| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Space Coast |
| Frequency | 1510kHz |
| Branding | The Christian Voice of Brevard |
| Programming | |
| Format | Religious |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Astro Enterprises, Inc. |
| Operator | Kim Kassis |
| WMIE-FM | |
| History | |
First air date | July 11, 1964 (1964-7-11) |
Call sign meaning | "Wonderful World of Brevard County"[1] |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 3071 |
| Class | D |
| Power |
|
Transmitter coordinates | 28°21′12.00″N80°46′45.00″W / 28.3533333°N 80.7791667°W /28.3533333; -80.7791667 |
| Translator(s) | See § Translators |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | 1510wwbc |
WWBC (1510kHz) is acommercialAMradio stationlicensed toCocoa, Florida, United States, and serving theSpace Coast. It airs a Christian talk and teachingradio format and is owned by Astro Enterprises, Inc.
By day, WWBC is powered at 50,000watts. WWBC is adaytimer, required to go off the air at night to avoid interference to other stations; duringcritical hours, the station is powered at 25,000 watts. It uses adirectional antenna at all times. Programming is heard around the clock on threeFM translator stations at 94.7, 99.9 and 100.7MHz.
The Blue Crystal Broadcasting Corporation, owned by William Earman, received aconstruction permit on January 27, 1964,[3] to build a new daytime-only radio station on 1510 kHz in Cocoa. The stationsigned on July 11, with the transmitter mounted in the water in theIndian River at the Island Point Marina, and studios on Forrest Avenue.[4] The station broadcast a pop music format.[1]
Two years after building the station, Earman sold WWBC in order to become general manager of the Cocoa Chamber of Commerce. The new owners, Astro Enterprises, mostly consisted of employees of another station in town.[5] Under Astro, WWBC began broadcasting acountry music format.[6] Ownership in Astro Enterprises completely turned over in 1975, when the company was sold to a group headed by Raymond A. Kassis ofBaltimore.[7] The station had already carried some religious programs, but under Kassis, aborn-again Christian, WWBC shifted to a primarily religious format, airing local and national fare, along with some country music.[8]
Kassis announced in 1977 his intention to apply for television channel 52 for a station focused on family programming.[9] His bid opened the door for other applicants to file; one, Good Life Broadcasting, proposing a similar service, prompted Kassis to claim that the competitor had "blundered" by "taking a brother to court".[10] The two parties would settle in late 1980, with The Good Life winning a construction permit forWTGL.[11] Kassis would later start theNational Christian Network from facilities shared with WWBC in Cocoa,[12] which were also rented for use as an uplink facility bySheridan Broadcasting Networks.[13]
Four years after the Kassis purchase, the station was approved to increase daytime power to 1,000 watts.[3] On December 2, 1984, Kassis startedWMIE-FM 91.5, a noncommercial station also with a Christian format and oriented to the Black community.[13]
WWBC was required to relocate its transmitter from the Island Point site when it was sold to condominium developers in the early 2000s.[14][15] The new transmitter location was the former location of defunctWKKO (860 AM).[16]
Kassis died in 2016.[17] The intellectual unit ofWMEL, which had moved among several stations in the Melbourne–Cocoa area, began broadcasting for a time on WWBC and its translators on November 1, 2016, as John Harper leased out the station.[18]
| Call sign | Frequency | City of license | FID | ERP (W) | HAAT | Class | FCC info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W234BI | 94.7 FM | Cocoa, Florida | 156428 | 125 | 76 m (249 ft) | D | LMS |
| W260CL | 99.9 FM | Cocoa, Florida | 146519 | 250 | 56 m (184 ft) | D | LMS |
| W264AS | 100.7 FM | Melbourne, Florida | 144128 | 250 | 141 m (463 ft) | D | LMS |