WCBR

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.[1]

WCBR
CityRichmond, Kentucky
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
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID70617
ClassD
Power250 watts (daytime only)
Transmitter coordinates
37°44′9″N 84°16′5″W
Translator(s)W229CP (93.7 MHz) Richmond
Links
Public license information
Profile
LMS
WebcastListen Live
Websitewcbrradio.com

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
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[2]

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;[3] Young was a pastor at Richmond's Gardenside Christian Church.[4] 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.[5] In late 1971, Young sold half of the station to J.T. Parker, Jr., owner of station WGOC in Kingsport, Tennessee.[4] 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.[6] 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.[2]

Parker bought out the remaining 50 percent in WCBR in 1975[3] and then sold some interest in the WCBR stations to three local investors, including the station manager, George W. Robbins.[7] 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,[8] to David Lee Humes and Mark Anthony Cole, the pair's engineer and advertising consultant, for $271,000.[9] 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,[10] and in the early 1990s, the station was a full-service adult standards outlet.[11]

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.[12] Humes would become the sole owner in 2008, after Robbins died.[13] WCBR itself would return to FM in 2016 when Humes bought a translator, then located in Morrill, to move it to Richmond to be paired with the AM station.[14]

References
  1. "WCBR Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  2. "Gerry House" (PDF). Country Aircheck. March 2009. p. 18. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  3. FCC History Cards for WCBR
  4. "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 1, 1971. p. 58. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  5. "New Radio Station To Begin Operation". Sunday Herald-Leader. March 8, 1970. p. 21. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  6. "WCBR-FM" (PDF). Broadcasting Yearbook. 1974. p. B-88. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  7. "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. March 17, 1975. p. 55. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  8. 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.
  9. "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 10, 1979. p. 105. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  10. "WCBR(AM)" (PDF). Broadcasting Yearbook. 1988. p. B-119. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  11. "WCBR(AM)" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook. p. B-174. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  12. "Format change". Lexington Herald-Leader. September 3, 1994. p. Today 15. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  13. "Clear Channel Takes Stations Back From Trust". All Access. December 9, 2008. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  14. "Deal Digest for the week of March 31, 2016". Inside Radio. March 31, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
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