History
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Waiting for sign-on
On July 24, 1942, an article in the Gazette and Daily discussed a new radio station, saying it would go on air in York sometime in the late summer. Otis Morse would be the Program Director and Willis Weaver would be the chief engineer. [6]
In August, the Gazette and Daily ran an advertisement that stated "On the air soon - 900 the mid-point on your dial." [7] A September announcement came in The Gazette and Daily on August 31, 1942. [8] The September 1, 1942 Gazette and Daily Page 2 article announced, 'WSBA On the Air Today'. [9]
First day
The station signed on the air with a prayer by the Reverend Paul E. V. Shannon of the first United Brethren Church. York Mayor Harry B. Anstine read his Heroes Day proclamation. Much of the programming reflected that the nation was nearing the end of the first year of World War II.
The station had a 240-foot antenna and a 1,000 watt transmitter. An advertisement on page 3 that day called WSBA "York's own radio station." [10]
Nearby, 580 WHP in Harrisburg went on the air in 1925, predating WSBA by 17 years. WLXW (now WHYL) in Carlisle went on the air in 1948, six years after WSBA and WGET in Gettysburg first aired August 27, 1950. WHVR AM in Hanover went into operation on January 7, 1949 on 1280 kHz with a power of 1000 watts.
Other stations in York in the 1950-1970 period included WORK and WNOW-FM and WNOW (AM) which was mainly country.
Moving to AM 910
WSBA moved from 900 to 910 kHz on October 21, 1949. It still continued to be listed in radio listings as the old frequency 900 kHz through the middle of the 50s when the Gazette and Daily discontinued the radio listings. [11]
The move allowed WSBA to increase its daytime power to 5,000 watts. WSBA's move to 910 is discussed in more detail in the publication "Susquehanna First 50 Years" by Phillip K. Eberly. [12]
Full-service MOR
During the 1950-1980 period, WSBA carried a full service, middle of the road (MOR) format of popular music, news, and sports. Ed Wickenheiser was one of the newscasters in the earliest reporting of the "Three Mile Island accident" in 1979 and is cited in the book TMI by investigative reporter Mark Lane.
During Hurricanes Agnes and Eloise, snowstorms, and other weather events, WSBA had frequent updates and information. When disasters hit, regular programming stopped. During the late 50s and early 60s, the station did a rundown of that week's Top 40 Hits on Saturday afternoons.
Ralph Lockwood was a long term morning host during that period and had a fictional sidekick Luscious Laverne. Ed Lincoln was another personality at that time who had a feature, the hit of the week, which was played every night on his program. The feature was available in Sol Kessler's Hi Fi Shop for $.59 during that week. [13]
WSBA-FM
WSBA management decided to add an FM station. On November 21, 1947, manager Otis Morse IV [14] spoke to the York Exchange Club about frequency modulation (FM) radio. WSBA-FM first appears in a programming guide on February 28, 1949, in the Hanover Sun. The station was on the air at 103.3 MHz.
A seminar was presented featuring Otis Morse from WSBA, with others from WNOW-AM, WORK-AM, and WRZE-FM 98.3 (per radio listing The Evening Sun May 12, 1953) participating. [15]
During the 1960s and 1970s, WSBA was a leading top 40 music station in the Harrisburg-York-Lancaster area. It was also the flagship station of Susquehanna Radio's top 40 stations (which also included WHLO, WARM, and WICE).
Cumulus ownership
On October 31, 2005, Cumulus Media announced the creation of a new private partnership, Cumulus Media Partners, LLC, formed with Bain Capital, The Blackstone Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners, to purchase Susquehanna Radio Corporation for approximately $1.2 billion. [16] The purchase was completed on May 5, 2006. [17]
At that time, the license for WSBA was transferred to Radio License Holding SRC, LLC., a division of Cumulus Media Partners Susquehanna Corporation. [18]
On July 20, 2017, translator W253AC (now W230CQ), licensed to York, began simulcasting WSBA programming.
