Contents

WCBR

WCBR (1110 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a religious format. It is licensed to Richmond, Kentucky, United States, and serves the Lexington Metro Area. The station is owned by W.C.B.R. Radio, Inc.^[2]

1110 AM is a United States clear-channel frequency, on which WBT and KFAB share Class A status. WCBR must leave the air from sunset to sunrise to protect the nighttime signals of the Class A stations.

History[edit]

Gerry House, on working at WCBR^[3]

On October 7, 1969, the Federal Communications Commission granted a construction permit to Lewis P. Young, trading as Christian Broadcasters, for a new daytime-only radio station in Richmond;^[4] Young was a pastor at Richmond's Gardenside Christian Church.^[5] From studios at Second Street and Irvine, WCBR began broadcasting on March 7, 1970; despite the licensee name, the station was secular and an ABC network affiliate.^[6] In late 1971, Young sold half of the station to J. T. Parker Jr., owner of station WGOCinKingsport, Tennessee.^[5] Parker also obtained a construction permit for an FM station in Richmond, which signed on May 12, 1972, as WCBR-FM 101.7, a full-time simulcaster of the AM station, airing country music.^[7] Gerry House, who later went on to radio and a songwriting career in Nashville, worked at the station as his second radio job, moving to Richmond to be with his girlfriend.^[3]

Parker bought out the remaining 50 percent in WCBR in 1975^[4] and then sold some interest in the WCBR stations to three local investors, including the station manager, George W. Robbins.^[8] Four years later, Parker sold his remaining 50 percent in the station and the sister FM, which became a separately programmed operation as WBZF in 1976,^[9] to David Lee Humes and Mark Anthony Cole, the pair's engineer and advertising consultant, for $271,000.^[10] WCBR maintained a country format for most of the 1970s and early 1980s, but by the late 1980s, it had shifted to adult contemporary using programming from Satellite Music Networks,^[11] and in the early 1990s, the station was a full-service adult standards outlet.^[12]

WCBR adopted its present format of Southern gospel music as well as Christian teaching programs in September 1994, after two months of simulcasting the oldies on the FM frequency.^[13] Humes would become the sole owner in 2008, after Robbins died.^[14] WCBR itself would return to FM in 2016 when Humes bought a translator, then located in Morill to move it to Richmond to be paired with the AM station.^[15]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• WCBR in the FCC AM station database
• WCBRinNielsen Audio's AM station database