WBAL (AM)
FCC | |
Facility ID | 65679 |
---|---|
Class | A |
Power | 50,000 watts |
Transmitter coordinates | 39°22′33.38″N 76°46′19.91″W / 39.3759389°N 76.7721972°W |
Translator(s) | See § Translators |
Repeater(s) | 97.9 WIYY-HD2 (Baltimore) |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Webcast | Listen Live |
Website | wbal.com |
WBAL (1090
WBAL is a 50,000-watt,
Programming
Sports
WBAL is the co-
Since the Baltimore Orioles began their inaugural season in 1954, WBAL has been their flagship station for most of that team's history, though not continuously. For example, it carried Orioles games every season from 1987 to 2006, after which the team's games were broadcast on crosstown sports radio station WJZ-FM. Orioles games returned to WBAL from 2011 to 2014 before the team switched back to WJZ-FM in 2015. On January 5, 2022, it was announced that the Orioles would be returning to WBAL and sister station WIYY beginning with the 2022 season.[6] The games are also streamed on the respective stations' websites and apps, but with MLB-required georestrictions limiting the broadcast to the entire states of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Washington DC, the Pennsylvania counties of York, Harrisburg and Lancaster, the West Virginia counties of Grant, Hardy, Mineral, Hampshire, Morgan, Berkeley and Jefferson, and most of North Carolina excluding Asheville (which is in the Atlanta Braves' broadcast territory). Ravens games have been broadcast on WBAL and WIYY since the 2006 season.
Other teams whose games have been broadcast on WBAL include the Baltimore Colts, the University of Maryland Terrapins and the Towson Tigers.
History
Consolidated Gas Electric
WBAL began broadcasting after being dedicated on November 2, 1925. It was a subsidiary of the Consolidated Gas Electric Light and Power Company, a predecessor of
WBAL was an affiliate of NBC's Blue Network.[7] On January 12, 1935, with radio becoming more commercialized, there was little justification for a public service company to own a radio station. WBAL was sold to the Hearst-controlled American Radio News Corporation, which operated it along with two daily newspapers, The Baltimore News-Post and The Baltimore American (later merged as the Baltimore News-American).[7]
MOR and talk
As network programming moved from radio to television in the 1950, WBAL switched to a
By the early 1970s, the station had a full-service adult contemporary music format with the exception of weekday evenings, where the station aired talk programming.[9]
Among its personalities during that period were program host Jay Grayson, Harley Brinsfield, who had a long-running Saturday night jazz music program, The Harley Show, and White House-accredited newsman Galen Fromme. In the early 1980s, WBAL began running talk shows evenings and overnights, and continued to play some music during the day.
News-talk
Music gradually decreased and talk programs were added. In the fall of 1985, WBAL transitioned to its current news-talk format, winning 19 national
In 2010, WBAL switched its morning and afternoon
HD Radio and translator
In addition to its analog 1090 kHz signal, WBAL is also heard on 97.9 WIYY-
Call sign | Frequency | City of license | FID | ERP (W) | HAAT |
Class | Transmitter coordinates | FCC info |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
W268BA | 101.5 FM | Baltimore, Maryland |
154255 | 136 | 190 m (623 ft) | D | 39°20′5″N 76°39′2″W / 39.33472°N 76.65056°W | LMS |
Anchors, reporters, and hosts
- Bill Vanko
- Bryan Nehman (morning anchor)
- Steve Fermier
- Dan Joseph (evening host)
- Yuripzi Morgan (afternoon host)
- Anne Kramer
- Robert Lang (anchor & public affairs host)
- Clarence M. Mitchell, IV(C4)
- Jimmy Mathis
- Doug McIntyre
- Jim Russ (traffic reporter)
- Dana Loesch
- Scott Wykoff (morning reporter)
- Phil Yacuboski
- Troy Johnson
- Liz Drabick (traffic reporter)
- Stacy Lyn
- Brenda Carl
- Dave Gegorak
- Jacob Young
- Kristie McIntyre
- Bill Cunningham
Notable former on-air staff
- Ron Smith – died, at the age of 70, on December 19, 2011, after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer.[11][12]
- Allan Prell – Along with Smith, the leading voice of WBAL in the 1980s and 90s. Left the station in 1999, died in 2016.[13]
- Dave Durian – hosted the morning show from 1990 to 2012; died at age 72 on January 28, 2019, from complications of lung cancer and a stroke.[14]
- "Detour Dave" Sandler – longtime traffic reporter, died in 2019.
- Dick Purtan – disc jockey and talk host, 1967-68. Originally from Buffalo, New York, he was in Detroit in 1965, then to Baltimore for a year. Returned to Detroit in 1968, ended career there in 2010.
- John V. Patti – Retired from WBAL after 38 years in 2022.
- Jim Russ, traffic reporter, died suddenly from cardiac arrest on August 18, 2021. His reporting career spanned 38 years in the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore area.
References
- ^ FCC History Cards for WBAL
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WBAL". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "WBAL/Baltimore Adds Coast to Coast AM to Lineup". radio-online.com. March 30, 2023. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
- ^ "WBAL-AM 1090 kHz - Baltimore, MD". radio-locator.com.
- ^ "W268BA-FM 101.5 MHz - Baltimore, MD". radio-locator.com.
- ^ "O's, Hearst Baltimore sign flagship radio deal". Major League Baseball.
- ^ a b c King, Thomson (1950). Consolidated of Baltimore 1816–1950: A History of Consolidated Gas Electric Light and Power Company of Baltimore. Baltimore: Consolidated Gas Electric Light and Power Co. pp. 246, 274.
- ^ O'Connor, Thomas H. Baltimore Broadcasting from A to Z (1985), p. 23.
- ^ a b Zurawick, David (July 24, 2009). "WBAL radio manager is leaving". The Baltimore Sun. p. 3.
- ^ "WIYY Drops HD Only Music Channels". AllAccess.com. All Access Music Group, Inc. August 29, 2014.
- ^ "Ron Smith Succumbs To Cancer At 70". WBAL-TV. December 20, 2011. Archived from the original on January 17, 2016. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
- ^ "Ron Smith 1941–2011". WBAL-TV. December 20, 2011. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
- ^ Kelly, Jacques; Rasmussen, Frederick N. (December 13, 2016). "Allan Prell, WBAL talk show host, dies at 79". The Baltimore Sun.
- ^ "WBAL Radio Anchor Dave Durian Dies at 72". foxbaltimore.com. January 29, 2019. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
External links
- WBAL website
- WBAL in the FCC AM station database
- WBAL in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
- W268BA in the FCC FM station database
- W268BA at FCCdata.org
- Isaacs, Stan. "The Orioles Play Stop The Music," Sports Illustrated, October 8, 1979.
- FCC History Cards for WBAL