WBEV (1430

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that on ...

) is an AM

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

broadcasting a

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...

format. Licensed to

Beaver Dam, Wisconsin Beaver Dam is a city in Dodge County, Wisconsin, United States, along Beaver Dam Lake and the Beaver Dam River. The population was 16,708 at the 2020 census, making it the largest city primarily located in Dodge County. It is the principal city ...

, United States, the station is currently owned by

Good Karma Brands Good Karma Brands, LLC (GKB, formerly Good Karma Broadcasting) is an American conglomerate. Based in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, it has interests in radio broadcasting, sports marketing, retail, and real estate. GKB was founded in 1997 by Craig Karmaz ...

History

WBEV originally signed on as a daytime-only station in 1951 and added nighttime service in December 1979. The station first ran a MOR format from the 1970s until 1984, and later

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

for more than a decade beginning in 1984 and continued into the 1990s. Beginning in 1993, the station began adding news/talk programs into its lineup. Right when the 2000s rolled along, its music format was dropped and the station went into full-service

brokered programming Brokered programming (also known as time-buy and blocktime) is a form of broadcast content in which the show's producer pays a radio or television station for air time, rather than exchanging programming for pay or the opportunity to play spot comm ...

with news, talk, farm, and sports programs from

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...

, as well as infomercial programming on both weekdays and weekends. In the 2010s, the station added an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...

music format to its brokered programming lineup. On August 15, 2022, the station dropped its full-service brokered programming format and flipped to sports talk, retaining its ESPN Radio affiliation from its former full-service brokered programming lineup.

Notable DJs

Notable people who worked for WBEV included

Jack Horkheimer Jack Horkheimer (born Foley Arthur Horkheimer; June 11, 1938 – August 20, 2010) was the executive director of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium. He was best known for his astronomy show '' Jack Horkheimer: Star Hustler'', which started airi ...

, the creator and host of '' Jack Horkheimer: Star Gazer''; he began work at the station in 1953 at age 15. Other persons of interest that have worked at WBEV include “Uncle” Bill McCollum, who started working at the station on July 4, 1964. Uncle Bill is the longtime host of the BarnShow, Dodge County’s premiere Polka radio show. WBEVLogo@2x-2

On July 27, 2022, the station announced it would flip to sports as "ESPN 1430" on August 15 after a fifteen-day period of moving the station's programming to WXRO under the WBEV-FM call sign.

References

External links

BEV Beaver Dam, Wisconsin 1951 establishments in Wisconsin Radio stations established in 1951 Sports radio stations in the United States ESPN Radio stations {{Wisconsin-radio-station-stub