| City of license | Jackson, Michigan |
|---|---|
| Branding | ESPN Radio 1450 |
| Frequency | 1450 kHz |
| First air date | November 20, 1924 |
| Format | Sports |
| Power | 810 watts |
| Class | C |
| Facility ID | 9248 |
| Former callsigns | WCXI (3/29/94-12/8/95) WIBM (4/8/87-3/29/94) WXCM (6/25/80-4/8/87) |
| Affiliations | ESPN Radio |
| Owner | Jackson Radio Works |
| Website | espnradio1450.com |
WIBM is an ESPN Radio branded Sports Talk station in Jackson, Michigan. The station broadcasts at 1450 kHz on the AM dial. Jackson Radio Works owns the station along with news/talk WKHM-AM 970 and hot AC WKHM-FM "K105.3".
The WIBM call letters were assigned to Jackson, Michigan no later than 1930. Prior to that, the same call letters were assigned to a portable transmitter in Chicago (1926-28). (They were assigned in order of availability, and have nothing to do with IBM.)
WIBM began broadcasting on November 20, 1924,[1] from the 9th floor of the Blake Building (then known as the Reynolds Building). After several more moves the station began operating out of studios at 2511 Kibby Road in September 1948.
WIBM operated on 1370 kHz until 1941 when it moved to the current 1450 kHz.
Jack Paar, future host of the Tonight Show, was a part-time announcer at the station during the mid-1930s.
In the 1960s and 1970s, WIBM served as the Jackson area's Top 40 music station and was well-known locally for distributing record surveys that resembled an IBM keypunch card. In 1980, WIBM moved its Top 40 format to its FM sister at 94.1 (now WVIC and no longer co-owned), and the AM station became WXCM with a country music format which continued until 1987, when the station went back to the heritage WIBM calls and became a simulcast of 94.1 WIBM-FM, which by then had an oldies format.
In 1994, WIBM-AM was purchased by Cascades Broadcasting, then owners of WKHM-AM/FM, changed its calls to WCXI and returned to a country format; the WIBM calls returned once again the following year. In 1997 the station picked up the soft AC/easy listening format from sister WKHM-FM after the FM changed to an adult CHR format as "K105.3." WIBM-AM was known as "Easy Relaxed 1450 AM" until adopting the current ESPN Radio sports format in March 1999.
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