WLBE-FM 106.7 Leesburg

WLBE-FM 106.7
Leesburg

Original Call Letters: WLBE

Originally Licensed: Feb 12, 1969

Original City of License: Leesburg

Original Frequency: 106.7

Origin of Call Letters: Location; LeesBurg/Eustis

Original Power: 50,000 watts

Original Location: 32900 Radio Rd.

Original Format: MOR

Network Affiliation(s):

Owner(s):	1969-Heard Broadcasting
	1975-WLBE Radio Inc.
	1976-Magic Box Media
	1988-Southern Starr Broadcasting Group Inc.
	1989-Taylor Communications ($12 million)
	1993-Chancellor Media/Shamrock Radio
	1997-Shamrock Radio/Chancellor Media
	1997-HM2/Chancellor
	2000-AMFM Radio Licenses (Clear Channel Communications)
	2007-Clear Channel

History Of Call Letters and Formats:	WLBE-1969-MOR "You're tuned to the golden sounds of WLBE-FM 106.7 on your FM dial"
	WHLY-1969-Religious "Where He Loves You"
	WDGM-1975-Beautiful Music "We're Delightfully Good Music"
	WDGM-1976-MOR
	WYLY-1976-MOR
	WHLY-1984-Top 40 "The Hot-Rockin Y-106"
	WCAT-1987-Top 40 "Cool Cat"
	WHLY-1989-CHR
	WXXL-1990-Top 40 "XL 106.7 Today's Hit Music" "XL 106.7 All The Hits"

WLBE-FM History
Bob Andrews fills us in on some of the history of WLBE-FM 106.7. "In the late fifties, WLBE-AM 790, under the ownership of a wealthy road contractor, (father in law of Jim Sharp) applied for and got the 106.7 license and was actually on the air (the space for FM transmitter and wiring for A/C, etc. are still in the back of the WLBE-AM 790 studios.) The station was bought by a couple of preachers, who saw no value in the FM, just the value of the resale of it to keep going, and Lake County lost its second FM station to Orlando. The first was 107.7, licensed to Mount Dora. I don't recall the ownership, but it went to WORJ-FM 107.7, Orlando. The company kept an office and a man in Mount Dora for some time to satisfy FCC rules. That is why 107.7 and 106.7 still identify with Lake County locations every hour."

WLBE Personalities

Kim Fischer (Peters)-1971-1972-One of "The Golden Girls"-Heard Broadcasting

Kim remembers her time at WLBE-FM

I was one of the "Golden Girls" on the FM side from mid to late 1971-1972. I don't recall ever using my name on air as we were just referred to as the Golden Girls and not individual personalities. We were certainly not old as the ladies of the TV show by the same name. I was the youngest "Golden Girl" having received my FCC 3rd Class license in 1971 at the age of 17. (I didn't need one since the DJ on the AM side had a 1st Class license, but I wanted one just the same!) My boyfriend, Oliver Peters - Jolly Ollie - worked at country AM station in Eustis at the time (they were rock at night and he had to provide his own records!) and helped me make a demo tape. The other ladies were probably at least 10 years older than I was and played a lot of classical music. I liked Pop music and like to mix things up. I tried to play a male vocal, instrumental, female vocal, etc. I almost wore out the Arthur Fiedler plays the Beatles, Ray Conniff, Percy Faith, Johnny Mathis, Barbara Streisand, Mantovani and closed each show with the instrumental theme from "MASH." At the time, I was paid below minimum wage as I was "in training." I did not realize this was not legal and really didn't care. I just wanted to be on the radio. One of the "Golden Girls" taught me how to create the FM program logs and type the copy for commercials which usually included repeated key words three times: SAVE, SAVE, SAVE, at Belk Lindsey's President's Day Sale.... or SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY see Big Daddy Don Garlits.... The usual station ID was "You're tuned to the golden sounds of WLBE-FM 106.7 on your FM dial." I worked after school during the school year so I had the late shift. During the summer, I got to work during the day. It was my first and last job in radio as I took a job at WMFE-TV as a traffic manager in October 1972. I worked both jobs for a while but left WLBE when I married in Feb. 1973 and moved to Orlando. The best times were late night after the regular staff went home. The FM and AM sides were divided by a window so you could try to break each other up on the air!

Craig Merchant-1971-Heard Broadcasting

Other Names In WLBE-FM History

H. James Sharp-1969-Vice President/General Manager-Heard Broadcasting, Inc.

Richard Hogsboro-1969-Chief Engineer-Heard Broadcasting, Inc.

Esther White-1969-1975-Bookkeeper/Office Manager-Heard Broadcasting, Inc. In Memory

J. A. Brimmer-1969-1975-Chief Engineer

William G. Jones-1971-Chief Engineer-Heard Broadcasting, Inc.

Dr. Donald Manuel-1973-President--Heard Broadcasting, Inc.

E. B. Meade-1973-Board Chairman-Heard Broadcasting, Inc.

Ray Glover-1973-Program Director-Heard Broadcasting, Inc.

Erik Miller-1973-Chief Engineer-Heard Broadcasting, Inc.

William Babcock-1973-General Manager-Heard Broadcasting, Inc.

Sherman Clapeman-1973-Chief Engineer-Heard Broadcasting, Inc.

William N. Babcock-1974-General Manager-Heard Broadcasting, Inc.

James W. Moore-1974-Chief Engineer-Heard Broadcasting, Inc.

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