Wikipedia

WBBP

WBBP (1480 AM) is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Memphis, Tennessee, featuring a gospel format. Owned by Bountiful Blessings, an extension of the Temple of Deliverance Church of God in Christ, the station serves the Memphis metropolitan area.[3][4] WBBP's studios are located at the Temple of Deliverance's headquarters in Memphis, while the transmitter is located in the city's southeastern side. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WBBP is available online.

WBBP
Broadcast areaMemphis metropolitan area
Frequency1480 kHz
Programming
Language(s)English
FormatGospel music
Ownership
Owner
  • Bountiful Blessings
  • (Bountiful Blessing, Inc.)
History
First air date
November 1951
(73 years ago) (1951-11)
Former call signs
  • WFAK (1951–1952)
  • WCBR (1952–1956)
  • WLOK (1956–1964)
  • WMQM (1964–1991)[1][a]
Call sign meaning
"Where Bible Believers Praise God"
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID6542
ClassD
Power
  • 5,000 watts (day)
  • 41 watts (night)
Transmitter coordinates
35°3′19.3″N 90°5′15.9″W / 35.055361°N 90.087750°W / 35.055361; -90.087750
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live
Websitewbbp.org

History

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WFAK and WCBR

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Frank J. Keegan applied on April 21, 1950, for a construction permit to build a daytime-only radio station in Memphis, originally on 1570 kHz but changed to 1480 later in the year, operating with 1,000 watts. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the application on March 14, 1951,[5] and WFAK began test broadcasts in November[6] from studios at 215 Madison Street and a transmitter across the Mississippi River in Crittenden County, Arkansas, near the Harahan Bridge.[5] When the license was officially awarded on November 19, WFAK began its programming of "good music".[7]

In July 1952, to finance a possible expansion to 5,000 watts daytime and a television station application, Keegan announced plans to form a corporation and issue shares.[8] Those plans were dropped, and in late 1952, Keegan sold the station to the Chickasaw Broadcasting Corporation. This company featured professional golfer Cary Middlecoff as well as several other investors in the brewing, advertising, and radio industries.[9][10][11] After the FCC objected to a plan in which part of the purchase price was to be a percentage of profits, a flat fee of $57,500 was agreed, and the commission signed off on the deal in December.[11] The studios were immediately moved to the top floor of the Exchange Building and the call sign changed to WCBR.[12]

On June 18, 1954, to attract advertisers,[13] Chickasaw overhauled WCBR's programming and converted it to being the second radio station to serve the Black community in Memphis after WDIA; Cleophus Robinson was part of the new WCBR's first air staff.[14] The transmitter was relocated to a site on McLemore Avenue in Memphis and studios to 378 Beale Street.[5]

WLOK

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Not to be confused with Memphis, Tennessee, radio station WLOK.
 
In 1959, WLOK moved into these studios on Second Street, still utilized today by WLOK at 1340 AM

In January 1956, the stockholders of Chickasaw Broadcasting filed to transfer the firm to Jules J. Paglin and Stanley W. Ray, Jr., of New Orleans.[15][5] The FCC approved a month later, and the call sign was changed to WLOK on April 1, 1956, to take its place alongside Paglin and Ray's other OK Group stations, which like the new WLOK broadcast programs for Black listeners.[16][17]

The new owners raised the station's daytime power to its present 5,000 watts in December 1956;[5] at that time, station management boasted that WLOK was the only local station with an all-Black group of announcers and performers.[18] Two years later, the OK Group purchased a building at 363 South Second Street, once built for the Tennessee Trust Company, to house an "efficient" one-story studio complex for the station, moving off of Beale Street.[19]

In June 1963, the OK Group filed to purchase the silent WHHM (1340 AM) for $135,000. WHHM had gone off the air amidst financial difficulties at the end of 1962, being placed into bankruptcy. While WHHM's transmitter site had been condemned for highway construction, and WHHM's daytime power was just 1,000 watts, the silent station had something WLOK at 1480 did not: the ability to broadcast at night. OK Group would move WLOK's call letters and programming to 1340 kHz while spinning off the 1480 kHz license, which was necessary because of regulatory limits of the day.[20][21]

WMQM

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On December 31, 1963, the FCC granted an application to transfer the license and to relocate the 1340 transmitter to the existing WLOK site at 1386 South McLemore Avenue.[5] As part of the sale, the 1480 facility was sold to Century Broadcasting of Fort Worth, Texas.[22] Century Broadcasting spent the first several months of 1964 preparing to go on the air with its station, WMQM (Memphis Quality Music).[23] On April 11, 1964, WLOK and its programming moved from 1480 to 1340 kHz, and WMQM went on air from studios in the Chisca Hotel that had previously been used by WHBQ.[24][25]

The "quality music" middle-of-the-road sound disappeared on July 1, 1966, when WMQM flipped to a contemporary country format, termed "countrypolitan".[26] The station organized more than two dozen country music concerts between 1966 and 1972, promoted by Carlton Haney, with such headliners as Johnny Cash, Conway Twitty,[27] Porter Wagoner,[28] and others.[29] The country sound continued for more than a decade, though the 1973 flip of the high-power, 24-hour WMC to country signaled the beginning of the end for country at 1480 and immediately dented WMQM's ratings.[30][31] 1973 also saw the station move to its present transmitter site on Mitchell Road, southwest of Memphis.[5]

WMQM was sold by Century, which had renamed itself Dalworth Broadcasting, to the F.W. Robbert Broadcasting Company of New Orleans in 1977 for $550,000.[32] Robbert changed the station to a Christian radio format, which by 1982 consisted of sacred music and brokered programming. At this time, the station was also airing the first two Spanish-language Christian radio programs in the Memphis area.[33]

WBBP

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In 1990, Robbert Broadcasting sold WMQM for $462,000 to Bountiful Blessings, Inc.[34] The company, associated with the Temple of Deliverance Church of God in Christ, changed the call letters to WBBP in February 1991, beginning 24-hour broadcasting and replacing WMQM's mostly paid programming with a gospel format.[35] WBBP's flip to gospel gave Memphis five stations in the format, more than in Chicago.[36] Temple of Deliverance pastor Gilbert E. Patterson served as the station's president and general manager.[37]

Note

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  1. ^ The station was listed in the FCC database as WNNP for one day in 1994, likely in error.

References

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  1. ^ "WBBP Call Sign History". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Archived from the original on 2022-05-11. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
  2. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WBBP". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ^ "WBBP Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  4. ^ "WBBP Station Information Profile". Arbitron. Archived from the original on 2012-06-10. Retrieved 2009-06-25.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g FCC History Cards for WBBP
  6. ^ "Radio Tests Conducted: WFAK Is Heard In Memphis At 1480 Kilocycles". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, Tennessee. November 8, 1951. p. 49. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "WFAK Licensed: 7th Station". The Memphis Press-Scimitar. Memphis, Tennessee. November 24, 1951. p. 7. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "WFAK Planning An Expansion: Wants More Power And T-V Facilities". The Memphis Press-Scimitar. Memphis, Tennessee. July 9, 1952. p. 10. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "FCC Asked to O.K. Transfer of WFAK". The Memphis Press-Scimitar. Memphis, Tennessee. October 24, 1952. p. 20. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Radio Station Bought: Middlecoff Among Purchasers Of WFAK Here". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, Tennessee. October 29, 1952. p. 7. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ a b "FCC Approves Sale Of Station WFAK". The Memphis Press-Scimitar. Memphis, Tennessee. December 18, 1952. p. 1. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "WFAK Changes Name; Becomes Station WCBR". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, Tennessee. December 21, 1952. p. V:7. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "A transition..." The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, Tennessee. June 20, 1954. p. V:2. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "City's 2nd Negro Radio Station 'Ready to Go': WCBR to Operate Under Entirely Negro Program Staff Tomorrow". The Memphis Press-Scimitar. Memphis, Tennessee. June 17, 1954. p. 21. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Mitchell, Henry (January 26, 1956). "Sauerkraut And Sour Cream Inevitable After Program". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, Tennessee. p. 38. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "New Ownership O.K.'d for WCBR". The Memphis Press-Scimitar. Memphis, Tennessee. February 24, 1956. p. 3. Retrieved May 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Johnson, Robert (April 3, 1956). "Lawrence Welk Was Big Hit for Years On Coast and in Corn Country". The Memphis Press-Scimitar. Memphis, Tennessee. p. 15. Retrieved May 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "WLOK Is Planning Power Increase". The Memphis Press-Scimitar. Memphis, Tennessee. October 29, 1956. p. 25. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved May 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Building Is Sold To Radio Station: WLOK Obtains Property From Dave Flexer". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, Tennessee. September 14, 1958. p. 45. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved May 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "WHHM Offer Made By Group: Trustee For Creditors Says New Orleans Men Seek Bankrupt Station". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, Tennessee. July 2, 1963. p. 21. Retrieved May 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ Slessor, Gordon (July 16, 1963). "Referee Agrees: WLOK Can Buy Silent WHHM". The Memphis Press-Scimitar. Memphis, Tennessee. p. 12. Retrieved May 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ Miller, Mike (January 3, 1964). "WLOK Will Get WHHM Radio License: Fort Worth Firm Gets Old License". The Memphis Press-Scimitar. Memphis, Tennessee. p. 7. Retrieved May 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ Mitchell, Henry (March 4, 1964). "Railroads' Old-Time Glory Restored By Lion Of Judah". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, Tennessee. p. 18. Retrieved May 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "WLOK Moves Down Dial". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, Tennessee. April 12, 1964. p. 13. Retrieved May 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ Johnson, Robert (February 26, 1964). "Good Evening!". The Memphis Press-Scimitar. Memphis, Tennessee. p. 23. Retrieved May 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "Good Evening! Travelers Sleep In Their Cars; No Room in the Inn". The Memphis Press-Scimitar. Memphis, Tennessee. June 30, 1966. p. 31. Retrieved May 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ Knott, John (February 4, 1968). "Shouting Fans 'Raise Roof' As Country Stars Score Hit". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, Tennessee. p. 2:2. Retrieved May 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ "Good Evening: WMQM Will Sponsor A Big Country & Western Music Show". The Memphis Press-Scimitar. Memphis, Tennessee. May 17, 1967. p. 9. Retrieved May 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ "Music Series Six Years Old, Going Strong". The Memphis Press-Scimitar. Memphis, Tennessee. April 14, 1972. p. Showtime 8. Retrieved May 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ Kingsley, James (April 1, 1973). "Radio Format Switch Seen As C&W Boost". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, Tennessee. p. Fanfare 4. Retrieved May 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ Lee, Mary Ann (July 5, 1973). "Switch to Country Boosts WMC Ratings". The Memphis Press-Scimitar. Memphis, Tennessee. p. 14. Retrieved May 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. September 19, 1977. p. 121. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-10-31. Retrieved 2022-05-11.
  33. ^ Clark, Michael (January 16, 1982). "Christian Station Promoting Sacred Easy-Listening Music". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, Tennessee. p. A6. Retrieved May 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  34. ^ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 19, 1990. p. 59. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-11-08. Retrieved 2022-05-11.
  35. ^ "Church buys radio station". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, Tennessee. January 5, 1991. p. A10. Retrieved May 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  36. ^ Walter, Tom (March 17, 1991). "Churchgoers put Memphis in lead in black gospel radio". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, Tennessee. p. G2. Retrieved May 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  37. ^ Meeks, Ann (January 21, 1999). "Patterson Ave. is named for bishop in COGIC". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, Tennessee. p. NT5. Retrieved May 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
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