WBIG (AM)
WBIG (1280 AM; "The Big One") is a radio station broadcasting a mixed-format of talk, home shopping, and sports. Licensed to Aurora, Illinois, it serves the Fox Valley. The station is currently owned by Big Broadcasting Company, Inc.
History
The station signed on December 13, 1938 as WMRO, a 500-watt daytimer owned by Martin O'Brien and operating at 1250 kHz; the North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement moved the station to 1280 in 1941. The station's programming was predominantly local, with a full service format being in place in the late 1940s. Among WMRO's on-air staff during this time was a young John Drury.
Vincent Cofey and Benjamin Oswalt purchased the station in 1957; three years later, the station was granted night authorization and implemented its current power levels. A separately-programmed FM sister station at 107.9 (now WLEY-FM) was added on September 1, 1964. Cofey and Oswalt sold WMRO to Dale Stevens in June 1969 to fund television station WLXT (channel 60; now occupied by WXFT-DT), which had signed on May 18, and to a lesser extent an upgrade to WMRO-FM, renamed WAUR. WLXT shut down July 17, 1970; two years later, Stevens purchased WAUR from Cofey and Oswalt.
WBIG
WBIG may refer to:
WBIG-FM
WBIG-FM, or "Big 100.3," is a classic rock radio station serving the Washington, D.C., United States area. It formerly went by the slogan "Big 100", and before that, "Oldies 100." It is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc.. It plays music from the late 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. The station's studios are located in Rockville, Maryland and the transmitter site is in Falls Church, Virginia.
History
Prior to becoming WBIG, it was Washington's first FM Spanish-language station as WFAN, later Washington's first FM urban contemporary station as WOOK-FM ("OK100"), and then as WDJY "DJ100". For several years in the early 1990s it featured an eclectic smooth jazz format as WJZE ("Jazzy 100"). The station was acquired by Chancellor Media and adopted the oldies format in June 1993. WBIG was then sold to Clear Channel in 2000 and changed its branding to "Big 100".
WBIG was "evolved" from an oldies format to classic hits (1970s and early 1980s) on April 3, 2006. This was accompanied with a slight branding change to "Big 100.3". The changeover was not announced, and the new format followed Jack FM's lead by removing several announcers. Jeff "Goldy" Gold, who spent 12 years at WBIG, was the morning host at Oldies 106.9 WFVL in Fayetteville, N.C. from September 2005 to February 2009. Kathy Whiteside now does mid-days at Lite FM in Baltimore, Johnny Dark works at WTTR AM in Westminster, Maryland, and Ira Melman worked for a while at WTOP-FM in DC, and now works for VOA, the Voice of America, in Washington.
WWBG
WWBG (1470 AM, "La Rebelde") is an American radio station licensed to serve Greensboro, North Carolina, USA. The station, launched in 1999, is currently owned by Mahan Janbakhsh's TBLC Holdings, LLC and the broadcast license is held by TBLC Greensboro Stations, LLC.
WWBG broadcasts a Spanish-language contemporary music format to the Greensboro-High Point-Winston-Salem, North Carolina area.
History of WBIG
In 1925, Jefferson Standard Life Insurance bought WNRC (Wayne Nelson Radio Company) and changed the call letters to WBIG ("We Believe In Greensboro Where Business Is Good."). Among the programs that aired on the station: Arthur Godfrey, Jack Benny, and murder mysteries. In its early days, the station was located in the basement of the O. Henry Hotel. Bluegrass musician Bill Monroe, a resident of the area, was one of the country music performers who played live in the studio. According to former WKEW owner Bill Mitchell, Manoree, the tonic that sponsored Monroe's show, "helped get you going." WBIG also had its own 10-piece orchestra.
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