WBAE (AM)

WBAE (1490 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Portland, Maine. WBAE is owned by Saga Communications and airs a talk radio format. WBAE's weekday schedule is made up of nationally syndicated shows from Westwood One and Premiere Networks, including This Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal, Imus in the Morning with Don Imus, Laura Ingraham, Dave Ramsey, Sean Hannity, Lars Larson, America Now with Meghan McCain and Red Eye Radio.^[1] Weekends include Clark Howard, Ric Edelman, Larry Kudlow and repeats of weekday shows. CBS Radio News is heard at the beginning of each hour.

WBAE can also be heard in the Portland area on its FM translator, W296CZ 107.1 MHz.^[2] Studios and offices are located on Western Avenue in South Portland and the transmitter is off Forrest Avenue in Portland.^[3]

History

Until 1999, WBAE had the call sign WPOR.^[4] It first went on the air in March 1946 and was for much of its history associated with country music. When sister station 101.9 WPOR-FM debuted in October 1967, the two stations were the primary source of country music in the Portland radio market. The AM and FM stations were mostly simulcast, although for a time 1490 WPOR aired a satellite-delivered syndicated country music format while WPOR-FM featured local announcers and locally programmed country music. WPOR-FM continues as a country station but in 1999, WPOR-AM switched its call letters to WBAE.

The original format for WBAE was adult standards, initially provided by the Music of Your Life network, and later Dial Global's Adult Standards (America's Best Music) service. WBAE was later simulcast with 1400 WVAE Biddeford, Maine to give listeners in York County, Maine a better signal. WBAE and WVAE had an affiliation with ABC News Radio, and were the local outlets for Paul Harvey, Portland Pirates and the Portland Sea Dogs. (The Sea Dogs have moved to WPEI 95.9 and WPPI 95.5; Paul Harvey died in 2009, and the Pirates have since moved to 1300 WLOB).

The stations adopted a hot talk format, dropping Adult Standards on March 4, 2009. Hot talk had been heard on co-owned 970 WZAN before that station shifted to a political talk format. Hot talk later was replaced with an advice-oriented talk format on January 18, 2010.^[5]

The advice-talk programming included the syndicated morning show Bob and Tom from Indianapolis, syndicated family finance shows from Clark Howard and Dave Ramsey, psychological advice from The Dr. Laura Program and Dr. Joy Browne, as well as Loveline, NASCAR racing from the Motor Racing Network, and NFL football from Westwood One.

On September 15, 2009, it was announced that WBAE and WVAE would begin to broadcast the Boston Bruins. On January 16, 2012, it was announced that WBAE and WVAE would begin to broadcast the New York Yankees.^[6]

In February 2013, 1400 WVAE split from its simulcast with 1490 WBAE. The 1400 signal began simulcasting the news-talk programming of co-owned WGAN 560 AM Portland, Maine, to help WGAN better cover York County. 1400 now has the call letters WGIN to echo its originating station.^[7][8]

After 4 years under the Talk format, WBAE flipped back to an Adult Standards format, under its original branding as 1490 The Bay on October 21, 2013, utilizing programming from Westwood One’s Adult Standards network, "America's Best Music." Dave Ramsey and Clark Howard moved to WZAN. Dr. Joy Browne is heard on 1270 WTSN in nearby Dover, New Hampshire. Artists heard on WBAE included The Beatles, The Carpenters, Frank Sinatra and Dionne Warwick.

On December 16, 2015 1490 began simulcasting WZAN's talk format. WZAN's talk programming moved exclusively to 1490 on January 1, 2016, with WZAN becoming a sports radio station carrying the programming of ESPN Radio. In May 2016, WBAE began simulcasting on FM translator 107.1 W296CZ for listeners who prefer FM radio.^[9]

Former logos

References

External links

• Query the FCC's AM station database for WBAE
• Radio-Locator Information on WBAE
• Query Nielsen Audio's AM station database for WBAE