WBUT
This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2007) |
kHz | |
Branding | Butler 1050 |
---|---|
Programming | |
Format | Classic country |
Affiliations | CBS News Radio Performance Racing Network Premiere Networks Westwood One |
Ownership | |
Owner | St. Barnabas Broadcasting, Inc. |
WISR, WLER-FM, WBVP, WMBA | |
History | |
First air date | March 14, 1949 |
Call sign meaning | BUTler County |
Technical information | |
Facility ID | 71214 |
Class | D |
Power | 500 watts day 62 watts night |
Translator(s) | 97.3 W247DF (Butler) |
Links | |
Webcast | Listen Live |
Website | wbut |
WBUT (1050
WBUT carries a
By day, WBUT transmits with 500
app.History
WBUT first applied for a
The station first
The station first operated from the Nixon Hotel in downtown Butler, where Morgan Center stands today.
WRYO, a radio station that debuted at 1050 kHz in 1948 in
With the frequency swap, came its first change in ownership. The new WBUT, along with co-owned WBUT-FM 103.9 MHz, were sold to Beacom Broadcasting Enterprises in 1953, headed by J. Patrick Beacom. WBUT-FM was sold and the station relocated to Mercer County, Pennsylvania.
A few years later, WBUT successfully applied for another FM broadcasting license at 97.7 MHz, which coincidentally, once belonged to its competitor, WISR (AM), before it returned the license an unnecessary expense. The call letters of the station at FM 97.7 were changed to WBUT-FM, with the two stations simulcasting. In 1965 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) enacted new rules, calling for AM-FM combo stations to offer unduplicated programming at least half of the broadcast day.
The stations were purchased by Larry Berg in 1964, who did business as WBUT, Inc. For a time during the 1960s, the studios and transmitter were located on a hill south of Downtown Butler, near the Meadowood residential plan.
WBUT-AM-FM was sold on July 14, 1978 from Larry Berg to Brandon Communications Systems, Incorporated, a company headed by Robert C. "Bob" Brandon and his brother Ronald. (Berg would later join the staff of then-competitor WISR as a sales rep and talk show host.) However, the licensee remained under the name WBUT Inc. Not long after acquiring the two stations, Brandon moved both from their downtown Butler location at the Nixon Hotel to a Center Township office and then across the street to a former Citizens' Bank branch north of Butler at the intersection of Route 8 (a.k.a. North Main Street Extension) and Mercer Road in Center Township.
When the decision was made to separate the AM and FM stations, Brandon used his knowledge in broadcast engineering to construct an automation system capable of providing live-sounding programming on his FM station, now assigned the call letters WLER-FM. WBUT and WLER would both sign on at 6 a.m., simulcast its morning show for two hours, break away at 8 am, and then rejoin at 7 p.m. before signing off at 10 pm.
Music and
WBUT and WLER welcomed a third station into the fold, longtime crosstown competitor 680 WISR, in 1997, following its sale by Butler Broadcasting, Inc. The Brandon brothers then changed the name of their company to the Butler County Radio Network. Within a few years, the Brandons would sell their interests, along with their partners, to a group of four new owners, who continued to do business as the Butler County Radio Network.
A near-tragedy took place in the summer of 1990 when then-program director Shirley A. "Sam" Minehart was changing an automation tape for WLER. The automation system was separated by a large plate-glass window from outside, that would allow Route 8 commuters to see programming at work. A vehicle traveling on Route 8 went out of control and crashed through the window and into the automation system. Minehart had just walked away from the system as the car crashed through the window, scattering shards of glass everywhere.
WBUT news reporter Dave Cubbison was on the air delivering a live newscast when he looked up and saw the car coming towards the building, yelling to Minehart "Oh no, there's a car coming... run!" into an open microphone. Knowing the car was going to hit, Cubbison then ran and dove under a desk. Cubbison and Minehart were not hurt, but the driver did sustain minor injuries.
The station switched from oldies to country music early in 2006. Morning show host Bob Cupp has been with the station for more than 25 years. In 2003, WBUT and WLER moved from their studio building in Center Township and joined WISR in a new facility at the Pullman Commerce Center, on the city's south side, near the village of Lyndora. The station moved to its current location on Pillow Street in Butler in the summer of 2012.
WBUT for many years had been a
In April 2018, WBUT added an
References
- ^ "Contact Us". www.wbut.com. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
- ^ Radio-Locator.com/W247DF
- FCC History Cards - WBUT
- 1949 Broadcasting Yearbook
- 1950 Broadcasting Yearbook
- 1955 Broadcasting Yearbook
- 1959 Broadcasting Yearbook
- 1973 Broadcasting Yearbook
- 1979 Broadcasting Yearbook
- 1980 Broadcasting Yearbook
- 1981 Broadcasting Yearbook
External links
- WBUT in the FCC AM station database
- WBUT in Nielsen Audio's AM station database