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 ...
Freeport, New York
Freeport is a village in the town of Hempstead, in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York state. The population was 43,713 at the 2010 census, making it the second largest village in New York by population.
A settlem ...
and serving
Nassau County, New York
Nassau County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New York. At the 2020 U.S. census, Nassau County's population is 1,395,774. The county seat is Mineola and the largest town is Hempstead.
Nassau County is situated on western Long Isla ...
. It is
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...
's oldest radio station, founded in 1924. It broadcasts the Chinese–language "Chinese Radio Network" and various
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
and Spanish language religious and ethnic brokered programming. The studio is located in
Merrick, New York
Merrick is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. , the population was 20,130.
Geography
According to the United States Census B ...
and its transmitter is located in Freeport, former location of the studio.
History
The Carman years (1923–1954)
WGBB first signed-on the air December 13, 1923 as a 150-watt share-time outlet. The call letters were twisted into the slogan "Where Good Broadcasting Begins," but in actuality were sequentially assigned by the Commerce Department from an alphabetical list. Harry H. Carman, ham station operator 2EL, was creator and owner until his death in 1954. Carman was seriously injured in an auto accident just before Christmas 1953 and perished the following July.
Initially WGBB transmitted on several frequencies:
* 1923: 1230 kHz (150 watts)
* 1927: 1220 kHz (400 watts) sharing with
WAAT
Waat is a village in the northeastern part of South Sudan. It is located in Nyirol County, Jonglei State
Jonglei State is a state of South Sudan with Bor as its centre of government and the biggest city. Jonglei state comprises nine counties ...
,
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.WSOM,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
* and by November 1928: 1210 kHz (100 watts) and now sharing with several suburban stations including WBRB, Red Bank, New Jersey; WFAS,
White Plains, New York
(Always Faithful)
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; and WGNY, Newburgh, New York.
Share-time agreements were common in radio's early days because there were more stations than frequencies. WGNY dropped out in 1939 by moving to 1220. Then as part of the March 29, 1941 federal rearranging and expansion of the entire AM band, WGBB was shifted to 1240. By 1942 the frequency share was condensed when WBRB went out of business. On March 22, 1943 WFAS relocated to 1230 and WGBB became the sole occupant of 1240 ending nineteen years of share-time operation.
In 1931 "The Voice of the Sunrise Trail" was moved from the Carman Bedell Street Freeport home to the Freeport Post Office Building at 64 S. Grove Street; the post office was in the process of relocating to its current building on Merrick Road. In 1937 the studios were relocated to 44 S. Grove Street. The transmitter remained at 217 Bedell Street; situated in Carman's garage. In 1947 WGBB's long-wire antenna, strung between utility poles in Carman's backyard was replaced by a gleaming self-supporting 285-foot vertical antenna. This improvement probably was in response to WHNY, a new FM sister station to
WHLI
WHLI (1100 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Hempstead, New York, and serving Long Island. It is owned by Connoisseur Media and has an oldies radio format made up of hits from the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s.
The station's studios a ...
in nearby Hempstead, WGBB's first local competitor. Carman's original tower was replaced with the current structure in the early 1980s.
Post-Carman
After Carman's death, WGBB's long-time sales manager Murray Evans took the wheel until the station was sold for $95,000 ($800,000 in 2012 dollars) to a group of Long Island businessmen. "Long Island's First Station, Inc." named John Whitmore station manager and he rapidly restructured programming into an up-to-date presentation playing current music. Despite the makeover WGBB fell into receivership.
On August 6, 1956 Edward J. Fitzgerald, owner of WGSM in Huntington, New York took control. The sale approved by the Federal Communications Commission and a bankruptcy court judge; the price was assumption of WGBB's debt. And the FCC waived its duopoly rule which prohibited ownership of overlapping signals saying this is a way to be sure creditors would be paid. Fitzgerald guided the station's music policy back to standards away from current hits and especially doo-wop which was being played on the popular ''Night Train'' evening music show hosted by Lee Donahue and then Alan Fredericks. Soon after taking over Fitzgerald invested in a Collins 300G transmitter boosting WGBB's power to 250 watts. In 1956 WGBB was the only remaining 100-watt station in the New York area and one of a just handful in the entire country. It was said that Carman had asked the FCC not to grant a power increase because of the substantial investment. It was also rumored that Carman rejected an FCC proposal to outfit WGBB with a new frequency and a power increase to 50,000 watts to fill the need for another major coastal signal. Staffers, disheartened by these unusual choices, knew that Carman and program director Ada Cheesman did not have the competence or assets to accomplish such a transformation.
Under Fitzgerald's direction WGBB began to attract big-league national sponsors because sale of commercial announcements on WGBB/WGSM were made in combination, accounting for a revenue surge. Fitzgerald connected his stations with broadcast telephone lines establishing "The Long Island Network," which offered hourly news, sports, a fishing report, weekend public affairs programs, even a few music shows. The news originated at WGBB which had ample space for a newsroom. In 1962, under the direction of chief engineer Richard Carlsen, WGBB set up an RCA BTA 1 MX transmitter increasing day-time power to 1,000 watts but remaining 250 watts at night. The power increase was possible because of Freeport's Kahn Laboratories and their groundbreaking signal tweaking identified on the air as "experimental station KE2XXS." A Kahn black-box cut the WGBB bandwidth in half and sent out a compatible single sideband signal. (AM transmits with twin signals on each side of the carrier wave.) This venture proved that adjacent local stations could operate with more power and not cause interference to each other clearing the way for WGBB's 1,000-watt daytime signal.
Some announcers, personalities, and news reporters from the fifties and sixties with their future destinations: Nick Charles ('60 PD, UPI), Mike Sands, Edward Brown (WNEW), Bob Beneke, Bill Jaker (WSKG), Bill O'Toole, Cal Miller, Clem Cooper, Tony James, John Bohannon (CBS Radio), Don Crane, Jim Powers, Lee Carle (WSTA), Roy Whitfield (WPIX), Jon Ester (WHO-TV), Phil Allen (WPIX-FM), Robert Scott, Ray Adell, Bruce Herbert, Joe Roberts, Hank Howard, Norma Jenkins (switchboard), Dick London (WWRL), Al D'Amico (WPIX-FM), Steve Marko, Peter Strauss, Andy Rage (production/copy), Burt Stalper, Ben Thumb, Chet Adams, John Allen (WCBS-FM as Al Meredith), Bob Logan (WRHU), Ken Lamb (ABC-TV), Phil Doran (chairman BBDO as Phil Dusenberry), John Frogge (ND '31-'56 "News of Nassau"), Bill Goddard (ND '56-'62),
Christopher Glenn Joseph Christopher Glenn (March 23, 1938 – October 17, 2006) was an American radio and television news journalist who worked in broadcasting for over 45 years and spent the final 35 years of his career at CBS, retiring on February 23, 2006 at the ...
( CBS), John Mead (WNEW), John Anthony Zee, Jim McKay (WCWP as James F. McConnochie), Andy Anderson, Harry Hart, and Andy Benedict. Zee was on the air November 22, 1963 and reported the
assassination of President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. CST in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was in the vehicle with ...
and made the announcement that Kennedy was dead. Zee went to Hollywood and an acting career appearing in many movies and network TV shows.
On May 12, 1965 WGBB was sold for $452,000 ($3.5 million in 2018 dollars) to Susquehanna, a group broadcaster based in
York, Pennsylvania
York (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Yarrick''), known as the White Rose City (after the symbol of the House of York), is the county seat of York County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the south-central region of the state. The populatio ...
. Susquehanna built new studios in a building just a few steps from the Merrick Long Island Railroad station ending twenty-eight years at the 44 S. Grove Street loft. A World War Two vintage Gates mixing board from the main control room was salvaged and continued service in the new WGBB production studio. WGBB morphed into a pop music outlet with a strong local news presence enjoying what many have said were its best years. Names from the Susquehanna era include: William Musser (General Manager), Bob Lawrence (Program Director and play-by-play for the
New York Islanders
The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conferenc ...
and
New York Nets
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
), Dave Vieser, Jim Quinn (for years as Dennis Quinn, WPIX-FM, WQCD, NYC), Roy Reynolds, Mike McKay, John Gardener, Gary McFarlane, John Commins, "Bullet" Bob Ottone, Frank Brinka, Gil David, Joe Dougherty (creative services, writer-producer of '' Thirtysomething'', ''
Judging Amy
''Judging Amy'' is an American legal drama television series that was telecast from September 19, 1999, through May 3, 2005, on CBS. This TV series starred Amy Brenneman and Tyne Daly. Its main character (Brenneman) is a judge who serves in a ...
'' and '' Pretty Little Liars''), Don Rosen, Charlie Day ( WCBS-FM and WHN NYC and the syndicated ''Weekly Country Music Countdown'' as Chris Charles), Al Case (CE as Al Lush), Jerry Scott, Roy Frank, Jerry Walker (as Harry Birrell on KNX, CBS, LA), Ed Grilli, Gary Lewi, Bob Dunn, Ben Avery ( AP), Bill Whitney ( CBS Radio News NYC), Frank Settipani (CBS Radio News NYC), Dr. Bettina Gregory (
ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast '' ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include morning news-talk show '' Good Morning America'', '' ...
), Carol Silva (WINS,
News 12 Long Island
News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to events. ...
), Drew Scott (News 12 Long Island), Larry Kofsky ( Bloomberg Business Radio), Ed Zidner, Bill Stoller (ABC Radio News), Howard Liberman ( WINS, Fox Business Network), Mitch Lebe (many including WRFM, WYNY, WCBS, WBBR all NYC), Wes Richards ( WRFM, WOR, WBBR all NYC), Mike Sullivan, and Bob Allen (ND).
On July 22, 1981 Susquehanna sold WGBB to a group headed by Franz Allina for close to $1 million. The new operators had taken control by mid-September. Charlie Day had departed for WCBS-FM NYC just prior to this sale, and Program Director Gil David had taken over morning duties, followed by 'Gary T' middays and Bob Dayton pm drive time. (Dayton had been on-air at WABC from 1963 to 1965, but had lost his job after the legendar "Hiroshima" incident later working in Los Angeles radio before returning east.) 7-midnight was hosted by Glenn Turnbull with Dick Farrell on overnights. Weekends were covered by the weekday staff except the Saturday - Sunday 6pm - Midnight shift which was hosted by Joseph M. 'Joe' Calisi. Juliet Papa an Debbie Wetzel were in the newsroom. Papa went on to WINS and Wetzel to WCBS-FM, where she anchored AM news reports for 17 years.
On November 19, 1986 Noble Broadcast Group acquired WGBB joining it with WBAB-FM a Babylon, NY based AOR outlet. WGBB would soon move to the new West Babylon WBAB studios on Sunrise Highway. On January 22, 1988 the sixty-four-year-old WGBB call letters were retired and 1240 took the identity of its FM sister station becoming WBAB and began simulcasting WBAB-FM most of the time. Also in 1988 night-time power was increased to 1,000 watts from 250 watts as was the case for all class IV local channel stations in the U.S. on 1240 and other local frequencies including 1230, 1340, 1400, 1450, and 1490. When the simulcast with WBAB-FM ended 1240 began airing a news-talk format and on April 15, 1991 returned to the original WGBB call letters.
WGBB and WBAB were purchased by Liberty Broadcasting on February 15, 1993 for $16 million. The deal did not separate WGBB's value. Liberty later added WBLI in
Patchogue, New York
Patchogue (, ) is a village in Suffolk County, New York. The population was 11,798 at the time of the 2010 census. Patchogue is part of the town of Brookhaven, on the south shore of Long Island, adjoining Great South Bay. It is officially known ...
and WHFM in Southampton, New York to its Long Island station cluster. WBLI would keep its Top 40 format, while WHFM became a simulcast of WBAB.
On July 1, 1996
Robert F. X. Sillerman
Robert Francis Xavier Sillerman (April 12, 1948 – November 24, 2019) was an American businessman and media entrepreneur. Sillerman was the owner of a range of television and radio stations during the 1970s and 1980s, In 1993 he formed SFX Broa ...
's SFX Broadcasting Inc. announced it had acquired Liberty Broadcasting. As part of the deal SFX and Chancellor Broadcasting (owners of
WALK
Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an ' inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ...
and WALK-FM in Patchogue, New York) also agreed to exchange SFX's four Long Island stations in New York, gained in the Liberty acquisition, for two of Chancellor's Jacksonville, Fla., stations and $11 million. On October 7, 1996 WGBB and WBAB-FM began an LMA with Chancellor Broadcasting, a simulcast with WALK AM 1370 was begun under the name "Sunrise Radio Network". On September 4, 1997 Chancellor changed its name to Chancellor Media Corp. The deal with Chancellor Media to purchase WGBB & WBAB-FM fell through in early 1998 after the
Justice Department
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
filed an antitrust suit to block Chancellor's purchase, and the simulcast ended. At that time WGBB began running the audio portion of
CNN Headline News
HLN is an American basic cable network. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, the network primarily carries true crime programming.
The channel was originally launched on January 1, 1982 by Turner Broadcasting as CNN2 (later renamed Headline News ...
during the times no local talk shows were scheduled.
On May 22, 1998 Cox Broadcasting, a large national chain, purchased WGBB, WBAB-FM, WBLI and WHFM. Cox's main interest was in the FM stations and a few months later, in October 1998, dealt WGBB to a splinter group of
Multicultural Broadcasting
Multicultural Broadcasting is a media company based in New York City founded by Chinese-American businessman Arthur Liu. It caters mostly to the Asian American community and owns television and radio stations in several of the top markets in mul ...
for $1.7 million. Under the new ownership, WGBB began broadcasting in Chinese by simulcasting the Chinese Radio Network in time slots not brokered to outside producers. After the sale of WGBB to Multicultural, WGBB moved from a bright, modern facility to a dingy, cramped studio at 1850 Lansdowne Avenue across Sunrise Highway from the Merrick Long Island Rail Road station; meanwhile, WBLI moved from their studios in
Medford, New York
Medford is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 24,142 at the 2010 census.
History
The Long Island Rail Road established the Medf ...
into the studios that WGBB had just vacated.
A few years later, another move took place, this time to the WNYG (another Multicultural outlet) facilities at 404 Route 109 near Sunrise Highway in Babylon, New York. WNYG was sold a few years later and relocated to Medford, which left WGBB alone in the old WNYG facility.
References
Further reading
* Bill Jaker, Frank Sulek, Peter Kanze, ''The Airwaves of New York: Illustrated Histories of 156 AM Stations in the Metropolitan Area, 1921–1996'', McFarland (Jul 7, 2008), p. 72-74.