>>> I hear this station traveling from Atlanta the other.
>>> What is the history of the station. Is The AM full time.
>>> Does it simulcast part of the time. It also sounded like it had
>>> live announcers. What's the story.
>
> Last I remember going through that area (a couple of years
> back) WTBF-FM was programming ABC's "Memories" format. Not
> sure about the AM, but it may have been simulcasting the FM,
> at least part of the day, anyway.
* beware: clock factory tour, in response to a request for the time, follows *
I worked parttime (i.e. moonlighted) at WTBF in the 1997-2000 time frame, so I'm quite familiar with the station. The station's PD is also a parttime Methodist minister (he married my wife and me!). WTBF is a station with a rich history, and it's been given to me more than once. Here goes:
WTBF signed on February 25, 1947, originally at 1490. Moved to the current 970 dial position at around 1957, 5 kW day and 500 W dir night - at the time a three-tower array was constructed off US 29 northeast of Troy. It all began with a live broadcast at the old Troy Tavern Hotel .... and, thanks to the brilliant foresight of Joe Gilchrist, who threw the switch - and the only engineer WTBF has ever had (he's now 1/3 owner of Troy Broadcasting Corp.), there is an AIRCHECK of the first 30 minutes, recorded on a series of acetate discs. (yes, I have a copy).
The call letters WTBF came about as a fluke - the original request was for WTBC [(T)roy (B)roadcasting (C)orporation], but an application from Tuscaloosa at the same time had the earlier postmark. So the FCC bumped the last letter to the next available, F, and suggested WTBF. The name stuck.
Studios were originally located in a little bungalow on #1 College Drive - a deal was worked out with Troy State whereby, in exchange for token rent ($1/month, I believe), WTBF would hire a certain number of students who had an interest in broadcasting. This arrangement continued for many, many years. Despite TSU putting its own station on the air (WTSU), WTBF remained the de facto 'student lab' station for Troy State students majoring in Broadcast Journalism.
WTBF began affiliation with Mutual in 1949, and was a Mutual station until the network's demise. Format has varied over the years - initially your basic small-town 'block' programs, music offerings ranging from country to gospel to standard pop to top-40. By the late '60s, it settled into a schedule of MOR days and top-40 nights. "The Morning Show" has been a longtime fixture - music during the morning has always been a grab-bag of everything from Glenn Miller to Abba.
This was small-town radio at its best. Plenty of agri news, local obits, a morning interview segment, radio bingo, and its buy-sell-trade show which it called "Tell-N-Sell." All executed professionally. Students learned a great deal under the tutelage of such liminaries as longtime manager Jess Jordan (RIP), Bob "Pappy" Tolbert, Asa Dudley, and Doc Kirby.
The nighttime rock 'n' roll block was called "Night Flight" (in 1973, Rick Dees cut a wonderful ID for the show with music bed from "A Clockwork Orange"), and lasted until 1986. I have plenty of fond memories listening to this show as a kid while in Troy visiting my grandmother.
WTBF went all country in 1987 (it had previously had a stretch in the early '70s when it was C&W days). In 1994, a curious experiment began: a program called "Night Visions" - two hours of MODERN ROCK (!) each evening. That lasted a couple of years (I was listening the first night, and I'll always remember the backannounce to the first song: "That was NINE INCH NAILS on WTBF ... [pregnant pause] .... boy, I bet you thought you'd never hear anybody say that!")
By 1996, the modern rock having bombed (500 watt AM night signal, why WOULDN'T it work?? ;-)), the name "Night Flight" was revived, and a rotation of music was offered: "Blue Monday" - classic R&B, "8-Track Tuesday" - '70s hits, "Humpday Hits" - CHR, "Thursday on the Rocks" - classic rock, Friday and Saturday nights mostly devoted to sports, and "Sunday Night Power" - contemporary Christian.
In September 1997, I was brought on parttime to host "Thursday on the Rocks" toward the end of this arrangement (I'd since moved to Troy). It was the most fun I've ever had on the radio, and the opportunity to host a variation of the very show I enjoyed during Summertime childhood visits was a thrill.
During much of the '90s, WTBF was involved in fighting a competing application for an FM frequency licensed to the nearby town of Brundidge. It would win, and construction began on WTBF-FM. The need for expanded room (that little bunaglow was TINY!) drove Troy Broadcasting to change locations from its longtime home on College Drive in favor of a renovated storefront location at 67 West Court Square downtown. The move occurred in May 1997.
[Today, the old WTBF building houses TSU's ROTC department -- look out behind the building and you can see the concrete footings for the original self-supporting tower back in its 1490 days]
WTBF-FM 94.7 went on the air Thursday, November 7, 1997. And I had the dubious honor of being the first live announcer! The next week, alas, the "Night Flight" block was dropped and AM/FM went to simulcasting. Format was basic AC. By February '98, WTBF-AM would split off again, programming Rush L. 11-2, a talk block during the afternoon, and "Night Flight" resumed 6-11 PM! At the same time, WTBF-FM went to ABC's "Pure Gold" oldies format.
January 2000: WTBF-FM flips from oldies to the current "Memories" AC/MOR format.
Today, the station runs live during "The Morning Show", splits during Limbaugh, does some separate AM programming on weekends. And - in a very profitable arrangement, making great use of two signals - offers a choice of two high school games each Friday night. One on AM and another on FM.
The sad thing is, WTBF has drastically fallen from its former glory. Over a decade ago, still in that virtually rent-free TSU bungalow, the station was a thriving AM operation -- 100% live. There was very little debt to service; the whole buggy was paid off. That changed with all the money required to apply for the FM, the protracted legal fees fighting another entity to get the license, and finally the money pit of the new downtown marquee location. WTBF today appears to be leveraged up to its STL dish. Students are still employed, but today there's just a handful, mainly to board-op games and do commercial production. A shadow of what it used to be. :-(
Despite several moves I haven't agreed with, I have nothing but affection for the powers that be at Troy Broadcasting. There's a love and reverence for WTBF's history among its staff.
PD Doc Kirby coined a great name for the calls: (W)e're (T)roy's (B)est (F)riend.
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