| City of license | Jeannette, Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Pittsburgh metropolitan area |
| Branding | 770 KFB |
| Slogan | We Are Oldies Proud |
| Frequency | 770 (kHz) |
| First air date | January 28, 1974 |
| Format | Oldies, Talk |
| Power | 750 watts (Daytime) |
| Class | D |
| Facility ID | 10026 |
| Owner | Broadcast Communications, Inc. |
WKFB is an AM radio station licensed to Jeannette, Pennsylvania that serves the greater Pittsburgh area. Known as 770 KFB, the station operates with 750 watts, and airs a mix of health talk and paid programming, with oldies music throughout the day and on weekends. The radio station is home to several Pittsburgh oldies personalities, including Frankie Day, "Caveman" Ralph, Glenn Raymer, "Big Ray" Edwards, Dale Jonez and "Suzie Q".
WKFB is co-owned with WKHB (620), also near Pittsburgh. Because WKFB shares the same frequency as "clear channel" station WABC-AM in New York City; it broadcasts only during daytime hours. However, WKFB also is simulcast on FM translator station W248AR Monroeville (97.5) and automated oldies are heard on that frequency during the nighttime hours when WKFB is off the air.
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For many years this station was WBCW (1530), and for a brief period, WKTW. The station originally operated at 1530 kHz with a daytime-only power of 1,000 watts, with 250 watts during critical hours, barely reaching the fringes of Westmoreland County. WBCW was founded by broadcast engineer Albert Calisti, who first put it on the air back in 1974, having completed an eight-year stint as general manager of competitor WTRA (now WCNS).
Very much a family business, Calisti did the engineering and hosted a provocative and often amusing local talk show, his wife Verna kept the books and sold airtime, and their daughter Jacqueline Rae served as program director. The station only had one employee outside of the Calisti family: Clair Thomas, who served as the station's news director.
The Calistis maintained ownership of the station with a primary local and syndicated talk format until 1996, when they sold it to Broadcast Communications, which had just acquired then-Greensburg-based WHJB-AM 620 . Al Calisti died of cancer seven years later.
Under the new ownership, the station moved from its original location at 111 South Fourth Street in Jeannette to WHJB's building at 245 Brown Street in Greensburg. A frequency change to 770 was made in early 2004, giving the station much better coverage of the Pittsburgh market and the ability to do so at a lower power, allowing the station to reach as far north as eastern Armstrong County. The call letters WKFB were selected to be similar to sister station WKHB.
The station's recent history has been heavily influenced by Frankie Day, a North Versailles, Pennsylvania businessman who has leased up to sixty hours of air time per week for various oldies programs since Spring 2005. "The Morning Memory Show" has been broadcast during weekday morning drive time since April 2006, originally featuring "Caveman" Ralph and Frankie Day, later joined by Dale Jonez and Glenn Raymer. In May 2009, "Caveman" decided to cut back on his air time and concentrate on his Saturday morning show. Glenn Raymer replaced him on the morning show starting on June 1st of that year. With the return of "Big Ray" Edwards to the station in April 2011, oldies programming is now broadcast continuously from 7 am until 4 pm Monday through Friday (save for a one half hour health infomercial at 10:30 am). Pittsburgh chiropractor Dr. James Winer's alternative health show airs weekdays from 4 until 5, then Frankie returns from 5 until sign-off with a mix of live and recorded programs.
Weekends are full of ethnic and religious programs, as well as oldies all day Saturday, and afternoons on Sunday. Saturday oldies shows feature "Caveman" Ralph, "Suzie Q", and Frankie Day with Dale Jonez, while Frankie also appears on Sunday's schedule.
An Internet-only radio station, www.soundsofphillyradio.com, broadcasts "The Morning Memory Show" from 7 to 9 am weekdays and Frankie Day's afternoon show from 3 to 4 PM Monday through Thursday. They also carry The Frankie Day Oldies Show from 4 to 5 pm weekdays and Saturdays. The shows broadcast are a mix of new ones and those previously aired on WKFB.
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