WANB

For the Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania radio station that held the call signs WANB or WANB-FM at 103.1 FM until 2009, see WKVE.

WANB
City	Waynesburg, Pennsylvania
Broadcast area	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Slogan	"Cool Country"
Frequency	1210 kHz
First air date	September 26, 1956
Format	Country
Power	5,000 watts (day) 710 watts (critical hours)
Class	D
Facility ID	32211
Transmitter coordinates	39°52′12.00″N 80°8′1.00″W / 39.8700000°N 80.1336111°W / 39.8700000; -80.1336111
Callsign meaning	WAyNesBurg (city of license)
Affiliations	AP
Owner	Broadcast Communications, Inc.
Sister stations	WKVE
Website	none

WANB (1210 AM) is an American radio station broadcasting a Country format. Licensed to Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, USA, it serves southwestern Pennsylvania and portions of West Virginia and Ohio.. The station is currently owned by Broadcast Communications, Inc.

History

WANB signed on the air on September 26, 1956 at 1580 kilocycles and a daytime power output of 250 watts. For many years this was the only radio station on the air serving Greene County. From the time of its inception until 1991, WANB broadcast from the First Federal bank building on East High Street in downtown Waynesburg. The licensee was Commonwealth Broadcasters, Inc. and would remain so until 1975, though owner principals would change over the course of its history.

George McGary and his wife, Pat, moved from New York to Waynesburg to become the first station managers at WANB. In the early days, George spent most of his time canvassing for ads to keep the station going. Al Harvey and John Biery Jr. were two of the early D.J.s. Lucinda (Toddy) Greenlee was the sales person.

In the 1950s and 1960s, it was common for unknown recording artists to show up at the station and ask D.J.s to plug their latest record. One singer who stopped at WANB was Bobby Vinton from Canonsburg, Pennsylvania who was plugging "High Steppin Majorette" a couple of years before he had the first of many hits including "Roses Are Red" and "Blue Velvet".

One of the notable shows in the early days of the station was "Trading Post" where local townspeople could call in and advertise their household goods for sale. In the 1960s, the final hour of the station day was called "Serenade to Sunset" and consisted of playing full instrumental albums from such artists as Percy Faith, Mantovanni, and the like. There was no DJ or commercials during this final hour.

Other D.J.s in the 1960s were Paul Merryman and Bill Parker among others.

In 1964, Jim and Frances Pattison moved to Waynesburg to assume ownership of the station. They performed many duties at the station, from sales to broadcasting. Their son, Tom, had a Saturday afternoon "psychedelic show" that was quite different from the music that was played the remainder of the week. Local musician Todd Tamanend Clark was frequently in attendance when Tom Pattison was on the air.

A daytime-only station for its entire existence, WANB was joined by a simulcast FM sister station on April 21, 1978; enabling listeners to enjoy local radio service after the AM was forced to leave the air at sundown. At around this time, the company name had changed from Commonwealth Broadcasters to WANB, Inc., though the owner principals remained the same.

John Loeper, who had been the general manager of WANB for many years, left the station in 1990 to become the minority partner in JJG Communications, which purchased Washington County competitor WKEG that year, which had been forced to go dark under its former owner. The venture was unsuccessful, and Loeper left the radio business altogether the following year. He was replaced by Judy Rostoka, who held the position for approximately 15 years after his departure.

In 1991, WANB vacated its longtime home in the First Federal building (which had begun to fall into disrepair) and moved to a spacious new, modern, all-steel building at its transmitter site just south of Waynesburg and off I-79. Engineering personnel had designed the building with expansion in mind if that were ever the goal of ownership present or future.

Sale to Broadcast Communications, Inc.

Majority owner principals Joseph F. Hennessey, a Massachusetts-based attorney, and engineer Ken Strawberry, who together made up WANB, Inc. (though Hennessey himself was listed as licensee) decided to sell the station for $850,000 in December 2001 to Broadcast Communications, Inc.; a Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania-based company headed by Pittsburgh broadcaster Bob Stevens.

Stevens had previously built and owned WKYN in St. Marys, Pennsylvania; and later sold it in the mid-1990s to buy WHJB and WBCW, in Greensburg and Jeannette respectively; wishing to own a station closer to his hometown.

WANB today

WANB has been a simulcast outlet of its FM sister almost entirely since the FM station's debut in 1978. It has never had nighttime power authorization and had experimented with separate programming shortly after both stations moved to its present location at its transmitter. For a couple of years, WANB programmed a format of Southern Gospel and Contemporary Christian music, neither of which were successful, and WANB returned to being a simulcast-only station.

WANB has been a proven testing ground for up-and-coming young radio talent that moved on to bigger markets. Former morning DJ Drew Gordon moved on to legendary country music powerhouse Q102 in DuBois, Pennsylvania; and former news director Lori Salva-Houy moved on to field reporting duties at WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh.

WANB was granted a construction permit in 2006 to move to a lower dial position of 1210 kHz with a power increase to 5,000 watts. The station began broadcasting on its new frequency on December 31, 2009.

External links

Query the FCC's AM station database for WANB

Radio-Locator Information on WANB

Query Nielsen Audio's AM station database for WANB

Radio stations in the Pittsburgh market

By AM frequency	540 590 620 660 680 730 770 810 860 910 940 970 1020¹ 1080 1150 1210 1250 1280 1320 1360 1380 1410 1450 1460 1480 1490 1510 1550 1570 1640 ¹ Clear-channel stations with extended nighttime coverage

By FM frequency	88.1 88.1 88.3 88.7 88.9 89.3 90.1 90.5 91.3 91.7 92.1 92.1 92.5 92.9 93.7 94.5 94.9 95.3 95.7 96.1 96.9 97.7 98.3 98.9 99.3 99.7 100.1 100.7 101.1 101.5 102.5 103.1 103.5 103.7 103.9 104.3 104.7 105.1 105.9 106.3 106.7 107.1 107.5 107.9

NOAA Weather Radio frequency	162.55

Digital Radio	89.3-1 89.3-2 90.5-1 90.5-2 90.5-3 91.3-1 92.9-1 92.9-2 92.9-3 92.9-4 93.7-1 93.7-2 93.7-3 94.5-1 94.5-2 96.1-1 96.1-2 96.9-1 96.9-2 96.9-3 96.9-4 99.7-1 100.7-1 100.7-2 100.7-3 102.5-1 102.5-2 105.9-1 105.9-2 107.9-1 107.9-2 107.9-3

By callsign	KDKA¹ KDKA-FM KFX300 KIH35 KQV W261AX WAMO WANB WAOB WAOB-FM WAVL WBGG WBJV WBUT WBVP WBZZ WCAL WCNS WCYJ WDIG WDSY-FM WDVE WEDO WEGW WESA WFSJ-LP WFGI WGBN WGLZ WHJB WISR WIUP WJAS WJPA WJPA-FM WJST WKBN WKFB WKGO WKHB WKPL WKST WKST-FM WKVE WLCY WLER WLSW WLTJ WMBA WMBS WMNY WHOT WMUG-LP WNJR WOGG WOGH WOGI WOHI WORD WPGB WPGP WPGR WPHP WPIT WPKL WPKV WPTS-FM WQED WQMU WQTW WRCT WRRK WSHH WSRU WTYM WUKL WVKF WVNP WWCS WWNL WWSW WWVA WXDX WYEP WYFU WZUM WZUM-FM

Defunct	WKZV 1110 AM WASP 1130 AM WBGI 1340 AM WSTV 1340 AM WZUM 1590 AM

Pennsylvania radio markets Allentown–Bethlehem Altoona Bradford–Coudersport Chambersburg–Waynesboro Erie Harrisburg–Lebanon–Carlisle Lancaster Montrose New Castle Philadelphia Pittsburgh Reading Sayre–Towanda–Mansfield–Wellsboro Wilkes-Barre–Scranton Williamsport York Other Pennsylvania radio regions Bedford Indiana Johnstown Lewistown–Mifflintown Meadville–Franklin Punxsutawney–DuBois St. Marys–Emporium–Kane State College Stroudsburg Sunbury–Selinsgrove–Lewisburg Warren Mass media in the Pittsburgh Area Radio stations TV stations Newspapers See also List of radio stations in Pennsylvania

Country radio stations in the state of Pennsylvania

Stations	WANB – Waynesburg WBLJ-FM – Shamokin WBYL – Salladasburg WCAT-FM – Carlisle WCFT-FM - Bloomsburg WCTO – Easton WDBF-FM - Mount Union WDDH – Saint Marys WDKC – Covington WDSY-FM – Pittsburgh WEEO – Shippensburg WFGE – State College WFGI – Charleroi WFGI-FM – Johnstown WFGY – Altoona WFRM – Coudersport WGGI – Benton WGGY – Scranton WGTY – Gettysburg WGYI – Oil City WGYY – Meadville WHGB – Harrisburg WHGL-FM – Canton WHUN – Huntingdon WHVR – Hanover WIBF– Mexico WILQ – Williamsport WIOO – Carlisle WIOV-FM – Ephrata WKNB – Clarendon WKVE – Waynesburg WLCY – Blairsville WOGG – Oliver WOGH – Burgettstown WOGI – Moon Township WOWQ – Du Bois WPGB – Pittsburgh WQBG – Elizabethville WQBR – Avis WQCK – Philipsburg WRBG – Mifflinburg WRBT – Harrisburg WSJR – Dallas WSKE – Everett WTWF – Fairview WVNW – Burnham WWCB - Corry WWCH – Clarion WWGY – Grove City WWSM – Annville-Cleona WXTA – Edinboro WXTU – Philadelphia WZBF - Beaver Springs WZCY-FM – Hershey

Defunct	WKZV – Washington

See also adult contemporary classic hits college country news/talk NPR oldies religious rock sports top 40 urban other radio stations in Pennsylvania

Daytime-Only radio stations in Pennsylvania

Stations	WAMO - Wilkinsburg WANB - Waynesburg WCHE - West Chester WECZ - Punxsutawney WEDO - McKeesport WFKJ - Cashtown WFYL - King of Prussia WGPA - Bethlehem WHYF - Shiremanstown WIEZ - Lewistown WIOO - Carlisle WJSM - Martinsburg WKFB - Jeannette WKQW - Oil City WLSH - Lansford WMCE - North East WNAP - Norristown WNWR - Philadelphia WPHE - Phoenixville WQOR - Olyphant WQTW - Latrobe WVPO - Stroudsburg WWDB - Philadelphia WWNL - Pittsburgh WWSM - Annville-Cleona WZSK - Everett

Defunct	WASP - Brownsville WKZV - Washington

See also: Clear channel radio stations and Why AM Radio Stations Must Reduce Power, Change Operations, or Cease Operations at Night

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