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WBSS (AM)

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WBSS
Broadcast areaOcean–Atlantic–Cape May
Frequency1490 kHz
Programming
FormatRegional Mexican
Ownership
OwnerLongport Media, LLC.
WOND, WTKU-FM, WMGM-FM
History
First air date
1955; 69 years ago (1955)
Former call signs
  • WLDB (1955–1974)
  • WUSS (1974–1997)
  • WGYM (1997–2001)
  • WUSS (2001–2006)
  • WTKU (2006–2007)
  • WTAA (2007–2010)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID30040
ClassC
Power400 watts
Transmitter coordinates
39°23′24″N 74°30′45″W / 39.39000°N 74.51250°W / 39.39000; -74.51250
Links
Public license information

WBSS (1490 AM), is a 400-watt radio station under the ownership of Longport Media, licensed to Pleasantville, New Jersey, and operating with a Regional Mexican format.[2]

History

The first station to broadcast on the 1490 frequency at the South Jersey shore was WBAB in Atlantic City, which operated as a CBS affiliate in the 1940s. WBAB went off the air and by 1955 had been replaced by WLDB (named for its owners, Leroy and Dorothy Bremmer). By the early 1970s WLDB was an NBC affiliate playing mostly country music.

In late 1974 WLDB was sold to a group of local African-American businessmen. The call sign was changed to WUSS ("We're the United States of Soul!") and the station began to target the Black community with its programming. During its 20-year run as an Urban station, some of the WUSS personalities included Larry Hicks, Larry Hayes, Lee "Brown Sugar" Sherman, Ron Allen, Eddie O'Jay, Stan Brooks, Cooks Books, Jimmy Mack, Robert G Money, Kingsley Smith, Ellis B. "Bruce Ellis" Feaster, Steve Ross, with The Dude & The Dudess, Vernon Robbins, Cleo Rowe, and William K. Fisher Jr. WUSS was successful for a number of years under the name 1490 jAMs, but eventually fell victim to the general trend away from music on AM. After a short period of running satellite-delivered talk and oldies/blues programming, it went silent in the mid-1990s, then was sold to the owners of WOND.

The new ownership changed the station's city of license to Pleasantville and relocated its transmitter to the WOND site in that city. The call letters were changed to WGYM and a sports talk format was instituted. In 2001 the WUSS call sign returned and the format was changed to gospel; in the next few years, the station tried playing R&B oldies, then pop oldies (simulcasting WTKU-FM), went back to sports talk, then began simulcasting WTKU again (taking on the WTKU call letters in 2006). In the spring of 2007, the call sign was changed to WTAA and the station began to run a progressive talk radio format, mostly fed from the Air America Radio network. It also carried Imus in the Morning.

On October 9, 2008, the talk format was abandoned in favor of Bustos Media's satellite-driven regional Mexican format.[3] The following February, WTAA again changed its format to tropical music, simulcast from WBON in Westhampton, New York.[4] The callsign changed to WBSS in January 2010.[5]

On August 12, 2011, the station switched to a simulcast of WOND. The station changed once more on September 30, 2011, when WBSS began to simulcast Philadelphia sports radio station WIP-FM, branded as "WIP at the Beach".[2][6]

WBSS went off the air at the time of Hurricane Sandy. By late February 2013 it had resumed broadcasting. The station broadcast WOND, until April 3, 2013, the station returned to a simulcast of WTKU.

On August 5, 2019, WBSS became one of the first terrestrial radio stations in the country dedicated entirely to sports betting, teaming up with The BetR Network, as the station re-branded as "Sports Betting Radio. The station aired programming from the VSIN network, along with several hours of local programming and sports updates."[7]

On June 28, 2024, the station flipped from sports betting radio to Regional Mexican.

References

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WBSS". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ a b "Longport Teams with WIP-FM for "WIP at the Beach"". Radio Online. September 22, 2011. Retrieved September 23, 2011.
  3. ^ "Making Moves: Friday morning". Radio-Info.com. October 9, 2008.
  4. ^ Fybush, Scott (March 2, 2009). "A Great Voice is Stilled". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
  5. ^ Fybush, Scott (January 18, 2010). "Big Broadcasters Bet on Talk, Sports". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
  6. ^ Bogdan, Jennifer (September 2, 2011). "Longport Media keeps things local as it launches new rock radio station". The Press of Atlantic City. Retrieved September 3, 2011. Sports fans will also have a new local station to turn to. [Dave] Coskey said Friday that 1490-AM, which used to simulcast its sister station WOND, will begin simulcasting popular Philadelphia sports station WIP 610-AM starting around Sept. 15.
  7. ^ Venta, Lance (July 24, 2019). "The BetR Network To Debut August 5 On KBAD Las Vegas & WBSS Atlantic City". RadioInsight. Retrieved July 26, 2019. The BetR Network will launch on Lotus Broadcasting's 920 KBAD Las Vegas and Longport Media's 1490 WBSS Pleasantville/Atlantic City NJ.
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