KLBB (AM)

KLBB (1220 AM) is an AM radio station licensed to Stillwater, Minnesota, serving the eastern suburban Twin Cities area and western-central Wisconsin. It is locally and independently owned by Dan & Gretchen Smith. Known as “Club 12-20,” KLBB formerly played adult standards and classic hits. It was the Twin Cities affiliate of the Green Bay Packers Radio Network. Other programming included “The Wolf Brewing All Request and Dedication Show with Stan Turner,” “The Morning Show with Jeff Petersen” and was the Twin Cities flagship station for Saint Paul Saints Baseball and Stillwater Ponies Football.

KLBB
CityStillwater, Minnesota
Frequency1220 kHz
BrandingClub 1220, KLBB
Programming
FormatKEC65 NOAA Weather Radio simulcast
(to maintain license)
Ownership
OwnerDan Smith
(Endurance Broadcasting, LLC)
History
First air dateMarch 1949 (as WSHB)
Former call signsWSHB (1949-1955)
WAVN (1955-1983)
WVLE (1983-1985)
WTCN (1985-1993)
WIMN (1993-1997)
WEZU (1997-2003)
WMGT (2003-2006)
Call sign meaningCLUB or KLUB
Technical information
Facility ID60646
ClassB
Power5,000 watts daytime (licensed)
254 watts night (licensed)
20 watts temporary (as of March 2019)

The studios and transmitter are located in Stillwater, Minnesota. At full power, the daytime signal area covered the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul as well as portions of western Wisconsin. The station currently serves the city of Stillwater.

KLBB had news updates at top of hour from Fox News, Minnesota Network News, local news from the KLBB News Desk as well as local weather from Weatherology at the top of the hour. KLBB’s local news featured news from the eastern Twin Cities area and western Wisconsin.

KLBB was also an affiliate of Westwood One's Adult Standards format, which features adult standards from artists such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Harry Connick, Jr., and Michael Bublé as well as classics from The Beatles to contemporary music from such artists as Celine Dion & Diana Krall.

On weekends, KLBB aired programs such as “The Stan Turner Show,” “Flashback Twin Cities with Tom Oszman,” “The Sounds of Sinatra,” “Shake Rattle Showtime,” “Martini Mix with Mike Martin”, “Sunday Morning Worhship from St. Andrew’s; a live broadcast of worship services from St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi, Minnesota.

KLBB also included national and local features such as “The Osgood File,” “Bill Scott’s Titletown Report,” “Rudy Maxa’s Travel Minute,” “Community Calendar,” “Here’s What’s Happening in the Saint Croix Valley” and “Success Journal.”

For over 25 years, KLBB featured special deals from local businesses on “The Super Saver” show.

Signing on in 1949, the 1220 AM frequency had a series of call letters including: WSHB (1949 sign-on to 1955), WAVN (1955-1983), WVLE (1983-1985), WTCN (1985-1993), WIMN (1993-1/1/1997) and WEZU (1/1/1997-2003). WMGT "The Mighty 12-20" (2003-2006), KLBB (2006-2018).

Many noted personalities worked at 1220 AM, including: Roger Erickson, Stan Turner, Ruth Koscielak, Ralph Jon Fritz, Bob Yates, Lee Valsvik and others.

KLBB ceased broadcasting at 11:59 PM (CT) on March 31, 2018. The 3.6 acres of land in Stillwater which was the location of the station's radio tower had been sold to Ecumen. The announcement of the station's demise was made a month prior on February 28.[1] KLBB concluded its final broadcast with a message from station owner Dan Smith, followed by the Frank Sinatra song, “One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)”.

The station returned to the air at the end of March 2019 before its license would have met the FCC's cancellation criteria, using a temporary antenna setup atop the station's studio building to transmit the station with a power of 20 watts until a permanent transmitter site is found.[2] Currently, it rebroadcasts NOAA Weather Radio station KEC65 from Minneapolis to provide some form of programming.

See also

References
  1. Divine, Mary. "Stillwater hyper-local radio station KLBB-AM to go off air March 31," Pioneer Press (St. Paul, MN), Wednesday, February 28, 2018 Retrieved February 28, 2018
  2. Ellis, Jon (26 March 2019). ""East metro station KLBB/1220 (Stillwater) has returned to the air with a temporary facility a week before a statutory deadline to resume broadcasting."". Northpine.com. Retrieved 26 March 2019.

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