WBLS (107.5

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

) is an urban adult contemporary formatted FM radio station, licensed to

New York, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

. It is currently owned and operated by Mediaco Holding, along with sister station

WQHT WQHT (97.1 FM broadcasting, FM, ''Hot 97'') is a commercial radio station, licensed to New York, New York, which broadcasts an urban contemporary music format. The station is owned by Mediaco Holding, a subsidiary of the Standard General hedge ...

(97.1 FM). The stations share studios in the Hudson Square neighborhood of

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace o ...

, and WBLS' transmitter is located at the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story, Art Deco-style supertall skyscraper in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its n ...

. 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.

History

Early years

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 Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. House building permits, for example, are subject to bu ...

for the dormant frequency and on September 15, 1965, WLIB-FM signed on. As the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

had recently instituted a rule prohibiting full-time AM/FM simulcasting in large markets, WLIB-FM was programmed with a

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

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. From 1972 to 1978, WBLS was the flagship station of the Mutual Black Network (now the American Urban Radio Networks). As part of the Inner City Broadcasting Corporation stations, program director Frankie Crocker held 5% of the radio market in the northeast from 1975 to 1978, only ceding the title of top R&B station to upstart WKTU when that station broke out playing disco and club music in 1979. By 1982 it had fallen to number 3 in the market. In 1993, Calvin O. Butts, pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

, led a threat to boycott the station if they played any form of gangsta rap. Butts' protests culminated in his bulldozing a pile of hip-hop recordings during a rally. In response to the protests, WBLS excised most hip hop music from its air and carefully screened what it did play for content and language. In 1995, after WRKS was purchased by Emmis Communications and dropped all hip-hop music in favor of a similar adult R&B format, WBLS countered with a controversial advertising campaign labeling WRKS as a "

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

station." WBLS shortly reverted to urban contemporary, only to exit again in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

when WBLS switched to urban adult contemporary.

2010–present

From 2010 to 2015, former Nation of Islam minister and "Hip Hop Minister" Conrad Tillard served as a radio talk show host on WBLS, which broadcast his hour-long ''Sunday Night Live'' community-issues program for five years. WBLS acquired WRKS's intellectual property in a merger of the two outlets announced on April 26, with a joint statement on both stations' respective websites. In addition to acquiring WRKS's intellectual property, WBLS and WLIB also moved into Emmis's New York production facility in the West Village section of Manhattan, into studio space vacated by WRKS during the week of May 21, 2012. During the 2012-13 NBA season, WBLS broadcast selected

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

games in an agreement with WEPN-FM. These games conflicted with WEPN-FM's coverage of the NFL's

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

when both teams were scheduled to play on Sunday afternoons. On February 11, 2014, Emmis Communications announced it would purchase WBLS and WLIB from YMF Media LLC for $131 million, pending FCC approval. The purchase was consummated on June 10, 2014. On July 1, 2019, Emmis announced that it would sell WBLS and WQHT to the public company Mediaco Holding—an affiliate of

Standard General Standard General L.P. is an American hedge fund headquartered in New York City. It was founded in 2007 by Soohyung "Soo" Kim and Nicholas Singer with seed capital from Reservoir Capital Group. Since 2013, Soo Kim has been the Managing Partner and ...

—for $91.5 million and a $5 million

promissory note A promissory note, sometimes referred to as a note payable, is a legal instrument (more particularly, a financing instrument and a debt instrument), in which one party (the ''maker'' or ''issuer'') promises in writing to pay a determinate sum of ...

. Emmis will be a shareholder in Mediaco Holding and continue to operate the stations. The sale was consummated on November 25, 2019.

Online

In 2000 WBLS launched its interactive sister site WBLSi with radio internet convergence company FMITV in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...

, WBLSi.com featured live original music streams to cater to a variety of tastes – The Jamz, Slow Jamz, Hip-Hop and WBLS Classics with on-demand access to concerts and music videos. Wendy Williams, Egypt Sherrod, and '' Rap Citys Big Lez doubled on the online platform as IJ's or WBLS' the first internet jockeys. The first internet program director of WBLSi was Hakeem Khaaliq.

References

External links

* * {{Urban Radio Stations in New York 1965 establishments in New York City Hudson Square Radio stations established in 1965 BLS Urban adult contemporary radio stations in the United States