WABF

WABF (1220 AM) is an American radio station licensed to serve the community of Fairhope, Alabama, since 1961. The station's broadcast license is currently held by Gulf Coast Broadcasting Company, Inc.

WABF broadcasts an adult standards/middle of the road music format to the greater Mobile metropolitan area, including Mobile County and Baldwin County, Alabama. In addition to its usual music programming, the station broadcasts a tradio show called The Gulf Coast Swap Shop, local news, and select programming from the CBS Radio Network.

History

This station began regular operations as "WABF" on August 12, 1961. Licensed to Eastern Shore Broadcasters, Inc., the station was originally part of the J. Dige Bishop Stations Group. It broadcast with 1,000 watts of power, daytime-only, to protect WGAR (now WHKW) in Cleveland, Ohio, from skywave interference.

Almost two decades later, Eastern Shore Broadcasters, Inc., sold WABF to Bee Cee Broadcasting, Inc., in a deal that closed on July 1, 1978. In March 1992, Bee Cee Broadcasting, Inc., reached a deal to sell WABF to Jubilee Broadcasting Company, Inc., for $350,000. The deal was approved by the FCC on April 20, 1992, and consummated on May 11, 1992. In February 1999, Jubilee Broadcasting Company, Inc., contracted to transfer the broadcast license for WABF to Gulf Coast Broadcasting Company, Inc. The deal gained FCC approval on May 5, 1999, and the transaction was formally consummated on May 20, 1999.