WHWB (AM)

WHWB is a defunct AM radio station that was licensed to Rutland, Vermont. WHWB went on the air in 1949, and was on the air until late 1993. The call sign was known to have two meanings, the "H" was for Harris, the "W" was for Wilson, and the "B" was for Bates, part of the original trio that launched the radio station. Since its transmitter and studio were located across the street in a barn from the famous "Wilson's Castle" on the West Proctor Road in Proctor, Vermont, the WHWB call sign was also known to mean "We Have Wilson's Barn".

WHWB
CityRutland, Vermont
Frequency1000 kHz (1949-mid-1980s)
970 kHz (mid 1980s-1997)
Programming
FormatDefunct
Ownership
OwnerCon Brio Broadcasting, Inc.
History
First air date
1949
Last air date
September 30, 1997 (1997-09-30)
Call sign meaning
Harris Wilson Bates (station founders)
Technical information
Facility ID13535

WHWB was originally a true AM daytimer on 1000 AM. The schedule of sunrise to sunset operation was designed to protect the clear channel status of WCFL (now WMVP) in Chicago, Illinois. In the mid- to late-1980s, the frequency was moved to 970 AM, and was initially able to operate with low pre-sunrise and post sunset power. From the late 1980s until signing off for good in 1993, WHWB was allowed 24-hour operation albeit with a very low nighttime power. Its 1000 watt daytime signal was about as strong as its 5,000 watt daytime AM competitor, WSYB. The nighttime signal of WHWB was able to cover most of Rutland, parts of West Rutland, and parts of Proctor with a non-directional antenna.

In October 1988, the station drew national attention with a full week of all-Elvis Presley music on what at the time was a country music formatted station.[1] Listener reaction ran 60/40 against swapping permanently to an all-Elvis format.

WHWB had several FM partners through the years including the original WHWB-FM 98.1 (which became WJJR in 1984). The WHWB-FM calls were used once again on 92.1 in Port Henry, New York (now WVTK) and eventually were installed at one time on 94.5 FM (now WDVT in Rutland). WHWB and the Rutland FM on 94.5 were linked until the demise of the operation in 1993, when WHWB went dark for good. 94.5 was auctioned off and returned to the airwaves as a simulcast to WJAN 95.1 in Sunderland, Vermont. This complement of FM signals with 95.1 and 94.5 came to be known throughout central and southern Vermont and eastern New York as "Cat Country".

The station's license was cancelled and the callsign deleted from the FCC database on September 30, 1997.[2]

The WHWB self-supporting tower on the West Proctor Road was demolished in early 1995, only the cement bases and the remnants of the transmitter shack 'doghouse' remain. The actual AM transmitter is still inside the former West Proctor Road facility, and the 94.5 facility still broadcasts from that site.

References
  1. "Where the King Lives, Alone". The New York Times. November 13, 1988.
  2. "Station Search Details". FCC Media Bureau. September 30, 1997.
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