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WCBR

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WCBR
Broadcast areaLexington Metro Area
Frequency1110 kHz
BrandingChristian Broadcast Radio
Programming
FormatReligious
AffiliationsTownhall
Ownership
OwnerW.C.B.R. Radio, Inc.
History
First air date
March 7, 1970 (1970-03-07)
Call sign meaning
Original owner traded as "Christian Broadcasters"
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID70617
ClassD
Power250 watts (daytime only)
Transmitter coordinates
37°44′9″N 84°16′5″W / 37.73583°N 84.26806°W / 37.73583; -84.26806
Translator(s)W229CP (93.7 MHz) Richmond
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen Live
Websitewcbrradio.com

WCBR (1110 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a religious format. It is licensed to Richmond, Kentucky, United States, and serves the Lexington Metro Area. The station is owned by W.C.B.R. Radio, Inc.[2]

1110 AM is a United States clear-channel frequency, on which WBT and KFAB share Class A status. WCBR must leave the air from sunset to sunrise to protect the nighttime signals of the Class A stations.

History

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The owner, a minister, would ask each week [if] I needed my check or if I wanted to give it to the Lord. And I’d say, "I think I need the check more than the Lord does."

Gerry House, on working at WCBR[3]

On October 7, 1969, the Federal Communications Commission granted a construction permit to Lewis P. Young, trading as Christian Broadcasters, for a new daytime-only radio station in Richmond;[4] Young was a pastor at Richmond's Gardenside Christian Church.[5] From studios at Second Street and Irvine, WCBR began broadcasting on March 7, 1970; despite the licensee name, the station was secular and an ABC network affiliate.[6] In late 1971, Young sold half of the station to J. T. Parker Jr., owner of station WGOC in Kingsport, Tennessee.[5] Parker also obtained a construction permit for an FM station in Richmond, which signed on May 12, 1972, as WCBR-FM 101.7, a full-time simulcaster of the AM station, airing country music.[7] Gerry House, who later went on to radio and a songwriting career in Nashville, worked at the station as his second radio job, moving to Richmond to be with his girlfriend.[3]

Parker bought out the remaining 50 percent in WCBR in 1975[4] and then sold some interest in the WCBR stations to three local investors, including the station manager, George W. Robbins.[8] Four years later, Parker sold his remaining 50 percent in the station and the sister FM, which became a separately programmed operation as WBZF in 1976,[9] to David Lee Humes and Mark Anthony Cole, the pair's engineer and advertising consultant, for $271,000.[10] WCBR maintained a country format for most of the 1970s and early 1980s, but by the late 1980s, it had shifted to adult contemporary using programming from Satellite Music Networks,[11] and in the early 1990s, the station was a full-service adult standards outlet.[12]

WCBR adopted its present format of Southern gospel music as well as Christian teaching programs in September 1994, after two months of simulcasting the oldies on the FM frequency.[13] Humes would become the sole owner in 2008, after Robbins died.[14] WCBR itself would return to FM in 2016 when Humes bought a translator, then located in Morill to move it to Richmond to be paired with the AM station.[15]

References

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  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WCBR". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "WCBR Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  3. ^ a b "Gerry House" (PDF). Country Aircheck. March 2009. p. 18. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  4. ^ a b FCC History Cards for WCBR
  5. ^ a b "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 1, 1971. p. 58. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  6. ^ "New Radio Station To Begin Operation". Sunday Herald-Leader. March 8, 1970. p. 21. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  7. ^ "WCBR-FM" (PDF). Broadcasting Yearbook. 1974. p. B-88. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  8. ^ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. March 17, 1975. p. 55. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  9. ^ Bellamy, Maria (April 15, 1976). "Richmond's first commercial FM station—WBZF—takes to the air". The Eastern Progress. p. 3. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  10. ^ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 10, 1979. p. 105. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  11. ^ "WCBR(AM)" (PDF). Broadcasting Yearbook. 1988. p. B-119. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  12. ^ "WCBR(AM)" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook. p. B-174. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  13. ^ "Format change". Lexington Herald-Leader. September 3, 1994. p. Today 15. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  14. ^ "Clear Channel Takes Stations Back From Trust". All Access. December 9, 2008. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  15. ^ "Deal Digest for the week of March 31, 2016". Inside Radio. March 31, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
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