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WAEB-FM (104.1 MHz, "B104") is a Top 40 (CHR)
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 ...
to
Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 census. It is the fastest-growing major city in Pennsylvania ...
. The station is owned by
iHeartMedia, Inc. iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
and broadcasts a
contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...
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 ...
.


History

WAEB-FM signed on in 1961, initially simulcasting the Top 40 format airing on WAEB (790 AM). In the late 1960s, WAEB-FM separated from WAEB and went through several formats before eventually becoming 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, ...
station with the WXKW call sign. In April 1985, the station reverted to the WAEB-FM call sign and switched to a
soft 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, quiet sto ...
format, playing a small number of adult standards artists initially as well as a few new songs. The station was known as "Light 104 WAEB-FM", and it was a "niche" format meant to compete with WFMZ (100.7 FM) (which was easy listening at the time) and
WLEV WLEV (100.7 FM, "100.7 WLEV") is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Allentown, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Cumulus Media, Inc., through licensee Radio License Holding CBC LLC, and broadcasts an adult contemporary music forma ...
(96.1 FM) (which was an automated/live assist "Hot AC"). By the early part of 1986, WAEB FM had evolved to more of a mainstream AC format, but by the late part of 1986, the station was phasing out the "Light" name and became "104 WAEB-FM", and the music mix changed to a more heavily dayparted AC/CHR mix without the hype. On January 26, 1987, the day known as when "the records went away", the station switched to a CHR format and became "The world's first ever laser hit-music radio station, The New Laser 104.1 WAEB-FM". This was aptly named because 90% percent of the music (when available) was played on CD. One remnant of the station's "Laser Days" was at
Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom is an American amusement and water park located between Allentown and Emmaus, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The park features 64 rides, including six roller coasters, other ad ...
, where in 1987, their "Colossus" steel roller coaster was renamed "The Laser" until it was moved in 2008. Legendary voice man Mitch Craig was the voice of WAEB-FM in its "Laser" years. In 1991, the station gradually replaced the "Laser 104.1" branding with "104.1 WAEB-FM". In September of that year, after WHXT ("Hot 99.9") in Easton switched to
WODE-FM WODE-FM (99.9 FM, "99.9 The Hawk") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Easton, Pennsylvania. The station's service contour covers the Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The station is owned by Cumulus Media, th ...
and rebranded as "Oldies 99.9", WAEB-FM's transition to "BDay" was complete. The station then became known as "The New B104 FM". The station positioned itself as "The New B104 FM" through late 1992. Brian James became the new voice of WAEB-FM after Mitch Craig. By late 1992, the station started to play down the fact that they were "new" and began positioning itself as the station that plays "10 songs in a row" and gives you "Everything You Need to Know" because of its emphasis on local news in the morning and afternoon, as well as traffic reports every 10 minutes. Ken Matthews hosted the morning show and Chuck McGee did the afternoon drive. Rich Davis (now at
KDWB KDWB-FM (101.3 MHz) is an American commercial radio station broadcasting in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota, licensed to suburban Richfield. KDWB's radio format is Top 40/CHR. Its transmitter is located in Shoreview, while its studios ...
in the
Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in sta ...
) joined in 1992 and did overnights before eventually moving to nights using the name "Joe Friday". By Spring 1996, B104 was reimaged; most of the flame-throwing CHR jingles from the '80s were dropped and Sean Caldwell became the new voice of WAEB-FM after Brian James. The Retro 80's Buffet began at noon, hosted originally by Jennifer Knight (now on
WAYV WayV ( zh, s=威神V, hp=WēiShén V; an initialism for We are your Vision) is a Chinese boy band and the fourth overall sub-unit of the South Korean boy band NCT, managed by SM Entertainment's Chinese sub-label, Label V. The group is composed o ...
in
Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.
). In late 1996, B-104 began broadcasting
Open House Party ''Open House Party'' (often referred to as "OHP") is an American radio show hosted by Kannon (Saturday) and Joe Breezy (Sunday), branded as "The Biggest Party on the Planet!", playing contemporary hit music. From its inception in September 1987, ...
with
John Garabedian John H. Garabedian is an American radio personality and disc jockey. He is best known as the creator and former long-time host of ''Open House Party''. He has been involved in Massachusetts radio and television stations for more than fifty years. I ...
on Saturday nights after it was dropped by Pottsville's
WAVT-FM WAVT-FM (101.9 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Pottsville, Pennsylvania, and calling itself "T-102." It is owned by Pottsville Broadcasting Company and broadcasts a Contemporary Hit Radio/ Hot Adult Contemporary radio format. ...
(T-102). By 1997, B104 began playing a lot more "softer" songs during the day that a lot of other CHR's didn't play (like "Here in My Heart" by
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
), to pick up listeners who felt displaced by the signing off of WLEV in July 1997. In late 1998, B104 began using a new jingle package and streaming on the web. In the 1990s, B104 served as Allentown's de facto Adult Contemporary station as it eliminated rap and hard rock during the day. B104 aired special edits of songs such as
Green Day Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a ...
's Holiday, Beyonce's
Crazy In Love "Crazy in Love" is a song recorded by American singer Beyoncé, featuring a rap verse and ad-libs from her future husband Jay-Z from her debut solo studio album ''Dangerously in Love'' (2003). The song was released as her official debut single a ...
, and many others where the raps or spoken parts were extracted from the songs. Through the 2000s, B104 had a "whatever weekend" to distance themselves from the repetition cliches of pop radio. In 2006, B104 was re-imaged again, dropping Sean Caldwell as the voice as well as the "10 in a row" slogan. Morning man Ken Matthews exited, and long-time night guy Mike Kelly was moved to mornings, as the station then began to resemble other CHR stations owned by Clear Channel Communications (now
iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
) in markets around the country, a sound they still maintain today as a Mainstream CHR radio station. Today, B104 is a Mainstream CHR that no longer "dayparts" their music. B104 relies heavily on syndicated products from their parent company
iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
, along with a live and local morning show "Mike and Steph in The Morning". B104 featured the "Firecracker 500" every weekend through 2003 with the #1 song usually being the biggest hit on the station in the last year. B104 is a part of the
iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbrella brand for iHe ...
network. On October 20, 2012, B104 dropped Open House Party on Saturday nights and replaced it with Clear Channel's Saturday Night Online with Romeo (now Most Requested Live). B104 is continually at the top of the 12+ ratings in the Lehigh Valley maintaining 10+ shares for almost the last 25 years. WAEB-FM-HD2 has had several different formats. Previously, it has aired new Top 40 music,
Alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...
, a simulcast of WAEB, and currently,
country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...
.


Signal note

WAEB-FM is short-spaced to
WNNK-FM WNNK-FM (104.1 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Owned by Cumulus Media it carries a hot adult contemporary format. The station's studios are on Vartan Way in Harrisburg, with its transmitter atop ...
''Wink 104'' (licensed to serve
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in ...
) as they both operate on the same channel and the distance between the stations' transmitters is as determined by FCC rules. The minimum distance between two Class B stations operating on the same channel according to current
FCC The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdictio ...
rules is .


Translators

W221CU-Allentown and W296CL-Reading (Latina FM) has been airing a Spanish CHR format since May 2017.


See also

*
Media in the Lehigh Valley This is a list of media in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania: Magazines and newspapers Television stations The Lehigh Valley is also part of the Philadelphia television market. Philadelphia stations are available over-the-air ...


References


External links

* {{IHeartMedia AEB-FM Contemporary hit radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1961 1961 establishments in Pennsylvania IHeartMedia radio stations