WABB

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WABB (AM)
Broadcast area	Mobile, Alabama
Branding	NewsTalk 1480 WABB
Slogan	Mobile's News/Talk Leader
First air date	June 19, 1948
Frequency	1480 kHz
Format	News/Talk
ERP	5000 watts
Class	B
Callsign meaning	"Alabama's Best Broadcasters"
Owner	Dittman Broadcasting (WABB-FM, Inc.)

WABB-FM
Broadcast area	Mobile, Alabama
Branding	97.5 WABB
Slogan	The #1 Hit Music Station
First air date	February 5, 1973
Frequency	97.5 MHz
Format	Contemporary Hit Radio
ERP	100,000 watts
Class	C
Callsign meaning	"Alabama's Best Broadcasters"
Owner	Dittman Broadcasting (WABB-FM, Inc.)
Website	www.wabb.com

WABB is the call sign for both the heritage Top 40 radio station and a news/talk station. Both have been owned by Dittman Broadcasting since 1959. WABB has been broadcasting at 1480 kHz since June 19, 1948, when it was originally owned by the Mobile Register under call letters meaning "Alabama's Best Broadcasters" and had a country music format at one point. WABB had an FM simulcast from the very beginning, starting with 107.9 MHz and later 102.1 MHz until it was discontinued in the 1950s. Shortly after owner Bernie Dittman moved to Mobile from his native Ohio to join his father J.W. at the station, Top-40 music became the new format. WABB 97.5 FM signed on for the first time on February 5, 1973 with the song Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again by Bob Dylan. WMOB had ended plans for an FM companion, thus allowing the construction permit to be sold to WABB. WABB-FM was originally a simulcast of its sister station before moving toward the format of album oriented rock. When WABB-FM made the move to its current contemporary hit radio format back in 1984, the AM station continued to play Top-40 music for the time being. But eventually, the economics of AM radio in the United States meant a move away from music and the station adopted a talk radio format. WABB's longtime owner, president, and general manager Bernie Dittman died on October 25, 2006 after suffering from a stroke the previous week. Dittman's daughter Betsey succeeded him after relocating to Mobile from Chicago, Illinois.

WABB serves the Mobile and Gulf Coast areas, while its AM sister station features a line-up of primarily nationally syndicated talk programming. Some of the personalities on WABB-AM include local hosts such as Ron Fraiser, national hosts Neal Boortz, Bill O'Reilly, Clark Howard, and Sean Hannity. WABB-AM was the radio home of Mobile's minor league baseball team the Mobile BayBears from the 2001 to 2006 seasons. During the local morning talk show, WABB's past is often discussed along with issues facing the Gulf Coast and the world, from WALA-TV meteorologist John Edd Thompson's long relationship with the station to Fraiser's memories of working there as a disc jockey before leaving Mobile at one point. WABB currently broadcasts from midtown Mobile's Springhill Ave, its home since 1969 after leaving the former Government Street studio in downtown Mobile.

[edit] WABB Personalities, Past and Present

• Ron "Hot Ron" Anthony
• Tim Camp
• Howie Castle
• Evan Chance
• Lee Chesnut
• John Christopher
• Crash Connors
• Coot'r
• Wayne Coy
• M.G. "Dan" Daniels
• Dan Diamond
• Ken Dowe
• Dylan
• Bill Evans
• Ted Ferguson
• Jef Funk
• Chris Ott
• Booker
• Ryan "Pablo" Foster
• Ron Fraiser
• "Mama" Karen Frazier
• Leslie Fram
• Paul Fuller
• "Lil' Joe" Gaston
• Geronimo
• Ginneh
• Dave Griffith
• Jamie "Sunday Sensation" Gunner
• Mel Hall
• Jay Hastings
• Dusty Hayes
• Uncle Henry
• Scott Innes
• Lillian Jackson
• Jarrod
• Kane
• Dick Kent
• Jerry King
• Randy Lane
• Cherish Lombard
• Matt McCoy
• Dayna Foxx
• Jammer
• Jonathan
• Lance
• Tim Livingston
• Madison
• Chip Mapoles
• Charlie Matkin
• Trey Matthews
• Daniel Shane McBryde
• Scooter McCleod
• AJ McKay
• Gary Mitchell
• Dot Moore
• Lee Moore
• David Page
• Kris Pierce
• Frank Roberts
• Kathy Richardson
• Scott Shannon
• Dennis Wayne "HoundDog" Stacy
• Jim Taber
• Scott O'Brien
• Chris Smith
• Jon St. John
• Lee Stamp, "The Old Song & Dance Man"
• Trey Swan
• Steve Thomas
• Johnny Williams
• Kristen Willie

[edit] External links

• WABB-FM
• Query the FCC's AM station database for WABB
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WABB