WMBL (AM)

Infobox Radio station
name = WMBL


city = Mitchell, Indiana
area =
slogan =
branding =
frequency = 88.1 MHz
repeater = 89.9 (Mitchell, )
airdate = 1947
share =
share as of =
share source =
format = Religious
power =
erp = 1,000 watts
haat = 0.0 meters
class = A
facility_id = 84103
coordinates = coord|38|45|50.00|N| 86|31|15.00|W|region:US_type:city
callsign_meaning = Where Morehead Beaufort Listens [ cite web|url=http://www.oldradio.com/archives/nelson/origins.call-list.html |title=Call Letter Origins |work=Radio History on the Web ]
former_callsigns =
owner = The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago
licensee =
sister_stations =
webcast =
website = [http://www.wgnr.org wgnr.org]
affiliations =

WMBL (88.1 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a Religious format. Licensed to Mitchell, Indiana, USA. The station has been owned by The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago since 2002. [ cite web|url=http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?call=WMBL |title=WMBL Facility Record |work=United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division ]

The station went on the air in 1947. The entry for WMBL in a booklet from August 1957 to commemorate Morehead City's centennial states: the "radio station is heard from Maine to Florida, and has been heard all the way to Nebraska. Particularly, this is true during hurricane season, when friends and relatives at distant points want information on conditions in this locale." [ [http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/historyfiction/document/mcc/entire.html Program for Morehead City Centennial, archived by North Carolina History and Fiction Digital Library] ]

WMBL was one of the few stations to play beach music in the 1950s and 1960s. A listener of the station noted that an afternoon deejay of that time, Bobbie Dennis, "was bold enough to play records by The Drifters, Clyde McPhatter and Big Joe Turner, to name a few." [ [http://www.beachshag.com/ImagesSoundsResources/N.E.N.C.html Comments on Site for Fans of Beach Music and Shag] ]

A FM station using the WMBL call letters went on the air on October, 1972 at 95.9 FM (The station would later move to 96.3). In 1986, the stations were acquired by Great American Media (now Curtis Media Group). They were part of the Great American Media group until the early 1990s. [ [http://www.curtismedia.com/companyinfo.htm Historical information on Curtis Media Group's corporate site] ]

WMBL-FM changed its call letters to WMBJ on October 13, 1981, according to FCC records. On June 4, 1986, the station adopted its current call sign, WRHT-FM. [ [http://www.fcc.gov Call Sign History in FCC database] ]

WMBL broadcast a popular standards format at "Unforgettable 740" in its last few years. The station was bought by a subsidiary of Clear Channel Worldwide and permanently taken silent in February 2000 to allow for WSCC, 730 in Charleston, SC, to make an upgrade.

References