WABD - The Hit Music Leader for 42 Years

I was driving and heard "WABD - The Gulf Coast's Hit Music Leader for 42 Years"....
Sounds funny, but theoretically it's true. Y'all think this is fair to say?

It seems very deceptive and wrong since they and WABB-FM were never the same station over the past 42 years. They only had the broadcast frequency: 97.5 megacycles.

Mario500 said:

It seems very deceptive and wrong since they and WABB-FM were never the same station over the past 42 years. They only had the broadcast frequency: 97.5 megacycles.

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I agree. It's not the same ownership, and I doubt it's even 50% the same employees at this point… And I'm pretty positive that Bernie Dittman had a different take on what was a hit record that the corporate suits at Cumulus. It may be top 40 on 97.5 MHz but it ain't the same station.

Cumulus took most of the "Old WABB" air staff for the new WABD. That's fairly continuous.
The only argument is Cumulus wasn't sold Dittman's intellectual property and acquired 97.5 indirectly.
Regular folks might only notice that the call letters changed from WABB to WABD.

Cumulus had most of the original staff when they returned to 97.5. Some left for other opportunities. Most heritage stations don't have their original owner. So yes, the liner is fair.

My hearing is probably (hopefully) 70%. I truly need to get a hearing aid to keep talking on the phone. I still swear they pronounce the calls "WABB."

93BLX, 95KSJ, 97.5 WABD, TK101... all heritage calls and formats in Mobile. If you consider Lite AC modern Elevator Music, add WMEZ to that list.

After KLOVE placed their call letters on 97.3 an AM station had them. The similarity is too close and to the listener, they really didn't notice. They just knew WAB(D) was back. I'm sure it was a subtle tribute to W A_labama B_ernie D_ittman, or maybe just a coincidence? Conspiracy theorists your thoughts.

I get the feeling that they like WABD as is. I think the WABB calls were actually available for them to request after the Dittman's sold 1480 AM.
It's also possible that someone running Cumulus Mobile has respect for the fact that Bernie Dittman did not want to sell WABB to Cumulus or Clear Channel.
Cumulus did score big acquiring the 97.5 signal. CHR on 104.1 probably wouldn't have gotten any better ratings than Kiss 107.3. WDLT was the only way to save the cursed 104.1 signal with a secular, music, format.

KLOVE had the WABB calls after the sale and the Dittmans kept 1480, so Cumulus never had possession of the letters. The calls were transferred by the Dittmans on the AM to whoever has them now. As I said they probably didn't go after them knowing WABD would be okay.

It was a win-win situation. WDLT was already #1 (in the demo) they got to upgrade. Cumulus got a CHR (many of the Cumulus brass at the time worked at WABB early in their career). The take was KLOVE needed a full signal in Nashville, and Cumulus wanted 97.3, so they made a deal. KLOVE didn't need a full C so 98.3 was suitable for them.

KLove also already had the 95.7 Navarre-Pensacola-Fort Walton signal which combined with 98.3's signal covers a larger area than any of the 100kw Baldwin co. signals could.

seedless said:

KLove also already had the 95.7 Navarre-Pensacola-Fort Walton signal which combined with 98.3's signal covers a larger area than any of the 100kw Baldwin co. signals could.

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[redacted because I'm an idiot.]

95.7 doesn't cover Baldwin County very well at all, but after comparing the two signals, I do see that they do cover as much or more territory, except to the north.

Is there a noticeable coverage gap between 95.7 and 98.3 in Foley?

Depends on the radio. In a car? 98.3 is more than adequate, although it's far from a full quieting stereo signal. If the car radio is sensitive enough even 95.7 is decent at least to Elberta, maybe even further west. I've got some reception issues with certain portables, though. I'd say that anyone listening indoors east of Fish River probably has to jump through a few hoops to hear K-Love on 98.3, and it's not until probably east of Lillian and Gulf Shores that 95.7 is really viable. At least in my limited experience.

KLOVE looks at Mobile and Pensacola as their primary markets, and uses both of them in their station listings (and marketing). They are more concerned about the Metro locations. Any coverage is Baldwin is just a little extra, but not a factor.

I thought Christian stations were more concerned with total population covered than the standard commercial groups?
98.3 has better coverage of Biloxi than any other Mobile radio station. 95.7 has better coverage of Destin than any other Pensacola station. With this being the only local simulcast, KLove is the only station with a good signal in Mobile, P'cola, Biloxi and FWB.
The 98.3/95.7 simulcast covers more people than any Mobile/Pensacola radio station. Adding the new 100kw KLove in New Orleans will produce solid coverage from Destin to the South Louisiana swamps. Smart way to go for the Christians.