WGBN (1360
AM) is a
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
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 ...
that serves the
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
, market in the US. Owned by Pentecostal Temple Development Corporation, the station operates with a power of 1,000 watts, and is licensed to
McKeesport, Pennsylvania
McKeesport is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is situated at the confluence of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers and within the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population was 17,727 as of the 2020 census. It ...
.
History
As WMCK
The station began broadcasting on April 30, 1947, with the call letters WMCK, and under the ownership of the Mon-Yough Broadcasting Company. George Raikes was company president and Jack Craddock was general manager. Studios were located at 517 Market Street in McKeesport. Its initial programming included
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...
baseball games. During the early years, the station broadcast at a full-time power of 1,000 watts, day and night, changing to a directional antenna pattern during the nighttime hours.
As WIXZ
Following its acquisition by Westchester Corporation of Cleveland, Ohio, it was a
Top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...
station with the
call letters
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...
''WIXZ'' ("Wick-zee 1360") beginning in 1969. Its studios were relocated to 318 Long Run Road, McKeesport, PA. The offices were located in 4 Gateway Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. Among its disc jockeys during the Top 40 era was Jeff Christie, better known today by his real name,
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American conservative political commentator who was the host of '' The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nationally syndicated on AM and FM r ...
. Other disc jockeys at the station were Mark Roberts, Mike McGann, George Hart, and Al "Jazzbeaux" Collins, who replaced Limbaugh, after his departure.
On March 19, 1974, the station was sold to Renda Broadcasting Corporation. Anthony F. Renda was the company president and Melvin Abramovitz was appointed as station manager. After Renda took ownership, the stations format was changed to Beautiful Music, which was short lived. In 1975, the format was changed to country, was automated at the time, and used the Drake-Chenault Country music package, which was billed as Great American WIXZ. The station went to live disc jockeys in 1976, still playing Country music, and moved the studios and offices to 400 Lincoln Highway in East McKeesport.
On July 16, 1985, Renda Broadcasting Corporation sold WIXZ to Serena Communications, a company owned by Renda executive Alan C. Serena. Renda had acquired the Pittsburgh stations
WJAS
WJAS (1320 AM) is a commercial radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The station has a talk radio format, and uses the slogan "The Talk of Pittsburgh". It is owned by St. Barnabas Broadcasting, a division of the Saint Barnabas Health System, ...
and
WSHH
WSHH (99.7 FM) is a commercial radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The station is the flagship of Renda Broadcasting and airs an adult contemporary radio format. From mid-November through December 25, WSHH switches to all Christmas mu ...
the year before and was required to sell off WIXZ to comply with more stringent FCC ownership requirements which, at the time, limited owners to possess no more than one AM and one FM property in any given market. Serena maintained the format until September 1997, when Renda Broadcasting bought back the station after FCC ownership rules were relaxed.
As WPTT and WMNY
Shortly after the re-acquisition, WIXZ switched to a
talk
Talk may refer to:
Communication
* Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people
* Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people
* Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct
...
format, then took the WPTT call letters (formerly on
channel 22 in Pittsburgh). On August 19, 2008,
Renda Broadcasting
Renda Broadcasting (RBC) is a privately held Pittsburgh-based radio broadcasting company founded by chief executive, Tony Renda.
Renda Broadcasting operates stations in Pennsylvania and Florida. Most stations are identified as “A hometown radio ...
announced that WPTT would be switching formats from talk to financial advice;
[Mark Roth,]
Format change will take Cullen off WPTT
, ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', August 19, 2008. this was accompanied by a call change to WMNY. In all of its incarnations since WMCK, the radio station has positioned itself as a Pittsburgh outlet, rather than directly addressing the suburb of McKeesport, despite a weak nighttime signal.
On September 19, 2011, Renda Broadcasting announced that WMNY would return to its "AM News Talk 1360" format. This format contains numerous popular talk programs from the Talk Radio Network based radio network.
As WGBN
In July 2013, Renda Broadcasting announced that WMNY would be donated to Pentecostal Temple Development Corporation, licensee of
WGBN
WGBN (1360 AM) is a gospel radio station that serves the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, market in the US. Owned by Pentecostal Temple Development Corporation, the station operates with a power of 1,000 watts, and is licensed to McKeesport, Pennsylv ...
in New Kensington. The transaction was completed on October 9, 2013. 1360 went off the air for about a month to allow engineering adjustments that would allow it to simulcast 1150's programming. The stations swapped call signs on March 1, 2014.
References
External links
{{Pittsburgh Radio
GBN
Gospel radio stations in the United States
Radio stations established in 1947
1947 establishments in Pennsylvania
GBN