Branding 98 Rock Frequency 98.1 MHz | Slogan Charleston's Best Rock First air date July 4, 1988 | |
City Folly Beach, South Carolina Broadcast area Charleston and the Lowcountry | ||
WYBB (98.1 FM, "98 Rock") is an active rock music formatted radio station in Charleston, South Carolina. The station is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to Folly Beach and broadcasts with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 50 kW on 98.1 FM. The station's studios are located in Charleston due west of downtown (west of the Ashley River) and the transmitter site is on Johns Island.
Station history
98.1 signed on July 4, 1988, as WYBB with an Album Rock format known as "98 Rock". The station took on a more classic rock sound in the 1990s. 98 Rock was able to hold its own against newcomer classic rock station WRFQ throughout the 1990s.
On April 23, 2002, 98 Rock dropped John Boy and Billy for Howard Stern after WAVF dropped Stern. After several years, program director Mike Allen said Stern's show was number one with men 25-54. He also said that despite problems other stations had, advertisers were supporting Stern, and that the station used a system of delays to guard against inappropriate material.
On January 1, 2004, the station stunted with a montage of songs and clips for a day as "Sound Effects Radio". Clips of sound effects were played from 12 Midnight New Years Day until 6am on January 2, 2004. At 6 a.m., Stern came on with announcements that a big change was coming at 10 a.m. At 10 a.m. the montage was "fired" by a sound clip of Donald Trump saying the phrase "You're Fired" from "The Apprentice" TV show and "98X" was born. The first song on the air was "Guerrilla Radio" from Rage Against the Machine.
On October 18, 2010, Bubba The Love Sponge began airing daily weekdays from 6-10 a.m. and 98X rebranded to 98 Rock.