Longtime CHR WABB-FM Sold, Flips March 1

[Adam (UTR)]

DITTMAN BROADCASTING Top 40 WABB-F/MOBILE, AL has been sold to EDUCATIONAL MEDIA FOUNDATION for an undisclosed price. The station has been in the DITTMAN family's hands for 52 years.

Many of radio's major talents and programmers launched their careers at WABB including MIKE MCVAY, SCOTT SHANNON, RANDY LANE, LESLIE FRAM, MARK ST. JOHN, PAUL FULLER, BILL EVANS, LEE CHESNUT and many more.

DITTMAN, who passed away in 2006, was an icon in the radio industry and one of the last of the great independent broadcasters. WABB has been a mainstay in the MOBILE community, serving as the primary GULF COAST Emergency Broadcast System station and playing a crucial role in providing vital information during Hurricanes FREDERICK (1979) and IVAN (2004). DITTMAN was honored as the ALABAMA ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTERS "Broadcaster of the Year" in 2005.

"This was a very difficult and emotional decision for our family," said JUDITH DITTMAN, widow of BERNIE DITTMAN, the station's longtime owner/operator. "WABB-FM has enjoyed decades of success and being an integral part of the MOBILE-PENSACOLA communities. But the time has come for us to move into another phase of life and spend more time together as a family.... WABB has appreciated the support that its listeners, the city of MOBILE and its advertisers have shown us over the years."

[Slinky]

I wonder if a struggling station would pick up the WABB branding and staff.

[EvanJ]

Unfortunately the Arbitron ratings on All Access for Mobile only list stations owned by the three companies who subscribe to the ratings which doesn't include WABB-FM. I know WABB-FM used to be popular back when I looked at every market's ratings.

[tico]

Feb 17, 2012 16:18:21 GMT -5 Slinky said:

I wonder if a struggling station would pick up the WABB branding and staff.

Good question. This station has been a CHR powerhouse on the Gulf Coast for decades and it's hard to imagine this station (or at least the format and jocks) not being picked up by someone else. 107.3 Hits Now has to be very happy right now, but I wouldn't bet on them being the sole CHR in the market for very long.

[Jeff]

In November, EMF bought WRXW and WWJK (now WJAI and WJLV, respectively) from Backyard Broadcasting.

[Adam (UTR)]

Looks like Cumulus is flipping 104.1 JACK-FM to a CHR station with the call letters WABD-FM tomorrow (March 1).

Meanwhile, if you're near a computer or a radio, WABB has a great tribute on going back through the years with music, old imaging and former DJs. They're at 1999 at this point. I'm assuming they'll end at 1973 late tonight in the 11PM hour.

[Matt4319]

WABB was my pop station growing up and throughout college. Except for about 6 months in 2009-2010, I haven't lived there in 4 years now, but I'm definitely going to miss it. It had fallen off in recent years, but it was one of the rare pop stations to keep their power rotations around 70-80 and not 100+ or even worse. And for a time, it was especially rock-leaning, which made me enjoy it even more.

I've been listening non-stop to the online stream from here in the Seattle area for the past 6 hours now. Word is that they'll sign off with Bob Dylan's "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again", which was the first song they ever played on WABB-FM in 1973.

[Kurt]

WABB's first song: "Jesus Saves" by Jeremy Camp. WABD's: "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO.

[Slinky]

Shame the CHR replacement for WABB is a Cumulus station- their playlist is the standard recurrent/gold-heavy company-approved playlist. I don't really get the "WABD" positioning either. Sounds like a cheap ripoff of the old station.

They should have just gotten the rights to the WABB branding (if those rights are owned by someone) or they should have gone with a totally different name.

[Libra]

Mar 1, 2012 12:51:57 GMT -5 Slinky said:

Shame the CHR replacement for WABB is a Cumulus station- their playlist is the standard recurrent/gold-heavy company-approved playlist. I don't really get the "WABD" positioning either. Sounds like a cheap ripoff of the old station.

They should have just gotten the rights to the WABB branding (if those rights are owned by someone) or they should have gone with a totally different name.

Or, WABD is just a place-holder while they're waiting to get the WABB letters.

[tico]

The Dittman family still owns WABB-AM.

I figured it'd be a matter of time before a new CHR would debut in Mobile, but I didn't think it'd be that soon. I hate the fact that it's Cumulus who stepped up to do it because of the way they run the CHR format. But I do hope that at least, the on-air presentation can be just as good as WABB.

[tico]

Feb 29, 2012 19:37:18 GMT -5 Matt4319 said:

WABB was my pop station growing up and throughout college. Except for about 6 months in 2009-2010, I haven't lived there in 4 years now, but I'm definitely going to miss it. It had fallen off in recent years, but it was one of the rare pop stations to keep their power rotations around 70-80 and not 100+ or even worse. And for a time, it was especially rock-leaning, which made me enjoy it even more.

I've been listening non-stop to the online stream from here in the Seattle area for the past 6 hours now. Word is that they'll sign off with Bob Dylan's "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again", which was the first song they ever played on WABB-FM in 1973.

Yep, that's what they played. I listened to the sign-off last night.

Good seeing you on here again, Matt!

[Matt4319]

Mar 1, 2012 20:48:56 GMT -5 @tico said:

Feb 29, 2012 19:37:18 GMT -5 Matt4319 said:

WABB was my pop station growing up and throughout college. Except for about 6 months in 2009-2010, I haven't lived there in 4 years now, but I'm definitely going to miss it. It had fallen off in recent years, but it was one of the rare pop stations to keep their power rotations around 70-80 and not 100+ or even worse. And for a time, it was especially rock-leaning, which made me enjoy it even more.

I've been listening non-stop to the online stream from here in the Seattle area for the past 6 hours now. Word is that they'll sign off with Bob Dylan's "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again", which was the first song they ever played on WABB-FM in 1973.

Yep, that's what they played. I listened to the sign-off last night.

Good seeing you on here again, Matt!

I've been around sporadically, but mostly in the Alternative forum. I definitely had to comment on WABB though. I listened from 12:30 PM all the way through, except for my commute home from work. They did a fantastic job with it overall.

[lsutigerfan]

Back in the mid to late 90's I used to love when I could pickup WABB from Louisiana. At the time it was the only true CHR that I could hear as New Orleans didn't have one. Even though it recently sounded like all other generic CHR's, I still listened to it while driving through on my way back to Louisiana.