WLOB (1310

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 a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

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 ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

. The station is owned by

Atlantic Coast Radio Atlantic Coast Radio, LLC is a radio company located in the state of Maine, owned by longtime broadcaster J. J. Jeffrey. It was incorporated in 1982 and has a staff count of approximately twenty. Prior to the current radio group, Jeffrey was a part ...

and airs a

Talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

format Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informatio ...

. The studios and

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are on Warren Avenue in Portland. WLOB operates at 5000

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s using a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna which radiates or receives greater power in specific directions allowing increased performance and reduced interference from unwanted sources. Directional antennas provide increased performance ...

to protect other stations on its frequency. Programming on WLOB is also heard on FM

translator Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

W263BZ at 100.5

MHz 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 one he ...

Programming

Weekdays begin a local news and interview show, hosted by Ray Richardson, which is also carried on several other AM stations in Maine. The weekday schedule continues with nationally syndicated hosts including Mike Gallagher,

Sean Hannity Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961) is an American talk show host, conservative political commentator, and author. He is the host of '' The Sean Hannity Show'', a nationally syndicated talk radio show, and has also hosted a commen ...

Joe Pags Joseph John Pagliarulo (born August 1, 1966), also known on the air as Joe Pags, is an American nationally syndicated conservative television and radio talk show host. Biography Born in Amityville, New York, Pagliarulo later lived in nearby C ...

Jim Bohannon James Everett Bohannon (January 7, 1944 – November 12, 2022) was an American broadcaster who worked in both television and radio. He is best known for hosting the nationally syndicated late night radio talk show ''The Jim Bohannon Show'' orig ...

Chris Plante Chris Plante (born December 12, 1959) is a syndicated radio talk show host, based at WMAL Radio in Washington D.C., and heard on the Westwood One Network. He is also a frequent guest on both Fox News and Fox Business. Chris Plante is the s ...

and America in The Morning. Sports programming includes

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

Black Bears

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and

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

. A portion of ''The Ray Richardson Show'' was simulcast on Portland's

MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...

network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...

, WPME, from September 2009 to June 2013. Until March 2009, the entire program (as ''The Fox Morning News'') was simulcast on Portland's

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

affiliate,

WPFO WPFO (channel 23) is a television station licensed to Waterville, Maine, United States, serving the Portland area as an affiliate of the Fox network. It is owned by Cunningham Broadcasting, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) wit ...

. Most hours begin with national news from

Fox News Radio Fox News Radio is an American radio network owned by Fox News. It is syndicated to over 500 AM and FM radio stations across the United States. It also supplies programming for three channels on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. History In 2003, ...

History

WLOB first

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the air on February 2, 1957.Broadcasting Yearbook 1958 page A-294
/ref> During the late 1960s and early 1970s, WLOB was a popular

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 ...

music station, competing with 1440

WJBQ WJBQ (97.9 FM; ''Q97 dot 9'') is a radio station in Portland, Maine, United States, which airs a CHR/Top 40 format. It transmits its signal from Gray, Maine, which can be heard throughout Southwestern Maine, and into portions of adjacent New Ham ...

in nearby Westbrook. During this time, McGavern/Guild Media NYC owned WLOB AM 1310 as Atlantic States Industries, which also owned WTSA (

Brattleboro, Vermont Brattleboro (), originally Brattleborough, is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The most populous municipality abutting Vermont's eastern border with New Hampshire, which is the Connecticut River, Brattleboro is located about no ...

), WNVY (

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...

) and WRYT (

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

). By about 1979 or 1980, as Top 40 listening began shifting to FM, WLOB switched to a brokered Christian talk and teaching 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 102.9 (now occupied by

WBLM WBLM 102.9 FM is a Classic Rock radio station licensed to Portland, Maine. The station has a studio in One City Center, along with co-owned Townsquare Media stations WJBQ, WCYY, WHOM and WPKQ. The station also serves as the Portland market af ...

) in the 1960s and an AOR-formatted 100.9 (now occupied by

WYNZ WYNZ (100.9 MHz, "Rewind 100.9"), is a commercial FM radio station licensed to South Portland, Maine, and serving the Portland metropolitan area. It is owned by Saga Communications and airs a classic hits radio format. The studios and offices ...

) from 1978 to 1980. In 2000, WLOB and WLOB-FM were sold to

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 Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

. 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. 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, and for a week in September 2008 used the WUEI call letters). On April 1, 2009, 95.5 WGEI converted to a simulcast of WLOB; it became WLOB-FM a few days later. In August 2011, WLOB-FM once again began airing programming from WEEI leaving the talk programming only on the AM signal. In March 2016, WLOB's programming could once again be heard on the FM dial in the Portland area, this time on an FM translator, 100.5 W263BZ.

References

External links

WLOB official website
{{News/Talk Radio Stations in Maine News and talk radio stations in the United States

LOB Lob may refer to: Sports * Lob (pickleball) * Lob (tennis) * Lob (association football), a lofted pass or shot in association football * Lob bowling, an archaic bowling style in cricket People * Lob Brown, American college football player * L ...

Radio stations established in 1957 1957 establishments in Maine