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WBEN (AM)

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WBEN
Broadcast areaBuffalo
Frequency930 (kHz)
Branding"News Radio 930 WBEN"
Programming
FormatNews radio
Ownership
OwnerEntercom Communications
History
First air date
September, 1922
Call sign meaning
W Buffalo Evening News
Technical information
ClassB
ERP5,000 watts
Links
WebsiteWBEN.com

WBEN is a radio station serving the Niagara, Buffalo and Western New York area. The station kept its call signs in 1977 when the TV station became WIVB.

Brief History

The station that is now known as WBEN signed on in September 1922 as the arbitrarily assigned WMAK, operating on 900 kHz. In 1930, the Buffalo Evening News purchased WMAK and changed call letters to WBEN. The station moved to its current position on the dial, at 930 kHz, in 1941 as a result of the North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA).

WBEN was among the most active experimenters in Buffalo radio. In 1928, then-WMAK joined with WGY in Schenectady to demonstrate television technology. In 1934, WBEN launched W8HX, the first ultra-shortwave radio station of its kind. In the early 1940s, WBEN's morning host was comedian and future national late-night television star Jack Paar (he left the station when drafted into the military during World War II, and opted not to return to Buffalo after the war). In 1946, WBEN was the first radio station in Buffalo to launch an FM radio station at 106.5 MHz and in 1948 launched what would become WIVB, the first television station in Buffalo.

WBEN-FM would later move to 102.5 and eventually become WTSS; it is still WBEN's corporate sister to this day. The 106.5 frequency is now WYRK.

WBEN long enjoyed a premier position as a full-service radio station, first under Buffalo Evening News ownership and then under the ownership and management of Larry Levite's locally based Algonquin Broadcasting Company. The station won numerous regional and statewide awards for its news and public service efforts. Levite presided over the gradual transition of WBEN from an adult contemporary format to its current news-talk format. In the early 1990s he sold the WBEN stations to Kerby Confer's Keymarket Communications organization and retired from the broadcasting business. Keymarket in turn later sold the properties to River City Broadcasting, which then merged with Sinclair Broadcasting. In 1999, Entercom Communications bought WBEN, as well as competitor WGR and most of Sinclair's other radio stations, when Sinclair decided to exit radio. Both had been hybrid news and sports talkers, so the two stations swapped personnel so that WGR became all sports and WBEN became the market's principal commercial news/talker.

In 2006, WBEN began streaming its programming on the Internet.

As of 2007, WBEN is the highest-rated radio station in Buffalo, New York and is also the highest rated news talk station in America, according to Arbitron. (This is likely due to a bump in listenership from the October snowstorm, which came during the Fall 2006 Arbitron survey period.)

Portions of the above come from the Buffalo Broadcast Pioneers Web site.

Programming

News Department

  • John Zach (Early News)
  • Susan Rose (Early News)
  • John Healey (Mid-Day Anchor)
  • Dave Debo (Morning Reporter)
  • Barbara Burns (Mid-Day Reporter)
  • Steve Cichon (Evening Reporter/Anchor)
  • Tom Puckett (Evening Anchor)
  • Tom Connolly (Overnight Anchor)
  • Kevin Kuchta (Weekend Morning Anchor)
  • Neil McManus (Weekend Anchor)
  • Kyla Smith (Weekend Anchor)
  • Steve Schneph (Weekend Anchor)
  • Monica Wilson (News Director/Contributer)

See also

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