WIBA (AM)

Weekdays begin with a local news and interview show, Madison in the Morning with Robin Colbert and Shawn Prebil. In 2023, veteran sportscaster Doug Russell was added to handle sports reports at :15 and :45 past the hour. In middays, local host Vicki McKenna is heard, with one hour of her show shared with sister station WISN 1130 AM in Milwaukee. In afternoons, WISN's Dan O'Donnell Show is also simulcast on WIBA. The rest of the weekday schedule is syndicated programs, mostly from co-owned Premiere Networks: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, The Sean Hannity Show, The Mark Levin Show, Coast to Coast AM with George Noory and This Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal.[https://wiba.iheart.com/schedule/ WIBA.com/schedule]

Weekends feature shows on money, health, and technology. They include The Ramsey Show with Dave Ramsey, The Kim Komando Show, Jill Schlesinger on Money, Armstrong & Getty, Somewhere in Time with Art Bell, Sunday Night with Bill Cunningham and Markley, Van Camp & Robbins, as well as repeats of weekday shows. Some paid brokered programming also airs. Most hours begin with an update from Fox News Radio.[https://wiba.iheart.com/schedule/ WIBA.com/schedule]

WIBA serves as the flagship station for the Wisconsin Badgers radio network.[https://wiba.iheart.com/featured/wisconsin-badgers/ WIBA.com/featured/wisconsin-badgers] It is also the Madison outlet for Green Bay Packers football broadcasts.[https://wiba.iheart.com/featured/packers/ WIBA.com/featured/packers]

File:WIBA2010.jpg

WIBA is one of the oldest radio stations in Wisconsin, first licensed on March 24, 1925, to the Capital Times Studio.{{cite web |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3221817&view=1up&seq=542 |title=New Stations |work=Radio Service Bulletin' |date=April 1, 1925 |page=4 }} The WIBA call sign was issued from a sequential list of available call letters. It signed on the air on April 2, 1925. WIBA was owned by the Capital Times newspaper, with studios at 111 King Street. It eventually became an NBC Red Network affiliate, carrying NBC's dramas, comedies, news, and sports during the "Golden Age of Radio".[https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1942/Radio-Alll-BC-YB-1942.pdf Broadcasting Yearbook 1942 page 190. Retrieved March 14, 2025.]

Willard Waterman, who later gained fame playing the title role on The Great Gildersleeve, was a member of a quartet at WIBA in his early years in radio. In 1963, he recalled: "[W]e sang musical interludes between programs."{{cite news|last1=Leadabrand|first1=Russ|title=A Pro in Evoking Stitches|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2608680/independent_starnews/|agency=Independent Star-News|date=September 22, 1963|page=58|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = June 13, 2015}} {{Open access}}

Johnny Olson, known for his announcing work with Goodson-Todman game shows, had his first radio job at WIBA.{{cite web |url=http://www.jrjgames.com/main/randy/johnny/newindex.html |title=Tribute to a Broadcasting Great - Johnny Olson |first=Randy |last=West |year=2004 }}

Following the establishment of the Federal Radio Commission (FRC), stations were initially issued a series of temporary authorizations starting on May 3, 1927.[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112106763078&view=1up&seq=60 "List of broadcasting stations issued temporary permits"], Radio Service Bulletin, April 30, 1927, pages 6-14. In addition, they were informed that if they wanted to continue operating, they needed to file a formal license application by January 15, 1928, as the first step in determining whether they met the new "public interest, convenience, or necessity" standard.{{cite web |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112106763078&view=1up&seq=205 |title=Extension of Broadcasting Station Licenses |work=Radio Service Bulletin |date=December 31, 1927 |page=7 }}

On May 25, 1928, the FRC issued General Order 32, which notified 164 stations, including WIBA, that: "From an examination of your application for future license it does not find that public interest, convenience, or necessity would be served by granting it."[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015011384305&view=1up&seq=182 "Appendix F (2): Letter to and list of stations included in General Order No. 32, issued May 25, 1928"], Second Annual Report of the Federal Radio Commission for the Year Ended June 30, 1928, Together With Supplemental Report for the Period From July 1, 1928, to September 30, 1928, pages 146-149. However, the station successfully convinced the commission that it should remain licensed.[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.c021003683&seq=196 "Report of the Federal Radio Commission: August 29, 1928"], Second Annual Report of the Federal Radio Commission for the Year Ended June 30, 1928, Together With Supplemental Report for the Period From July 1, 1928, to September 30, 1928, page 160.

On November 11, 1928, the FRC made a major reallocation of station transmitting frequencies, as part of a reorganization resulting from its implementation of General Order 40. WIBA was assigned to 1210 kHz.[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015011384305&view=1up&seq=227 "Broadcasting Stations"], Second Annual Report of the Federal Radio Commission (June 30, 1928), page 191.

On October 8, 1935, the Federal Communications Commission authorized WIBA to increase its power to 5,000 watts (daytime) and 1,000 watts (nights).{{cite news|title=Actions of the Federal Communications Commission |url=https://archive.org/details/broadcasting89unse/page/n1121/mode/1up|access-date=April 14, 2023|agency=Broadcasting|date=October 15, 1935|page=61}} On March 29, 1941, the station moved from 1280 kHz to 1310 kHz, as part of the implementation of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA).

In 1969, it added an FM sister station, WIBA-FM at 101.5. In its early years, 101.5 FM would mostly simulcast AM 1310. It began its own programming in the mid-1970s with a free form progressive rock format.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}

File:WIBA advertisement (1953).gif

In the 1950s, as network programming moved from radio to television, WIBA began a middle of the road format, with popular adult music, as well as news and sports.Broadcasting Yearbook 1977 [https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1977/C%20Section%20Radio%20Broadcasting%20Yearbook%201977%20P-6.pdf page C-233]. Retrieved October 24, 2023. As music listening moved from to the FM dial from AM in the 1980s, WIBA added more talk shows, including evening syndicated programs from NBC Talknet. By the 1990s, it had eliminated music and was a talk radio station.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}

Throughout WIBA's history, it has been the home of Wisconsin Badgers play by play. The station also carries the Green Bay Packers. It had been the Madison station for the Milwaukee Brewers Radio Network but gave up that affiliation. Locally WOZN 1670 AM now carries Brewers games.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}

In 2000, WIBA-AM-FM were acquired by Capstar Communications.Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2005 [https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/2005/Radio-All-2005-BC-YB.pdf page D-569]. Retrieved October 24, 2023. That company was later folded into Clear Channel Communications. And in 2014, Clear Channel changed its name to the current iHeartMedia, Inc. Also in 2014, WIBA laid off late-morning local host Mitch Henck. It was attributed to a company-wide plan to reduce staff as a cost-cutting move.{{cite web |url=https://captimes.com/news/local/writers/jack_craver/mitch-henck-the-latest-casualty-of-corporate-radio-ownership/article_19f866c3-0286-5706-afc3-97619d5d3dba.html |work=CapTimes.com |title=Mitch Henck: The Latest Casualty of Corporate Radio Ownership |first=Jack |last=Craver |date=June 26, 2014 |accessdate=October 24, 2023 }}

{{reflist|1}}

• {{cite web |url=https://wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Newspaper/BA8178 |title=Station WIBA, for 14 years associated with The Capital Times, has made fine record |date=December 13, 1938 |work=Capital Times |quote=article about WIBA's 14th birthday (Wisconsin Historical Society))}}

• {{officialwebsite|https://wiba.iheart.com/}}

{{AM station data|17384|WIBA}}

• {{Cite web |url=https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=60504 |title= History Cards for WIBA (covering 1927–1979) |publisher=Federal Communications Commission}} (Guide to reading History Cards)

{{Madison Radio}}

{{News/Talk Radio Stations in Wisconsin}}

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Category:1925 establishments in Wisconsin

Category:IHeartMedia radio stations

Category:News and talk radio stations in the United States

Category:Radio stations established in 1925

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