WBAP

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WBAP is an AM radio station in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex following a talk format. WBAP broadcasts on 820 kHz with 50,000 watts in AM Stereo.

WBAP is owned by Disney, and as such is an affiliate of ABC.

Program Schedule

For most listeners to WBAP, the broadcast day begins with the WBAP Morning News program (which runs from 5 a.m. until 9 a.m.) and is hosted by veteran radio broadcaster Hal Jay. The program's format includes news (both national and local), sports, weather, and reports on local traffic conditions (traffic reports run approximately every six minutes). This is followed by the Mark Davis Show, which airs from 9 a.m. until noon.

Following is the nationally syndicated Rush Limbaugh Show from noon until 3 p.m., delayed one hour. The Sean Hannity Show airs from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m., and was followed (until July, 2005) by local talk show host Gary McNamara (on July 25, 2005, McNamara, who has been with the station since 2000, joined the Midnight Trucking Radio Network, and participates in a program which airs from 12 midnight until 5 A.M.).

Finally, from 6 P.M. to 12 midnight, WBAP airs three nationally syndicated radio talk shows: Mark Levin (6-8 P.M.), David Gold (8-10 P.M.), and Jerry Doyle (10 P.M. to 12 midnight). The station had previously broadcast the Randy Galloway sports program before changing its format to all political talk shows in 2003. At that time, Galloway moved down the hall to sister station KESN, an all-sports ESPN affiliate. Another consequence of this change was the elimination of the "Hello Texas Noon Day News" program which featured Dan Potter. Potter still participates in the WBAP Morning News broadcasts as the Morning News Anchor. They also serve as the radio home of the Dallas Stars during the NHL season hosted by Ralph Strangis and Daryl Reaugh.

Station history and recent events

Morning show host Hal Jay recently celebrated his 25 year anniversary with WBAP by organizing a charity fund-raising event for Cook Children's Hospital ("Hal Jay's Celebrity Roast"). Among those who attended were Baseball Hall-of-Famer Nolan Ryan and syndicated radio talk show host Sean Hannity.

Morning News Show \"Characters\"

The morning news show features several fictitious characters. A short segment with a character airs near the end of the 6 o'clock and 7 o'clock hours, unless preempted by a major event.

The characters are divided into two main groups, each performed by a different individual. Most of the "parody" characters are performed by an individual who is not on the WBAP staff, while the remaining characters are performed by a WBAP employee.

Parody Characters

• Andy Rooney (asks questions such as "Have you ever...", always answering "I know I have")
• Gene Robinson (often features homosexual stereotyping of a high pitched male voice and an elongated "S" pronunciation, similar to a slithering snake)
• Geraldo Rivera (who always proclaims to "place himself in harm's way" to bring the story – from the comfort of his hotel room)
• George W. Bush (who always manufactures a made-up word)

WBAP Unique Characters

• "Sam from Sales" (a high-pressure salesman, Samuel Poteet--Esquire--with humorous stories about his very large family of cousins; this was the original WBAP character; he is not featured at the 7AM broadcast)
• "Breakfast with Betty" (a sex-crazed wannabe chef who repeatedly hits on sportscaster Steve Lamb, encouraging him to divorce his wife – or, at the least, have an affair with her)
• "Leaf Raker" (a stand-up comedian/gardener featuring corny jokes)
• "Mystic Chuck" (a psychic who has "visions" but never answers the question, as a spoof of the great Carnac the Magnificent)
• "Harry Caray" (the late baseball broadcaster, who usually gives updates from Heaven; Caray and Elvis are the two parody characters that are performed by the WBAP employee)
• "Elvis Presley" (asks the morning crew to guess where he is – the running gag is they always answer either Graceland or Las Vegas but neither are correct; he then usually discusses food in reference to the overweight Elvis of later years)
• "This Reporter" (a reporter who always gets confused or terribly off subject)
• "Shorty Lavender" (a jockey from nearby Lone Star Park who proclaims himself the crew's "Four Feet of Fun Guy" and associates with a similarly named jockey, "Thigh High Johnson")
• "Professor Lester T. Besterfester" (a fictitious professor at Texas Christian University billed as the Chairman of the Speech Therapy department – despite his own slurred speech, specializing in "16th Century grammar appreciation")
• "Rusty Springs" (an auto mechanic operating "Rusty Springs House of Pings", the alleged repair shop for WBAP's fleet, who creates nonsensical mechanical terms supposedly involved in auto repair – while charging outrageous prices)
• "The Reverend Robert Jiltem" (a parody of Robert Tilton, a televangelist promoting his latest scheme while claiming that the idea "won't cost much – no, only a tiny amount – simply send me your five, ten, fifteen, or twenty THOUSAND dollars" and offering a religious trinket in exchange)
• "Doctor Ben Golfin" (a medical doctor – the name is a parody of the stereotype that doctors are more interested in golf than patients)
• "Chief Wilbur Wetfeather" (a Native American meteorologist)
• "Pedro from Payroll" (a Hispanic character who purportedly works in WBAP's payroll department, but is portrayed as anti-stereotypical – for example, he opposed the Great American Boycott)
• "Willie Landum" (the self-proclaimed "Fishing Guide to the Stars" -- the name is a spoof of "will he land them?" -- who provides oddly-named, and sometimes sexually suggestive, fishing lure names; this character is featured exclusively on Fridays just prior to 7 AM so that the morning news crew may receive the "Weekend Fishing Report"), and
• "Natural Howard" (a spoof of the station's own "Dirt Doctor" weekend gardening show host, Howard Garrett, who believes all gardening issues are best handled with "natural" solutions and cannot pronounce the word "herb").
• "Akmed Dangerfield, the 'Wacky Iraqi'", who generally provides updates on the goings on in Iraq, and will often have to change his report in midstream due to the subject being bombed out of existence. (Once, Akmed complained that the bombings destroyed his country's main industry, the Seven-Eleven Training Center.)

External links

• [WBAP Homepage]
• [Hal Jay Celebrity Roast]
• [DFWRadioArchives]

.8 billion USD (2004) | Employees: 129,000 | Stock Symbol: NYSE: [DIS] | Website: [disney.go.com]

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