WBAL (AM)

Last updated

WBAL
WBAL 1090 AM 101.5 FM.png
Broadcast area Baltimore metropolitan area
Frequency 1090 kHz
BrandingWBAL Newsradio 1090 and FM 101.5
Programming
Language(s) English
Format News/talk
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner Hearst Communications
WBAL-TV, WIYY
History
First air date
November 2, 1925;98 years ago (1925-11-02)
Former frequencies
  • 1220 kHz (1925–1927)
  • 1050 kHz (1927–1928)
  • 1060 kHz (1928–1941) [1]
Call sign meaning
Baltimore
Technical information [2]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 65679
Class A
Power 50,000 watts
Transmitter coordinates
 39°22′33.38″N76°46′19.91″W / 39.3759389°N 76.7721972°W / 39.3759389; -76.7721972
Translator(s) See § Translators
Repeater(s) 97.9  WIYY-HD2 (Baltimore)
Links
Public license information
Webcast Listen live
Website www.wbal.com

WBAL (1090 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Baltimore, Maryland. It is owned by the broadcasting division of Hearst Communications and broadcasts a news/talk radio format. [3] The station shares its studios and offices with sister stations WBAL-TV (channel 11) and WIYY (97.9 FM) on Television Hill in Baltimore's Woodberry neighborhood. WBAL and WIYY are the only two radio stations owned by Hearst, which is primarily a publishing and television company.

Contents

WBAL is a 50,000-watt, Class A, clear-channel station. Its transmitter is on Winands Road in Randallstown, Maryland. [4] Listeners in and around Baltimore can also hear the station on 136-watt FM translator station W268BA on 101.5 MHz. [5] WBAL is non-directional by day but uses a directional antenna at night to protect the other Class A stations on 1090 AM, KAAY in Little Rock and XEPRS in Rosarito, Mexico. With a good radio, WBAL's nighttime signal can be heard in much of Eastern North America, reaching as far as Nova Scotia and Bermuda. Its daytime signal easily covers most of Maryland as well as the Washington metropolitan area, and parts of Delaware, Virginia and Pennsylvania. WBAL is Maryland's designated primary entry point for the Emergency Alert System.

Programming

Sports

WBAL is the co-flagship station with WIYY for Baltimore Orioles baseball, Baltimore Ravens football, and United States Naval Academy college football.

Since the Baltimore Orioles began their inaugural season in 1954, WBAL has been their flagship station for most of that team's history, though not continuously. For example, it carried Orioles games every season from 1987 to 2006, after which the team's games were broadcast on crosstown sports radio station WJZ-FM. Orioles games returned to WBAL from 2011 to 2014 before the team switched back to WJZ-FM in 2015. On January 5, 2022, it was announced that the Orioles would be returning to WBAL and sister station WIYY beginning with the 2022 season. [6] The games are also streamed on the respective stations' websites and apps, but with MLB-required georestrictions limiting the broadcast to the entire states of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Washington DC, the Pennsylvania counties of York, Harrisburg and Lancaster, the West Virginia counties of Grant, Hardy, Mineral, Hampshire, Morgan, Berkeley and Jefferson, and most of North Carolina excluding Asheville (which is in the Atlanta Braves' broadcast territory). Ravens games have been broadcast on WBAL and WIYY since the 2006 season.

Other teams whose games have been broadcast on WBAL include the Baltimore Colts, the University of Maryland Terrapins and the Towson Tigers.

History

The WBAL Building, on Television Hill in Baltimore, has housed WBAL Radio since 1962. Wbaltv.jpg
The WBAL Building, on Television Hill in Baltimore, has housed WBAL Radio since 1962.

Consolidated Gas Electric

WBAL began broadcasting after being dedicated on November 2, 1925. It was a subsidiary of the Consolidated Gas Electric Light and Power Company, a predecessor of Constellation Energy. [7] The initial broadcasting studio was located at the utility's offices on Lexington Street. In the 1930s, WBAL became the flagship station for the international broadcast of radio evangelist G. E. Lowman, whose shows originated in Baltimore until 1959. [8]

WBAL was an affiliate of NBC's Blue Network. [7] On January 12, 1935, with radio becoming more commercialized, there was little justification for a public service company to own a radio station. WBAL was sold to the Hearst-controlled American Radio News Corporation, which operated it along with two daily newspapers, The Baltimore News-Post and The Baltimore American (later merged as the Baltimore News-American ). [7]

MOR and talk

As network programming moved from radio to television in the 1950, WBAL switched to a full service, middle of the road (MOR) music format stressing personality, sports and news. The station played a mix of pop standards with some softer songs from the Top 40.

By the early 1970s, the station had a full-service adult contemporary music format with the exception of weekday evenings, where the station aired talk programming. [9]

Among its personalities during that period were program host Jay Grayson, Harley Brinsfield, who had a long-running Saturday night jazz music program, The Harley Show, and White House-accredited newsman Galen Fromme. In the early 1980s, WBAL began running talk shows evenings and overnights, and continued to play some music during the day.

News-talk

Former logo of the radio station WBAL (AM) former logo.png
Former logo of the radio station

Music gradually decreased and talk programs were added. In the fall of 1985, WBAL transitioned to its current news-talk format, winning 19 national Edward R. Murrow Awards since then, the most of any local U.S. radio station. [9] Since the mid-1990s, the station has become increasingly conservative, both in its on-air personalities and its editorial direction.

In 2010, WBAL switched its morning and afternoon drive time shows to an all-news format, titled Maryland's Morning News and Afternoon News Journal respectively. The shows were renamed to Maryland's News Now and later to "WBAL News Now". The all-news blocks included national newscasts from ABC News every 30 minutes. Previously, the national feed had been provided by CBS at the top of each hour until 2014. Also in 2014, the station was re-branded as WBAL News Radio 1090, to better reflect its status as Maryland's radio news leader. By the 2020s, the news blocks had been scaled back, with talk shows taking their place.

HD Radio and translator

WBAL's previous logo WBAL (AM) logo.png
WBAL's previous logo

In addition to its analog 1090 kHz signal, WBAL is also heard on 97.9 WIYY-HD2. [10] In 2021, the station added an FM translator at 101.5 MHz, W268BA, so the station could be heard on FM radios in and around Baltimore.

Broadcast translator for WBAL (AM)
Call sign Frequency City of license FID ERP (W) HAAT Class Transmitter coordinatesFCC info
W268BA101.5 FM Baltimore, Maryland 154255136190  m (623  ft)D 39°20′5″N76°39′2″W / 39.33472°N 76.65056°W / 39.33472; -76.65056 (W268BA) LMS

Notable former on-air staff

Related Research Articles

WIYY is a commercial radio station in Baltimore, Maryland. It is owned by Hearst Communications and broadcasts a mainstream rock radio format. WIYY shares studios and offices with sister stations WBAL and WBAL-TV on Television Hill in the Woodberry section of Baltimore. WIYY's transmitter utilizes WBAL-TV's 'candlestick' antenna on the shared Television Hill candelabra tower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WWDC (FM)</span> Alternative rock radio station in Washington, D.C.

WWDC is a commercial FM radio station in Rockville, Maryland, near Washington, D.C. The station is owned by iHeartMedia through licensee iHM Licenses, LLC, and broadcasts an alternative rock radio format. WWDC serves as the flagship station for the syndicated radio show Elliot in the Morning and as the local affiliate for Skratch 'N Sniff.

WBAL-TV is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is the flagship property of Hearst Television, which has owned the station since its inception, and is sister to the company's sole radio properties, WBAL and WIYY. The three outlets share studios and offices on Television Hill in the Woodberry section of Baltimore, near the transmission tower that WBAL-TV also shares with WIYY and several other Baltimore television and radio stations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WPHT</span> Talk radio station in Philadelphia

WPHT is a commercial radio station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station broadcasts a talk radio format and is owned by Audacy, Inc. Its studios are in Audacy's corporate headquarters in Center City, and its transmitter and broadcast tower are on North Church Street in Moorestown, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WJZ (AM)</span> Radio station in Maryland, United States

WJZ is a commercial AM radio station in Baltimore, Maryland. It is owned by Audacy, Inc., and broadcasts a sports betting radio format, carrying the BetQL Network during the day and evening, with Infinity Sports Network heard nights and weekends. Its studios are on Clarkview Road in Baltimore, off Jones Falls Expressway.

WFED is a 50,000-watt Class A radio station in the Washington, D.C. region. The station, branded as "Federal News Network", broadcasts a news talk format focused on issues and news pertaining to members and staff of the United States government. Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, the current WFED is the second in the Washington area to carry the Federal News Network format as WFED, as from 2004 until a transfer in 2008, this format and related call letters were used by a Silver Spring, Maryland station broadcasting on 1050 kHz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WQSR</span> Adult hits radio station in Baltimore, Maryland, US

WQSR is a commercial radio station licensed Baltimore, Maryland. The station is owned by iHeartMedia through licensee iHM Licenses, LLC. It broadcasts an adult hits radio format, using the syndicated "Jack FM" service and trademark. There are no DJs. Instead, a prerecorded male voice representing himself as "Jack" makes sarcastic and ironic quips.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KPTR (AM)</span> Talk radio station in Seattle

KPTR is a commercial AM radio station in Seattle, Washington. It airs a Conservative talk format and is owned by iHeartMedia. The studios and offices are in the Belltown neighborhood northwest of Downtown Seattle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KTTH</span> Radio station in Seattle, Washington

KTTH is a commercial radio station in Seattle, Washington. It is owned by Salt Lake City–based Bonneville International, a broadcasting company owned by of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It airs a conservative talk radio format. The station's transmitter site is on Vashon Island, while its studios are located in Seattle's Eastlake district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WCBM</span> Radio station in Maryland, United States

WCBM is a Baltimore, Maryland commercial radio station. It is owned by WCBM Maryland, Inc., and broadcasts a talk radio format, calling itself "Talk Radio 680 WCBM". Studios and offices are on York Road in Lutherville, off the Baltimore Beltway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WSYR (AM)</span> Radio station in Syracuse, New York

WSYR is a commercial AM radio station in Syracuse, New York, and serving Central New York. Owned and operated by iHeartMedia, it broadcasts a news/talk format, calling itself "Newsradio 570 WSYR." The station has simulcast on WSYR-FM 106.9 MHz Solvay since January 2011. The studios and offices are on Plum Street in Syracuse.

WARK is an AM radio station located in Hagerstown, Maryland, in the United States, it features a news/talk format including syndicated shows with Imus, Mike Gallagher, Sean Hannity, and Mark Levin. The station also carries sporting events for the Baltimore Orioles, Baltimore Ravens, and Maryland Terrapins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WINA</span> Radio station in Charlottesville, Virginia

WINA is a news/talk/sports formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Charlottesville, Virginia, serving Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Virginia. WINA is owned and operated by Saga Communications, and operates as part of its Charlottesville Radio Group.

WCZZ is a daytimer AM radio station licensed to Greenwood, South Carolina, and serving the Lakelands area. It airs an urban adult contemporary format and is owned by Broomfield Broadcasting, Inc. The studios are on Montague Avenue in Greenwood.

WQIK-FM is a commercial radio station in Jacksonville, Florida. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., and airs a country radio format. Overnight, WQIK carries the syndicated CMA After Midnite Show with Cody Alan and the Bobby Bones Show on Sunday evenings. WQIK-FM is unusual in the radio industry as a station that has kept its original call sign and format for more than half a century.

WKFI is a commercial radio station licensed to Wilmington, Ohio, and serving the eastern suburbs of the Dayton metropolitan area. The station is owned by Town And Country Broadcasting, Inc. It is simulcast with co-owned WBZI 1500 AM in Xenia, broadcasting a classic country radio format, known as "Real Roots Radio." News updates are provided by Fox News Radio and the Ohio News Network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WJZ-FM</span> Radio station in Maryland, United States

WJZ-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Catonsville, Maryland, and serving the Baltimore metropolitan area. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. through licensee Audacy License, LLC, and it broadcasts a sports radio format. Local shows are heard on weekdays, with programming from the Infinity Sports Network airing nights and weekends. The station's studios and offices are located in Towson.

The Baltimore Orioles Radio Network comprises 39 stations in five states and the District of Columbia.

WENR is an AM radio radio station licensed to Englewood, Tennessee, which programs a classic rock format. The station broadcasts at a power of 1,000 watts and is owned by Michael R. Beverly. Because WENR shares the same frequency as former class I-B "clear-channel" stations KAAY in Little Rock, Arkansas, and WBAL in Baltimore, Maryland, it broadcasts only during daylight hours and is required to sign off at sunset each night.

The flagship radio stations of the professional American football team, the Baltimore Ravens, are Hearst-owned WIYY and WBAL 1090 AM, with Gerry Sandusky as the play-by-play announcer and Rod Woodson as the color commentator. Sandusky has been the primary voice since the ballclub changed flagship stations after the 2005 campaign. Long-time WMAR-TV sports director and anchor Scott Garceau and Tom Matte had previously formed the nucleus of the broadcast team for the franchise's first ten seasons.

References

  1. ↑ FCC History Cards for WBAL
  2. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WBAL". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ↑ "WBAL/Baltimore Adds Coast to Coast AM to Lineup". radio-online.com. March 30, 2023. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  4. ↑ "WBAL-AM 1090 kHz - Baltimore, MD". radio-locator.com.
  5. ↑ "W268BA-FM 101.5 MHz - Baltimore, MD". radio-locator.com.
  6. ↑ "O's, Hearst Baltimore sign flagship radio deal". Major League Baseball.
  7. 1 2 3 King, Thomson (1950). Consolidated of Baltimore 1816–1950: A History of Consolidated Gas Electric Light and Power Company of Baltimore. Baltimore: Consolidated Gas Electric Light and Power Co. pp. 246, 274.
  8. ↑ O'Connor, Thomas H. Baltimore Broadcasting from A to Z (1985), p. 23.
  9. 1 2 Zurawick, David (July 24, 2009). "WBAL radio manager is leaving". The Baltimore Sun . p. 3.
  10. ↑ "WIYY Drops HD Only Music Channels". AllAccess.com. All Access Music Group, Inc. August 29, 2014.
  11. ↑ Kelly, Jacques; Rasmussen, Frederick N. (December 13, 2016). "Allan Prell, WBAL talk show host, dies at 79". The Baltimore Sun.
  12. ↑ "Ron Smith Succumbs To Cancer At 70". WBAL-TV. December 20, 2011. Archived from the original on January 17, 2016. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
  13. ↑ "Ron Smith 1941–2011". WBAL-TV. December 20, 2011. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
FM translator
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.