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WGLB (1560 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Elm Grove, Wisconsin, and serving the Milwaukee metropolitan area. It airs an urban contemporary gospel radio format. The license is held by JJK Media, LLC. It is co-owned by the children of former owner Joel Kinlow, making WGLB one of only a few radio stations that is owned by an African-American family. The studios are on West Burleigh Street in Milwaukee.

By day, WGLB is powered at 2,500 watts. To protect other stations from interference (1560 AM is a clear channel frequency reserved for Class A station WFME in New York City), WGLB reduces power at night to 250 watts. It uses a directional antenna with a four-tower array. During critical hours, the power is 700 watts. The transmitter is on South 98th Street near Interstate 41 in West Allis, Wisconsin. Programming is also heard on 99-watt FM translator W241CI at 96.1 MHz in Milwaukee.

History

WGLB signed on the air on December 6, 1953. Its original city of license was Port Washington, Wisconsin. It broadcast with 250 watts, as a daytime only station.

In 1969, a sister station, WGLB-FM, was launched on 100.1 MHz (now WSJP-FM). At first, they mostly simulcast their programming. In 1995, WGLB was purchased by Joel Kinlow, a Milwaukee area minister, out of bankruptcy for $311,900. Kinlow split the simulcast in 1996, replacing their soft adult contemporary and jazz programming with black gospel on AM 1560 and 1970s oldies on WGLB-FM. In 2003, the FM station was sold to Starboard Broadcasting, which flipped it to Catholic religious programming. Kinlow also once owned television station WJJA (channel 49) in Racine, which aired programming from the Home Shopping Network (HSN).

In August 2001, WGLB's city of license was changed to the Milwaukee suburb of Elm Grove, and the current transmitter site went into operation. The station also obtained authorization to begin nighttime broadcasting.

On April 20, 2015, WGLB was granted a Federal Communications Commission construction permit to increase day power to 2,500 watts and add critical hours service with 700 watts.

Kinlow died on June 7, 2016, but his children continue to own and operate WGLB.

Translator

References

1. "Facility Technical Data for WGLB". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
2. Radio-Locator.com/WGLB
3. Radio-Locator.com/W241CI
4. Kirchen, Rich (August 20, 2000). "Black broadcaster tries to connect to the towers of power". Milwaukee Business Journal. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
5. "Format Changes & Updates". The M Street Journal. October 16, 1996. p. 2.
6. "CDBS Print". licensing.fcc.gov. Retrieved October 24, 2021.

External links

• Facility details for Facility ID 73050 (WGLB) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• WGLB in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
• "History Cards for WGLB". Federal Communications Commission. (Guide to reading History Cards)

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• Radio stations in the Milwaukee metropolitan area
• Gospel radio stations in the United States
• Christian radio stations in Wisconsin
• Waukesha County, Wisconsin
• Radio stations established in 1963
• 1963 establishments in Wisconsin
• Wisconsin radio station stubs