WFOB

Infobox Radio Station
name = WFOB


area = Fostoria, Ohio| Bowling Green, Ohio
branding = AM 1430 WFOB
slogan =
airdate = December 9, 1948
frequency = 1430 (kHz)
format = news, talk, sports, classic country
erp = 500 watts (unlimited; directional day and night)
class = D
owner = Roppe Corporation (dba TCB Holdings, Inc.)
website = [http://www.wfob.com www.wfob.com]
callsign_meaning = W FOstoria Bowling Green
affiliations = CBS News
Real Country (ABC Radio)

WFOB is a commercially-licensed AM radio station, broadcasting at 1430 kilohertz at a maximum power output of 1,000 watts, with a three-tower directional antenna pattern, with differing constants day and night. WFOB is licensed to Fostoria, Ohio, which is located in Wood, Seneca, and Hancock counties.

History

WFOB first went on the air in 1948, and was the second radio station to go on the air serving this immediate area, seven years after the premiere of WFIN in Findlay, Ohio; the seat of government for Hancock County. At the time, there was no local radio station on the air serving Seneca and Wood Counties. For many years, WFOB operated from its transmitter site at 1407 U.S. Route 23 just south of Fostoria, but would move to its present location at 101 North Main Street in downtown Fostoria by 1990.

Tri-County Broadcasting, also known as TCB Holdings, purchased WFOB and its sister station, WBVI, in 1986. TCB Chairman Donald P. Miller, was also president of Roppe Corporation, known for its rubber products, particularly for matting staircases in office buildings and other commercial dwellings. Miller, a loyal Fostorian, purchased the station to assure the community that the mission of WFOB and WBVI would continue to be that of a "community first" radio station, and not turn its back on its community roots to serve Toledo or other area outside of its licensed community.

Under TCB's direction, WFOB thrived more than ever before, thanks to constant re-investment in the station, as technology continued to evolve over the years. Vinyl records and magnetic tape would be replaced by CDs, satellite technology and computer hard-disk audio storage, thus reducing periodic maintenance costs. WFOB's constant presence in the community from its local news coverage and broadcasting of special events further bolstered its position as a full-service station serving Seneca, Wood and Hancock Counties.

The Power Increase That Wasn't

In 1989, WFOB listeners were able to hear their local radio station at a much greater distance. Prior to this time, WFOB's signal transmission would barely be heard in the Toledo city limits, due to the presence of another radio station, WBRB, broadcasting from the Detroit suburb of Mount Clemens, Michigan on the same channel and with the same power and an almost identical antenna pattern propagation. WBRB, having been in financial difficulty for some time, fell silent in 1989. Attempts to find a buyer for the bankrupt station proved futile, and that station was silenced for good after competitor Walter Wolpin (who owned WCAR in Livonia) purchased the license and assets in a 1992 bankruptcy court sale, returning the license to the FCC, with its towers being dismantled the following year, and the razing of its studio building not long after that. After WBRB went off the air, WFOB's signal, no longer inhibited by WBRB, could be heard clearly in the Detroit Metropolitan Area except where adjacent channel interference from AM 1440 WMKM in the Detroit suburb of Inkster was too great.

WFOB serves both Fostoria and Bowling Green, the county seat of Wood County, and the home of Bowling Green University. To better serve the listeners of Bowling Green, TCB built a second studio facility for WFOB on the second floor of a building in downtown Bowling Green. This studio would be manned by its own news director, who would also break in with local news and sports from the Wood County area, and also serve as a satellite sales office for reps selling WFOB and WBVI airtime in this area. Transmissions were made from this studio to the main Fostoria facility via FM STL microwave.

WFOB Today

WFOB as of Monday, September 1, 2008 broadcasts ESPN Sports and also airs local news, weather and sports such as the Cleveland Indians. WFOB has always been an affiliate of the CBS Radio Network.

WFOB continues to serve Bowling Green, and is the only commercial radio station to focus any effort to serve that city. Bowling Green's two licensed commercial radio stations are operated elsewhere - oldies-formatted WRQN is run from Cumulus Broadcasting's Toledo cluster, and religious WJYM is operated out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana by evangelist Jimmy Swaggart's SonLife Radio Network.

WFOB was also one of the first stations in the country to invest in AM Stereo technology. The FCC never adopted a standard for AM Stereo, and following the lead of other stations who had given up on it, WFOB dropped its AM Stereo transmission in 2005.

WFOB has enjoyed a long history of tenured personnel over the years. President and General Manager Greg Peiffer has been with the station for more than 20 years, as has WFOB Program Director Gus Sierra.

External links

* [http://www.wfob.com/ Official Website]