WJOB (1230 AM) is a news/talk formatted radio station in Hammond, Indiana. The present tower of the station is 124 Meters(406 feet) tall and the station is a 24 hour operation broadcasting with 1000 Watts of power.

History [link]

The Beginning [link]

The first license issued to this radio station—later moved to the Calumet Area—was on November 12, 1923, with Dr. George F. Courier and Lawrence J. "Butch" Crowley, a reputed Joliet mobster, as the licensees. The original call letters of this station were WWAE. The license was renewed on May 27, 1925, as Electric Park (Plainfield, IL) with L. J. Crowley as the sole licensee. A transmitter was then built at the Alamo Dance Hall in Joliet, IL.

The transmitter was later moved to 915 North Raynor Boulevard, Joliet, IL with broadcasting facilities located at 321 Clinton Street, Joliet, IL.

The broadcast facilities were moved shortly after that to the Hammond Douglas Park Area, where today it is known as Pulaski Park. A small studio was built on the northwest side of the park. From there, the broadcasting facilities were moved to a main studio at 402 Fayette Street, Fayette and Hohman Avenue, which today sits the former home of Bank Calumet (Calumet National Bank Building).

The WJOB Era [link]

It remained at that address until the station was sold to O.E. Richardson, Fred L. Adair, and Robert C. Adair, and the call letters were changed to the present WJOB on October 7, 1940. The new owners then moved the main studios to 449 State Street, above the Millikan Building, across from the Edward C. Minas Department Store, and the name of the Corporation was changed to The South Shore Broadcasting Corporation.

It was during this time, that the station grew in popularity offering a variety of programming under the leadership of Sam Weller as the Programming Director. Some of the programs offered were the Happy Hour, which had a membership of 1200 young members and was broadcast every Saturday morning from 10:30 to 11:30 am under the direction of Mrs. O.E. Richardson, the wife of one of the owners. The new programming schedule was also included interesting programs in five foreign languages, including Eddie Oskierko of the Polish Musical Varieties Program, Cornelius Szakatis, of the Hungarian Hour, Monica Babinec of the Slovac Hour, Stella Lutefisk directing the Greek Hour, and Gilbert Vasquez as the director of the Spanish Program.

Included in this schedule of programming were Eddie Honesty of the "Rockin-In-Rhythm" program, the first black program on WJOB heard every Wednesday from 3:15 to 4 o’clock and also Saturday afternoons from 2 to 3 o’clock. Paul E. X. Brown the only black newscaster in the country was heard every Sunday at 10 a.m. Included in the programming were the Rev. Odell Reed, who conducted his services from 4635 State Street in Chicago, the first remote broadcast of radio station WJOB. Also included were Rev. William Carr and Clarence Parsons, with the Royal Quartet singing the well loved Negro spirituals.

One of the most popular shows of that era was the Sun-Dodgers show which featured every night from Midnight until 4 am with Wayne Osborne as the announcer and Dave Erickson as its director. Not to be outdone, Women’s programming was conducted by Miss Kitty Blake who produced the “It Happened in Hammond” program daily at 11:15 am and Frances Benson read stories for children each Friday at 1:15 pm. Also featured at the time were all Lake County High Schools who took part in the “High Schools On Parade Program” heard every Thursday.

The station remained at 449 State Street in downtown Hammond until May 5, 1956 when it erected a new tower and broadcasting facility at 6405 Olcott Avenue in the Woodmar section of Hammond where it remains there still today.

The 1960s [link]

On December 30, 1960, the ownership of the station was sold to Julian Colby and became The Colby Broadcasting Corporation. Judy Grambo started a program called "The Ladies Program" and eventually became the President and Station Manager of WJOB.

The 2000s [link]

On September 17, 2007, the station expanded its talk programming to include Dave Ramsey, Frankie Boyer, and Doug Stephans. Notable local programming includes The Jim Dedelow Show 5:00 am to 9:00 am weekday mornings, Preacher's Party Line 219 from Noon to 2pm hosted by Steve "The Preacher" Glover and "Afternoons With Vera & Stew hosted by Vera and Michael D. "Stew" Stewart 4pm to 6pm. The station continues its tradition of local news coverage when it happens. WJOB broadcasts high school, Purdue University, and other games (basketball, football, baseball, hockey and soccer) or sports talk in the evenings. As of January, 2011 Michael D. "Stew" Stewart went off the air to battle Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma but continues to broadcast a Wednesday afternoon radio show 4 to 5pm. Stew recovered from his cancer treatment and is back on the air 5 days a week.

The 2010s [link]

As of September 2011, WJOB expanded its weekday local programming to 'Jed in Da Region' 5:30a-9a, Vinyl music 9a-10a, 'Geno's Buffet' 10a-12p, 'Stew for Lunch' 12p-2p, 'Region Underground' 4p-6p, and 'Hey Harlow' 6-8p and 'Music Underground with Brantwood Rick' 9-11pm

Sports Voice of the Region [link]

WJOB prides itself on being "The Sports Voice of the Region". WJOB has been a member of the Purdue University Sports Broadcast Network since the 1960s. You can catch all Purdue football and men's basketball games on WJOB. WJOB broadcasts over 150 local high school baseball, basketball, football, hockey, soccer, and softball games per calendar year.

Ownership [link]

The station was long owned by Julian Colby. An offer by Starboard Broadcasting to purchase it for Relevant Radio was opposed on the basis of the possible loss of the station's community service role, especially its emphasis on local news and sports.^[1][2] The station is now owned by Jim Dedelow and Alexis Vazquez-Dedelow. Ric Federighi, the well-known Chicago traffic reporter, was also an owner, but the Dedelows and Federighi split their interests, with Federighi retaining Michigan City, Indiana-based WIMS.^[3]

Personalities [link]

John Whitaker, well-known WJOB sportscaster, is the only man in the country who made play by play broadcasts of Nine Tournament Basketball games in one day, without assistance. He set the record in 1944 and again in 1945.

Some personalities who worked at WJOB early in their careers include Jean Shepherd,[1] Frank Reynolds (later with ABC News), Emery King (later with NBC News, WBBM-TV and WDIV-TV), Steve King (later at WLS (AM), now at WGN (AM)), Melissa McGurren (now morning traffic reporter for Eric & Kathy on WTMX) Tommy Williams, (formerly of WSCR 670) and Felicia Middlebrooks (now at WBBM (AM)).^[4][5]

==Current Staff== Alexis Vazquez Dedelow is the WJOB Owner. Jim Dedelow is a Co-owner and also is the 'Jed in Da Morning' host. Debbie Wargo is the station's General Manager. Michael D. Stewart a.k.a. "Stew" is the Operations & Production Manager. Steve Glover a.k.a. "Preacher" is the 'Region Underground' host. Ryan Walsh is the WJOB Sports Director & Morning Show Producer. Pat Renwick is the Sales Manager for WJOB and also hosts 'Region Bass Buzz' 6a-8a on Saturday mornings. Tim Saldana a.k.a. "T-Rex" is in charge of Video Production. Jordan Beasley is a Sports Anchor for WJOB. Teria Collins is a News Anchor for WJOB.

References [link]

External links [link]

• WJOB OFFICIAL WEBSITE
• Query the FCC's AM station database for WJOB
• Radio-Locator Information on WJOB
• Query Arbitron's AM station database for WJOB
• A Short History of AM Radio Broadcast Pioneer WWAE, Electric Park Plainfield, Illinois