WFMB (AM)

WFMB was first licensed, with the call letters WCBS, on August 19, 1926[1] as a portable broadcasting station assigned to Harold L. Dewing and Charles H. Messter of Providence, Rhode Island.[2] Portable stations could be transported from place-to-place on movable platforms such as trucks. They were commonly hired out for a few weeks at a time to theaters located in small towns that didn't have their own radio stations, to be used for special programs broadcast to the local community. (Regulating "moving targets" proved difficult, so in May 1928 the Federal Radio Commission announced it was ending the licensing of portable facilities.)[3] This was the second portable station licensed to Messter, joining WCBR, first licensed in 1924.[4]

WCBS career as a portable was brief. After finding limited prospects in New England, Harold Dewing set out for the midwest.[5] He moved the station to Springfield in late 1926, where it gave a debut broadcast from the Lyric Theater on December 10,[6] and Springfield became the station's permanent home.[7]

In 1927, WCBS's frequency was changed from 1230 kHz to 1430 kHz, and in 1927 its frequency was changed to 1210 kHz.[1] It ran 100 watts, and shared time on the frequency with WTAX.[1] The station's frequency was changed to 1420 kHz in 1935.[1] Its daytime power was increased to 250 watts in 1937 and its nighttime power was increased to 250 watts in 1939.[1] Its frequency was changed to 1450 kHz in March 1941, as a result of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement.[1]

On September 8, 1946, the station call sign was changed to WCVS so that the CBS flagship station in New York City could become WCBS.[8] In 1958, the station was sold to Jerome William O'Connor's WPFA Radio Inc. for $285,000.[9][1][10] Its daytime power was increased to 1,000 watts in 1962.[1] In 1966, the station was sold to Eastern Broadcasting Corporation for $700,000.[10][1]

WCVS aired a top 40 format in the 1960s and 1970s.[11][12][13] In the mid 1980s, the station aired an adult contemporary format.[14][15] In 1989, the station was sold to Neuhoff Broadcasting, along with 104.5 WFMB, for $4,250,000.[16][17][18] By 1989, the station had adopted an oldies format.[19][20][21]

On October 1, 1992, the station's call sign was changed to WFMB, and it adopted a country music format, with programming from the Real Country network.[22][21] In 1994, the station adopted a sports talk format.[23][24]

In 1996, the station was sold to Patterson Broadcasting, which, after a series of acquisitions, would become part of Clear Channel Communications.[25][26] In 2007, as Clear Channel was selling most of its stations in smaller markets, Neuhoff bought back the Springfield stations they had sold, including WFMB-FM.[26]

The station still operates from an historic radio tower in suburban Springfield, IL (Southern View), which was constructed in the late 1940s, and was the original transmitter location for WICS TV 20.[27]