WBCL: faith on the FM dial

First broadcast 8 January 1976

The station: Faith broadcasting in Fort Wayne is not a footnote but a ratings fact. WBCL signed on 8 January 1976 from Fort Wayne Bible College — the college's 1976 yearbook, The Guidon, calls it "Fort Wayne's first and only non-commercial radio station," broadcasting contemporary Christian music at 50,000 watts from studios at 1115 West Rudisill Boulevard. When the college merged into Taylor University, ownership of the station passed to Taylor in 1992, and WBCL remains Taylor University's listener-supported contemporary Christian station, now a small network across the region. In 2023 Taylor University reported WBCL rated the number-one station in the Fort Wayne market — a Bible-college radio station at the top of a commercial market, in the city that also gave the format some of its national voices (see the Artists and People records for the broadcasters).

Sources:

1. Fort Wayne Bible College, The Guidon (1976 yearbook, Allen County Public Library digital collections) — "Fort Wayne's first and only non-commercial radio station."
2. WBCL station and Taylor University records (wbcl.org; taylor.edu, 2023) — the 1976 founding by Fort Wayne Bible College, the 1992 transfer to Taylor, the number-one market rating, the Rudisill Boulevard studios.