WIBL

This article is about 107.7 in Illinois. For the Augusta, Georgia station on 102.3, see WEKL. For the Augusta station on 105.7, see WLUB.

WIBL (107.7 FM), known as "The Bull", is a commercial radio station in Central Illinois with a country music radio format. WIBL is licensed to Fairbury, Illinois, and serves the Bloomington-Normal radio market. Owned by Pilot Media, it is operated by Zimmer Radio Group.

WIBL

Fairbury, Illinois
Broadcast area	Bloomington-Normal
Frequency	107.7 MHz
Branding	107-7 & 92-1 The Bull
Programming
Format	Country
Affiliations	Compass Media Networks
Ownership
Owner	Pilot Media LLC
Operator	Zimmer Media Group (through subsidiary Great Plains Media)
Sister stations	WZIM, WRPW
History
First air date	August 2000 (as WZBM)
Former call signs	WBZM (2000–2003) WYST (2003–2010)
Call sign meaning	Illinois' Bull
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	86178
Class	B1
ERP	14,000 watts
HAAT	135 meters (443 ft)
Translator	92.1 W221CY (Normal)
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	1077thebull.com

WIBL has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 14,000 watts, broadcasting from a transmitter on South Pine Street south of Lexington. The station also has an FM translator covering Bloomington-Normal proper, W221CY (92.1), licensed to Normal.

History

The station signed on in August 2000; 25 years ago (2000-08) as WBZM, "The Buzz". Owned by Cromwell Broadcasting, it was operated out of Peoria with an alternative rock format shared with WIXO in Peoria, featuring Bob and Tom, and sharing that station's personell.

Cromwell sold off its Peoria stations in 2001, with WBZM not included. Operations were moved to Cromwell's Decatur facility while the station remained for sale. At the end of 2001, AAA Entertainment purchased the station, at first simulcasting WIHN, then WDQZ.

On March 28, 2003, the station switched to its own adult contemporary format as "Star 107.7", with the new calls WYST. Originally transmitting from Fairbury, the station's transmitter was moved three months later to Lexington, allowing it full coverage of the inner ring of the Bloomington-Normal metro for the first time.

In February 2007, the format was modified to what would be a placeholder urban contemporary format, branding as the "heart and soul" of Bloomington-Normal. Two months later, it was integrated into the Zimmer stations through Great Plains Media, with that entity taking control of the station through a local marketing agreement while the station was in the process of being sold to GPM. Zimmer would then wait until the sale was closed in late June 2007, and on June 29, the station became a country station as "107.7 The Bull", though it did not change its calls to reflect its new steer-specific branding for three years. The station finally switched to its current WIBL callsign on August 17, 2010.