WSBM went on-the-air on March 26, 1946 as WJOI. The station was initially owned by Clyde Anderson and Joe Van Sandlt under the banner Florence Broadcasting Company. At the time, it was an ABC affiliate. In 1965, an FMsister station was purchased: the former WOWL-FM (107.3 FM; now WQLT-FM). The following year, the pair were sold to WXOR, Inc., a predecessor of its current owner.
In 1973, the station changed its callsign to WXOR, having sold the WJOI calls to NBC for use on its Joy!–branded FM station WMAQ-FM (101.1 FM; now WKQX). Beginning that decade, the station began airing a country music format. WXOR's callsign was changed to the current WSBM in 1984, followed by another format change to beautiful music.
Former logo
In the early 90s, the station again changed formats, this time to urban adult contemporary under the branding Magic 1340. The station began its sports radio format in 2010, initially affiliated with Fox Sports Radio. In 2013, affiliations were changed to CBS Sports Radio, before returning to Fox, with which it remains associated with today.[4]
Translators
WSBM AM 1340 is currently rebroadcast on translator W250BY 97.9 FM. This translator had previously broadcast on 98.3 FM until its frequency was changed to 98.5 in 2001. Incidentally, this was the same frequency as WJOI-FM which was on the air in the early- and mid-1950s. This was a 140-watt FM station (the first FM station in the Florence-Muscle Shoals market) which rebroadcast WJOI AM 1340. W253AH uses the old WJOI-FM antenna which was mounted on 1340's tower in the 1950s.[5]
WJOI-FM went off the air sometime in the late 1950s, and should not be confused with the 1960s' WJOI-FM on 107.3 which later became WQLT.
