| Broadcast area | Fort Myers, Florida |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 770kHz |
| Branding | ESPN Southwest Florida |
| Programming | |
| Format | Sports |
| Affiliations | ESPN Radio Florida Everblades Tampa Bay Buccaneers Radio Network Tampa Bay Rays Radio Network Westwood One |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WJPT,WRXK-FM,WWCN,WXKB | |
| History | |
First air date | December 17, 1983; 41 years ago (1983-12-17) |
Former call signs |
|
Call sign meaning | "Boston Concert Network". Call sign is parked from its heritage use at104.1 FM in Boston |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 4437 |
| Class | B |
| Power |
|
Transmitter coordinates | 26°46′30″N81°50′51″W / 26.775°N 81.8475°W /26.775; -81.8475 |
| Translator | See § Translators |
| Repeater | 96.1 WRXK-FM HD2 (Bonita Springs) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | espnswfl.com |
WBCN (770kHz), branded as "ESPN Southwest Florida", is acommercialAMradio station broadcasting asports radioformat.Licensed toNorth Fort Myers, Florida, the station is owned byBeasley Broadcast Group, Inc., through licensee Beasley Media Group, LLC.
Using adirectional antenna, WBCN broadcasts with 10,000watts by day. Because770 kHz is aclear channel frequency reserved forClass AWABC inNew York City, WBCN must reduce power at night to 630 watts to avoid interference. Thetransmitter is off Huffmaster Road in North Fort Myers and the studios and offices are on South Tamiami Trail inEstero, Florida.[2] In addition to its AM signal, WBCN uses twoFMtranslators to air its programming: 104.3 W282BY and 98.1 W251AL, both in Fort Myers.[3]
WBCN carriesTampa Bay Raysbaseball,Tampa Bay Buccaneersfootball,Florida Gators football,Florida EverbladesECHL hockey,Westwood One coverage of theNational Football League, along withFlorida Gulf Coast University basketball. The station has also carriedFlorida Firecats football,Miami Hurricanes football,Florida State Seminoles football,Miami Marlins baseball andFort Myers Miracle baseball in the past.[4]
WBCN used to broadcastNBA,Major League Baseball, andcollege football games fromESPN Radio.NASCAR races fromMotor Racing Network andPerformance Racing Network moved to the then-WWCN fromWCKT in 2006.Miami Dolphins games not aired onWRXK-FM, mostly in the preseason, are heard on WBCN, which carried the team full-time before picking upNASCAR.
WBCN firstsigned on the air on December 17, 1983, asbig band station WKZY.[5] In 1987, the station was acquired by Beasley Broadcasting, switching the format tooldies as WZRZ.[6] The station also spent time as asoft adult contemporary outlet and also playedactive rock for a time.
For much of the 1990s and early 2000s, it used thecall letters WWCN, originally as a radioaffiliate ofCNN Headline News and later as a talk station. On June 20, 2013, WWCN begansimulcasting therock music programming on WJBX 99.3 FM, swapping call letters. (AM 770 became WJBX and FM 99.3 became WWCN.)
On June 28, 2013, WJBX dropped its simulcast with WWCN 99.3 FM and switched toSpanish-languagesports radio, with programming from theESPN Deportes Radio Network.
On June 16, 2016, WJBX changed its format back to talk.[7] The station primarily carriednationally syndicated talk shows, includingDave Ramsey,Brian Kilmeade,Hugh Hewitt,Todd Schnitt andThis Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal. Weekend hosts includedLarry Elder,Sebastian Gorka,Eric Metaxas,The Jesus Christ Show with Neil Saavedra, and repeats of weekday programs.[8] WJBX carriedTownhall News at the start of each hour.
The call sign was changed from WJBX to WBCN on February 5, 2021, with the WJBX call sign being moved to the1660 AM facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, which had been WBCN. The Charlotte station went silent on December 31, 2020, as the result of the sale of its transmitter site land.[9]
On May 28, 2021, WBCN changed their format from news/talk to sports, branded as "ESPN Southwest Florida", with programming fromESPN Radio; the format moved from WWCN.[10]
WBCN enjoys the largest daytime coverage area of any AM radio station in Southwest Florida. As a music station (Transtar Radio Networks' "Format 41" andCitadel Broadcasting's "Z-Rock") the station transmitted in AM stereo, using theC-QUAM system. It now incorporatesHD radio technology.
It was announced on July 2, 2012 that Beasley Broadcasting would purchase the two translators from Reach Communications for $150,000, to serve as rebroadcasters for WWCN'ssports radio format (viaWRXK-HD2):[11] On June 20, 2013, these translators changed their format toalternative rock, relaying WRXK-HD2. Then in 2016, the translators began simulcasting WJBX's talk radio format.
| Call sign | Frequency | City of license | FID | ERP (W) | HAAT | Class | FCC info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W251AL | 98.1 FM | Fort Myers, Florida | 139037 | 230 | 129.2 m (424 ft) | D | LMS |
| W282BY | 104.3 FM | Fort Myers, Florida | 139201 | 250 | 92 m (302 ft) | D | LMS |
