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| Frequency | 1390 kHz |
|---|---|
| Branding | 106.9 The Bull |
| Programming | |
| Format | Country music |
| Affiliations | Cleveland Guardians Radio Network Ohio State Sports Network |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | V-Teck Communications |
| History | |
First air date | February 14, 1951 |
Former call signs | WOHP (1951–1969) WTOO (1969–1981) WTCY (1981–1983) WOHP (1983–1988) WPKO (1988–1989) |
Call sign meaning | WBeLLfontaine |
| Technical information [1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 69627 |
| Class | D |
| Power | 500 watts (day) 81 watts (night) |
| Translator(s) | 106.9 W295CI (Urbana) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | www |
WBLL (1390 AM) is an American radio station in Bellefontaine, Ohio. It currently broadcasts with country music programming, along with certain sporting events (Cleveland Guardians baseball, local high school sports). The station is owned by V-Teck Communications, and is the sister station of WPKO 98.3 FM.
WBLL originally signed on the air in 1951 with the call letters WOHP (for "Ohio's Highest Point"). It was the first radio station licensed to Bellefontaine since station WHBD relocated to Mount Orab, Ohio in 1929 (later known as WPAY in Portsmouth, Ohio).
In the late 1960s, the station's callsign changed to WTOO (for "Top Of Ohio"), in 1981 to WTCY (for "Top (of Ohio) CountrY"), and then switched back to the WOHP calls on February 14, 1983, with a gospel format. On February 19, 1988, the station became WPKO, in recognition of its sister station, WPKO-FM. The call letters became WBLL on May 12, 1989.
Joe Rockhold was a disk jockey at WOHP in the 1950s where he launched his broadcasting career. Shortly before the decade was over he became a staff announcer (and eventually became best known as children's show host "Uncle Orrie")at Dayton's WHIO-TV where he remained until his retirement in 1969. Rockhold however remained active in broadcasting throughout his retirement at WSRW (AM) in Hillsboro, Ohio before his death in 1981.
On January 28, 2004, V-Teck Communications applied for a construction permit for a transmitter in Grandview Heights, Ohio. This transmitter would be well within the Columbus metropolitan area. The FCC acknowledged the CP request on November 17, 2004, and further acknowledged an application for a major modification to a licensed facility on January 21, 2005. This may indicate plans by V-Teck to effectively move the station from Bellefontaine to the Grandview Heights-Columbus area.
While the license location for the newest application is in Grandview Heights, the major modification request is for 39°53′39″N83°05′30″W / 39.89417°N 83.09167°W , placing the new transmitter (if built) near Grove City, Ohio. This is southwest of Columbus; Bellefontaine and the present transmitter are to the northwest of Columbus.
For a brief time in the mid-1970s, WTOO set trends by breaking several songs before the major stations in Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland. This was under the management of Program and Music Director David Mark early in his career. Mark eventually became one of the country's major voice-over announcers and, beginning in the 1990s and well into the 2000s, was the promotional voice of Fox TV network stations and many UPN TV network stations across the country.[ citation needed ]
The WOHP callsign was later used at an FM station in Portsmouth, Ohio as a repeater of the former WCDR "The Path" (now WKCD) in Cedarville, Ohio which is now WSGR, formerly part of the Contemporary Christian K-LOVE network.
The WOHP callsign is now being used at a low-power FM station in Huntsville, Ohio.
The WTCY callsign is now used by a Catholic FM station in Traverse City, Michigan.
On January 3, 2018, WBLL flipped from its talk format to country music as "106.9 The Bull".
WBLL has had several ownerships over the decades
(source: Broadcasting Magazine yearbooks)
WOSA is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to Grove City, Ohio, featuring a classical music format known as "Classical 101fm". Owned by Ohio State University, the station serves Columbus, Ohio, and much of the surrounding Columbus metro area, extending its reach into Mansfield, Marion and Southern Ohio with five full-power repeaters. The WOSA studios are located at the Fawcett Center on the Ohio State University campus, while the station transmitter resides off of Borror Road in Lockbourne. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WOSA is available online. It is one of a few non-commercial stations in the United States to broadcast outside of its recommended frequency range (88-92 MHz).
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WPKO-FM is an American radio station in Bellefontaine, Ohio. It is programmed in a hot adult contemporary radio format, and is almost entirely locally produced. The station is owned by V-Teck Communications, and is the sister station to WBLL 1390 AM.
WDEQ-FM is an educational radio station in DeGraff, Ohio, United States. The station is owned by the Riverside Local Board of Education in Logan County. Students from Riverside High School have served as the station's announcers, newscasters, disc jockeys, and engineers.
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WXGT is a commercial oldies radio station licensed to serve Columbus, Ohio, serving the Columbus metropolitan area. Owned by ICS Communications, Inc., the WXGT studios are located in beautiful Downtown Lewis Center, Ohio in the Lewis Center Metroplex, while the station transmitter resides in Columbus' Brandywine neighborhood on Morse Road,
WYNT is a hot adult contemporary radio station formerly located in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, now located with its studios in Marion, Ohio, and its transmitter and city of license moved to Caledonia, Ohio. It broadcasts music from the 1990s through today as "Majic 95.9" and is part of the iHeartMedia, Inc.'s Marion cluster which includes WMRN and WMRN-FM. Its Cleveland FM sister WMJI also uses the "Majic" branding for its 1960s/70s oldies station. WYNT was also formerly an oldies station under the same branding.
WDWD is a Christian talk station serving the metro Atlanta market in Georgia, United States. It airs "The Eric Metaxas Show", "Family Talk with Dr. James Dobson", "Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah" and "The Narrow Path" hosted by Steve Gregg. It is owned by Salem Media Group.
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WXVA – branded as 102.9 Valley FM – is a classic hits formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Winchester, Virginia, serving the Northern Shenandoah Valley. WXVA is owned and operated by Winchester Radio Broadcasters, LLC.
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WYFJ is a religious formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Ashland, Virginia, serving Metro Richmond. WYFJ is owned and operated by Bible Broadcasting Network.
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WXIC is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Waverly, Ohio, calling itself "The Game". It airs a sports talk radio format and is owned by Jackson County Broadcasting, Inc News updates are supplied by ABC News Radio.
WCIT, is also 98.5 FM and is a commercial broadcast radio station in Lima, Ohio. The station, along with FM sister stations WEGE, WWSR and WFGF, share studio facilities on Town Square Rd. in Lima. WCIT must operate with reduced power after local sunset to avoid interference with CFNV in Montreal, a Canadian clear channel signal reserved by international treaty.
WTCY is a Catholic radio station licensed to Greilickville, Michigan serving the Traverse City area of the northwestern region of Michigan's lower peninsula. It began as an FM repeater of WTCK 90.9 FM in Charlevoix with main studios located near the Cross in the Woods Catholic Shrine in Indian River. In the spring of 2015, the main studio moved from its Indian River beginnings to a new facility in Traverse City.
WGZR is a non-commercial religious radio station in Alpena, Michigan, airing Catholic talk programming from Relevant Radio. WGZR can also be heard on FM translator W221CA at 92.1 MHz in Gaylord.