WHBY

WHBY (1150 AM, "Newstalk 1150") is a News/Talk formatted radio station licensed to Kimberly, Wisconsin, that serves the Green Bay and Appleton-Oshkosh areas. The station is owned by Woodward Communications and features programming from CBS Radio, Premiere Radio, Compass Media Network and Westwood One. WHBY's studios and microwave transmitter are located on East College Avenue in Appleton. Its 6-antenna broadcast transmission array is located in the Town of Vinland, on Wisconsin Highway 76.
History.
WHBY first broadcast on April 5, 1925, with two test programs: a morning sermon, and evening musical entertainment, on 1200 kHz. Regular weekly programming began on April 8. WHBY's license allowed it to broadcast at all hours, initially at 100 watts of power.
WHBY stayed at 1200 kHz after the implementation of General Order 40 in 1928 (designated as a Local station and keeping 100 watts of transmission power), but was moved to 1230 kHz with the implementation of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement on March 29, 1941.
Move to 1150 kHz.
On September 16, 1991, the staff of both WHBY and WYNE (AM 1150) were informed that Woodward Communications, parent of WHBY, would be purchasing WYNE from Fox Valley Broadcasting, Inc. for a price of $965,000. The purchase would allow WHBY to move from 1230 kHz, and to increase its broadcast power from 1000 to 5000 watts, using WYNE's existing transmission equipment. The sale allowed WHBY to join WNAM as the only other Fox Valley AM radio market station broadcasting with 5000 watts of power at that time.
The purchase was approved by the FCC as part of a larger initiative to reduce the number of AM radio stations competing for signal strength, and the cutover (which moved WHBY to 1150 kHz and ended the existence of WYNE) occurred at 7:45 AM, December 19, 1991.
1150 AM is a Regional broadcast frequency.
New transmitter facility.
In 2004, WHBY applied to build a new six tower site on what was then U.S. Route 45 (and today is Wisconsin Highway 76) in the Town of Vinland. The new antenna array allowed the station to increase its power further, to 20,000 watts (daytime) and 25,000 watts (nighttime).
FM translator stations.
In November 2016, WHBY added its first FM translator W278AU, servicing Appleton on 103.5 MHz. In November 2017, two more translators were added, both at 106.3 MHz; W292FA servicing Oshkosh and W292DR servicing De Pere and southern sections of Brown County.
Programming.
WHBY features local news and talk programming weekdays, as well as syndicated programming like "Coast to Coast AM", and "The Dave Ramsey Show", and "The Tech Guy". Sports broadcasts include Westwood One NFL and NCAA broadcasts, Milwaukee Brewers baseball as well as University of Wisconsin–Madison basketball and football and local high school sports.