Technical Profile: WRAB

AM Technical Profile: WRAB

Frequency:: 1380
Format:: Classic Country
Transmitter Location:: [map] [street view] East of Arab on AL-69 (Guntersville Road), near Copeland Road and the Brown Funeral Chapel.
Power (ERP):: Day: 1 kW; Night: 49 watts
Antenna:: 1 tower
Other Information:: 0.5 mV/m Daytime Groundwave Service Contour from the FCC's Public Files
[FCC]
[FCCdata.org]; [Radio-Locator]; [Wikipedia]
[Facebook]
[Studio] Street View imagery of the station's office space on Highway 231 next to The Arab Tribune newspaper.; Owned by Fun Media Group of Alabama, LLC
// W296DM Arab
History:: Marshall County Broadcasting Company, Inc., received a construction permit for Arab's first radio station in 1957, for 1380 kHz with 1,000 watts daytime only. The station signed on in October 1961, using a Gates BC-1T transmitter and studio located at the same site they use today. From the beginning, it was WRAB.

As far back as records show, it aired a Country Music format, with occasional Religious programming mixed in.

In 1987 the station was sold to Arab Broadcasting Company, Inc., headed by Kerry Rich.

The station was sold to Reed Broadcasting in 2001, for $163,000. Under their ownership, the station migrated to a Classic Country music format.

The station acquired a construction permit for a new translator to rebroadcast the AM in January, 2018, and put that on the air in early 2020. That same year, it was announced that the station and translator were being purchased by Fun Media Group (Michael and Melanie Anzek) for $100,000. They own the city's other radio station, WAFN-FM. While the sale is pending, the company is running the station via a Local Marketing Agreement (LMA).