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| Broadcast area | Long Island |
| Frequency | 102.3MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | 102.3 WBAB |
| Programming | |
| Format | Classic rock |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| WBLI,WHFM | |
| History | |
First air date | August 27, 1958; 67 years ago (1958-08-27) |
Former call signs | WBAB-FM (1958–2003)[1] |
Call sign meaning | Babylon Bay Shore Broadcasting (original owner) |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 71199 |
| Class | A |
| ERP |
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| HAAT | 82 meters (269 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 40°47′58″N73°20′8″W / 40.79944°N 73.33556°W /40.79944; -73.33556 (WBAB) |
| Repeater | 95.3 WHFM (Southampton) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | www |
WBAB (102.3FM) is acommercial radio stationlicensed toBabylon, New York. It is owned byCox Radio with studios and offices on Sunrise Highway (New York State Route 27) inWest Babylon. Morning duo "Roger & JP" (Roger Luce and John Parise) began hosting the morning show in January 2000.[3] WBAB andsister station WHFM (95.3 FM, licensed to Southampton,simulcast aclassic rock radio format forLong Island.
WBAB has aneffective radiated power (ERP) of 6,000 watts, itstransmitter is off theLong Island Expressway South Service Road inDix Hills. WBAB's signal coversWestern Suffolk County and part ofNassau County, while WHFM's signal coversLong Island's East End.
The stationsigned on the air on August 27, 1958, as WBAB-FM.[4] In its early years, it simulcastWBAB (1440 AM). Because the AM station was adaytimer, WBAB-FM could continue its programming in the evening, when the AM station had to go silent. The stations were owned by Bay Shore Broadcasting. At the time, WBAB-FM was powered at only 670 watts, a fraction of its current output.
In the 1970s, the stations had aTop 40 format.[5] In September 1975, the simulcast ended. AM 1440 adopted aGospel music format as WNYG.[6] WBAB-FM shifted its focus to analbum rock sound. By the early 2000s, WBAB began concentrating on the top rock songs of the 1960s, 70s and 80s, becoming a classic rock station.
On the morning of Wednesday, May 17, 2006, the station's signal was hijacked for about 90 seconds.[7] During that time, the signal jammers broadcast the song "Nigger Hatin' Me" by the 1960s-erawhite supremacistcountry music singerJohnny Rebel.
Roger Luce, the station's morning host, said at the time, "I've never seen this in 22 years at this radio station... Whatever that was - it was very racist."[8] The next morning, it made the front page ofNewsday with the headline "JACKED FM". The station's new general manager, John Shea, said, "I've only been here a week and we get hijacked." Former program director John Olsen said, "This was not some child's prank, this was a federal offense."[7][9]
The hijack was likely accomplished by overpowering thestudio transmitter link (STL) signal to the transmitter inDix Hills, New York. A signal hijacking with the same song happened to WBAB'ssister stationWBLI (106.1 FM) about two weeks earlier.[10]