it cannot be heard 20 miles to the southwest. Its directional quality is due to the configuration of its transmitter tower array, which has resulted in some humorous consequences, such as the station being commonly heard very well in parts of Sweden at night during the winter months. A group of Scandinavian radio reception enthusiasts
DXing
DXing is the hobby of tuning in and identifying distant radio or television signals, or making two way radio contact with distant stations in amateur radio, citizens' band radio or other two way radio communications. Many DXers also attempt to receive written verifications of reception from the...
actually travelled to the United States to have a conference at a Camp Road motel, with the purpose of viewing the array for themselves, apparently to photograph and measure it. Residents of the neighborhood remain largely unaware that the antenna array is internationally famous for sending the 1520 signal all the way to the outskirts of Stockholm on a regular basis!
There have been ongoing reports for the past several years that allege Entercom has cut back WWKB's signal power to 10,000 watts in an effort to save power. Entercom has not filed with the FCC to do so and such a signal reduction has yet to be confirmed.
Weekday Offering
- All programming in this list is syndicated and airs live.
- The Bill Press Show
- The Stephanie Miller ShowThe Stephanie Miller ShowThe Stephanie Miller Show is a syndicated progressive talk radio program that discusses politics, current events, and pop culture using a fast-paced, impromptu style. The three-hour show is hosted by comedienne Stephanie Miller along with voice artist Jim Ward and the show's engineer and executive...
- The Ed Schultz ShowThe Ed Schultz ShowThe Ed Schultz Show is a radio program hosted by Ed Schultz. It was formerly broadcast from KFGO in Fargo, North Dakota. It is heard on a network of over 100 stations , including seven of the 10 largest radio markets...
- The Randi Rhodes ShowThe Randi Rhodes ShowThe Randi Rhodes Show is a three-hour radio program in the United States hosted by Randi Rhodes combining live interview, call-in and commentary with a progressive bent. The show is currently syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks. The show had previously aired over the now-defunct Air America Radio...
- The Leslie Marshall ShowLeslie MarshallLeslie Marshall has been a liberal radio talk host since 1988 and a commentator on national television since 2001. Leslie became the youngest person ever to be nationally syndicated on radio when she replaced Tom Snyder on the ABC Satellite Radio Network in 1992...
- The Alan Colmes ShowThe Alan Colmes ShowThe Alan Colmes Show is a nationally-syndicated American radio show hosted by commentator Alan Colmes on Fox News Radio.The show is aired on weeknights from 10:00 p.m.-1:00 a.m. from Fox's New York City studios...
- The Phil Hendrie ShowThe Phil Hendrie ShowThe Phil Hendrie Show is a comedy talk radio program. The show is syndicated throughout North America on Talk Radio Network. It is known for outrageous guests, the majority of whom are fictional and voiced live by the host, Phil Hendrie...
Sports coverage
- Buffalo BanditsBuffalo BanditsThe Buffalo Bandits are a team in the National Lacrosse League . They play at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York. The Bandits played in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League from 1992 to 1997, until the MILL turned into the NLL in 1998....
Lacrosse (in season) - 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 (in season) - Syracuse UniversitySyracuse UniversitySyracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
football and basketball (in season) - NFL on Westwood OneNFL on Westwood OneThe NFL on Westwood One is the brand name given to weekly National Football League games carried on the radio over the Dial Global Radio Network...
(in season, overflow from WGR when WGR does Bills postgame)
Of the hosts, Marshall, Reynolds and Miller have all worked in the Buffalo area in the past. Miller is a native of Lockport, NY, where she started her radio career on hometown WLVL
WLVL
WLVL is a radio station broadcasting a News Talk Information format. Licensed to Lockport, New York, USA, the station serves the Buffalo-Niagara Falls area. The station is currently owned by Culver Communications Corp., Inc...
and later worked at the station now known as WHTT
WHTT
WHTT-FM 104.1 FM, is a commercial radio station based in Buffalo, New York United States. The station has a classic hits format and is known by the name "104.1 WHTT".WHTT is owned by Cumulus Media. Its transmitter is located in Buffalo....
. Reynolds was a DJ on WKBW and WGR many years ago, and Marshall was a host on WGR as well as a substitute host on WBEN
WBEN (AM)
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...
.
The station had broadcast a "local" program hosted by Marshall remotely until 2007, when Ed Schultz moved his syndicated show into Marshall's slot and Air America's Randi Rhodes became available thanks to rival WHLD
WHLD
WHLD is an AM radio station licensed to Niagara Falls, New York with an adult standards format. The station resides at 1270 kHz on the dial and is owned by Citadel Communications.-History and programming:...
dropping Air America. Marshall returned to the station in July 2007 when her syndicated show was picked up in the evening slot. However, beginning April 2008, Marshall's show was frequently pre-empted as the Buffalo Bisons
Buffalo Bisons
The 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...
, who had spent the past three years on WECK
WECK
WECK is a radio station located in the Buffalo, New York, area. Founded in 1956 as WNIA, the station currently is owned by Culver Communications...
and WSPQ, returned to WWKB for the 2008 season.
Weekends consists of locally produced paid programs and public affairs such as "Buffalo Works", "Power Talk", "Car Connection", "Feel-Rite Nutrition Today", and "The Dollar Doctors Show", "The Rusk Report" and "On Target with Penny Wolfgang".
WWKB is the overflow channel for WGR
WGR
WGR, or WGR Sports Radio 550, is an all sports radio station in Buffalo, New York that broadcasts on 550 AM. It is the flagship station of the Buffalo Sabres and the Buffalo Bandits, and is currently the only full-time sports talk station in the city of Buffalo. Its studios are located in Amherst,...
sports; when WGR has to air two sporting events at once, the more important event usually airs on WGR and the lesser event airs on WWKB. However, its 50,000-watt signal has made the station desirable for the city's second-tier sports teams: the Buffalo Bandits
Buffalo Bandits
The Buffalo Bandits are a team in the National Lacrosse League . They play at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York. The Bandits played in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League from 1992 to 1997, until the MILL turned into the NLL in 1998....
have aired on the station since the 2006 season (moving from WGR
WGR
WGR, or WGR Sports Radio 550, is an all sports radio station in Buffalo, New York that broadcasts on 550 AM. It is the flagship station of the Buffalo Sabres and the Buffalo Bandits, and is currently the only full-time sports talk station in the city of Buffalo. Its studios are located in Amherst,...
where it took the place of the locked-out Sabres in 2005), the Buffalo Bulls
Buffalo Bulls
The Buffalo Bulls are the athletic teams representing the University at Buffalo in intercollegiate athletics. The Bulls currently play in Division I , and are a member of the Mid-American Conference for all sports except women's rowing who is in the Cononial Athletic Assocition . They have been a...
basketball team, and, on and off, the Buffalo Bisons
Buffalo Bisons
The 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...
, who moved back to the frequency in April 2008.
External links
- Forgotten Buffalo Pictures of 1430 Main Street Studios & History of KB in 1958
- WKBW Radio Tribute Website
- Cruisin' 1960 on reelradio.com
- WWKB website
Portions of this page reference the Buffalo Broadcast Pioneers Visit website at www.BuffaloBroadcasters.com