branding 102.7 webn slogan cincinnati s rock station frequency 102.7 mhz also on hd radio translator s w264bw norwood 100.7 mhz w272by cincinnati 102.3 mhz w292co middletown 106.3 mhz first air date august 31 1967 format mainstream rock hd2 alternative rock hd3 mainstream urban erp 16 000 watts haat 264 meters class b facility id 29734 transmitter coordinates 39 06 59.00 n 84 30 7.00 w 39.1163889 n 84.5019444 w 39.1163889 ; 84.5019444 affiliations cincinnati bengals radio network premiere networks premium choice owner iheartmedia citicasters licenses inc. sister stations wcky wkfs wkrc wlw wsai webcast listen live hd2 listen live hd3 listen live website 102.7 webn webn 102.7 fm branded 102.7 webn is a commercial mainstream rock radio station licensed to cincinnati ohio serving greater cincinnati . owned by iheartmedia webn serves as the fm flagship for the cincinnati bengals radio network ; the cincinnati affiliate for the side show countdown with nikki sixx ; and the home of radio personality kidd chris . the webn studios are located in cincinnati as is the station transmitter . besides a standard analog transmission webn broadcasts over three hd radio channels and is available online via iheartradio . 1 webn hd2 simulcasts over local translators w264bw norwood 100.7 fm and w292co middletown 106.3 fm while webn hd3 simulcasts over w272by cincinnati 102.3 fm . 2 3 4 5 6 7 contents 1 history 1.1 early advertising 1.2 local artists 1.3 fireworks show 2 current programming 2.1 hd2 the project 100.7 106.3 2.2 hd3 102.3 the beat 3 references 4 external links history edit this section needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . july 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message when it initially went on the air on august 31 1967 8 it was owned by frank wood sr. a cincinnati attorney . webn broadcast classical music daytimes and an all night jazz program . the night programming was managed by a bank of 10 inch scully reel to reel tape machines in an early instance of station automation . however in the late evening hours of saturdays and sundays it also broadcast a program hosted by frank s son and ebn s 1st dj frank wood jr. or known by his air name michael bo xanadu called the jelly pudding show . the show featured many album cuts by both popular and somewhat obscure artists other than the recognized hit songs or radio edits tagged rock jazz folk and ragas . the program and its music proved to be so popular that the station eventually made this album oriented rock the bulk of its programming much to the chagrin of the older wood . the station pioneered the concept of album oriented rock and is in fact the longest running aor formatted station in the united states first airing this format in 1967 . 9 however it honored its roots as a classical music station by broadcasting classical music on sunday mornings from 8 a.m. to noon with frank wood sr. as the host . this proved to be one of the station s most popular programs until wood retired from the air on june 30 1985 . perhaps the most distinctive feature of the program was frank s weekly tradition of always playing a very long work which he preceded by announcing that the length of the work would give him enough time to eat a pie from graeter s a popular cincinnati ice cream parlor that specializes in ice cream pies confectioneries and other baked goods . after wood s retirement he died in 1991 the classical program continued for a few years with new host larry thomas and later began to include new age music . its time was shifted to 6 to 10 a.m. and the show was eventually dropped in the late 1980s . in its early days webn broadcast from a bright blue old house in cincinnati s west side price hill neighborhood at 1050 considine ave. referred to on air as price s mountain . anyone at any time 24 hours a day could visit the station and walk right into the studio home and watch on air personalities broadcast their programs . visitors were right in the studio as the djs performed live . the house wasn t hard to spot it had what appeared to be a cocker spaniel sitting in an old barbershop chair on the front porch . the taxidermied dog had been frank wood sr. s pet named miles duffy . wood being basically a one man show when he began the station decided to name miles duffy as the station s program director to give the impression that webn had more employees than just himself . this joke continued officially for some years even as the station continued to grow . among that was the original air personalities that made webn one of a kind with djs like frank michael bo xanadu wood jr. denton marr tyrone ty williams tom mcgreevey dave howe geoffrey captain geoff nimmo russell russ mims chris gray peter bright steve ginger sutton brian d o donnell mary the real deal peale jason uncle jay gilbert rick bird craig kid crazy kopp tom sandman dick findley eric hauenstein don goldberg with dwight tindle and miss juanita butterfly johnson . another early voice at the station was future creator of the iconic webn morning show the dawn patrol and ebn s first and only female morning jock robin rockin hood wood daughter of frank wood sr. and sister of ebn s first dj pd frank michael bo xanadu wood jr. in 1973 the station moved to the east side s hyde park square referred to on air as hyde s meadow . in 1988 the station moved to the neighborhood of mount adams this time calling it frog s mountain joining with several other stations purchased in recent years by its corporate parent jacor communications . in 1999 jacor was purchased by clear channel . finally in 2004 all cincinnati clear channel stations moved to the northern neighborhood of kenwood . webn continued to call its location frog s mountain . by 2006 webn was added to the nielsen bds active rock panel only to revert to mainstream rock the following year . citation needed early advertising edit the attitude also extended to actual advertising led by production directors russ mims don goldberg jay gilbert tom sandman and joel moss . ad time on webn was extremely desirable to local merchants but the station wasn t about to permit the staid and often amateurish production values that often permeated american radio . the majority of local spots were webn produced and bore the same outrageous wit and audacity that the station was known for . schoenling breweries beloved little kings cream ale was pushed with a long running series titled biggest is not always best . and as it had already promoted non existent events the station advertised products by brute force cybernetics also the name of the corporate holding company for the station . brute force cybernetics featured a logo of three monkeys based on the theme see no evil hear no evil speak no evil . among the bfc products for which the station broadcast tongue in cheek ads were cultured truffle franchises encephalographic printout device attach the electrodes to your head before going to sleep and the device will record the brilliant insight you otherwise remember having had just before you woke up and forgot what it was negative calorie cookies eating them actually burns calories portable hole apply it to a surface peel off the plastic backing make your stash or whatever then remove precognitive scanner place it behind your ear and it will read the speech center in your brain and emit a warning beep to prevent you from uttering faux pas freudian slips and ill timed obscenities stereo vision tvs a television mounted on a short track that bounced back and forth so quickly as to simulate 3d voice equalization ampules wrapped in cotton and filled with helium or sulfur hexafluoride ; break the ampule and inhale the gas to raise or lower the timbre of your voice respectively these spots were picked up by some other stations such as chicago s wdai in its progressive underground days c. 1971 . other spots were for the white rose and lilac virginity restoration clinic tree frog beer it doesn t taste like much but it gets you there faster and a spoof on the rambo movies entitled sambo real blood part fo featuring a black super hero driving a rescue cadillac and yelling hey chin ho ronnie reagan says you can kiss his white a. . . before a jet fly over drowns out the last word . a cross over between these spots and reality occurred in 1972 when hudepohl beer allowed some of its product for the cincinnati area to be wrapped in faux labels for webn s tree frog beer the sleazy people s beer . tree b. frog and his little brother tyrone z. frog soon became universal symbols for the station . the station markets tee shirts and sweatshirts with the station s mascot tree b. frog with a july august version just before the annual fireworks and in november december with a holiday version . the tag line for brute force cybernetics was we create a need then fill it . the station began referring to itself with monikers like a different kind a radio station the rock n roll station the last untamed radio station in north america webn rocks cincinnati good clean fun crank it up go rock yourself shut up and rock and the lunatic fringe of american fm the slogan comes from red rider s song lunatic fringe . as of 2014 webn still uses the slogan the lunatic fringe of american fm . 10 local artists edit webn was always passionate about promoting local artists allowing the young local kids that were to form the national country rock band pure prairie league to record the first demo of their hit amie in its studios . roger abramson the legendary rock and roll manager and producer took the demo to rca where they were signed to a major recording contract . in 1968 abramson s squack productions was sponsored by webn and promoted many major concerts including the doors which became a controversial event due to jim morrison s arrest at his concert in miami . also the concept of national artists who happened to be in town for shows performing live in the radio studio began at webn . as part of webn s commitment to promoting local artists it began issuing a series of records featuring local artists each designated a webn album project beginning in 1976 . proceeds from sales were donated to charity . the album projects featured exclusively local artists performing original songs . the album projects focused primarily on rock performances but featured a wide range of different styles including folk jazz and novelty songs . popular local bands such as the raisins and wheels had cuts on webn album projects . webn often gave airplay to songs on the album projects . eleven different webn album projects were released in the 1970s and 1980s . radio personality maxwell slater logan ben bornstein formerly heard on cleveland stations wmms wncx and briefly in columbus ohio at wnci as host of the maxwell show spent time at webn in early to mid 1990s under his shorted dj name max logan ; maxwell is currently off the air . 11 fireworks show edit riverfest webn fireworks is one of the most famous annual fireworks shows in the nation . citation needed webn also presents the cincinnati riverfest annual fireworks display a spectacular exhibition on