WBLS
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| City | New York, New York |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | New York City |
| Branding | 107.5 WBLS |
| Slogan | Your #1 Source for R&B! |
| Frequency | 107.5 MHz (also on HD Radio) |
| First air date | July 13, 1951 |
| Format | FM/HD1: Urban Adult Contemporary HD2: WLIB simulcast (Urban Contemporary Gospel) |
| ERP | 4,200 watts |
| HAAT | 415 meters |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 28203 |
| Callsign meaning |
W Black Listening Station World's Best Looking Sound |
| Former callsigns | WEVD-FM (1951-1955) WLIB-FM (1965-1972) |
| Owner |
Emmis Communications (WBLS-WLIB License LLC) |
| Sister stations | WLIB WQHT |
| Webcast | Streaming webcast |
| Website | wbls.com |
WBLS (107.5 MHz.) is an urban adult contemporary FM radio station in New York City.
The station has had a number of call letters, owners and formats throughout its history.
It is currently owned by Emmis Communications, along with sister station WLIB (1190 AM). The two stations share studios in the West Village section of Manhattan, and WBLS' transmitting antenna is located on the Empire State Building. It was previously owned by YMF Media LLC, owned jointly by investor Ronald Burkle and Magic Johnson, which had assumed control of WBLS and WLIB's former parent company, Inner City Broadcasting Corporation, on October 19, 2012 at a purchase price of $180 million.
The 107.5 frequency in New York City signed on in July 1951 as WEVD-FM, simulcasting its sister station at 1330 AM. Within a few years, WEVD-FM moved to 97.9, and 107.5 went off the air.
Several years later the New Broadcasting Company, then-owners of WLIB, was awarded a construction permit for the dormant frequency and on September 15, 1965 reactivated 107.5 as WLIB-FM. As the Federal Communications Commission recently instituted a rule prohibiting full-time AM/FM simulcasting in large markets, WLIB-FM was programmed with a jazz music format. The stations were split up in 1972, when Inner City Broadcasting purchased WLIB (AM); WLIB-FM was then renamed WBLS. Inner City reunited the pair with its purchase of WBLS in 1974.
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