WAEB (AM)
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2010) |
 | |
| Broadcast area | Lehigh Valley |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 790 kHz |
| Branding | NewsRadio 790 WAEB |
| Programming | |
| Format | Talk Radio |
| Affiliations | Premiere Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| History | |
First air date | April 15, 1949 |
Call sign meaning | Allentown–Easton–Bethlehem |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 14371 |
| Class | B |
| Power |
|
Transmitter coordinates | 40°39′37″N 75°30′50″W / 40.66028°N 75.51389°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (via iHeartRadio) |
| Website | 790waeb |
WAEB (790 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Allentown, Pennsylvania, and serving the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. It airs a news-talk radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are on Alta Drive in Whitehall.
By day, WAEB is powered at 3,600 watts. But at night, to protect other stations on 790 AM from interference, it reduces power to 1,600 watts. It uses a directional antenna at all times, shifting from a two-tower array in the daytime to five towers at night. The transmitter is on Church Street near MacArthur Road (Pennsylvania Route 145) in Hokendauqua.[2]
History
[edit]Top 40 hits
[edit]WAEB signed on the air on April 15, 1949.[3] It was powered at 500 watts in the daytime and 1,000 watts at night. WAEB was an affiliate of ABC Radio.[4] The studios were at 7th and Hamilton Streets. The call sign refers to the three major cities in the Lehigh Valley: Allentown, Easton and Bethlehem.
The station was sold to Rust Broadcasting in 1957. Under Rust ownership, it began a Top 40 format, playing hit music for the young people of the Lehigh Valley. Its slogan was Music Radio 79 WAEB. (It was a short distance on the AM dial from legendary Top 40 outlet WABC 770 in New York City.) In 1961, WAEB added an FM sister station, WAEB-FM at 104.1 MHz. For the first few years, both stations simulcast WAEB's Top 40 format. WAEB-FM broke away from the simulcast in the late 1960s, airing an automated beautiful music format.
Adult Contemporary and Talk
[edit]By the 1980s, young people began to look for their music on the FM dial. That prompted WAEB to evolve into a hot adult contemporary format in 1983. By 1985, it was more of an older-leaning adult contemporary station with plenty of oldies on the playlist. In 1986, WAEB added evening syndicated talk shows, and overnight talk shows were added by 1989. But WAEB continued to air a mix of adult contemporary and oldies music during the day.
WAEB and WAEB-FM were sold to CRB Broadcasting in the late 1980s. In 1992, WAEB dropped its remaining music shows and had made the transition to a news/talk format.
Changes in ownership
[edit]In 1995, WAEB and WAEB-FM were sold to Capstar along with 95.1 WZZO and 1270 WKAP. The stations all went to AMFM Broadcasting as a result of the Chancellor/Capstar merger in 1999.
AMFM later merged with Clear Channel Communications, which owned WODE-FM and WEEX. That put the company over the limit of stations in could own in the Allentown radio market. Clear Channel was forced to sell an AM and FM station to be under legal ownership limits. Clear Channel gave Nassau Broadcasting cash plus WODE-FM and WEEX in exchange for New Jersey stations WSUS, WNNJ, WNNJ-FM, WHCY, and a local marketing agreements with WDLC, and WTSX. As a result, WAEB, WAEB-FM, WZZO and WKAP became Clear Channel stations.
21st century
[edit]In January 2007, 1470 AM dropped its oldies format, switching to [{Christian radio]] programming with a change in its call letters to WYHM. In response, WAEB launched an Internet radio station playing oldies music on its web site. Today, its sister station, 1470 WSAN, plays oldies from the 1960s and 70s.
On September 4, 2009, the northernmost tower mast of the station's five-tower antenna array located in Whitehall Township was toppled when a vandal or vandals cut the tower's guy-wires.[5]
Programming
[edit]Weekdays on WAEB begin with a local information and interview program hosted by Bobby Gunther Walsh. The rest of the schedule is nationally syndicated talk shows from co-owned Premiere Networks: The Glenn Beck Radio Program, The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, The Sean Hannity Show, The Jesse Kelly Show, The Michael Berry Show and Coast to Coast AM with George Noory.
On weekends, specialty shows are featured on money, health, travel, technology and the law. Syndicated weekend shows include Rich DeMuro on Tech, The Weekend with Michael Brown, The Ben Ferguson Show, Sunday Night with Bill Cunningham and Bill Handel on the Law, as well as repeats of weekday shows. Most hours begin with an update from Fox News Radio.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WAEB". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ Radio-Locator.com/WAEB-AM
- ^ "Station WAEB Goes on Air As ABC Outlet". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. April 15, 1949. pp. 5, 7. Retrieved May 25, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1951 page 258. Retrieved June 2, 2025.
- ^ Warner, Frank (September 5, 2009). "WAEB radio tower toppled in Whitehall, FBI investigates". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on September 7, 2009.
External links
[edit]- Official website
- Facility details for Facility ID 14371 (WAEB) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
- WAEB in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
- 790 WAEB at Twitter