WFBR (AM)

WFBR (1590 AM, "Famous 1590") is a brokered programming radio station licensed to Glen Burnie, Maryland, and serving the Baltimore metropolitan area. The station broadcasts an ethnic, multilingual radio format and is owned by Way Broadcasting Licensee, LLC.[3] The radio studios and transmitter are on 8th Avenue NW in Glen Burnie. The station was assigned the WFBR call sign by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on November 30, 2004.[1] The call letters had been used for decades on 1300 AM, now WJZ.

This article is about 1590 kHz in Glen Burnie, Maryland. For 95.3 in Mt Washington, Kentucky, see WFBR-LP. For the original WFBR on 1300 kHz in Baltimore, see WJZ (AM).
WFBR
CityGlen Burnie, Maryland
Broadcast areaBaltimore metropolitan area
Frequency1590 kHz
BrandingFamous 1590
Programming
FormatBrokered Multilingual
Ownership
Owner
(Way Broadcasting Licensee, LLC)
History
First air date
May 15, 1963 (1963-05-15)
Former call signs
WJRO[1] WISZ
Call sign meaning
First Baltimore Radio[2]
Technical information
Facility ID19673
ClassB
Power1,000 watts
Transmitter coordinates
39°10′36″N 76°37′20″W
Links
WebcastListen Live
Listen Live URL
Websitewfbr1590.weebly.com

WFBR broadcasts at 1,000 watts around the clock. To protect other stations on 1590 AM, as well as avoiding interference to WLXE 1600 AM in Rockville, Maryland, WFBR uses a directional antenna with a five-tower array.[4]

1590 History

On May 15, 1963 (1963-05-15), the station first signed on the air. Its call letters were WISZ, powered at 500 watts and owned by Butch Gregory, a Vice-President at Westinghouse. He built much of the equipment including an antenna phaser unit, and the main studio control console. R. J. ("Bob") Bennett was the first station manager. The Program Director was Matt Edwards. The initial format was what is now called Adult Standards but was identified by the station as a "Big band Sound".

Within two years the format switched to Country music with the addition of legendary country disc jockey Ray Davis, whose show was broadcast as a remote from Johnny's New and Used Cars (the "Walking Man's Friend). WISZ-FM on 95.9 MHz was added as a simulcast in 1962, broadcasting from a 90-foot tower in Brooklyn Park, Maryland. The transmitter was in a garden shed. WISZ-FM is today WWIN-FM.

WISZ's AM antenna was in a swamp off Crain Highway in Glen Burnie and consisted of seven towers (4 daytime, and four nighttime, with a common base tower). The directional pattern protected WINX in Washington, D.C. on 1600 kHz, as well as other 1590 stations to the northeast. The "null" towards Washington was so pronounced that at certain points only a mile away, the towers could seen but not heard. The station's mascot was an owl: "The WISZ Old Owl," pronouncing the call sign as "WISE."

WFBR Call Sign History
Main article: WJZ (AM)

The WFBR call letters have a long and storied history in the Baltimore media market. From the 1920s to the 1990s, they were assigned to the 1300 kHz signal, which was originally known as WEAR. "WFBR" stood for "World's First Broadcasting Regiment", and was organized by the Officer's Association of the 5th Regiment of Maryland, in whose armory on Preston St. it broadcast from. WFBR was the second radio station in the state of Maryland, going on the air on June 8, 1922, a few weeks after WCAO, now on 600 AM, which signed on the air on May 6 of that year. WBAL 1090 AM began to broadcast a few years later, in 1925.

For many years, WFBR had a full service middle of the road format, with popular music, talk, news and sports. It rivaled WBAL 1090 for ratings, sports franchises and news stories. It was acquired by CBS Radio in the 1980s. But as a 5,000 watt station, it had trouble competing with WBAL. It switched to WLIF (AM) in 1990, then WJFK (AM) in 1991, then WJZ (AM) in 2008.


References
  1. "Call Sign History". FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database.
  2. "Call Letter Origins". Radio History on the Web.
  3. "WFBR Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  4. Radio-Locator.com/WFBR
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