For the Babylon, New York radio station that held the call sign WBAB at 1440 AM from 1958 until 1976, see WLIM. For the Freeport, New York radio station that held the call sign WBAB at 1240 AM from 1988 until 1991, see WGBB.
WBAB first went on the air August 27, 1958, as WBAB-FM. It simulcast WBAB (1440 AM), until September 1975 when 1440 AM adopted a Gospel music format.[3]
2006 signal hijacking
On the morning of Wednesday, May 17, 2006, the station's signal was hijacked for about 90 seconds[4] while the signal jammers broadcast the song "Nigger Hatin' Me" by the 1960s-era white supremacistcountry music singer Johnny Rebel. Roger Luce, the station's morning host, said at the time, "I've never seen this in 22 years at this radio station... Whatever that was - it was very racist."[5]
The next morning, it made the front page of Newsday with the headline "JACKED FM". The station's new general manager, John Shea, said, "I've only been here a week and we get hijacked." Former program director John Olsen said, "This was not some child's prank, this was a federal offense."[4][6]