WOBM (1160 AM) is a

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 ...

Lakewood Township, New Jersey Lakewood Township is the most populous township in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A rapidly growing community as of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a total population of 135,158 representing an increase of 41,415 (+45.5 ...

and broadcasting a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

format. The station is owned by

Townsquare Media Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...

and serves the Monmouth County area.

History

The station sign-on was November 20, 1970 and it was originally a daytime-only operation on 1170 kHz, using the call letters WHLW (for Howell and Lakewood Townships). Early in its existence, it became a Top 40 station calling itself ''11-7 Radio'', featuring such disc jockeys as John Collure, Paul Irwin, Jack Tracksler, Charlie Roberts, Jay Sorensen, and

Joey Reynolds Joseph Pinto, better known as Joey Reynolds, is a long-time radio show host and disc jockey. Reynolds' broadcasting career started on TV in Buffalo at WGR TV 2 and he worked at various stations, including at WNBC. Career His first radio job was ...

. The station became WOBM in 1981, and in early 1988 moved to the 1160 frequency and became a 24-hour operation. At the time, the station was owned by North Shore Broadcasting Partners, which was affiliated with WOBM-FM's ownership group, Seashore Broadcasting. During the late 1980s, WOBM was known as "1160 AM Star Country" and featured a country music format and

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

baseball games. Local airstaff at the time included general manager Kevin Buckelew, (son of co-owner Joseph Buckelew and known on-air as Kevin Carr), Tom Maciazak, Ava Holly and Kevin Hodge, although most of the programming was satellite-delivered. The station also simulcast Bob Levy's "Topic A" program on Sunday mornings from the sister FM station. Levy had originated the program while general manager of WOBM-AM-FM and continued the program after retiring from the position in the late 1980s. At the time, programming and ad sales operations emanated from WOBM's studios and transmitter site at 46 Clayton Road in Howell Township, just off Route 9. In the 1990s, WOBM adopted an MOR format, and added Bob Levy and his wife Marianne as local morning hosts. Outside of the local morning show, WOBM featured

Dial Global Westwood One is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1978. The company ...

's syndicated "Adult Standards" format, known on-air by the handle

America's Best Music America's Best Music is the on-air branding of a soft oldies and adult standards 24-hour radio network, formerly known as AM Only. The service is syndicated by Westwood One, a subsidiary of Cumulus Media. It was one of the original Transtar R ...

. On September 3, 2010 WOBM changed its format and branding to "Good-Time Oldies", and began simulcasting on 1310 WADB. The WOBM News/Townsquare Media News team includes bureau chief Thomas Mongelli and morning anchor Dianne DeOliveira. On May 19, 2014 WOBM changed their format from oldies to news/talk. On January 3, 2017 WOBM changed their format from news/talk to oldies, branded as "Beach Radio". On December 12, 2019 the station's translator at 93.5 signed off and on December 29, 2019 its new translator on 104.1 signed on. On February 1, 2022 at 10 a.m., after playing " Thunder Road" by Bruce Springsteen, WOBM changed their format from oldies to country, branded as "Cat Country 96.7/104.1", with the first song being "

Cold as You "Cold as You" is a song by American country music singer Luke Combs, It was released on July 19, 2021, as the seventh single from the deluxe edition of his second studio album ''What You See Is What You Get''. The song was co-written by Randy M ...

" by Luke Combs.Townsquare Launches Cat Country Jersey Shore
Radioinsight - February 1, 2022

References

External links

* * * {{Townsquare Media OBM (AM) Country radio stations in the United States Townsquare Media radio stations