WKBO (1230 kHz, Fortress1230AM) is an AM radio station licensed to serve Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by One Heart Ministries, Inc. and broadcasts a Christian contemporary format. Studios are located at Stage and Studio Cafe in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, and the station's tower is located at the Harrisburg Water plant.
1925 to 1929: WPRC
Although some accounts state that WKBO's origin dates back to as early as 1922, official government records date the station's establishment as taking place in 1925.
WKBO was first licensed, as WPRC, on September 23, 1925, to the Wilson Printing & Radio Co. at Fifth and Kelker Streets in Harrisburg, transmitting on 1390 kilohertz. It made its formal debut broadcast on October 12, 1925. WPRC was the fourth radio station to be licensed to Harrisburg, with WBAK (1922-1934), WABB (1923-1927), and WHBG (February 1925 to present, now WHP) leading the way. It was owned by W. Arthur Wilson of the Wilson Printing and Radio Company of Harrisburg. Wilson operated WPRC from his property at 1738 N 5th Street. (Some records indicate that it was 1740 N 5th Street.) The transmitter was located a fw blocks away at Reel and Schuylkill Streets. WPRC offered a limited programming schedule of live performances by local musicians and "talks" by community leaders, which was typical in the very early days of radio.
Before putting WPRC on the air, the 38-year-old Wilson was the printer and editor of "Progress", a publication for railroad employees.
WPRC moved to 1430 kilohertz in 1927, then to 1200 kilohertz with the November 11, 1928 implementation of the Federal Radio Commission's General Order 40. (WHP and WBAK, the two other stations operating in Harrisburg in 1929, swapped frequencies with WPRC and shared time on 1430 kHz.) WKBO switched to 1230 kHz in 1941, as part of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement realignment of the AM band.
1929 to 1933: WCOD
Wilson sold WPRC to local coal dealer Norman R. Hoffman in 1929. Hoffman changed the call sign to WCOD and moved the studios and transmitter to the Governor Hotel at 4th and Market Streets in downtown Harrisburg. (The building remains part of the city landscape today.) Although Federal Radio Commission records show only Norman Hoffman as the station owner, newspaper articles indicate that Hoffman's father Benjamin was part owner of the station.
The Hoffmans sold WCOD to the Keystone Broadcasting Corporation in 1930. Keystone was originally the partnership of J.D. Pannell, J.S. Blankenhorn, and G.J. Plasey, all of the Harrisburg area.
In 1932, it was revealed that the Stackpole family, the owners of the Telegraph Press, Harrisburg Telegraph newspaper, and WHP, Inc. (WCOD's competitor), had purchased 75% of Keystone's stock. Telegraph Press treasurer Col. Edward J. Stackpole appeared before the Federal Radio Commission in Washington to answer allegations the Telegraph was involved in a radio monopoly in Harrisburg. The exact outcome of Stackpole's testimony is unclear since the Telegraph organization continued to hold its majority interests in both WHP and WCOD.
1933 to present: WKBO
WCOD was unveiled as WKBO on November 8, 1933, complete with brand new studios and a new transmitter site at the Penn-Harris Hotel on the corner of Third and Locust Streets. The on-air dedication was a black tie celebration worthy of a larger city with an evening of popular orchestral music from the Penn-Harris ballroom.
WKBO was managed by Clarence G. "Red" Moss from 1933 to 1947. Moss was a leading actor in a number of small theater productions in Harrisburg in his spare time. He was succeeded at WKBO by Dave Bennett in 1948. Bennett started as a sportscaster on WKBO before taking over as station manager, then he moved on to be the first general manager for WTPA-TV in the 1950s.
Some of WKBO's early program directors include Dick Redmond and Don Wear. Redmond, who was known for his long association with WHP in the 1940s and 1950's, was WKBO's program director in the mid 1930s. Don Wear became WKBO's programmer in 1948 and eventually moved on to program WTPA-TV for Dave Bennett in the 1950s.
WKBO's studios remained at the Penn-Harris Hotel until 1938, when they were moved a block away to 31 N. 2nd Street. The transmitter and antenna stayed on the roof until 1973. WKBO's antenna system was a shortened counterpoise radial system that only extended to the edge of the building's roof.