WRBA (95.9 FM, "B95.9") is a radio station

licensed A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...

Springfield, Florida Springfield is a city in Bay County, Florida, United States, east of Panama City. It is part of the Panama City–Panama City Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Springfield was incorporated on February 12, 1935. The population w ...

. Owned by Roberta Fagan, through licensee RoRo Investments, LLC, it broadcasts a

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

format serving the

Panama City Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...

market.

History

The station began broadcast in 1986 as WVBM, which was the area's first and only African-American-owned radio station. At noon on November 14, 1987, after the call sign was changed to WRBA, the station's format shifted to

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...

and

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

under the name "Bay 96 FM". In a News-Herald interview, then-owner Peter Michael Bardach described its format as being "halfway between WGNE (AM) and Sunny 98 (FM)" and that it was targeted toward adults between 25 and 54. Over time, the format changed to a mix of

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college and commercial rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. ...

and

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

. In October 1994, WRBA did away with the adult contemporary, and "Arrow 95.9" debuted. The "Arrow" originally stood for "All Rock & Roll Oldies", and to begin with, solely played rock from the seventies. Over its 18-year history, Arrow 95.9 kept its classic rock format, but expanded it to other decades (namely the 1960s through 1990s). In 2012, the station was renamed "Classic Rock 95.9", but kept the same format. In the aftermath of

Hurricane Michael Hurricane Michael was a powerful and destructive tropical cyclone that became the first Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the contiguous United States since Andrew in 1992. It was the third-most intense Atlantic hurricane to make ...

, Powell Broadcasting announced that it would cease operation of its Panama City stations, leaving the future of its licenses in the market in limbo. On February 18, 2019, the station returned to the air under the operation of Gulf Coast Broadcasting. For around two weeks, the station simulcast

WCCN-FM WCCN (1370 AM) and WCCN-FM (107.5 FM) are radio stations in Neillsville, Wisconsin, United States. The stations are owned by Central Wisconsin Broadcasting, Inc., and broadcast soft adult contemporary and active rock formats, respectively, from ...

, but soon had its own original identity starting in mid-March. Gulf Coast Broadcasting completed the acquisition of WRBA, along with sister stations

WASJ WASJ (105.1 FM, "Bob FM 105.1") is a radio station broadcasting an adult hits music format, under the Bob FM branding. Licensed to Panama City Beach, Florida, United States, the station is currently owned by Roberta Fagan, through licensee RoRo ...

and

WKNK WKNK (103.5 FM broadcasting, FM) is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Callaway, Florida, United States, the station serves the Panama City area. The station is currently owned by Roberta Fagan, through licensee RoRo ...

, effective April 30, 2019 at a price of $325,000. On July 3, 2019, Gulf Coast Broadcasting sold WRBA, WASJ, and WKNK to Great American Media for $700,000. The sale closed on September 26, 2019. In June 2020, the station rebranded as ''B95.9'', maintaining its classic rock format (despite using the branding " Classic Hits"), but dropping most music from the 1990s to focus exclusively on the 1970s and 1980s. Effective July 1, 2022, Great American Media sold WRBA, WASJ, and WKNK to Roberta Fagan's RoRo Investments for $180,000. On August 9, 2024, WRBA is being sold to Radio Training Network for $225,000 from RoRo Investments.Station Sales Week Of 8/9
/ref>

References

External links

RBA Classic rock radio stations in the United States 1987 establishments in Florida Radio stations established in 1987 {{Florida-radio-station-stub