WBNS (AM)

WBNS (1460 kHz) — branded 1460 ESPN Columbus — is a commercial AM radio station in Columbus, Ohio. The station currently broadcasts a sports talk format and carries ESPN Radio programming. It is owned by Tegna Inc., along with WBNS-FM (97.1 MHz.) and WBNS-TV (channel 10). The three stations' studios and offices are located on Twin Rivers Drive, near Downtown Columbus; WBNS (AM)'s transmitter tower is located in East Columbus.

WBNS
Columbus, Ohio

Broadcast area	Columbus, Ohio
Frequency	1460 kHz
Branding	1460 ESPN Columbus
Programming
Format	Sports radio
Affiliations	ESPN Radio Ohio State Sports Network
Ownership
Owner	Tegna Inc. (RadiOhio, Incorporated)
Sister stations	WBNS-FM, WBNS-TV
History
First air date	1922 (1922)
Former call signs	WCAH (1922–1934)
Call sign meaning	"Wolfe Bank Newspaper and Shoes"
Technical information
Facility ID	54901
Class	B
Power	5,000 watts day 1,000 watts night
Transmitter coordinates	39°57′06″N 82°54′23″W
Repeater(s)	97.1 WBNS-HD2 (Columbus)
Links
Website	www.971thefan.com

Overview

Blaw-Knox diamond tower used by the station

The station was first authorized, as WCAH, on May 13, 1922, and was originally owned by the Entrekin Electric Company of Columbus.[1] The Wolfe family, owners of The Columbus Dispatch, bought the station in 1929 and in January 1934 changed the calls to the present WBNS–[2] the call letters stand for "Wolfe Bank, Newspaper and Shoes"—the businesses controlled by the Wolfe family. (The WBNS stations maintained common ownership with the Dispatch until 2015, when the Wolfes sold the newspaper and related assets to New Media Investment Group.) WBNS was the longtime Columbus affiliate of the CBS Radio Network, and in the present-day serves as the AM flagship of the Ohio State Sports Network.[3]

After various formats over the decades, including full service, Top 40, and MOR, in 2009 WBNS began simulcasting with WBNS-FM, which had previously aired an adult contemporary format. This was intended to improve the nighttime coverage for the station's longtime sports talk format, as well as Buckeyes football and basketball. The AM station must reduce its power to 1,000 watts at night, resulting in reduced coverage outside of Columbus itself. However, the FM station was branded as the main station, under the moniker "97.1 The Fan."

In 2011, the simulcast ended. The AM station began offering additional ESPN network programming and announced plans to create original local content such as an MMA show called "Ground & Pound", as well as a coach's show for the local MLS team, the Columbus Crew. On January 5, 2012 it was announced that the station would carry Cleveland Indians broadcasts in Columbus for the 2012 season, marking the return of the Indians after their absence from the Columbus market for the 2011 season.[4]

WBNS is one of five stations remaining in the U.S. to broadcast using a Blaw-Knox tower that employed a distinctive diamond-shaped cantilever design.

On June 11, 2019, Dispatch announced it was selling its broadcasting assets, including the WBNS stations, to Tegna Inc. for $535 million in cash. The sale was completed on August 8.[5]

References

"New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, June 1, 1922, page 2.
"Part I - Additions, Changes and Deletions to Lists", Radio Service Bulletin, February 1, 1934, page 6.
OSU Radio Network - Ohio State Buckeyes.com
Indians radio affiliates - Indians.com
"TEGNA Completes Acquisition of Dispatch Broadcast Group’s Leading, Top Ranked Stations in Indianapolis, IN and Columbus, OH", Tegna Inc., 8 August 2019, Retrieved 8 August 2019.

External links

ESPN 1460
WBNS in the FCC AM station database

WBNS on Radio-Locator

WBNS in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
FCC History Cards for WBNS (covering 1927-1980 as WCAH / WBNS)

Radio stations in the Columbus, Ohio, metropolitan area

By AM frequency

By FM frequency

LPFM	91.9 92.7 96.7 98.5 102.1
Translators	92.9 W225CM W225CS 94.1 95.9 96.7 98.3 98.7 99.3 W257CU W257EQ 102.9 104.5 W283BO W283CL 104.7 105.3 W287CL W287CP

Digital radio
by frequency & subchannel

By call sign

Defunct

Ohio radio markets: Akron; Canton; Cincinnati; Cleveland; Columbus; Dayton; Lima; Marietta; Toledo; Youngstown–Warren

Other Ohio radio regions: Ashtabula; Ironton; Mid-Ohio; Sandusky; Southern Ohio; Wheeling/Steubenville

See also: List of radio stations in Ohio

Notes: 1. Now internet-only

Sports radio stations in the state of Ohio
Ashland WNCO Ashtabula WFUN Cincinnati WCKY WSAI Cleveland WARF WKNR WKRK-FM Columbus WBNS WBNS-FM WMNI Dayton WING WONE Fostoria WFOB Lima WWSR Mansfield WRGM Marietta/St. Marys WV WJAW Massillon/Canton WTIG Middleport/Pomeroy WMPO Portsmouth WNXT Toledo WCWA WQQO-HD2 Wellston WYPC Youngstown WBBW WNIO
See also adult contemporary classic hits college country news/talk NPR oldies religious rock sports top 40 urban other radio stations in Ohio See also ESPN Radio Fox Sports Radio CBS Sports Radio NBC Sports Radio Sports Byline USA SportsMap Radio

ESPN Radio stations in the state of Ohio
Full-time affiliates	Ashtabula WFUN Cincinnati WCKY Columbus WBNS WBNS-FM Cleveland WKNR Dayton WING Lima WWSR Logan WLGN Mansfield WRGM Marietta/St. Marys WV WJAW Massillon WTIG Middleport WMPO Portsmouth WNXT
Part-time affiliates	Archbold WMTR-FM Bellefontaine WBLL Celina WCSM Centerville WKBV Findlay WFIN Marietta WMOA Paulding WKSD Uhrichsville WBTC
See also List of ESPN Radio affiliates See also adult contemporary classic hits college country news/talk NPR oldies religious rock sports top 40 urban other radio stations in Ohio See also ESPN Radio Fox Sports Radio CBS Sports Radio NBC Sports Radio Sports Byline USA SportsMap Radio

Tegna Inc.
sorted by primary channel network affiliations
ABC	KBMT KIII KVUE KXTV WATN-TV WFAA WHAS-TV WJXX WNEP-TV WOI-DT WQAD-TV WVEC WZZM
CBS	KENS KFMB-TV KFSM-TV KHOU KREM KTHV KYTX WBNS-TV WFMY-TV WLTX WMAZ-TV WTOL WTSP WUSA WWL-TV
The CW	KCWI-TV KFMB-TV ³ KSKN KYTX ³ WCCT-TV WLMT WMAZ-TV ³
Fox	KIDY KMSB ¹ KXVA WPMT WTIC-TV WUPW ² WZDX
MyNetworkTV	KTVD KTTU ¹ KFMB-TV ³ KIDY ³ KUIL-LD KXVA ³ WATL WLMT WQAD-TV ³ WUPL WZDX ³
NBC	KARE KBMT ³ KCEN-TV / KAGS-LD KGW KING-TV KPNX / KNAZ-TV KSDK KTVB / KTFT KUSA KWES-TV WBIR-TV WCNC-TV WCSH / WLBZ WGRZ WKYC WTHR WTLV WXIA-TV
Other stations	Estrella TV KMPX Independent KONG KTVB ³ KTFT-LD ³ MeTV WALV-CD Quest KTBU
Radio	WBNS WBNS-FM
TV networks	Subchannels: True Crime Network Quest Twist Cable: NewsWatch 15
Defunct	KIDZ-LD Northwest Cable News TXCN
Other asset	Captivate Network (part owner)
Acquisitions	Belo Corporation (King Broadcasting Company) Dispatch Broadcast Group Multimedia Standard Media (cancelled)
¹ Owned by Tegna, Gray Television operates KMSB & KTTU through a SSA. ² Owned by American Spirit Media, Tegna operates WUPW through a SSA. ³ These stations broadcast these networks on their digital subchannels.

Ohio State Buckeyes football
Venues	Recreation Park (1890–1897) Ohio Field (1898–1921) Ohio Stadium (1922–present) Woody Hayes Athletic Center (practice)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Illinois: Illibuck Trophy Michigan (The Ten Year War) Penn State
Culture & lore	History Block O Brutus Buckeye "Across the Field" "Buckeye Battle Cry" "Carmen Ohio" "Hang On Sloopy" Marching band Neutron Man The Ten Year War Snow Bowl (1950) 1969 Michigan game 1973 Michigan game The Kick Holy Buckeye 2005 Texas game 2006 Michigan game 2016 Penn State game
Media	WBNS-TV WBNS WBNS-FM Ohio State Sports Network
People	Head coaches All-Century Team NFL draftees Statistical leaders Retired numbers
Seasons	1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
National championship seasons in bold

Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball
Venues	The Armory (1897–1918) Fairgrounds Coliseum (1918–1956) St. John Arena (1956–1998) Value City Arena (1998–present)
Rivalries	Michigan
Culture & lore	Brutus Buckeye Buckeye Nuthouse WBNS WBNS-FM Ohio State Sports Network
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

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