WBEN (AM)

Infobox Radio Station
name = WBEN


airdate = September 1922
frequency = 930 kHz
area = Buffalo
format = News radio
owner = Entercom Communications
power = 5,000 watts
branding = "News Radio 930 WBEN"
slogan = "The Voice of Buffalo"
class = B
website = [http://www.wben.com/ WBEN.com]
callsign_meaning = W Buffalo Evening News (was owned by the Buffalo Evening News (No longer the "Evening" Newspaper)
former_callsigns = WMAK (1922-1930)

WBEN is an AM radio station serving the Niagara, Buffalo and Western New York area. The station retained the WBEN callsign after its co-owned TV station, WBEN-TV, was sold separately to become WIVB in 1977. Its transmitter is located in Grand Island, New York.

History

The station that is now known as WBEN signed on in September 1922 as the arbitrarily assigned WMAK, operating out of Lockport, New York at 833 kHz. The station later moved to Tonawanda (broadcasting at 1130 kHz there) and then Buffalo, landing on 900 kHz as a result of General Order 40. In 1930, the Buffalo Evening News purchased WMAK and changed the call letters to WBEN. In 1941, the station moved to its current position on the dial, at 930 kHz, as a result of the North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA).

WBEN was among the most active experimenters in Buffalo radio. In 1928, then-WMAK joined with WGY in Schenectady to demonstrate television technology. In 1934, WBEN launched W8XH, the first ultra-shortwave radio station of its kind. In the early 1940s, WBEN's morning host was comedian and future national late-night television star Jack Paar (he left the station when drafted into the military during World War II, and opted not to return to Buffalo after the war). In 1946, WBEN was the first radio station in Buffalo to launch an FM radio station at 106.5 MHz, and in 1948, it launched what would become WIVB, the first television station in Buffalo.

WBEN-FM would later move to 102.5 and eventually become WTSS; it is still WBEN's corporate sister to this day. The 106.5 frequency is now WYRK.

WBEN long enjoyed a premier position as a full-service radio station, first under Buffalo Evening News ownership, and then under the ownership and management of Larry Levite's locally-based Algonquin Broadcasting Company. The station won numerous regional and statewide awards for its news and public-service efforts. Levite presided over the gradual transition of WBEN from an adult contemporary format to its current news/talk format. In the early 1990s, he sold the WBEN stations to Kerby Confer's Keymarket Communications organization, and retired from the broadcasting business. Keymarket, in turn, later sold the properties to River City Broadcasting, which then merged with Sinclair Broadcasting. In 1999, Entercom Communications bought WBEN, as well as its competitor WGR, and most of Sinclair's other radio stations, when Sinclair decided to exit radio. Both had been hybrid news and sports talkers, and the two stations swapped personnel, so that WGR became all sports, and WBEN became the market's principal commercial news/talk station.

In 2006, WBEN began streaming its programming on the Internet.

For a brief period in late 2006, WBEN was the highest-rated radio station in Buffalo, New York, and also the highest-rated news/talk station in America, according to Arbitron. (This is likely due to a bump in listenership from the October snowstorm, which came during the Fall 2006 Arbitron survey period.) WBEN regained the honor of being the most listened-to station in the region in Summer 2007.

:"Portions of the above come from the Buffalo Broadcast Pioneers [http://www.buffalobroadcasters.com Web site] ."

Programming

* Buffalo's Early News, morning news program
* Tom Bauerle, midmorning talk host
* Rush Limbaugh, syndicated talk host
* Sandy Beach, afternoon talk host
* Buffalo's Evening News, evening news magazine
* Ron Dobson, evening talk host
* Sean Hannity, syndicated talk host (broadcast on tape delay, replaced Dr. Joy Browne in June 2008)
* Coast to Coast AM, overnights
* Kathy Weppner, weekend talk host
* Cigar Dave, syndicated weekend talk host
* Bob Brinker, syndicated weekend talk host
* Meet the Press
* WBEN is an affiliate of the CBS Radio Network.

News department

*John Zach (Early News)
*Susan Rose (Early News)
*Chris Johnson (Early Morning Sports)
*Dave Debo (Morning Reporter)
*Randy Bushover (Producer/Business Reporter)
*Barbara Burns (Mid-Day Reporter)
*Steve Cichon (Mid-Day Reporter/Anchor)
*Tom Puckett (Evening Anchor)
*Tom Connolly (Overnight Anchor)
*Kevin Kuchta (Weekend Morning Anchor)
*Neil McManus (Weekend Anchor)
*Alan Harris (Weekend Anchor)
*Steve Schnepf (Weekend Anchor/Traffic Reporter)
*Justin Swain (Weekend Anchor/Traffic Reporter)
*Monica Wilson (News Director/Contributor)

ee also

*Oldest radio station
*List of radio stations in New York State

External links

* [http://www.wben.com WBEN]
* [http://www.staffannouncer.com/wbenalumni.htm The WBEN History Page] by Buffalonian Steve Cichon
* [http://www.billdulmage.com/buffalo/wben.html WBEN jock history (billdulmage.com)]
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