WPBG

WPBG
City Peoria, Illinois
Broadcast area Bloomington, Peoria, LaSalle-Peru
Branding 93.3 The Drive
Slogan No. 1 for Classic Hits
Frequency 93.3 MHz (also on HD Radio)
First air date April 1947 (1947-04)[1]
Format Analog/HD1: Classic Hits
HD2: Oldies (WIRL simulcast)
ERP 41,000 watts
HAAT 168 meters
Class B
Facility ID 42114
Transmitter coordinates 40°38′7.00″N 89°32′19.00″W / 40.6352778°N 89.5386111°W / 40.6352778; -89.5386111
Callsign meaning Peoria's Big Oldies[2]
Former callsigns WMBD-FM (1947–1977)
WKZW (1977–1994)
WXMP (1994–1996)
Former frequencies 92.5 MHz (1947–1960s)
Owner Alpha Media
(Alpha Media Licensee LLC)
Sister stations WMBD (AM) (traditional and current)
WNGY; WIRL; WSWT; WXCL
WMBD-TV (former traditional)
Webcast Listen Live
Website 933thedrive.com

WPBG (93.3 FM) is an FM broadcasting station with a Classic Hits format. Licensed for Peoria, Illinois, United States, the station serves the Bloomington, Peoria, LaSalle-Peru area. The station is currently owned by Alpha Media.[3][4]

WPBG broadcasts in the HD Radio digital (hybrid) format:

  • HD1 is a digital simulcast of the (traditional) analog format of Classic Hits.
  • HD2 is a simulcast of station WIRL's oldies format.[5]

History

WMBD-FM was established in April 1947 with 17,000 watts on 92.5 MHz as a sister station to 1470 WMBD (AM), the only other station in Peoria;[1] the nearest other FM station was 101.5 WJBC-FM (now WBNQ) in Bloomington, established the same month as a sister station of 1230 WJBC (AM).[1][6] By 1950, WMBD-FM was licensed for 20,000 watts.[7] WMBD-FM duplicated WMBD (AM) during its early years.[8] It was sold (with AM and TV) to Fetzer Stations on February 1, 1953.[8]

The station signed-on as with a beautiful music format and utilized the slogan "Music Only For a Woman". The station was originally on 92.5 MHz but moved to 93.3 MHz in the early 1960s.

For several years, WMBD-FM went by the slogan of Rock 93. Then, in late 1977 the station adopted a Rock 40 a.k.a CHR format as WKZW, as they calling itself "The All New KZ93 FM". The station was successful immediately and rapidly overtook Top 40 AM WIRL in the ratings. In late-1983 KZ-93 started a transition from being a rock based CHR format to a mainstream CHR format. KZ93 ZJs included Tommy Wood, Mark Maloney, Gary Olson, Jeffrey Moore, Cristy Ryan, Keith Edwards, Scott Wheeler, Gene Stern, Derek Johnson, Lee Malcolm, Kenneth "Ken Cook" Hackney, Troy Hamilton, Jeff Kingsley, Glen Thomas, Kenny Blum, with Andy Masur, Ray Price, Charlie Quinn, Steve Rodeo and Danny Baker. "KZ-93" was at or near the top of the ratings in the Peoria radio market throughout its reign as the premiere Top 40/CHR outlet in all of Central Illinois. Then all of a sudden, in the early part of 1994 Peoria's 93.3 FM flipped to a hot adult contemporary format as WMXP and the slogan "Mix 93.3". During the MIX years, The morning show was hosted by Dave Kallaway and Bec Ryan. Other jocks included Gene Stern, Scott Wheeler (now afternoons on WCIC Pekin as Steve Brown), Mary Lynn, Chris McIntyre (now program director and mornings on WKAY-FM in Galesburg, Illinois), and Keith Kelly. Also, for a portion of its time as "Mix 93.3" the morning radio show was simulcast with the television show on sister station WMBD-TV. This simulcast show was known as "The Morning Mix". The simulcast ended in late-1996 when the station again flipped to an oldies format as "Big Oldies 93.3" and adopted the current call sign. At that time "The Morning Mix" continued on WMBD-TV for quite some time. The station used the "Big Oldies 93.3" slogan before the current format of classic hits was adopted in late summer 2006.

The station was recently owned by Triad Broadcasting. Sister stations include WIRL, WMBD (AM), WDQX (now WNGY), WXCL and WSWT. Effective May 1, 2013, Triad sold WPBG and 29 other stations to L&L Broadcasting for $21 million.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Broadcasting Yearbook Number. Washington, D.C.: Broadcasting Publications. 1948. Retrieved 2010-08-30. Illinois AM stations on pages 94 & 98; Illinois FM stations on page 294. Page 326 shows 4 additional FM construction permits already in progress for Peoria.
  2. ↑ "Call Letter Origins". Radio History on the Web.
  3. ↑ "WPBG Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  4. ↑ "WPBG Station Information Profile". Arbitron.
  5. ↑ http://www.pjstar.com/news/20160317/peoria-radio-group-makes-move-to-hd
  6. ↑ "U. S. FM Stations as of 1948". History of American Broadcasting. Jeff Miller. Using information from Radio Craft. June 1948. Missing or empty |title= (help) ISSN variously reported as 0033-7862, 1067-9278, or 1067-9286.
  7. ↑ "U. S. FM Stations as of 1950". History of American Broadcasting. Jeff Miller. Using information from 1950 Broadcasting Yearbook.
  8. 1 2 See, for example, 1959 Broadcasting Yearbook, page B-145
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