WLBJ

Infobox Radio Station
name = WLBJ
airdate = June, 1940
frequency = 1410 kHz
area = Bowling Green, Kentucky
format = Country
owner = Bahakel Communications
erp = 5,000 watts (daytime)/1,000 watts directional (nightime)
slogan = "Your Place in the Country" & "Kentucky's Kountry King"
status = Defunct

WLBJ was the first commercial radio station in Bowling Green, Kentucky, signing-on in June, 1940. The station operated at 1410 kilohertz for much of its' existence. Among the more significant local programs it produced were the "4 O'Clock Special", hosted by disc jockeys G. W. Boyum in 1947 and Brad Taylor in 1950, "The Smilemaker", a morning and afternoon drive program featuring cuts from comedy albums by popular comedians, and "Opinion Line", an Associated Press award-winning local public affairs program hosted by newscaster Mike Green in the 1980s.

In its' early days, the station's studios were located in downtown Bowling Green and would later relocate both the studios and transmitter to its' final location of 1410 Scott Lane, now known as Indian Ridge Subdivision, adjacent to the Indian Hills Country Club.

In later years, the station was well-known as a favorite among country music fans in South Central Kentucky and North Central Tennessee, as it had an effective daytime power of 5,000 watts (1,000 watts directional at night). One of the station's most popular programs was the 1981 launch of the "Wrangler Country Showdown", a live-broadcast country music talent search which preceded such current programs as "American Idol" by some 20 years.

The station was also known as one of the earliest and longest-running affiliates of the now-defunct Mutual Broadcasting System and also carried Mutual's "The Larry King Show", which was broadcast overnight during the early 1980s, making the station Bowling Green's first 24-hour radio operation.

The station was an affiliate of Cincinnati Reds baseball and the University of Kentucky football/basketball networks. The station was also known for live broadcasts of horse racing events at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington.

The station also became well-known for using their "boot" logo and 30-second jingle in television advertisements which aired on WBKO-TV. In return, 30-second spots advertising WBKO's evening news stories were aired over the radio station.

During the 1970s and early 1980s, the call letters were also assigned to sister station WLBJ-FM, an automated radio station operating at 96.7 megahertz under the brands "Natural 97" (Album-Oriented Rock) under the program direction lead of Jay Preston, Greg Pogue & later Dean Warfield, and later "BJ 97" (Adult Contemporary). The call letters of the FM station were changed in the mid-1980s to WCBZ, which reflected ownership of both stations through much of their later history by Bahakel Communications of Charlotte, North Carolina. Today, the 96.7 frequency is owned and operated by Bowling Green-based country music station, WBVR.

In recent years, the iconic call letters were reassigned to an AM station operating at 1570 kilohertz in the Louisville suburb of New Albany, Indiana. That station has since changed its call letters.

Personalities

Former personalities
*James Bunch
*Pat Collins
*Donna Dee
*Janelle Finn McGee
*Lee Giles
*Jim Grant
*Mike Green
*Dick Hanchette
*Randy Johnson
*Brandon Kelley
*Joe Larkins
*Dean Maggard
*Greg Pogue
*Jay Preston
*Bob Proctor
*Steve Reeves
*Keith Richards
*Chuck Scoggins
*Bill Stamps
*Sid Starks
*Johnathan Stone
*Jim Taylor
*Beth Tucker
*Dean Warfield
*Barry Williams
*Tommy Womack
*Del Wood

References

* Sies, Luther F. "Encyclopedia of American Radio 1920-1960." Jefferson, NC:McFarland, 2000. ISBN 0-7864-0452-3