 | |
| Broadcast area | Youngstown metropolitan area |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 570kHz |
| Branding | Newsradio 570 WKBN |
| Programming | |
| Format | News/Talk |
| Network | ABC News Radio |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | September 26, 1926; 99 years ago (1926-09-26) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 70519 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 5,000watts |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (viaiHeartRadio) |
| Website | 570wkbn |
WKBN (570kHz) is acommercialAM radio station inYoungstown, Ohio. It has anews/talkformat and is owned byiHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are on South Avenue in Youngstown.[2]
WKBN is powered at 5,000 watts from a six-tower array on East Western Reserve and Beard roads inPoland, Ohio. By day, it operates anon-directional signal from a single tower. Due to its location near the bottom of the AM dial, as well as its transmitter power, its daytime signal can be heard at city-grade strength fromCleveland toPittsburgh, and provides at least secondary coverage toErie, Pennsylvania, most of theNorthern Panhandle of West Virginia, much of north-central Ohio and even a section ofSouthern Ontario. At night, power is fed to all six towers in adirectional pattern to protect other stations on570 AM, concentrating the signal in Youngstown and Pittsburgh.[3]
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WKBN was first authorized to the Radio Electric Service Co. (W. P. Williamson, Jr.) (1900–1996) at 26 Auburndale Avenue.[5] It is Youngstown's oldest continuing operating radio station,signing on the air on September 26, 1926. It originally broadcast on 1400 kHz at 50 watts. The call letters was randomly assigned from a sequential roster of available call signs. The studios were in the basement of Williamson's home, but by the following year operations had moved to studios in theYMCA Building in downtown Youngstown. The license was later held by the WKBN Broadcasting Corporation.
Following the establishment of theFederal Radio Commission (FRC), stations were initially issued a series of temporary authorizations starting on May 3, 1927.[6] In addition, they were informed that if they wanted to continue operating, they needed to file a formal license application by January 15, 1928, as the first step in determining whether they met the new "public interest, convenience, or necessity" standard.[7] On May 25, 1928, the FRC issuedGeneral Order 32, which notified 164 stations, including WKBN, that "From an examination of your application for future license it does not find that public interest, convenience, or necessity would be served by granting it."[8] However, the station successfully convinced the commission that it should remain licensed. As part of the proceedings, a second Youngstown station, WMBW, was consolidated with WKBN.[9]
On November 11, 1928, the FRC implemented a major reallocation of station transmitting frequencies, as part of a reorganization resulting from its implementation ofGeneral Order 40. WKBN was assigned to 1430 kHz,[10] sharing this frequency withWMBS. In 1941, WKBN moved to fulltime operation on 570 kHz, where it remains today.
Shortly after WKBN's launch, the station became a charter affiliate of the newly formedCBS Radio Network, a partnership that would last until the end of the century. WKBN carried CBS's schedule of dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows andbig band broadcasts during the "Golden Age of Radio". For many years, WKBN was one of only two radio stations licensed to Youngstown. (WFMJ, nowWNIO, signed on in 1939.) The station also broadcast some shows onRadio Luxembourg to American troops in Europe duringWorld War II.
On February 8, 1943,Alan Freed started his early radio career on WKBN. He later went on to a career as a notedrock and roll disc jockey.
As network programming moved to TV from radio in the 1950s, WKBN switched from CBS shows to amiddle of the road format of popular music, news, sports and talk. As listeners increasingly tuned to FM for music, WKBN added more talk programming. By the 1990s, the music shows had ended as WKBN transitioned to all talk, with frequent news updates and sports coverage.
Warren Williamson started 98.9 WKBN-FM in 1948. At first, itsimulcast the same programming as the AM station. In the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, it carried anautomatedbeautiful music format. The FM station is nowadult contemporaryWMXY.
He also startedWKBN-TV in 1953, which became a predominantly CBS-TV affiliate in part due to the AM station's long history with the radio network. WKBN-TV to this day has retained the CBS-TV affiliation. In 1997, the TV station was sold toGocom, while WKBN-AM-FM would later be sold to a different owner.
On January 22, 1999, the Williamson family sold WKBN and WKBN-FM toJacor Communications, earning a handsome return on their investment of 73 years prior. WKBN had been one of the few stations in a market of Youngstown's size that was still under family ownership.
Jacob, however, did not own the stations very long. Only three months later, on April 29, 1999,Clear Channel Communications completed its $6.5 billion purchase of Jacor and its 454 stations, including WKBN and WKBN-FM. In September 2014, Clear Channel Communications became iHeartMedia, Inc.[11]
WKBN has one local talk show on weekdays, Ron Verb during afternoondrive time. The rest of the weekday schedule is made up ofnationally syndicatedconservative talk shows, mostly from co-ownedPremiere Networks:The Sean Hannity Show,The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show,The Michael DelGiorno Show,Armstrong & Getty,The Joe Pags Show,Coast to Coast AM withGeorge Noory andThis Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal. Most hours begin with world and national news fromABC News Radio.
On weekends, specialty programs on money, health, home improvement, technology, cars, veterans, real estate and the outdoors are heard, as well as repeats of weekday shows. Weekend syndicated shows includeAt Home with Gary Sullivan,Rich DeMuro on Tech,The Weekend with Michael Brown,Somewhere in Time with Art Bell andSunday Night with Bill Cunningham. Some weekend hours are paidbrokered programming. The station also carriesCleveland Guardiansbaseball games and is theflagship station forYoungstown State Penguins football andbasketball.
40°59′06″N80°36′00″W / 40.98500°N 80.60000°W /40.98500; -80.60000