WCBR

{{Quote box

| quote = The owner, a minister, would ask each week [if] I needed my check or if I wanted to give it to the Lord. And I’d say, "I think I need the check more than the Lord does."

| author = Gerry House

| source = on working at WCBR{{r|house}}

| align = left

| width = 250px

| quoted = yes

| salign = left

}}

On October 7, 1969, the Federal Communications Commission granted a construction permit to Lewis P. Young, trading as Christian Broadcasters, for a new daytime-only radio station in Richmond;{{Cite web|url= https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=51142 |title= History Cards for WCBR|publisher=Federal Communications Commission}} (Guide to reading History Cards) Young was a pastor at Richmond's Gardenside Christian Church.{{r|bc71}} From studios at Second Street and Irvine, WCBR began broadcasting on March 7, 1970; despite the licensee name, the station was secular and an ABC network affiliate.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/67291112/|access-date=January 9, 2021|date=March 8, 1970|work=Sunday Herald-Leader|title=New Radio Station To Begin Operation|page=21}} In late 1971, Young sold half of the station to J. T. Parker Jr., owner of station WGOC in Kingsport, Tennessee.{{Cite news|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1971/1971-11-01-BC.pdf|access-date=January 9, 2021|date=November 1, 1971|work=Broadcasting|title=For the Record|page=58}} Parker also obtained a construction permit for an FM station in Richmond, which signed on May 12, 1972, as WCBR-FM 101.7, a full-time simulcaster of the AM station, airing country music.{{cite web|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1974/1974-BC-YB.pdf#page=284|work=Broadcasting Yearbook|date=1974|title=WCBR-FM|page=B-88|access-date=January 9, 2021}} Gerry House, who later went on to radio and a songwriting career in Nashville, worked at the station as his second radio job, moving to Richmond to be with his girlfriend.{{cite web|url=http://countryaircheck.com/images/upload/file/03-2009/HOF-House.pdf|work=Country Aircheck|title=Gerry House|page=18|date=March 2009|access-date=January 9, 2021}}

Parker bought out the remaining 50 percent in WCBR in 1975{{r|hc}} and then sold some interest in the WCBR stations to three local investors, including the station manager, George W. Robbins.{{Cite news|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1975/1975-03-17-BC.pdf|page=55|work=Broadcasting|date=March 17, 1975|title=For the Record|access-date=January 9, 2021}} Four years later, Parker sold his remaining 50 percent in the station and the sister FM, which became a separately programmed operation as WBZF in 1976,{{cite news|url=https://encompass.eku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1026&context=progress_1975-76#page=4|work=The Eastern Progress|date=April 15, 1976|page=3|title=Richmond's first commercial FM station—WBZF—takes to the air|first=Maria|last=Bellamy|access-date=January 13, 2021}} to David Lee Humes and Mark Anthony Cole, the pair's engineer and advertising consultant, for $271,000.{{cite news|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1979/BC-1979-12-10.pdf|access-date=January 9, 2021|date=December 10, 1979|page=105|work=Broadcasting|title=For the Record}} WCBR maintained a country format for most of the 1970s and early 1980s, but by the late 1980s, it had shifted to adult contemporary using programming from Satellite Music Networks,{{cite web|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1988/1988-BC-YB.pdf#page=203|page=B-119|work=Broadcasting Yearbook|title=WCBR(AM)|date=1988|access-date=January 9, 2021}} and in the early 1990s, the station was a full-service adult standards outlet.{{cite news|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1996/1996-BC-YB.pdf#page=334|access-date=January 9, 2021|page=B-174|work=Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook|title=WCBR(AM)}}

WCBR adopted its present format of Southern gospel music as well as Christian teaching programs in September 1994, after two months of simulcasting the oldies on the FM frequency.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/67294478/|access-date=January 9, 2021|page=Today 15|work=Lexington Herald-Leader|title=Format change|date=September 3, 1994}} Humes would become the sole owner in 2008, after Robbins died.{{cite news|url=https://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/50170/clear-channel-takes-stations-back-from-trust|access-date=January 9, 2021|work=All Access|title=Clear Channel Takes Stations Back From Trust|date=December 9, 2008}} WCBR itself would return to FM in 2016 when Humes bought a translator, then located in Morill to move it to Richmond to be paired with the AM station.{{cite news|url=http://www.insideradio.com/features/deal_digest/deal-digest-for-the-week-of-march-31-2016/article_5e672c82-f734-11e5-b845-8792414acad1.html|access-date=January 9, 2021|date=March 31, 2016|title= Deal Digest for the week of March 31, 2016 |work=Inside Radio}}

{{reflist}}

{{AM station data|70617|WCBR}}

{{clear}}

{{Daytime-only radio stations in Kentucky}}

{{Lexington Radio}}

{{Religious Radio Stations in Kentucky}}

CBR

CBR

Category:1970 establishments in Kentucky

Category:Richmond, Kentucky

Category:Radio stations established in 1970