WLOB

WLOB
City of license Portland, Maine (WLOB)
Broadcast area Portland, Maine
Branding News/Talk WLOB
Frequency 1310 kHz
Format News/Talk
Power 5,000 watts
Class B (WLOB)
Facility ID 9202 (WLOB)
Transmitter coordinates 43°41′22″N 70°20′6″W / 43.68944°N 70.33500°W
Callsign meaning LOBster
Affiliations Fox News Radio
USA Radio Network
Boston Red Sox
University of Maine Black Bears
Owner Atlantic Coast Radio
Sister stations WJJB, WPEI, WPPI
Webcast Listen Live
Website WLOBRadio.com

WLOB (1310 AM) is a news/talk radio station in the Portland, Maine area. The current owner is Atlantic Coast Radio. In the 1960s McGavern/Guild Media NYC owned WLOB AM 1310/FM 98 as Atlantic States Industries, who also owned WTSA (Brattleboro, Vermont), WNVY (Pensacola, Florida) and WRYT (Boston, Massachusetts).

The station's programming includes Laura Ingraham, Michael Savage Sports programming includes University of Maine Black Bear football and ice hockey,[1] Portland Pirates ice hockey [2] and Boston Red Sox baseball.

A portion of The Ray Richardson Show was simulcast on Portland's MyNetworkTV affiliate, WPME from September 2009 to June 2013. Until March 2009, the entire program (as The Fox Morning News) was simulcast on Portland's Fox affiliate, WPFO.[3]

The station uses the news services of Fox News Radio and USA Radio Network.

History

During the 1960s and early 1970s, WLOB was a popular Top 40 music station, competing with WJAB (1440) in nearby Westbrook. By about 1979 or 1980, WLOB had picked up a religious format. In the late 1990s, it added a simulcast on 96.3 FM in Rumford, WLOB-FM. This was the third incarnation of WLOB-FM; previous versions included an incarnation on 102.9 (now occupied by WBLM) in the 1960s and an AOR-formatted incarnation on 100.9 (now occupied by WYNZ) from 1978 to 1980.

In 2000, WLOB and WLOB-FM were sold to Atlantic Coast Radio by Carter Broadcasting. The stations subsequently dropped their religious programming and picked up the news-talk format heard today. In 2006, WLOB-FM relocated its transmitter from western Maine to South Paris to provide a clearer signal to the Portland area. Following the transmitter move, in 2008 WLOB-FM changed its city of license from Rumford to Gray.

On August 25, 2008, WLOB-FM was converted to a simulcast of WJJB (which WJAE had become by that time); resulting in WLOB's programming being heard only on the AM signal. This was part of a shuffle of Atlantic Coast Radio's FM stations as a result of the conversion of two of its stations, including WJJB-FM, on September 1, 2008 to simulcasts of WEEI.[4] Shortly after the completion of these format changes, 95.5's call letters were changed to WGEI (it had initially planned to use the WTEI call sign,[5] and for a week in September 2008 used the WUEI call letters[6]).

On April 1, 2009, WGEI converted to a simulcast of WLOB; it became WLOB-FM a few days later.[6] In August 2001 WLOB-FM once again began airing programming from WEEI leaving the talk programming only on the AM signal.

References

  1. ↑ University of Maine Official Athletic Site
  2. ↑ Pirates Announce New Radio Home
  3. ↑ Routhier, Ray (July 28, 2009). "Ray and Ted back on local TV". Portland Press-Herald. Retrieved July 29, 2009.
  4. ↑ Routhier, Ray (August 19, 2008). "WEEI to air in Maine Sept. 1". Portland Press Herald. Retrieved August 19, 2008.
  5. ↑ "WEEI Sports Radio Network Expands to Portland, Bangor & Keene" (PDF) (Press release). Entercom Communications. August 20, 2008. Retrieved August 20, 2008.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Call Sign History". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved April 8, 2009.

External links