WBLF
| City of license | Bellefonte, Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | State College, Pennsylvania |
| Branding | WBLF 970 AM |
| Frequency | 970 kHz |
| First air date | August 1, 1958 |
| Format | News/Talk |
| Power | 1,000 W daytime 61 W nighttime |
| Callsign meaning | BeLleFonte or Betty Lou Finnegan [1] |
| Affiliations | Fox News Radio |
| Owner | Magnum Broadcasting, Inc. |
WBLF is a news radio station licensed to Bellefonte, Pennsylvania serving State College, Pennsylvania. It is currently owned by Magnum Broadcasting, Inc. WBLF was founded by Cary H. Simpson on August 1, 1958, and operates at the federally assigned frequency of 970 kilohertz with a maximum power output of 1,000 watts daytime, 61 watts at night.
Contents
Early history
WBLF was one of the original nine stations built by the Allegheny Mountain Network in Tyrone, Pennsylvania. Though many believe that the WBLF call letters stand for its city of license, it's speculated that Simpson named the station after his wife, the former Betty Lou Finnegan, who was part owner of the AMN until her death in 2000. WBLF originally operated on 1330 AM.
Recent history
For many years prior to the summer of 2005, WBLF simulcast programming on State College's WRSC-FM. This allowed residents in Northern Centre County to receive WRSC's programming, especially in the evening and at night. In March, 2005, then owner Dame Broadcasting sold its radio stations in the State College market (including WBLF) to 2510 Licenses, LLC. During this change in ownership, the simulcast was discontinued, and WBLF aired placeholder programming. In June, 2005, WBLF was sold by 2510 to Magnum Broadcasting, Inc., a local operator and owner of four other Pennsylvania radio stations, including the Philipsburg licensed QWiK Rock.
Relaunch
In October, 2005, WBLF relaunched as a separate talk station, the first station in the State College market in direct competition with long-established talk station WRSC-FM. As part of the launch, WBLF hired former WRSC broadcaster Jeff "Ironhead" Byers, who had just returned to State College following a brief period in Punxsutawney at WPXZ. Byers performed a morning show alongside Centre County personality Tor Michaels, who had also worked at WRSC in the past. Byers and Michaels were joined by newcomers Jennifer MacIsaac and Todd Brown. The original WBLF weekday lineup included original local affairs programming in the morning with MacIsaac, Michaels and Byers, Rush Limbaugh and Thom Hartmann in the afternoon, original local sports programming with Brown in the late afternoon, and Phil Hendrie in the evening. During not otherwise scheduled programming (overnights and often on the weekend), WBLF aired the Fox Sports Radio feed. National news is provided at the top and bottom of the hour by Fox News Radio.
Current status
The programming schedule was revamped slightly in late March 2007. It now includes "Centre County This Morning," a live, local morning news and information program with Jerry Fisher.
Programming
On Monday, June 16, 2008, WBLF inaugurated In The Zone with Ironhead, a new live local sports talk show hosted by Jeff Byers. As of July, 2009 WBLF airs Meyers and Hartman, a sports talk show from Fox Sports Radio hosted by Chris Myers and Steve Hartman, in the time slot previously held by In The Zone.
While WBLF's main competitor WRSC features a nearly entire lineup of conservative hosts such as Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage and Mark Levin, WBLF has a somewhat more balanced lineup, airing Alan Colmes of Fox in addition to conservatives Dennis Miller and Rush Limbaugh.
External links
- Radio Locator Info on WBLF
- 970 AM WBLF
- Query the FCC's AM station database for WBLF
- Radio-Locator Information on WBLF
- Query Nielsen Audio's AM station database for WBLF
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