WEBY...history on the dial
It seems that some stations or dial positions/COL, were just "born" interesting, and have never stopped being that way. WEBY is a perfect example of this.
The station debuted in 1954, and, for a short time, operated with 250w-U at 1490 kHz. I can't pinpoint precisely when WEBY (it was still on 1490 in late 1955) increased power to 1kw-D at 1330 kHz, but it would've had to have happened prior to early 1957, as WSRA/Milton debuted on December 18, 1957, operating at WEBY's former dial position. WEBY's power increase to 5kw, likely occured in the very early 60's.
Although I never met him, I am told that Clayton Mapoles, WEBY's owner, was a very "colorful" character. He and his son Byrd, operated the station. Apparently, Clayton Mapoles (and perhaps Byrd, as well) felt free to say and do whatever they wanted, over the air.
As I recall, the straw that broke the camel's back, was over commentary regarding the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as integration of the schools in Santa Rosa County. As you might expect, the federal government was 100% for these things, and it is my understanding that Clayton Mapoles' view was diametrically opposed to the government's view. Again, I'm not sure exactly what happened, but I've heard that the Mapoles of WEBY, declared war on the federal government.
As you might expect, the FCC received some complaints, and alledgelly had a little inspection party. In addition to being able to record some "interesting" commentary, there were a number of other rule/reg violations discovered. It was enough ammunition to initiate license revocation procedures, and sometime in 1978, after all appeals were exhausted, WEBY was forced off the air, its license cancelled.
Back in '64, Clayton and Byrd had put a little 3kw FM on the air at 102.3. Initially WEBY-FM, it shortly changed to WXBM. Apparently realizing the seriousness of the situation, early into the legal battles, an application was filed, transferring the FM station to Byrd, in order to protect that station's license. Clayton was the sole owner of WEBY, in addition to being the one who voiced the commentary in question. To my knowledge, Byrd Mapoles was never a "person of interest". The application to transfer WXBM to Byrd, was not approved by the Commission until after the WEBY matter was finalized. The "official" transfer occured in October, 1978.
In the early 80's, Byrd Mapoles set out to do something that was largely unheard of in those days, and that was upgrading his Class A, 3,000 watt station, to a 100,000 watt Class C. It was probably because of WXBM's location, with no stations to protect toward the south, that this move would even work in the first place. What was interesting, of course, was that this, in the FCC's eyes, was an application for a new station. BUT, because a 3kw FM on 102.3 could NOT operate in the same general area as a 100kw station on 102.7, the application was considered mutually exclusive, so no competing applications could be filed. In 1985, Byrd was granted a CP to move WXBM from 102.3 to 102.7, and increase ERP to 100kw. In the mid-90's, WXBM began a series of ownership transfers, before finally ending up the hands of Pamal, the current licensee.
As for Milton's 1330 spot on the dial, it wasn't long before Wells Broadcasting submitted an application for the former WEBY facilities, which was granted in 1980. Then began a long series of extensions and an ownership transfer, before the station finally got on the air in late 1982. The calls were WSWL. Just over a year later (after another ownership transfer), the call-sign was changed to WAVX. Still more transfers occured (5 in all), and in 1985, the station was sold to #1 Radio, whose owner was...that's right, Byrd Mapoles, and the old call letters, W-E-B-Y, were brought back home to 1330 in Milton.
In 2002, Byrd signed entered into an LMA with Spinnaker, along with an asset purchase agreement. The selling price was $150k (with $125k of that financed by Byrd), not including any buildings/real estate.
In August, 2003, WEBY filed to increase their daytime power...first to 10kw, and eventually to 25kw. The second increase was made possible by the license cancellation of WPRN/Butler, Alabama. WPRN was also a 5kw daytimer on 1330. When you compare the present 5kw contour, to the proposed 25kw contour, keep in mind that the very deep null toward Tallahassee's 1330, is because WEBY's new facility is required to comply with the new rules. The present operation is grandfathered. That should mean that WCVC's coverage to the west/southwest, will be slightly improved.
<P ID="signature">______________
Jay Braswell - Moderator
Atlanta/North Florida/South Carolina/Georgia Boards</P>
