WMBS

Infobox Radio station
name = WMBS


city = Uniontown, Pennsylvania
area = Uniontown, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Morgantown, West Virginia
branding = "WMBS 590 AM"
slogan = "Your Local Station"
airdate = July 15, 1937
frequency = 590 kHz
format = Full Service
power = 1,000 Watts day and night
erp =
haat =
class = B
facility_id = 39° 51' 35" N 79° 44' 44" W
coordinates = coord|39|51|35.0|N|79|44|44.0|W|type:landmark
callsign_meaning = W Martha Buhl Snyder
named after the original owners daughter
W Mutual Broadcasting System
former affiliate
former_callsigns =
owner = Fayette Broadcasting Corporation
licensee =
sister_stations =
webcast = [http://online.wmbs590.com:8000/listen.pls WMBS Webstream]
website = [http://www.wmbs590.com/ WMBS Online]
affiliations = CBS Radio News
Dial Global's America's Best Music Network

WMBS is a Full Service formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Uniontown, Pennsylvania, serving the Uniontown/Pittsburgh/Morgantown area. WMBS is owned and operated by Fayette Broadcasting Corporation.

History

WMBS became the very first station to sign on the air in all of Fayette County, doing so on July 15, 1937. This was also the very first suburban station outside of Pittsburgh in southwestern Pennsylvania to go on the air. WHJB (now WKHB) in Greensburg, about 30 miles northeast of Uniontown, and WKST in New Castle would do so the following year.

WMBS bears the distinction of being under the same ownership since it first went on the air. Though the principals have changed over the years, it has had the same family line for generations. Robert Pritts is the most recent owner principal, who controls the majority of the station. Pritts is the nephew of H.S. Dumbauld, one of the station's co-founders. With the 1997 passing of Dumbauld's son Edward, the family's interest was passed on to Pritts, a retired school district administrator from Columbus, Ohio.

Brian Mroziak is the current general manager, who ascended to that position at the age of 24 [http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/search/s_262434.html] , making him one of radio's youngest top executives in the country [http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/search/s_206211.html] . Ken Hawk, of the former WKPA (now WGBN) 50 miles north in New Kensington, was another, becoming general manager of that station at age 21 in 1991.

WMBS also bears the distinction of being a highly successful AM station without an FM in its portfolio, despite its average listener age of over 65 [http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/search/s_424685.html] . WMBS did have an opportunity to acquire an FM property, following the bankruptcy liquidation sale of Uniontown-licensed WPQR-FM (now WPKL) in 2001. That station had been silent for almost two years due to financial problems that eventually forced it and its AM sister WCVI (now WYJK) into bankruptcy proceedings. Owner Bob Pritts, who attended the bankruptcy sale, had offered $452,000, but was outbid by current owner Keymarket Licenses, LLC.

As part of a long-term plan for WMBS' future in the late 1990's, the station moved from its longtime rented location on Fayette Street (the original location in 1937 was in the Fayette Bank Building in downtown Uniontown), to a large Victorian house on South Mount Vernon Avenue owned by Pritts' cousin, the late federal judge Edward Dumbauld, thus eliminating the station's monthly rental bill. The station also incorporated more off-site music programming, putting existing local disc jockeys to other uses. The moves strengthened the station financially and improved its overall sound.

On Monday, January 27, 2003, WMBS flipped from its format of rock 'n roll oldies to its present nostalgia format.

WMBS in the News

Jack McMullen, one of WMBS' pioneers, who completed an 11-year stint with the station beginning in 1945, died in a hit-and-run vehicle-pedestrian accident on West Main Street in Uniontown. Though McMullen underwent surgery to repair two broken legs and his right arm, his condition swiftly declined. A Papa John's Pizza delivery driver later admitted to police that he was behind the wheel, and had taken his eyes off the road to read a delivery slip when he struck McMullen. [http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/search/s_386457.html]

WMBS Today

WMBS has a reputation for its tenured personnel over the years. Morning DJ Jim Morgan and midday DJ Tim Schwer have been a part of the WMBS staff for more than three decades. WMBS is an affiliate of Westwood One/Dial Global "Adult Standards" nostalgia format, and has been an affiliate of the CBS radio news network for virtually its entire existence. WMBS is the only station in the Pittsburgh Radio Market to carry the CBS World News roundup which celebrated its 70th Anniversary on the air in 2008. [http://www.pbrtv.com/blog/entry_463.php]

WMBS is also the Fayette County exclusive radio outlet for the live play-by-play game broadcasts of Pittsburgh Steelers football, Pittsburgh Pirates baseball, Pittsburgh Panthers basketball and football, and Pittsburgh Penguins hockey. WMBS also airs Uniontown high school football and basketball, Laurel Highlands high school baseball, NCAA basketball and football, and "The NFL on Westwood One".

External links

* [http://www.wmbs590.com/ WMBS Online]
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