WBMP (570 AM) is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

broadcasting an

urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contemporary r ...

format. WBMP is licensed to

Paducah, Kentucky Paducah ( ) is a List of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in the Upland South, and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. The most populous city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located in the Southeastern Unit ...

, United States. The station is owned by

Bristol Broadcasting Company "Bristol Broadcasting Company" is a radio station chain operating 29 stations in four Southern United States markets: the Tri-Cities area of upper-east Tennessee and southwest Virginia (receiving its name from the twin cities of Bristol, Virgini ...

, Inc. and features programming from

Compass Media Networks Compass Media Networks is an American radio network. The company launched in January 2009. It is owned by former Westwood One CEO and former COO of Connoisseur Media, Peter Kosann. The company focuses on radio and offers representation and m ...

History

The station signed on November 27, 1946, as WKYB, a daytime-only station operating at 800 kHz; its first license was issued on January 16, 1947. The station was owned by the '' Paducah Sun-Democrat''; this marked the newspaper's return to broadcasting, as it operated WIAR in the 1920s. On January 19, 1951, WKYB moved to 570 kHz; this allowed it to operate at night. Paducah Newspapers sold WKYB to Bruce Barrington, owner of

WEW WEW (770 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio station in St. Louis, Missouri. Owned by Birach Broadcasting Corporation, its studios are on Hampton Avenue in St. Louis. First licensed in March 1922, WEW is one of the oldest radio stati ...

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

, in 1957; the sale came as the company prepared to launch television station

WPSD-TV WPSD-TV (channel 6) is a television station licensed to Paducah, Kentucky, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for Western Kentucky's Jackson Purchase region, Southern Illinois, the Missouri Bootheel, and northwest Tennessee. Own ...

. WKYB, along with WKYB-FM 93.3, was sold to Arthur C. Shofield for $140,000 in 1962. The

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

was changed to WKYX on September 18, 1964. In May 1965, Shofield was fined $250 by 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 ...

(FCC) for allowing Nationwide Stations to operate the station from 1962 to 1964 without FCC approval, and for not reporting a sale of 20 percent of the station to Raymond F. Damgen. Later that year, the station was transferred to KICKS of Kentucky; Shofield retained 40 percent of the new company, with George G. Beasley, William R. Britt, and WKYX manager James E. Harrelson each acquiring 20 percent stakes. W. L. Nininger and C. Edward Wright, owners of WFHG in

Bristol, Virginia Bristol is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 17,219. It is the Twin cities (geographical proxi ...

;

WKOY WKOY-FM (100.9 MHz) is an American classic rock-formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Princeton, West Virginia, serving Princeton, West Virginia, Bluefield, Virginia and Bluefield, West Virginia Bluefield is a city in Mercer County, We ...

Bluefield, West Virginia Bluefield is a city in Mercer County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 9,658 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Bluefield micropolitan area extending into Virginia, which had a populatio ...

; and WKAZ in

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in West Virginia, most populous city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Kanawha County, West Virginia, Kanawha County and ...

, bought WKYX for $200,000 in 1971. On December 26, 2022, WKYX and translator W265DZ 100.9 FM split from a

news/talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, interviews ...

simulcast with sister stations WKYX-FM and WNGO and changed their format to urban contemporary, branded as "102.5/100.9 The Beat". WKYX also changed its call sign to WBMP on January 30, 2023.Hip Hop Beat Debuts in Paducah
Radioinsight - January 26, 2023

References

External links

* * * * BMP Radio stations established in 1946 1946 establishments in Kentucky {{Kentucky-radio-station-stub