WEEB (990 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 to

Southern Pines, North Carolina Southern Pines is a town in Moore County, North Carolina, Moore County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 12,334 as of the 2010 United States Census. History Southern Pines was founded as a winter health resort for Northeastern U ...

, United States, broadcasting a

news/talk 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 station is currently owned by Pinehurst Broadcasting Corporation.

History

WEEB as it exists today was formed from the 1950 merger of two stations which started in the same year in the same town. The first station, WSTS, signed on at 990 kHz with 250 watts during the day, increased to 1,000 watts in December 1948. It was approved for operation by the Sandhills Broadcasting Corporation on March 27, 1947, going on the air on August 8. Just three months later, a second station went on the air in the same town. WEEB operated with 1,000 watts on 1360 kHz and programming from the

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Old-time radio, golden ...

and was owned by Sandhills Community Broadcasters. WSTS sued WEEB before it launched for slander, claiming that WEEB officials made false statements to advertisers to dissuade them from purchasing air time on WSTS. However, after a management change at WSTS, the new operators opted not to pursue the lawsuit. On December 1, 1950, the two stations consolidated with WEEB's programming and Mutual hookup on WSTS's studio and transmitter facilities, stripping Southern Pines (population 3,500) of its reported distinction as the smallest U.S. town with two radio stations; the owners of WSTS then purchased

WWGP WWGP (1050 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Sanford, North Carolina, United States, its primary market covers Lee County, Chatham County, Moore County, and Harnett County. The station is currently owne ...

at nearby Sanford. WEEB increased power to 5,000 watts in 1959. The station briefly held the call sign WCEL from 1982 to 1985 after the Southern Dandy Corporation purchased it from Sandhills, which was led by Jack S. Younts. In 1990, after

WSTS WSTS (100.9 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a southern gospel format. Licensed to Fairmont, North Carolina, United States, the station is currently owned by Stuart Epperson, Jr., through licensee Truth Broadcasting Corporation. History Jim ...

Laurinburg Laurinburg is a city in and the county seat of Scotland County, North Carolina, United States. Located in southern North Carolina near the South Carolina border, Laurinburg is southwest of Fayetteville and is home to St. Andrews University. ...

changed from

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...

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 ...

, WEEB changed from "older and milder rock music" to gospel. Jerry Stout, the former WSTS program director and morning host, moved to those same positions at WEEB. The next year, Stephen Adams purchased the station from Richardson Broadcasting Group and converted it to a news/talk format. In 2016, WEEB added the first of two FM translators, W247CE (97.3 FM), to bring its signal to the FM band.

References

External links

* {{News/Talk Radio Stations in North Carolina EEB Radio stations established in 1947 1947 establishments in North Carolina