WSBA (AM)

An article in the Gazette and Daily July 24, 1942 [2] headed "Will Occupy New Radio Station Monday" quotes the Station Manager Robert L. Kauffman as saying the station will go on the air sometime in the late summer. Otis Morse will be the Program Director and Willis Weaver will be the chief engineer. A terse advertisement in The Gazette and Daily August 26, 1942[3](Page 2 bottom of Column 1), simply said, "On the air soon - 900 the mid-point on your dial." This ad was repeated on August 27, 1944.[4] and on August 28[5] and August 29.[6]

The announcement of opening on September 1, 1942 came in The Gazette and Daily on August 31, 1942.[7]

The September 1, 1942 Gazette and Daily Page 2 article announced, 'WSBA On the Air Today'.[8] This was a morning paper that was on the street usually by 3 AM. The station opened its service to the community with a prayer by the Rev. Paul E. V. Shannon of the first United Brethren Church. The York Mayor Harry B. Anstine read his Heroes day proclamation. Much of the programming reflected that the nation was nearing the end of the first year of World War II.

The station had a 240-foot antenna and a 1000 watt transmitter. An advertisement on page 3 that day called WSBA "York's own radio station."[9]

The station currently has the transmitter and a four tower antenna system located on Susquehanna Trail York PA.[10] The towers are at 121.3 meters (398 ft) elevation with a height of 75.3 meters (247 ft). Their tops are 196.6 meters (645 ft) above sea level.

WSBA-AM was first on the air in September 1942. WHP (AM) in Harrisburg, PA which first aired in 1925 predates it by 17 years. WLXW now WHYL in Carlisle, PA was first on the air in 1948, six years after WSBA (AM) and WGET in Gettysburg, PA first aired August 27, 1950. WHVR AM in Hanover, PA went into operation on January 2, 1949 on 1280 kHz with a power of 1000 watts.

Other stations in York in the 1950-1970 period included WORK-AM which was older music and WNOW-FM and WNOW (AM) which was mainly country.

WSBA-AM moved from 900 to 910 kHz in October 1949. It still continued to be listed in radio listings as the old frequency 900 kHz through the middle 50s when the Gazette and Daily discontinued the radio listings.[11] To do that the frequency had to change. This is confirmed and discussed in more detail in the Publication, Susquehanna First 50 Years[12] by Phillip K. Eberly.

During the 1950-1980 period WSBA AM was the information station. Ed Wickenheiser was one of the newscasters in the earliest reporting of the TMI incident in 1979 and is cited in the book TMI by investigative reporter Mark Lane.

During Hurricane Agnes and Eloise, snowstorms and the like, WSBA was the go to station for information. When disasters hit, regular programming stopped.

During the late 50s and early 60s, the station did a rundown of the top 40 on Saturday afternoon.

Ralph Lockwood was a long term morning host during that period and had a fictional sidekick Luscious Laverne. Ed Lincoln was another personality at that time who had a feature, the hit of the week which was played every night on his program. That was available in Sol Kessler's Hi Fi Shop for $.59 during that week. This is noted in an AD in The Gazette and Daily April 26, 1957 [13]

In addition to pioneering in AM Radio the WSBA team was interested in improvement. On November 21, 1947 Otis Morse IV [14] spoke to the York Exchange club about frequency modulation (FM) radio. This was pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong, one of the early pioneers and inventors of radio. WSBA-FM first appears in a programming guide on February 28, 1949 in the Hanover Sun at 103.3.[15]

The efforts of WSBA personnel to enhance the community is seen in an article in a January 7, 1950 article in The York Gazette and Daily [16] advertising a seminar that was being presented - Otis Morse from WSBA and others from WNOW-AM, WORK-AM, and WRZE-FM 98.3 (Per radio listing The Evening Sun May 12, 1953) [17] were participating.

During the 1960s and 1970s, WSBA was a leading Top 40 music station in the Harrisburg-York-Lancaster area; it was also the flagship station of Susquehanna Radio's Top 40 stations (which also included WHLO, WARM, and WICE).

On October 31, 2005, Cumulus Media announced the creation of a new private partnership, Cumulus Media Partners, LLC, formed with Bain Capital, The Blackstone Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners, to purchase Susquehanna Radio Corporation for approximately $1.2 billion.[18] The purchase was completed on May 5, 2006,[19] at which time the license for WSBA was transferred to Radio License Holding SRC, LLC., a licensee of Cumulus Media Partners Susquehanna Corporation.[20]

On July 20, 2017, translator W253AC (now W230CQ), licensed to serve York, began simulcasting WSBA programming.

WSBA programming is simulcast on the following translator:

• Official website

• Query the FCC's AM station database for WSBA
• Radio-Locator Information on WSBA
• Query Nielsen Audio's AM station database for WSBA

• The O's on WSBA