WIBQ

For the Paris, Illinois radio station that held the call sign WIBQ at 98.5 FM from 2009 to 2014, see WBOW (FM).
WIBQ
City Terre Haute, Indiana
Branding The Talk Station 1230 & 1440
Slogan The Talk Station
Frequency 1230 kHz
First air date 1958 (at 1300)
Format News/Talk
Power 1,000 watts day
1,000 watts night
Class C
Facility ID 136105
Transmitter coordinates 39°29′21.00″N 87°25′10.00″W / 39.4891667°N 87.4194444°W / 39.4891667; -87.4194444
Former callsigns 1300 AM:
WBOW (2002-2014)
WSJX (2000-2002)
WJSH (1991-2000)
WYTL (1987-1991)
WPFR (1983-1987)[1]
Owner Duey E. Wright
(Midwest Communications, Inc.)
Sister stations WBOW, WDKE, WDWQ, WMGI, WPRS
Webcast Listen Live
Website wibqam.com

WIBQ (1230 AM, "NewsTalk 1230") is a radio station broadcasting a news/talk format. Licensed to Terre Haute, Indiana, the station serves the Terre Haute area. It first began broadcasting in 1983 under the call sign WPFR. The station is currently owned by Duey E. Wright, through licensee Midwest Communications, Inc.[2]

History

AM 1300 history

The station went on the air as WPFR-AM on March 17, 1983, as a sister station to WPFR-FM (now WDWQ). On November 9, 1987, the call sign was changed to WYTL. The company that owned WPFR, WPFR-AM, and WYTL went into bankruptcy and both stations went off the air in 1991.

In 1992, current WAXI morning personality Ronn Mott purchased the station with the help of banker Terry Tevlin, the call sign had been changed to WJSH prior to the sale on October 22, 1991. The station was again sold to an individual in Connecticut which eventually led to the station going off the air for a second time in 1996.

The station was again sold in late 1996, this time to current owner Crossroads Communications. They brought the station back on the air in January 1997, simulcasting new sister station WSDM-FM. In 1998 the simulcast ended and the format was changed to Southern Gospel with some programming coming from Reach Network out of Nashville, Tennessee.

The format was again changed in 1999 to Sports radio ("The X") prompting the call sign to be changed to WSJX on March 1, 2000. The call sign was finally changed to WBOW on August 1, 2002, utilizing the legendary call sign that had been used on 1230 AM and 640 AM in the Terre Haute metropolitan area from 1927 until 2001 when 640 AM went dark. The WBOW call sign was later picked up by sister station 102.7 FM in 2003 as WBOW-FM.[3] The station continued to broadcast a Sports radio format along with sister station WSDX, simulcasting "ESPN Sports Radio" featuring programming from ESPN Radio, until September 18, 2012, when AM 1300 changed their format to news/talk.

WBOW history

WBOW was the first radio station in Terre Haute, Indiana. It began in 1927 as WRPI, a service of then Rose Polytechnic Institute. In 1932, it split from the school, went commercial, and took the call letters WBOW, which stand for Banks of the Wabash. It had at least one other frequency before receiving its assignment of 1230 kHz. For years, WBOW was a full-service news and top-40 voice, and often the leading station, in the Terre Haute area. It was long affiliated with NBC radio. In the early days of its existence, entertainer Burl Ives was a staff announcer at this radio station. In its waning years, its music had changed to adult standards and became affiliated with the ABC Information network. In 1992, WBOW moved to 640 kHz to gain a better signal and wider coverage, but shortly thereafter the station's programming became delivered entirely via satellite.

WBOW changed hands several times through the years, and ultimately went dark when Mike Rice, president of owner Contemporary Media, Inc., lost licenses to all his stations for lack of candor to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) during an investigation.

On October 26, 2012, WBOW and sister station WDWQ were sold to Duey Wright's Midwest Communications, Inc., at a purchase price of $1.3 million.

On March 21, 2014, WBOW changed their call letters to WIBQ.

WIBQ Moves to 1230 AM

On May 13, 2014 WIBQ and its news/talk format moved to 1230 AM, swapping frequencies with CP WYGJ, which moved to 1300 and the 1300 AM signal went silent.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "WIBQ Call Sign History". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  2. ↑ "WIBQ Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  3. ↑ "History of "B 102.7"". Crossroads Communications.
  4. ↑ WIBQ Terre Haute Completes Move
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