WJBO

WJBO
City Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Broadcast area Baton Rouge metropolitan area
Branding Newsradio 1150 WJBO
Frequency

1150 kHz

102.5 MHz (HD Radio)
First air date 1922 (in New Orleans, moved to Baton Rouge in 1934)
Format News/Talk
Power 15,000 watts day
5,000 watts night
Class B
Callsign meaning W Jensen Broadcasting Organization (original owner)
Former callsigns WAAB (1922-1926)
Affiliations ABC News, Fox News Radio
Owner iHeartMedia, Inc.
(Capstar TX LLC)
Sister stations KRVE-FM, WFMF, WPYR, WSKR, WYNK-FM
Website http://www.wjbo.com

WJBO (1150 AM) is a News/Talk formatted radio station licensed to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The iHeartMedia, Inc. station broadcasts with a transmitter power of 15,000 watts day and 5,000 watts night. Its studios are located east of downtown Baton Rouge near the I-10/I-12 interchange and its transmitter is in Port Allen, Louisiana.

The station was an affiliate of the New Orleans Saints radio network until the 2009 season. It also served as the flagship station for LSU Tigers football and basketball for decades.[1]

History

AM 1150 was originally WAAB and was licensed to Valdemar Jensen, with sponsor The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, Louisiana, and it was the first station to receive a 4-letter call sign in 1922.[2] Jensen operated and experimented with the station from the basement of his house on South St. Patrick Street in New Orleans for more than a month before signing off.[3] In 1925, he obtained a federal license for the station, and on February 28, 1926, the call letters changed to WJBO and became the first commercial station in the South, broadcasting still from New Orleans (call letters WAAB later were used by WVEI of Boston.[4] The station was one of the first in the country to broadcast news, working in tandem with The Times-Picayune.[5] Jensen broadcast also from the Roosevelt Hotel and Orpheum Theater, and the station broadcast on 1140 kilocycles. In 1932, he sold the station to the Manship family, who relaunched the station in December 1934 in Baton Rouge at 1420 kc. and 100 Watts. By the early 1940s, the station's frequency was at 1150 and its power jumped from 500 Watts in 1937 to 5,000 in 1941. Originally, the station broadcast from Highland Road in South Baton Rouge, but in 1941, a new studio was built on Florida Street to accommodate the growing station.

WJBO was Baton Rouge's first commercial radio station and was affiliated with the NBC Blue Network (later ABC) from 1937 until 1948.[6] With the launch of radio station WLCS (precursor to now defunct station WUBR) in 1948, WJBO affiliated itself with NBC Radio, which it kept until 1979. From 1976 until its fold, WJBO was also affiliated with MBS, and in the late 1970s, was also affiliated with APR.

In 1941, WBRL signed on as the FM counterpart to WJBO on 98.1 Mc., and in 1959, the call letters changed to WJBO-FM. With the sign on of WAFB-FM (now WDGL-FM), WJBO-FM moved to 102.5, and its call letters changed to WFMF-FM in 1976.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, WJBO played MOR music but switched to its current talk radio format in the early 1980s. In 1989, the Manship family sold the station to its manager, George Jenne.[7] When Jenne purchased the station, WJBO affiliated itself with an array of talk radio networks including: ABC Rock, ABC Talk Radio, CBS Radio, NBC, Associated Press Talk Radio, NBC Talknet, Transtar, United Stations Radio Network, and Westwood One. Under ownership of Jenne, the WJBO and WFMF moved from its location on Florida Street in downtown Baton Rouge (where they broadcast since 1941) to new studios in Mid-City. In 1995, Jenne sold the stations to Gulfstar Communications.[8] The station came under ownership of Clear Channel Communications when Gulfstar folded.

WJBO now broadcasts on 102.5-2 HD on FM.

Programming

The station airs several local and syndicated programs, such as Coast to Coast AM, "The Sean Hannity Show", "The Rush Limbaugh Show", "The Dave Ramsey Show" and "The Michael Berry Show".

References

  1. ↑ "Saints switch Baton Rouge radio spot". The Advocate. Retrieved April 21, 2009.
  2. ↑ http://www.earlyradiohistory.us/recap.htm#four
  3. ↑ Valdemar Jensen, Pioneer of Radio Circles, Expires, The Times-Picayune, November 17, 1934
  4. ↑ The Times-Picayune, February 28, 1926, Section 4, Page 5
  5. ↑ The Times-Picayune, June 4, 1926
  6. ↑ Local radio era ending with WJBO move, The Advocate, February 27, 1993
  7. ↑ Manship family plans to sell WJBO/WFMF to manager, The Advocate, March 4, 1989
  8. ↑ Texas firm to buy BR radio stations, The Advocate, May 11, 1995

Coordinates: 30°27′47″N 91°16′10″W / 30.46306°N 91.26944°W / 30.46306; -91.26944

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