Frequency 1340 kHz | ||
City New Bedford, Massachusetts Branding 1340 AM ESPN New Bedford Slogan You know us. We know Sports. Repeater(s) WLKW/1450-West Warwick, Rhode Island (simulcast partner) First air date 1921 (can be disputed but was on by November 1925) | ||
WNBH (1340 AM) is a radio station in New Bedford, Massachusetts market owned by Hall Communications and is currently an affiliate of ESPN Radio. The station is also an affiliate of the Pawsox Radio Network.
Contents
History
WNBH has often claimed to be one of the oldest broadcast radio stations in America; it has asserted that it was the 11th oldest in the USA, going back to May 21, 1921; but there is no evidence to support that assertion. According to the Department of Commerce records, WNBH received its license in November 1925. When WNBH went on the air, it had its studios at the New Bedford Hotel, whence it derived its call letters. An early transmitting antenna for the station was lifted onto the chimney of Atlas Tack Company in Fairhaven by using helium-filled balloons. When the rig was in the right spot, the balloons were deflated by shotgun blasts. The operation took place at 5AM with the gunshots prompting neighbors to call the police.
Before March 1932, the station had joined the Yankee Network. On July 1, 1932, The Federal Radio Commission authorized WNBH to increase its daytime power from 100 to 250 watts; output remained at 100 watts at night.
WNBH's original station manager was a pioneer in amateur radio, Irving Vermilya. Vermilya had put an earlier station on the air in New Bedford in May 1922, WDAU. When WDAU's owners got out of the broadcasting business, Vermilya was asked to manage WNBH. In 1948 WNBH added FM service with WNBH-FM on 98.1 MHz/Channel 251 (originally WFMR, signing on in 1946). The two stations are still co-owned.
The longest-running program on WNBH is The Happy Bible Hour, presented by "People's Christian Church" of New Bedford. It began in the fall of 1927 with the Rev. Russell W. Baldwin. Pastor Baldwin hosted the program until his death in 1978. The Rev. Ellsworth B. McAfee continued the program until his death in 2008. Since that time, Pastor Ardyth Bednarz has hosted the program. It is also believed to be one of the longest-running religious radio programs in the United States.
WNBH broadcasts local high school football and boys basketball games for New Bedford High School, Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational-Technical High School, Fairhaven High School, Dartmouth High School, Bishop Stang High School and Old Rochester Regional High School. The station also broadcasts girls basketball state tournament games for these schools. Operations manager Ed Perreira and Mark Enwright announce the games. Perreira also hosts the public affairs program Up Front on Sunday mornings.