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75-478: Previously, the broadcasts originated from WBEN through much of the team's history except for a period from 1971 to 1977 when WKBW was team flagship. WGR briefly carried games in the early 1990s. From 1998 through 2011, the Bills were flagshipped at WGRF , as well as other stations owned by Citadel Broadcasting . When Cumulus Media purchased Citadel in late 2011, it dropped Bills games from all of its stations at

150-557: A local marketing agreement with Martz Communications Group . WGR WGR (550 AM ) is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Buffalo, New York . Owned by Audacy, Inc. , its studios and offices are located on Corporate Parkway in Amherst , and the transmitter site—used by WGR and co-owned WWKB —is in Hamburg . WGR has a sports radio format. The station targets a key demographic of men 25 to 54 years old. It had

225-466: A company led by longtime Buffalo radio executive Laurence "Larry" Levite. Levite assembled a group of managers and talent that returned WBEN to prominence. The line-up was changed, and the format shifted from Full-Service, playing Top-40 to Full-Service with Adult Contemporary music. Jefferson Kaye hosted mornings, while Larry Hunter, Bill Lacey, and Kevin O'Connell and Tom Kelly were heard on middays, and Jack Mindy hosted afternoons. Stan Barron returned to

300-517: A consortium of Western New York families known as the WGR Corporation. This company signed on WGR-TV (channel 2) in 1953 and WGR-FM (now WGRF ) in 1959. WGR Corporation bought several other television and radio stations in the 1950s, and eventually became known as Transcontinent Broadcasting. Transcontinent merged with Taft Broadcasting in 1964. Taft sold off WGR-TV in 1983. Due to a current FCC rule that prohibited TV and radio stations in

375-646: A contract to supply news for use by the Buffalo Broadcasting Company stations, however, a dispute led to the station group canceling the contract in September 1929. The five competing station applications were evaluated at a Federal Radio Commission hearing on December 18, 1929. The FRC issued its ruling two days later, denying the WMAK, WFBL, WEBR, and WBNY applications while ordering WFBL to transmit exclusively on 1490 kHz. It also granted

450-447: A coup when it signed WNSA's top afternoon host, Mike Schopp, from WNSA-FM in 2002; the event came at about the same time as when John Rigas and Adelphia Communications were beginning to collapse under massive financial scandal. WNSA never recovered and eventually WGR took the upper hand in the local sports radio battle. Schopp was at first teamed with Chuck Dickerson in afternoon drive. Dickerson, who had been particularly harsh against

525-624: A local marketing agreement (LMA) with Keymarket Communications. The Federal Communications Commission approved the sale of WGR to Keymarket within twelve months of the LMA. Keymarket also owned WBEN , WMJQ, WWKB and WKSE . Keymarket merged with River City Broadcasting which was purchased by Sinclair Broadcast Group in 1997. Sinclair Broadcast Group sold its entire radio division to Entercom Communications in 1999. In February 2000, WGR changed formats from News-Talk to Sports-Talk. In February 2000, WGR became an all-sports talk radio station. Bauerle, for

600-486: A mid-morning talk show, Limbaugh's program continued, and market veteran Sandy Beach moved from sister station WMJQ to host afternoon talk on the station, while evening hours were filled by syndicated lifestyle hosts Laura Schlessinger and Joy Browne ; Browne and Schlessinger were later replaced by The Sean Hannity Show and Jim Bohannon , respectively. From April 5, 2011, to September 26, 2013, Entercom switched its Classic Rock/Triple-A hybrid sister station WLKK to

675-495: A religious broadcaster in 2023— WBKV . On April 5, 2011, WBEN began simulcasting on co-owned FM station WLKK at 107.7 MHz, relayed by translator W297AB at 107.3 MHz from Williamsville, New York . On September 26, 2013, WLKK dropped the simulcast. WBEN was simulcast on the second HD Radio subchannel of WTSS from 2011 to 2015. It is now heard on the HD3 subchannel of WKSE 98.5 MHz . ** = Audacy operates pursuant to

750-467: A short time, was retained and paired with Chris "Bulldog" Parker , who joined from WBEN for the morning show. Chuck Dickerson maintained his afternoon drive show. Jim Rome , who was added to the WGR line-up in late summer 1998, was retained when WGR switched to all sports. Anne Burke, a frequent caller to the station's talk shows, joined Bob Gaughan to co-host middays. Mike Maniscalco and later Brad Riter hosted

825-805: A simulcast of WBEN. Entercom's WLKK was not able to assume the WBEN-FM call letters, since the company had previously released the WBEN-FM call letters. They are in use on a Beasley Broadcast Group station in the Philadelphia area. The "Lake" format continued on WLKK's HD2 digital subchannel . In July 2013, WBEN made its first major change to its daytime lineup in over a decade. The lineup change moved afternoon drive host Sandy Beach to midday, while midday host Tom Bauerle moved to afternoon drive and expanded his show to four hours. The station's evening news magazine, Buffalo's Evening News (which incorporated

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900-481: A simulcast of the first part of the CBS Evening News ), was canceled as part of the expansion, a move made to better coordinate with Arbitron 's dayparting practices. ( Buffalo's Evening News is expected to return in 2018 after Bauerle's show was cut back to three hours as part of a contract extension. ) After a very brief stint in which David Bellavia filled the shift from 10   pm to 1   am,

975-454: A three-year hiatus on WKBW. Van Miller also returned to the Bills' broadcast booth, replacing WKBW announcer Al Meltzer. WBEN, WJYE (with a beautiful music format), and Top 40 outlet WKBW all fought for the top spot during this era, but WBEN had consistently solidified the number one position by 1980. Stan Barron died in 1984 and was succeeded by John Murphy. By the mid-1980s, Kaye departed WBEN's morning show, moving to Philadelphia to become

1050-549: Is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Buffalo, New York , featuring a news/talk format . Owned by Audacy, Inc. , the station serves Western New York , the Niagara Falls region, and parts of Southern Ontario . WBEN's studios are located in Amherst , while the transmitter site is in Grand Island . In addition to a standard analog transmission , WBEN is relayed over WKSE 's HD3 digital subchannel , and

1125-608: Is an autonomous organization from the team, and is unique in that it, and not the team itself, was the main sponsor of the Bills' cheerleaders , the Buffalo Jills , until that squad was disbanded due to legal disputes. Van Miller was the voice of the Buffalo Bills from the team's inception until 2003, with the exception of 1972 to 1978, when WKBW controlled radio rights and Miller's TV employer, WBEN-TV (now WIVB), would not permit him to appear on WKBW broadcasts. Miller

1200-590: Is available online via Audacy . WBEN is an affiliate of ABC News Radio , and WKBW-TV provides weather forecasts. The station airs overflow sports programming from WGR , including the ' NFL on Westwood One and Buffalo Sabres hockey games that are played on the same day as Buffalo Bills football contests. WBEN features local talk hosts during the day; nighttime syndicated programming includes Armstrong & Getty , Our American Stories with Lee Habeeb , and Coast to Coast AM with George Noory . WBEN has traditionally traced its history to September 8, 1930,

1275-567: The Buffalo Evening News request to build a new 1,000-watt station on 900 kHz with unlimited hours. In early 1929 WMAK had been acquired by the Buffalo Broadcasting Company, based at Buffalo's Rand Building, which also controlled WGR and WKBW in Buffalo and WKEN in nearby Kenmore. The FRC saw this as pertinent to its decision, stating "There existed in Buffalo, New York, a virtual monopoly of broadcasting facilities controlled by

1350-511: The ESPN Radio affiliation to its own full-time affiliate, WWKB , in September 2013. CBS Sports Radio eventually filled the overnight time slots ESPN Radio had previously filled on WGR. In 2016, the formation of MSG Western New York was announced. A regional sports channel for Western New York, the channel includes both Sabres and Bills programming. Two main WGR shows Sabres Hockey Hotline and The John Murphy Show began simulcasting on

1425-412: The crystal radios the company was selling. In May they were reported to be conducting test transmissions, initially as experimental station 8XAD. The debut for WGR's use of the upgraded transmitter was scheduled for May 21, an event that was described as the "formal opening of one of the largest and most powerful broadcasting stations in the east which may make Buffalo the ethereal center of this part of

1500-424: The 2023 season. As of 2024, the Bills radio network lists two Wyoming affiliates. Chris Brown , formerly a Buffalo Destroyers play-by-play announcer who had most recently been studio host for the Bills' shows on MSG Western New York , is currently serving as play-by-play announcer, with former Bills offensive lineman Eric Wood as color commentator and WGR employee Sal Capaccio as sideline reporter. The network

1575-528: The Bills in what was believed to be revenge for being fired from his assistant coach position with the team a decade prior, was forced out in 2003 in an effort to make amends with the city's sports franchises and put them in better position to regain play-by-play rights; Schopp was teamed with Chris "Bulldog" Parker . Bauerle moved from WGR to sister station WBEN , Gaughan joined Kevin Sylvester in morning drive (Burke had been released long before this). Riter

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1650-427: The Buffalo Broadcasting Company devised a settlement, and agreed that instead of building a completely new station, the newspaper would purchase WMAK and upgrade its existing transmitter site. The assignment of WMAK's license to the Buffalo Evening News was made on June 25, 1930, and WMAK's call letters were changed to WBEN. The original construction permit for a (never built) new station was modified to specify that it

1725-586: The Buffalo Broadcasting Corporation by reason of which Buffalo and the surrounding community were given radio broadcasting service... of an unstable and unsatisfactory nature", therefore "the greatest benefit to the greatest number would result from granting the application of the Buffalo Evening News". A Construction Permit to build the new station on 900 kHz, with a sequentially assigned provisional call sign of WRDA,

1800-652: The Department of Commerce set aside a second entertainment wavelength, 400 meters (750 kHz) for "Class B" stations that had quality equipment and programming. In May 1923 additional "Class B" frequencies were made available, with 940 kHz reserved for "Zone 1", which was assigned to WGR later that year. Effective November 11, 1928, the recently formed Federal Radio Commission implemented its General Order 40 , which divided transmitting frequencies into three categories: Clear Channel, Regional and Local. Most former Class B stations became clear channel stations, however WGR

1875-435: The Department of Navigation on 485 meters each weekday at 12:30 and 6:00 pm. In mid-April, WGR's regular broadcast schedule was reported to be musical programs sent on 360 meters on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Sunday afternoons, plus daily weather and market reports on 485 meters. WGR suspended regular operations while company employees worked on constructing a more powerful transmitter that could be easily heard by

1950-688: The Evening News) led to the placement of the Evening News's properties in a blind trust (since Katherine Butler left no heirs). This trust company then sold the newspaper. This sale ended the Butler family's ownership of the Evening News. With the loss of the WBEN stations' grandfathered protection, WBEN-TV was sold to newspaper publisher Robert Howard. WBEN-TV's new owner changed channel 4's callsign to WIVB , which stands for "We're IV (4) Buffalo". By

2025-594: The Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977 ). Buehlman's 34-year run at the station was the longest in WBEN history, a benchmark that would eventually be surpassed by Susan Rose in 2019. Kaye, who had been program director of crosstown rival WKBW, originally came to Buffalo via WBZ in Boston . As the newspaper and TV station became part of other companies, WBEN-AM and FM were sold to Algonquin Broadcasting,

2100-768: The Norton Laboratories organization from Boston as part of an experiment to send amplitude modulated (AM) voice transmissions between Niagara Falls, New York , and Cambridge, Massachusetts . WMAK was a charter member of the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) radio network, being one of the 16 stations that aired the first CBS network program on September 18, 1927. In 1928, WMAK joined with General Electric's WGY in Schenectady to demonstrate television technology. A mechanical scan system with only 30 lines of vertical resolution, it

2175-546: The Sabres and WGR renewed their broadcast agreement through 2012, and Yankees rights were dropped by 2007. In 2007, host Brad Riter was fired after failing to report for work, and he joined rival WECK in March 2008. A series of WGR staffers, as well as past and present Buffalo media personalities such as former WNSA and Empire host (and former KOHD-DT morning anchor) Jim Brinson and WIVB-TV sports director Dennis Williams, hosted

2250-484: The WBEN stations to Kerby Confer's Keymarket Communications organization and retired from the broadcasting business (Levite later moved to print media and took over the monthly Buffalo Spree magazine until his 2017 death). Keymarket later sold the properties to River City Broadcasting , which then merged with Sinclair Broadcast Group . In 1999, Entercom Communications bought WBEN, as well as its competitor WGR and most of Sinclair's other radio stations as Sinclair exited

2325-500: The air while the upgrades were being made, until it made its debut broadcast on September 8. A new studio complex was built at the Statler-Hilton Hotel in downtown Buffalo, chosen primarily for access to the live orchestra there, which served WBEN, its sister FM station, and a television station opened in the spring of 1948, for more than 25 years. In 1934, WBEN continued the station's tradition of innovation, launching

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2400-509: The announcers for the game. WGR was the first commercial radio station in Western New York. It was preceded by amateur radio operator Charles Klinck's short-lived 1920 station, in addition to sporadic experimental stations in the 1910s Effective December 1, 1921, the Department of Commerce, which regulated U.S. radio at this time, adopted regulations formally defining "broadcasting stations". The wavelength of 360 meters (833 kHz)

2475-472: The company decided to apply for its own broadcasting license for Buffalo's first non-temporary radio broadcasting station. The license was issued on March 14, 1922, with the randomly assigned call letters WGR, transmitting on both 360 and 485 meters. The March 28 issue of the Buffalo Evening News reported hearing test transmissions made by WGR the previous night. On April 1 it was announced that, starting that day, WGR would broadcast weather reports provided by

2550-485: The country", because "The arrangements and furnishing of the station will be equal to that of any of the present stations of national fame." The starting date coincided with the first day of "Radio Week" in Buffalo. The May 21 broadcast opened with prayer by Rev. Michael J. Ahren, president of Canisius College , followed by a talk by the dean of the University of Buffalo 's college of arts and sciences, Julian Park, on

2625-459: The date when it made its first broadcast using the WBEN call sign . However, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) records list the station's first license date as September 22, 1922, tracing WBEN's origin to an earlier license, with the sequentially assigned call letters of WMAK, that was issued to Norton Laboratories in Lockport, New York . The station initially used the facility built by

2700-433: The death of Rush Limbaugh. WBEN's parent company also added Dana Loesch on a tape-delay, which was dropped two years later in favor of an even further tape-delayed airing of Armstrong & Getty. "Cinema Bob" Stilson, Entercom's creative services director, had a one-hour "Movie Show" that discussed upcoming theatrical releases and aired Fridays during Beach's program from 1997 until Entercom cut Stilson's budget and ended

2775-722: The end of the season. Cumulus never fully paid off the money Citadel owed for Bills games, instead eventually seeking to nullify the debt in January 2018 when the company went into bankruptcy. Entercom Communications and Galaxy Communications picked up the rights, restoring broadcasts to WGR for the 2012 season. During the time of the Bills Toronto Series , the station was carried on CJCL in Toronto , Ontario , Canada . CHML in Hamilton also briefly carried games in

2850-653: The equipment originally used by W8XH. The facsimile service was ended in December 1940. In 1941, WBEN moved to its current frequency of 930  kHz as a result of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA) reassignments. The station also relocated its transmitter to Grand Island at this time, increasing full-time power to its current 5,000 watts. The Grand Island transmitter and two towers are still in use today. Buffalo, in general, and WBEN in particular,

2925-526: The evening shift. From October 2000 to 2004, WGR competed with WNSA-FM , an FM station licensed to Wethersfield, New York , in rural Wyoming county (with a 107.3 translator in Buffalo). The two stations battled for listeners and the rights to broadcast sporting events. Several teams' broadcasts bounced between the two stations, such as the Bandits, New York Yankees , and Buffalo Destroyers . WGR landed

3000-399: The flagship outlet for: the professional football Buffalo Bills Radio Network , with John Murphy and Steve Tasker calling all games on-site; the professional Sabres Hockey Network , with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray calling games on-site; and the professional box lacrosse Buffalo Bandits , with John Gurtler and Randy Mearns calling games on-site. The MSG Network also uses this feed as

3075-819: The frequency, while two other existing stations, WEBR in Buffalo and WBNY in New York City, applied for half-time assignments. A fifth application, made with support from local businesses, came from the Buffalo Evening News newspaper, which filed a request to build a new full-time station. Although it had never operated a radio station, the News had extensive experience supplying a news service to local stations, beginning in November 1920 when it provided election returns for broadcast over an amateur station operated by Charles C. Klinck, Jr. The News also had

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3150-801: The highest Nielsen ratings of any station in the Buffalo market among that demographic as of autumn 2018. Jeremy White hosts the morning-drive show, followed by The Extra Point Show with Sal Capaccio and Joe DiBiase while middays are split between two daily talk shows produced by Pegula Sports and Entertainment : Sabres Live with Brian Duff and Martin Biron , and One Bills Live with Chris Brown and Steve Tasker . Afternoons are hosted by Mike Schopp and Chris "Bulldog" Parker , while Zach Jones hosts The Nightcap in early evenings. CBS Sports Radio programming airs in late-night, overnights and on weekends. Both Sabres Live and One Bills Live are also carried on television through MSG Western New York . WGR serves as

3225-492: The late 1980s. In 1987, Taft sold WGR and WRLT (the former WGRQ) to Rich Communications, which was part of the Robert Rich family's business holdings, which also included a major processed-food company (and with it, naming rights for the Buffalo Bills stadium then (now called Highmark Stadium ) and a venture applying for a National League expansion baseball franchise (for which WGR was projected to be flagship station of

3300-672: The late 2010s but dropped them after re-securing the rights to the team it had carried for much of its history, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats . As of 2022, the Bills have no Canadian affiliates, though WGR is audible through much of Southern Ontario. The station added an affiliate in Wyoming in 2021, KGAB in Laramie County, Wyoming , mainly to allow Wyoming Cowboys football fans to follow Bills starting quarterback and Wyoming alumnus Josh Allen . KGAB dropped Bills games for

3375-534: The leadership in total audience in most quarterly ratings surveys. Between 1946 and 1960, WBEN simulcast on co-owned WBEN-FM, which started on 106.5 MHz . From 1960 (when the station moved to 102.5 MHz) until 1973, the morning show continued to be simulcast.The 106.5 frequency was reallocated, switching its call letters to WADV and eventually WYRK. The co-owned TV station, WBEN-TV 4, was sold separately to become WIVB in 1977. WBEN-FM later became WMJQ in 1987, WTSS in 2000, and—after WBEN's parent company sold 102.5 to

3450-938: The most powerful FM station in New York State, and eventually become WBKV . As many national network radio programs moved to television, WBEN shifted to a middle-of-the-road format and developed a stable talent to lead the market in ratings. The station's affiliation with CBS brought Arthur Godfrey , "The World Tonight" and other network programming, but the station was primarily live and local. In addition to morning host Clint Buehlman, other on-air voices included Al Fox, John Corbett, Ken Phillips, Bill Masters, and John Luther. Sports personalities Van Miller , Stan Barron and Dick Rifenburg shared various duties, including hosting and interview programs, while familiar news voices Jack Ogilvie, Gene Kelley, Lou Douglas, Virgil Booth, and others were heard during this period. Most of these personnel also handled TV duties, anchoring, announcing

3525-498: The news, weather, and sports, and hosting game shows and other programming at WBEN-TV. When the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) disallowed same market co-ownership of newspapers and broadcast licenses in the early 1970s, the combination of the Buffalo Evening News and WBEN-AM/FM/TV was grandfathered under the new rule. However, the 1974 death of Katherine Butler (longtime owner and publisher of

3600-420: The possibilities of education, Rev. F. Hyatt Smith, Kenmore Presbyterian Church speaking about the nature of "success", and Albert Kinsey, Chamber of Commerce president, reviewing the financial future of Buffalo. This was followed by entertainment by local artists. In early 1923 WGR ended the government reports on 485 meters, although it continued making entertainment broadcasts on 360 meters. In September 1922

3675-511: The program in 2017; Stilson later joined WEBR in 2020. Morning host John Zach was permanently laid off at the end of 2016 and later emerged at WECK . Until 2016, WBEN carried news from CBS News Radio , an affiliation the station had held for 76 years. Sandy Beach, whose Beach and Company show had been part of the WBEN lineup since 1997, announced his departure from the station in July 2020. Today, WBEN competes with country-formatted WYRK for

3750-845: The radio broadcast rights to Buffalo Bills football, Buffalo Sabres hockey and the Buffalo Bisons baseball. The Bills' four consecutive Super Bowl seasons were broadcast by WGR, whose Program Directors included Chuck Finney (1991–1993), Daryl Parks (1993–1995) and Jim Pastrick (1995–2000). Through its news-talk era the WGR line-up featured a variety of programs such as Breakfast with Bauerle (Tom Bauerle), The Fabulous Sports Babe , Chuck Dickerson , Art Wander , Extension 55 with John Otto , Ron Dobson, John and Ken , Rick Emerson , Joey Reynolds , and several other local and national hosts. Syndicated talk radio host Leslie Marshall , controversial talk radio host J. R. Gach and future WFAN New York morning drive fixture Craig Carton also worked at

3825-568: The radio business. WBEN and WGR had been competing for news/talk/sports stations during the 1990s. In 2000, under common ownership, the stations rearranged personnel. WGR became the market's all-sports station, while WBEN became the market's principal commercial news/talk station. With sister station WGR's move to sports talk, WBEN solidified its position as the dominant news/talk station. Market veterans John Zach and Susan Rose replaced Bill Lacey (who currently hosts mornings at WHTT ) to host "Buffalo's Morning News". Tom Bauerle moved from WGR to host

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3900-1022: The same market, but with different owners, from sharing the same call letters, the TV station amended its call letters to WGRZ after it was sold. Taft retained both WGR and WGRQ (the former WGR-FM). During its days as a full service radio station, WGR's roster of personalities included "Buffalo Bob" Smith , later famous for TV's Howdy Doody children's show, and popular national TV and nightclub comedian Foster Brooks . The station's longtime music format combined adult top 40 hits and rock oldies and featured some of Buffalo's top radio personalities, talk hosts and news reporters including Stan Roberts, Frank Benny, Tom Donahue, Randy Michaels , Jim Scott, Jerry Reo, Shane, Joe Galuski, Tom Langmyer , George Hamberger, Tom Shannon , John Otto , Chuck Lakefield, Don Dussias, Lauri Githens, Wayne Smith, Sandy Kozel, Jane Tomczak, Tom Bauerle (as well as his brother, Dick Bauerle), Craig Matthews. WGR gradually evolved to talk radio during

3975-406: The station added The Savage Nation to its syndicated offerings in early 2014. It was explained at the time that Bellavia's other employer objected to him being on WBEN, so Savage was replacement programming for that slot. Bellavia would however return in late 2016 as Bauerle's co-host and eventually moved to middays with his own show in 2020. Buffalo's Evening News would be revived in 2021 after

4050-428: The station from other markets. Within months the ratings dropped as longtime listeners were angered, yet Top-40 listeners were already entrenched at WKBW and WYSL. Jefferson Kaye , however, had remained successful as the afternoon personality during this period (he succeeded the retiring Clint Buehlman as a morning show host in 1977; Buehlman's retirement was in part prompted by poor reviews for his handling of coverage of

4125-416: The station, bringing back his "Free-Form Sports" program, and overnights eventually shifted from Dick Rifenburg's music show to Mutual's syndicated Larry King talk show. Bob Wood served as the station's program director. Helicopter traffic reports were added, featuring reporters Dave May and Debbie Stamp, the news department staff was increased - and Levite brought Buffalo Bills broadcasts back to WBEN after

4200-428: The station. Jesse Ventura was at one time a candidate to host a show on the station, but lost out to Dobson. The station was, from the network's inception, an affiliate of ESPN Radio , which it carried on the weekends from 1992 to 2013. In 1995, Rich Communications which owned both WGR and its FM counterpart WGRF , sold WGRF to Mercury Radio headed by Charles W. Banta. Simultaneously, Rich Communications entered into

4275-638: The team's projected network). Although the Rich interests were the National League's choice for the new franchise they dropped out of the competition for an expansion team set to begin play in 1993 (which ultimately went to Denver , as the Colorado Rockies ) for cost reasons. Soon after, WGR was eventually spun off to new owners. For much of the 1990s, WGR was a successful news/talk station, competing with WBEN AM 930. From 1990 to 1994, WGR owned

4350-520: The time of this transition period, WBEN radio's demographics had grown older with its folksy personalities and middle-of-the-road music. With the Butler family no longer owning the newspaper or broadcast properties, WBEN attempted to contemporize the sound during the mid-late 1970s by firing some of its longtime on-air institutions, hiring DJs, and playing Top-40 music. The station went from being known as "WBEN Radio 9-3-0" to "93/WBEN". DJs Jay Fredericks ( Fritz Coleman ), Chris Tyler, and Charlie Warren joined

4425-486: The ultra-shortwave experimental station W8XH on the Apex radio band, as the first station of its kind to broadcast a regular schedule. In December 1938, WBEN began an experimental facsimile service, transmitting overnight newspaper extracts printed with special receivers in subscribing homes. In April 1939, the facsimile service was transferred to an "experimental facsimile broadcasting station", W8XA, which employed much of

4500-413: The vacated slot. (WGR also tried to lure John Murphy , but because he was also at the time the radio host of the Bills, his contract prevented him from hosting the slot.) In January 2008, Williams was hired as the new evening host at WGR; WIVB declined to his contract shortly thereafter, and replaced him with Murphy. Williams left the station in early 2009 to enter the sales industry. On January 4, 2012, it

4575-491: The voice of NFL Films and WPVI-TV . Midday host Bill Lacey, later joined by Kevin Keenan, assumed morning hosting duties. The station won numerous regional and statewide awards for its news and public-service efforts. Levite presided over the gradual transition of WBEN from an adult contemporary station to its current news and talk format. The local talk continued, along with the addition of Rush Limbaugh . In 1994, Levite sold

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4650-667: Was also the station where longtime national commercial spokesman Ed Reimers launched his career, In 1946, WBEN was one of the first radio stations in the United States to launch an FM radio station, which originally was located at 106.5  MHz on the dial. In May 1948, it launched what would become WIVB , the first television station in Buffalo and the second in Upstate New York , following WRGB in Schenectady / Albany . The original WBEN-FM would later move to 102.5, increase its signal strength to 110 kilowatts to become

4725-478: Was also unhappy, even though it was also issued an unusual second authorization for unlimited use of 1490 kHz to test "synchronized" transmissions. In practice, WFBL preferred the 900 kHz assignment and only broadcast on 1490 kHz during times when, under the timesharing agreement, 900 kHz was in use by WMAK. Eventually, a five-way legal battle broke out over control of the 900 kHz assignment. WMAK and WFBL filed applications for full-time use of

4800-452: Was an incubator of national radio and television talent. In the early 1940s, WBEN's morning host was comedian and future national late-night television star Jack Paar (he left the station when drafted into the military in 1943 during World War II and opted not to return to Buffalo after the war). Paar's place was taken by Clint Buehlman, who was recruited from competing station WGR. Buehlman remained for 34 years until retiring in 1977. WBEN

4875-542: Was announced that WGR would become the Buffalo Bills Radio Network flagship station. With the addition of Buffalo Bills broadcast rights going to WGR, the evening time slot was held by Bills announcer John Murphy. WGR began a partial simulcast on Rochester sister station WROC in September 2008. Sabres games, Schopp and the Bulldog , and ESPN Radio were carried on WROC; Schopp and the Bulldog

4950-465: Was crude compared to later electronic standards such as the 525-line NTSC analog system and subsequent 1080-line high definition digital television. But the effort was historic because GE's experimental facility was the first American television station with a regular broadcast schedule, as well as the forerunner of the current Capital District CBS-TV affiliate WRGB . The comedy duo of Stoopnagle and Budd began their careers at WMAK in 1930. When WMAK

5025-650: Was designated for entertainment broadcasts, while 485 meters (619 kHz) was reserved for broadcasting official weather and other government reports. The Buffalo Courier and Enquirer was issued a temporary authorization for 360 meters, with the call sign WPU, for a January 22, 1922, concert. This broadcast employed apparatus "furnished by the Federal Telephone & Telegraph Co." In early 1922, Federal, headquartered in North Buffalo, began producing radio receivers. As part of its marketing efforts,

5100-482: Was dropped in 2011. In 2012, WGR secured the rights to the Buffalo Bills Radio Network after previous owner WGRF decided against renewing their contract. As part of the deal, John Murphy began hosting a nightly talk show dedicated to the Bills on nights when the Sabres did not play. At the same time, Kevin Sylvester also returned to the station as the host of a daily Sabres-oriented talk show, Hockey Hotline , which last aired in 2004. WGR parent company Entercom moved

5175-511: Was issued on January 23, 1930, specifying a transmitter site in Orchard Park and studios in Buffalo. Both WMAK and WFBL appealed this ruling. WFBL complained that 1490 kHz was an "undesirable" assignment, and the FRC eventually agreed for the station to use 1360 kHz instead. Following plaintiff arguments, but prior to the appeals court making a ruling, the Buffalo Evening News and

5250-508: Was launched in 1922, it initially operated on the standard "entertainment" wavelength of 360 meters (833 kHz). In mid-1924 the station was reassigned to 1100 kHz and at the end of the year was shifted again, to 1130 kHz. In late 1927 the transmitter site was changed to Tonawanda , followed a few months later to Shawnee Road in Martinsville. In mid-1927 the station moved to 550 kHz. Effective November 11, 1928, WMAK

5325-410: Was moved to a regional frequency, 550 kHz, while the station previously at that frequency, WMAK, was reassigned to 900 kHz. The August 1941 adoption of the Federal Communications Commission 's "duopoly" rule restricted licensees from owning more than one radio station in a given market, and the Buffalo Broadcasting Company decided to divest WGR, while retaining WKBW . In late 1946, WGR was bought by

5400-526: Was now an upgrade to the existing Martinsville transmitter site. At the same time, WMAK's call sign and intellectual property were transferred to the former WKEN in Kenmore, where it would operate until its deletion in 1932. Following the repeal of the Davis Amendment, in 1948 WMAK's vacated frequency assignment was licensed to a new station in Kenmore, now WUFO in Amherst . WBEN remained off

5475-772: Was paired with sidekick Jeremy White in the evening and lastly The Tony Kornheiser Show (from ESPN) was added in Gaughan and Burke's old time slot. (Kornheiser would later be replaced by Colin Cowherd by ESPN.) With the purchase of WNSA, WGR re-joined the New York Yankees Radio Network and for the first time since 1996, regained the radio rights to the Buffalo Sabres . Howard Simon, also from WNSA, joined in November 2004, with White moving from evenings to mornings to be Simon's sidekick. In 2006,

5550-582: Was reassigned to 900 kHz, with 750 watts of power, now with a timeshare partner, WFBL in Syracuse , as a result of the Federal Radio Commission 's (FRC) General Order 40 , which implemented a major realignment of American AM radio. (At this time, WMAK's previous frequency of 550 kHz was assigned to WGR ). WMAK was unhappy with this new assignment because the reduced hours limited its ability to carry CBS network programming. WFBL

5625-469: Was succeeded by John Murphy , his longtime color commentator, when he retired from the booth after the 2003 season. Murphy suffered a stroke in January 2023 and formally relinquished play-by-play duties in May 2024. The Bills announced in July 2024 that the interim tag will be removed for Brown and he will become the primary play-by-play announcer of the Buffalo Bills. WBEN (AM) WBEN (930 kHz )

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