WLIB
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| City of license | New York City |
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| Broadcast area | New York City |
| Slogan | "Your Praise and Inspiration Station" |
| Frequency | 1190 kHz (AM) |
| First air date | December 23, 1941 |
| Format | Urban Contemporary Gospel |
| Power | 10,000 watts daytime 30,000 watts nighttime |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 28204 |
| Callsign meaning | W The Voice of LIBerty (early slogan) |
| Owner | YMF Media LLC (YMF Media New York Licensee LLC) |
| Sister stations | WBLS |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | wlib.com |
WLIB (1190 kHz.) is an urban contemporary gospel AM radio station located in New York City. WLIB is owned by YMF Media LLC through licensee YMF Media New York Licensee LLC, along with sister station WBLS (107.5 FM). The two stations share studios in West Village section of Manhattan, and WLIB's transmitter is located in Lyndhurst, New Jersey.
On August 22, 2011, former owner Inner City Broadcasting Corporation's creditors petitioned the United States Bankruptcy Court to force the firm to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy on grounds that the company's executives failed to accept a buyout offer. The filing resulted in majority control of Inner City being taken over by YMF Media, owned jointly by Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Companies, and basketball legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson's Magic Johnson Enterprises. On May 21, 2012, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved an local marketing agreement of WLIB and WBLS by YMF Media. [1] The sale of WLIB and WBLS to YMF Media, along with 13 other stations, was consummated on October 19, 2012 at a purchase price of $180 million.
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History [edit]
When WLIB first went on the air the station's target audience was upper middle-class and wealthy New Yorkers, as evidenced by its format of classical music and popular standards which competed with WQXR.[2] The station was purchased by New York Post publisher Dorothy Schiff in 1944 and regularly ran news updates from the Post's newsroom at various times during the day.[3]
In 1949 WLIB was purchased by the New Broadcasting Company. The firm was headed by former WNYC executive Morris S. Novik and his brother, garment executive Harry Novik. Upon taking control of the station the Novik brothers turned WLIB into a station which served ethnic audiences, with large amounts of programming targeting the city's Jewish and African American communities. The station eventually became the leading voice of New York's black residents, and established a presence in the community's epicenter with studios inside the Hotel Theresa in Harlem. During the mid-to-late 1950s its airstaff included pioneering black radio disc jockey Hal Jackson, actor William Marshall (of Blacula fame) and Victor Bozeman, who would later become a Los Angeles-based staff announcer for NBC television.[4]
In the 1960s WLIB was one of several commercial jazz stations in New York. Among its disc jockeys was Billy Taylor, whose shows were not only great listening but an education. According to him, "With the help Del Shields and Ed Williams [we] built the biggest jazz audience in New York." During much of this period WLIB's primary competition came from WWRL, another station which programmed to Black audiences.
WLIB became black-owned in the 1970s after activists picketed the station and demanded African Americans be given a chance to purchase it. Many felt the station’s series of white owners didn't care about broadcasting with community concerns in mind. Percy Sutton, Malcolm X’s former attorney and then-Manhattan borough president, formed the Inner City Broadcasting Corporation (ICBC) with the backing of a group of black investors (including Hal Jackson and Billy Taylor, who was installed as WLIB's general manager), and purchased WLIB from the Novik brothers in 1972.[5][6] The station’s first talk shows featured Betty Shabazz, widow of Malcolm X, and Dr. Carlos Russell, a noted former college professor who taught some of the Black and Latino students who later founded the Young Lords Party.
Politics [edit]
Since becoming black-owned the station has broadcast political, Afrocentric, and health-centered programming aimed at New York's Afro-Caribbean community. WLIB’s advocacy strength was credited with getting out the vote for David Dinkins in 1989 as he ran to become New York City’s first black mayor.[7] The station has been criticized for allowing people calling in to make anti-semitic remarks.[8]
Increased signal power [edit]
The station's nighttime power was increased to 30,000 watts in the early 2000s, in a swap with WOWO in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which also broadcasts on 1190 AM. Prior to the power increase WLIB operated during daytime hours (sunrise to sunset) only, deferring at night to WOWO's 50,000-watt clear-channel signal. Inner City Broadcasting purchased the Fort Wayne station in 1994 for the sole purpose of lowering its power in order to increase WLIB's, setting the stage for WLIB to eventually begin broadcasting around the clock. After gaining FCC approval for 24-hour broadcasting, it would still be a few years before WLIB would actually begin nighttime programming. In the meantime Inner City sold WOWO, whose nighttime signal is now greatly reduced.
In 2004, the station affiliated with Air America Radio due to a lack of advertiser support and ratings during its daytime hours. The switch was controversial, with many in the community seeing the switch as replacing black activist programming with Air America's primarily white, liberal on-air personalities.[9]
From 12 a.m.–5 a.m. every night, WLIB aired a slate of local black-oriented talk programming originated by owners of the station, I.C.B.C. Holdings. Principal among the late night shows was the Global Black Experience, hosted by Imhotep Gary Byrd. Also produced by I.C.B.C. were two Sunday morning programs, featuring Al Sharpton and Dinkins; these programs were moved to Saturday after the format change.[10] Generally, from 5 a.m. onward, Air America Radio programs were carried on WLIB. However, starting in 2005, the apolitical Satellite Sisters aired instead of the Mike Malloy show on WLIB from 10 p.m. to midnight.
Air America programming left WLIB after August 31, 2006, effective with the expiration of the Air America-Inner City lease. The network's new flagship station became WWRL the next day. It was rumored that the progressive talk format would be retained using local hosts and syndicated talker Ed Schultz, under a lease agreement with Randy Michaels' company, Radioactive, LLC.[11] However, negotiations fell through, and on August 21, 2006, WLIB announced that they would switch to a gospel music format, after considering country music, oldies, Spanish oldies, rock, classic dance, smooth jazz and even urban talk from Radio One.
References [edit]
- ^ "Court OKs YMF Media LMA Of Inner City Stations". All Access Music Group. 2012-05-21. Retrieved 2012-05-21.
- ^ WLIB advertisement. Broadcasting Yearbook, 1945, page 133
- ^ "WLIB taps Negro Mart, Nation's 6th biggest 'city'. Billboard'. Jan. 5, 1952, pg. 6.
- ^ WLIB advertisement. Broadcasting Yearbook, 1957, page 174
- ^ "Black group to buy WLIB (AM) New York." Broadcasting, July 19, 1971, pg. 61. [1]
- ^ "Changing Hands." Broadcasting, July 3, 1972, pg. 23. [2]
- ^ trudbe.blog.com/1021853/
- ^ Fisher, Ian (November 1, 1994). "THE 1994 CAMPAIGN: DIVISIONS; Republican Comptroller Candidate Denounced as Racist". The New York Times.
- ^ newsmine.org/archive/propoganda/controls-left/air-america-displace-black-talk-ny-wlib.txt
- ^ wlib.com/pages/143245.php
- ^ www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/tvstations/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002424337
External links [edit]
- WLIB Website
- Query the FCC's AM station database for WLIB
- Radio-Locator Information on WLIB
- Query Arbitron's AM station database for WLIB
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Coordinates: 40°47′48″N 74°06′06″W / 40.79667°N 74.10167°W
