| Broadcast area | Jacksonville metropolitan area |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 600kHz |
| Branding | Talkradio AM 600 & FM 101.1 WBOB |
| Programming | |
| Format | Talk radio |
| Network | Townhall News |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Chesapeake-Portsmouth Broadcasting Corporation |
| WMUV | |
| History | |
First air date | December 9, 1933 (91 years ago) (1933-12-09) |
Former call signs |
|
Call sign meaning | We're Bob |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 53588 |
| Class | B |
| Power |
|
Transmitter coordinates | 30°18′0″N81°45′29″W / 30.30000°N 81.75806°W /30.30000; -81.75806 |
| Translator | 101.1 W266CX (Fruit Cove) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | www |
WBOB (600kHz) is acommercialAMradio station inJacksonville, Florida. The station airs atalkradio format and is owned by Chesapeake-Portsmouth Broadcasting Corporation.[2] Weekdays begin with a local news and information show, followed by mostlysyndicated programming, including shows fromMark Levin,Mike Gallagher,Charlie Kirk,Dave Ramsey,Clay Travis, Buck Sexton andRed Eye Radio. Most hours begin withTownhall News. Some hours are paidbrokered programming. The station calls itself "Talkradio AM 600 & FM 101.1 WBOB".
By day, WBOB transmits with 50,000watts, the maximum power permitted for commercial AM stations by theFederal Communications Commission (FCC). At night, to protect other stations onAM 600, it reduces power to 9,700 watts. Adirectional antenna, located off Lenox Avenue in Jacksonville, is used at all times.[3] Listeners in Jacksonville and adjacent communities can also hear WBOB onFMtranslator station W266CX at 101.1 inFruit Cove, Florida.
On December 9, 1933, the stationsigned on as WMBR, on 1270kilocycles.[4] It was owned by the Florida Broadcasting Company and transmitted using 100 watts. In the 1940s, WMBR moved first to 1400 kHz and transmitting with 250 watts, then move to 1460 kHz and increased its power to 5,000 watts.[5] WMBR was aCBS RadioNetwork affiliate, and carried its schedule of dramas, comedies, news, sports,soap operas,game shows andbig band broadcasts during theGolden Age of Radio.
In 1948, it added an FM station, WMBR-FM (nowWEJZ), and in 1949, it put a TV station on the air, WMBR-TV (nowWJXT). WMBR-TV was the first TV station in Jacksonville and carried programming from all the major networks initially.
Meanwhile, in 1942, another AM station went on the air in Jacksonville: WJDC on 1270 kHz.[6] It was owned by the Jacksonville Broadcasting Company. In a few years, it had moved to 600 kHz. It changed itscall sign to WPDQ and was anABC affiliate. Henderson Belk, a North Carolina businessman, purchased WPDQ in 1964 fromBrush-Moore Newspapers.[7]
In the 1960s and early 1970s, WPDQ carried aTop 40 format, while WMBR stayed with itsfull servicemiddle of the road (MOR) format. In 1975, after Belk sold the station to Robert Rounsaville of Atlanta,[8] the two stations made a switch. WMBR took the better frequency of 600 kHz, describing its format as "Bright MOR Personality." WPDQ moved higher up the dial to WMBR's old frequency, 1460 kHz, continuing its Top 40 format.[9]
In 1977, AM 600 switched its call sign to WSNY, calling itself "Sunny 60", although the format remained the same. Then, in 1980, the call sign were changed to WAIV, and begansimulcasting Top 40 programming from its FMsister station WAIV-FM, known as "The Big Wave".
pop country became the new format in 1981 with a call sign change to WOKV, known as "OK 60 The Unrock". Music continued on WOKV through the 1980s, with various adjustments from pop country toadult contemporary tooldies. In 1986, the station was bought byEZ Communications.[10] AM 600 would then flip to anews/talk format, and was Jacksonville's original home of thesyndicatedRush Limbaugh Show.
In 1994, Prism Radio Partners acquired the former WAPE, "The Big Ape". WAPE had Jacksonville's best AM signal, transmitting with 50,000 watts by daynon-directional, and 10,000 watts at night with a directional signal. The WOKV callsign and news/talk programming was moved to 690 AM; the WPDQ callsign was again returned to AM 600, and flipped to anadult standards format.
In 1996, WPDQ flipped to sports talk as "The Ball"; concurrent with the flip, WPDQ changed call sign to WBWL.
Cox Radio purchased the station in 1999, and in April 2002, WBWL was sold toThe Walt Disney Company, and became Jacksonville's affiliate forRadio Disney on August 1 of that year.
children's/contemporary hit radio programming lasted until October 1, 2010, when Radio Disney sold WBWL to Chesapeake-Portsmouth Broadcasting Corporation. The call sign were changed to WBOB, and the format flipped toconservative talk radio, featuringBill Bennett's Morning in America,Laura Ingraham andGlenn Beck, along with a variety of local news and talk programming.
As of the 2014 season, WBOB broadcasts games from theJacksonville SharksArena Football League. Also in the mid-2010s, WBOB got a power boost, going from 5,000 watts day and night, to 50,000 watts in the daytime and 9,700 watts at night.