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WBWX (1280 AM) is a radio station licensed to the U.S. city of Berwick, Pennsylvania and serves the immediate Berwick/Bloomsburg radio market. The station broadcasts at a frequency of 1280 kHz with 1,000 watts daytime, and 164 watts nighttime with a non-directional signal pattern.
| Simulcasting WHLM Bloomsburg | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Broadcast area | Berwick/Bloomsburg |
| Frequency | 1280 kHz |
| Branding | Pop Radio |
| Programming | |
| Format | Adult top 40 |
| Affiliations | Compass Media Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WHLM | |
| History | |
First air date | August 11, 1957 (as WBRX) |
Former call signs | WBRX (1957–1987) WSQV (1987–2000) WFBS (2000–2011) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 27001 |
| Class | D |
| Power | 1,000 watts day 164 watts night |
| Translator(s) | 96.3 W242CY (Berwick) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | ThisIsPopRadio.com |
Until 2022, the station was owned by the Columbia Broadcasting Company which also owned WHLM. The station currently simulcasts the programming heard on WHLM and is operated out of studios in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania.
History
editWBWX first signed on the air in 1957 as WBRX, with its license granted to Columbia County Broadcasters, Inc. on November 4, 1957[2]
As WSQV, the station held a contemporary Christian/religious format and eventually went silent under ownership of Heritage Broadcasting, Inc.[3][4]
The station was purchased by Kevin Fennessy and on April 1, 2000, the station relaunched as "WFBS Radio Smiles", with a format of early 60s music.[3]
WFBS was purchased by Bold Gold Media Group in 2007, and under their ownership, the station aired a simulcast of all-sports network "The Game", which was also heard on WYCK, WICK, and WPSN.
In 2011, WFBS was purchased by the Columbia Broadcasting Company, which owns WHLM in Bloomsburg. The callsign was changed to WBWX (as a nod to the former WBRX), and changed formats to a simulcast of its new sister station WHLM-AM. During high school football season, WBWX will split from its regular simulcast of WHLM-AM and air Berwick football.
On March 21, 2022, the Press Enterprise reported that owner Joe Reilly would sell the entirety of the Columbia Broadcasting Company to Seven Mountains Media for $450,000. The sale did not include the stations' studios location.[5][6]
The sale closed on August 31 of that year; owner and morning DJ Joe Reilly would retire after his show that morning, voluntarily ending a radio career spanning over 50 years. Just after 1 p.m. on September 1, the classic hits format would sign off, with Billy Joel's "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" and Supertramp's "Goodbye Stranger" as the final two songs played. The final Fox News Radio update ran at the top of the hour, followed by about two hours of dead air. Shortly after 3 p.m., the entire Columbia cluster of stations would begin stunting with a loop of "Pop" by NSYNC, while redirecting former WHLM listeners to the duo of WHNA/WNNA and promoting a new format to debut the following Tuesday, September 6, at 10 a.m. At that time, WBWX/WHLM flipped to hot adult contemporary as "Pop Radio".[7]
Previous logos
edit
References
edit- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WBWX". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "WBRX" (PDF). p. 14. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ^ a b "The M Street Journal" (PDF). February 2, 2000. p. 38. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ^ "Broadcast Applications" (TXT). Jan 10, 2000. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ^ "WHLM owners sell for $450G". pressenterpriseonline.com. Press Enterprise. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
- ^ "Seven Mountains Media Expands In Northeast PA". RadioInsight. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
- ^ "Pop Goes WHLM". RadioInsight. Retrieved 2022-09-06.
External links
edit- Facility details for Facility ID 27001 (WBWX) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
- WBWX in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
- Facility details for Facility ID 200948 (W242CY) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
- W242CY at FCCdata.org