WBAP (AM)

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WBAP

City of license	Fort Worth, Texas
Broadcast area	Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex
Branding	"WBAP News/Talk 820"
Slogan	"The News and Talk of Texas"
First air date	1922
Frequency	820 kHz
Format	News/Talk
Power	50,000 watts
Class	A
Callsign meaning	We Bring A Program
Affiliations	ABC News The Weather Channel
Owner	Disney/ABC Radio (Radio License Holding IV, LLC)
Website	wbap.com

For the television station formerly named WBAP-TV, see KXAS-TV.

WBAP is an AM radio station in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex following a talk format. WBAP broadcasts on 820 kHz with 50,000 watts.

WBAP is under ownership of Disney, and as such is an affiliate of ABC. Disney has announced that it would merge its ABC Radio holdings including WBAP with Citadel Broadcasting by early 2007.

1 Program Schedule
2 Station history and recent events
3 Morning News Show "Characters"
4 External links

[edit] Program Schedule

[edit] Early morning until noon

For most listeners to WBAP, the broadcast day begins with the WBAP Morning News program (which runs from 5 a.m. until 9 a.m.) and is hosted by veteran radio broadcaster Hal Jay. The program's format includes news (both national and local), sports, weather (from WFAA-TV and The Weather Channel), and reports on local traffic conditions (traffic reports run approximately every six minutes). This is followed by the Mark Davis Show, which airs from 9 a.m. until around 11:45 AM (the last 15 minutes are devoted to Paul Harvey's midday report).

[edit] Afternoon and evening programming

After the 12 noon news update (of local and national news) is the nationally syndicated Rush Limbaugh Show from about 12 noon until 3 p.m. (delayed one hour from its normal broadcast time). Limbaugh is followed by the Sean Hannity Show (which airs from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m.). Hannity is followed by three nationally syndicated radio talk shows: Mark Levin (6-8 P.M.), The Greg Knapp Experience (8-10 P.M.), and Jerry Doyle (actor) (10 P.M. to 12 midnight). The station had previously broadcast the Randy Galloway sports program before changing its format to all political talk shows in 2003. At that time, Galloway moved down the hall to sister station KESN, an all-sports ESPN affiliate. Another consequence of this change was the elimination of the "Hello Texas Noon Day News" program which featured Dan Potter. Potter still participated in the WBAP Morning News broadcasts as the Morning News Anchor until July 2006 when he left to pursue show-hosting opportunities. They also serve as the radio home of the Dallas Stars during the NHL season hosted by Ralph Strangis and Daryl Reaugh.

[edit] The Midnight Radio Network

Finally, the Midnight Radio Network with hosts Eric Harley and Gary McNamara airs on WBAP from 12 midnight to 5am. The show is syndicated and also airs on other legendary stations across the country like WJR in Detroit, KBOI in Boise, KOKC-AM in Oklahoma City and more, as well as Sirius Satellite Radio. McNamara joined the Midnight Radio Network in August of 2005 after successfully hosting a local afternoon show on WBAP for 5 years. In 2002, The Midnight Radio Network's Eric Harley (along with former MRN host Joe Kelley) won the coveted Katie Award for Best Talk Show from the Dallas Press Club.

[edit] Station history and recent events

WBAP was formerly a country music station, changing to the news talk format in 1993. It was also the former broadcast home of the Texas Rangers.

Local television station KXAS channel 5, currently part of the NBC network, was also originally known as WBAP-TV.

Morning show host Hal Jay recently celebrated his 25 year anniversary with WBAP by organizing a charity fund-raising event for Cook Children's Hospital ("Hal Jay's Celebrity Roast"). Among those who attended were Baseball Hall-of-Famer Nolan Ryan and syndicated radio talk show host Sean Hannity.

[edit] Morning News Show "Characters"

The morning news show features several fictitious characters. A short segment with a character airs near the end of the 6 o'clock and 7 o'clock hours, unless pre-empted by a major event, or unless host Hal Jay is absent from the morning show.

The characters are divided into two main groups, each performed by a different individual. Some of the "parody" characters are performed by WBAP staff member Eric Harley, while the remaining characters are performed by staff member John Hansen.

[edit] Parody Characters

Andy Rooney (commentator for 60 Minutes) (Performed by Eric Harley) (asks questions such as "Ever notice that . . . " or "Have you ever..."; Rooney always answering "I know I have").
Gene Robinson (Performed by Eric Harley) (often features homosexual stereotyping of a high pitched male voice and an elongated "S" pronunciation, similar to a slithering snake).
"Harry Caray" (Performed by Eric Harley)(the late Major League Baseball broadcaster, who usually gives updates from Heaven about famous people who have recently died).
"Elvis Presley" (Performed by John Hansen) (asks the morning crew to guess where he is – the running gag is they always answer either Graceland or Las Vegas but neither are correct; he then usually discusses food in reference to the overweight Elvis of later years).
President George W. Bush (who usually makes up a nonsensical word)
Former Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton (often featured together, Clinton will usually make a sexually suggestive reference, whereupon Bush responds by calling him "perv boy")
Jackie Stewart (usually featured around when Texas Motor Speedway is having a race, generally refers to others as "crack smokers" and signs off with "stand on it until you smell stink")

[edit] WBAP Unique Characters

"Sam from Sales" (Performed by John Hansen)(a high-pressure salesman, Samuel Poteet--Esquire--with humorous stories about his very large family of cousins; this was the original WBAP character; he is not featured at the 7 AM broadcast).
"Breakfast with Betty" (Performed by Eric Harley)(a sex-crazed wannabe chef who repeatedly hits on sportscaster Steve Lamb, encouraging him to divorce his wife – or, at the least, have an illicit affair with her).
"Leaf Raker" (Performed by Eric Harley) (a stand-up comedian/gardener featuring corny jokes).
"Mystic Chuck" (Performed by Eric Harley)(an alleged psychic who has "visions" but never answers the initial question as posed by Hal Jay; instead, Mystic Chuck gives an unrelated answer to a question, and then follows it with the question as the punchline; the bit is a spoof of the Johnny Carson sketch Carnac the Magnificent).
"This Reporter" (Performed by Eric Harley)(a news reporter who always gets confused or terribly off subject; the name "This Reporter" spoofs the fact that reporters often refer to themselves in third person while reporing a news story).
"Shorty Lavender" (Performed by Eric Harley)(the adventures of a jockey from nearby Lone Star Park who proclaims himself the crew's "Four Feet of Fun Guy" and associates with a similarly named jockey, "Thigh High Johnson").
"Professor Lester T. Besterfester" (Performed by John Hansen)(a fictitious professor at Texas Christian University, Hal Jay's alma mater, is billed as the Chairman of the Speech Therapy department – despite his own slurred speech, specializing in "16th Century grammar appreciation").
"Rusty Springs" (Performed by John Hansen)(an auto mechanic operating "Rusty Springs House of Pings", the alleged repair shop for WBAP's fleet, who creates nonsensical mechanical terms supposedly involved in auto repair – while charging outrageous prices).
"The Reverend Robert Jiltem" (Performed by John Hansen)(a parody of Robert Tilton, a televangelist promoting his latest scheme while claiming that the idea "won't cost much – no, only a tiny amount – simply send me your five, ten, fifteen, or twenty THOUSAND dollars" and offering a religious trinket in exchange).
"Doctor Ben Golfin" (Performed by John Hansen)(a ficticious medical doctor – the name is a parody of the stereotype that doctors are more interested in golf than patients)
"Chief Wilbur Wetfeather" (Performed by Eric Harley)(a Native American meteorologist, often apologizes for bad weather claiming that he accidentally performed a Native American dance which caused it, and warns the crew of what they believe to be bad weather – such as "Strong Wind", only to learn that Wilbur is warning them of one of his relatives).
"Pedro from Payroll" (Performed by Eric Harley)(a Hispanic character who purportedly works in WBAP's payroll department, but is portrayed as anti-stereotypical – for example, he opposed the Great American Boycott).
"Willie Landum" (Performed by John Hansen)(the self-proclaimed "Fishing Guide to the Stars" -- the name is a spoof of "will he land them?" -- who provides oddly-named, and sometimes sexually suggestive, fishing lure names; this character is featured exclusively on Fridays just prior to 7 AM so that the morning news crew may receive the "Weekend Fishing Report").
"Akmed Dangerfield, the 'Wacky Iraqi'", (Performed by John Hansen) who generally provides updates on the goings on in Iraq, and will often have to change his report in midstream due to the subject being bombed out of existence (once, Akmed complained that the bombings destroyed his country's main industry, the Seven-Eleven Training Center); and
"Grit Sissle" (Performed by Eric Harley)(the "Great American Truck Driver", who does reports while on the road; he is known by his CB handle "Naner Puddin" and finishes every sentence with "come back?" and two short blasts of his air horn).

[edit] Former Characters

"Natural Howard", (Performed by Eric Harley)a spoof of local "Dirt Doctor" weekend gardening show host, Howard Garrett, who believes all gardening issues are best handled with "natural" solutions and cannot pronounce the word "herb" (Garrett moved his program to rival station KSKY and is thus no longer featured).
"Ze Inspector", a spoof of Inspector Clouseau (Performed by John Hansen) who would insult the hosts regularly (his introductory line was "Greetings, you American swine"); no reason has been given for his departure.