WEBC

Infobox Radio station
name = WEBC


city = Duluth, Minnesota
area = Duluth-Superior
branding = "The Fan 560"
slogan =
airdate =
frequency = 560 AM (kHz)
format = Commercial; Sports
power = 5,000 watts
erp =
class = B
callsign_meaning = [http://home.earthlink.net/~nelsonbe/origins.call-list.html Edwina & Barbara Clinton]
former_callsigns =
owner = GapWest Broadcasting
webcast =
sister_stations = KBMX, KKCB, KLDJ, WEBC
website = http://www.fan560.com/
affiliations = KFAN, Fox Sports Radio
sister_stations = KBMX, KKCB, KLDJ

WEBC (560 AM, "560 The Fan") is a radio station located in Duluth, Minnesota airing programming from KFAN and Fox Sports Radio, and is owned by Gap Broadcasting, who recently purchased WEBC along with 3 of its sister stations from Clear Channel Communications. WEBC primarily competes with ESPN Radio affiliate WGEE 970. The Fan 560 broadcasts Minnesota Vikings games.

All of the programming between 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. during the weekdays originates at KFAN in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Most other programming is from Fox Sports Radio.

History

WEBC is the oldest radio station in the Duluth-Superior market. It signed on in 1924 in Superior, using 50 Watts on AM 1240. Duluth studios were established in 1926 and the community of license was later changed to Duluth, though WEBC's transmitter has always remained on the Wisconsin side of the bridge. The station ended up on 560 in the mid 1950's after a series of upgrades and frequency changes.

Like most other stations in the "Golden Age of Radio", WEBC carried a general entertainment format as the local affiliate of the NBC Radio Network. In 1955, with radio losing listeners to TV, WEBC dropped NBC and adopted a hot new format -- Top 40. WEBC featured announcers such as Lance "Tac" Hammer, Lew Latto, and "Doctor" Don Rose, among many others.

WEBC was a top-rated station until the mid-1970's, when FM began to attract more listeners. Talk programming was added to the lineup and took over the entire schedule in 1990. The format was then changed to Sports in 2003 after a sale to Clear Channel, which syndicated the "FAN" radio network to a number of its stations in the region.

External links

* [http://www.fan560.com/ The Fan 560 WEBC official website]
*AMQ|WEBC
*AML|WEBC
*AMARB|WEBC
* [http://www.northpine.com/broadcast/webc A Technological History of WEBC Radio]