Radio 1190 WLIB

WLIB (1190 kHz AM) is an urban contemporary gospel radio station located in New York City and owned by Inner City Broadcasting Corporation (I.C.B.C.). Its transmitting towers are located in Lyndhurst, New Jersey.In the 1960s WLIB was one of several commercial jazz stations in New York. Among its DJs was Dr. Billy Taylor, whose shows were not only great listening but an education. According to him, "With the help Del Shields and Ed Williams [we] built the biggest jazz audience in New York." According to the Library of Congress web page on the Billy Taylor Collection, in 1962 WLIB was the only black-owned radio station in New York. This source does not give information on WLIB's subsequent history or later white owners.WLIB became black-owned in the 1970s after activists picketed the station and demanded African Americans be given a chance to purchase it. Many felt the station’s series of white owners didn't care about broadcasting with community concerns in mind. Percy Sutton, Malcolm X’s former attorney and then-Manhattan borough president, formed the Inner City Broadcasting Corporation (ICBC), backed by a group of black investors, and purchased WLIB in 1972. The station’s first talk shows featured Betty Shabazz, wife of Malcolm X, and Dr. Carlos Russell, a noted former college professor who taught some of the Black and Latino students who later founded the Young Lords Party.Since becoming black-owned, the station has broadcast political, Afrocentric, and health-centered programming aimed at New York's Afro-Caribbean community. WLIB’s advocacy strength was credited with getting out the vote for David Dinkins in 1989 as he ran to become New York City’s first black mayor.In 2004, the station affiliated with Air America Radio due to a lack of advertiser support and ratings during its daytime hours. The switch was controversial, with many in the community seeing the switch as replacing black activist programming with Air America's primarily white liberal on-air personalities. The station's nighttime power was increased to 30,000 watts in the early 2000s, in a swap with radio station WOWO in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which was also owned by Inner City Broadcasting.former WLIB logo, as an Air America Radio affiliateFrom 12 a.m.–5 a.m. every night, WLIB aired a slate of local black-oriented talk programming originated by owners of the station, I.C.B.C. Holdings. Principal among the late night shows was the Global Black Experience, hosted by Imhotep Gary Byrd. Also produced by I.C.B.C. were two Sunday morning programs, featuring The Rev. Al Sharpton and Dinkins; these programs were moved to Saturday after the format change. Generally, from 5 a.m. onward, Air America Radio programs were carried on WLIB. However, starting in 2005, the apolitical Satellite Sisters aired instead of the Mike Malloy show on WLIB from 10 p.m. to midnight.Air America programming left WLIB after August 31, 2006, effective with the expiration of the Air America-Inner City lease. The network's new flagship station became WWRL the next day. It was rumored that the progressive talk format would be retained using local hosts and syndicated talker Ed Schultz, under a lease agreement with Randy Michaels' company, Radioactive, LLC. However, negotiations fell through, and on August 21, 2006, WLIB announced that they would switch to a gospel music format, after considering country music, oldies, spanish oldies, rock, classic dance, smooth jazz and even urban talk from Radio One.