WRBO (103.5 FM) 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

Como, Mississippi Como is a town in Panola County, Mississippi, which borders the Mississippi Delta and is in the northern part of the state, known as hill country. The population was 1,279 as of the 2010 census. History In a 2007 article about the area, Wayne D ...

, and serving the

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

metropolitan area. Owned by

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 87 ...

, WRBO has an

urban adult contemporary Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music on ...

format playing both current and classic R&B music. The station's studios are located at the Memphis Radio Group building in East Memphis, and the transmitter site is in

Olive Branch, Mississippi Olive Branch is a city in DeSoto County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population is 39,711. Olive Branch is part of the Memphis Metropolitan Statistical Area, a region that consists of three counties in southwest Te ...

History

From 1966 to 1998, the 103.5 frequency was licensed to

New Albany, Mississippi New Albany is a city in and the county seat of Union County, Mississippi, United States. According to the 2020 United States Census, the population was 7,626. History New Albany was first organized in 1840 at the site of a grist mill and saw mil ...

serving the

Tupelo Tupelo , genus ''Nyssa'' , is a small genus of deciduous trees with alternate, simple leaves. It is sometimes included in the subfamily Nyssoideae of the dogwood family, Cornaceae, but is placed by other authorities in the family Nyssaceae. In ...

area. The station's call letters were WNAU from 1966 to 1979. In 1979, WNAU's call letters changed to WOKM (later WOKM-FM in 1982). In 1984, the call letters changed to WWKZ, and the station had a

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 ...

format branded "KZ-103". WWKZ became among the first FM radio stations with studios in Tupelo when it moved there in 1986. In 1997, Massachusetts-based Barnstable Broadcasting purchased WWKZ from Radio South in

Meridian, Mississippi Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, seventh largest city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 41,148 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and an estimated population in 2018 of 36,347. It is the count ...

and started plans to move the station to the larger

market. Effective May 1, 1998, WWKZ was re-licensed to

serving the Memphis area, with call letters WRBO and broadcasting from a transmitter in nearby

. Its R&B format branded "Soul Classics" began in June 1998. In 2004,

Citadel Broadcasting Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the country. Only iHeartMedia and Cumulus Media ...

purchased WRBO from Barnstable.

bought Citadel and all its stations in 2011. In 2011, WRBO began phasing in Adult R&B currents while continuing to play classic R&B. The station currently airs the syndicated ''

Steve Harvey Broderick Stephen Harvey Sr. Also aired August 16, 2015. (born January 17, 1957) is an American television host, producer, actor, and comedian. He hosts ''The Steve Harvey Morning Show'', ''Family Feud'', '' Celebrity Family Feud,'' the Miss U ...

Morning Show'' and ''The

D.L. Hughley Darryl Lynn Hughley (; born March 6, 1963) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Hughley is best known as the original host of BET's ''ComicView'' from 1992 to 1993, the eponymous character on the ABC/ UPN sitcom ''The Hughleys'', and as ...

Show''. Its main competitor is

KJMS KJMS (101.1 FM) is an urban adult contemporary radio station in Memphis Tennessee, and serving the Mid-South, area, owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The station's studios are located in southeast Memphis, and the transmitter site is in north Memphis ...

, whose Urban AC direction reflects more currents. Because of this shift to Urban AC,

Mediabase Mediabase is a music industry service that monitors radio station airplay in 180 US and Canadian markets. Mediabase publishes music charts and data based on the most played songs on terrestrial and satellite radio, and provides in-depth analytic ...

added WRBO to its Urban AC reporting panel in March 2012. WRBO was the radio flagship station for

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

(

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

) games until the 2010–11 season, after which

Entercom Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corporation, it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning 235 radio stations across 48 media ...

-owned WMFS AM and FM picked up the Grizzlies' broadcast rights.

References

External links

WRBO official website
* {{coord, 34.862, N, 89.878, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title Urban oldies radio stations in the United States RBO Cumulus Media radio stations 1966 establishments in Mississippi Radio stations established in 1966