WBAB


WBAB is a classic rock radio station licensed to Babylon, New York and owned by Cox Radio. The station is also simulcast on WHFM licensed to Southampton, New York and serving eastern Long Island.

History

WBAB first went on the air August 27, 1958 as WBAB-FM. It simulcast WBAB, until September 1975 when 1440 AM adopted a Gospel music format.

Incidents

2006 signal hijacking

On the morning of Wednesday, May 17, 2006, the station's signal was hijacked for about 90 seconds while the signal jammers aired the song "Nigger Hatin' Me" by the 1960s-era white supremacist country singer Johnny Rebel. Roger Luce, the station's morning host, said at the time, "Whatever that was - it was very racist... 22 years at this radio station - I've never seen anything like this."
The incident made all the local newscasts that night. The next morning, it made the front page of Newsday with the headline "JACKED FM". The station's new general manager, John Shea, said, "I've only been here a week and we get hijacked." Former program director John Olsen said, "This was not some child's prank, this was a federal offense."
The hijack was likely accomplished by overpowering the studio transmitter link signal to the transmitter in Dix Hills, New York. A signal hijacking with the same song happened to WBAB's sister station WBLI about two weeks earlier on a Sunday night.

Simulcast

Discography