WJBO Newsradio streams conservative talk and news live from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, carrying Fox News Radio alongside a full lineup of talk programming. You can stream it free right now on Radio Shuffle, wherever you are in the world.
Born in a New Orleans Basement
WJBO's story starts nowhere near Baton Rouge. The station first went on air April 17, 1922 as WAAB, sponsored by the New Orleans Times-Picayune and operated out of Valdemar Jensen's own home basement on South Patrick Street, according to a Central City News account of the station's history. In early 1926 it took the call letters WJBO, standing for the Jensen Broadcasting Organization, and made its formal commercial debut on February 28, 1926 as the first commercially operated radio station in the South.
A Capital City Needed a Station
The Manship family, owners of Baton Rouge's The Advocate newspaper, bought WJBO in 1932 and relocated it to Baton Rouge, where it signed on in December 1934 as the capital's first commercial radio station. The Manships held onto the station for 55 years, finally selling it to station manager George Jenne in 1989.
An Underground Transmitter Built for War
WJBO's power grew to 5,000 watts by 1941, and World War II brought an unusual federal requirement: concerned about the risk of bombing, the government required WJBO to build an underground transmitter in West Baton Rouge Parish. That wartime-era site, built to keep the signal alive even if the surface facility were destroyed, is reportedly still in use today.
The Talk Host Who Nearly Got the Station Picketed
In 1988, station manager George Jenne made a hire that triggered a genuine backlash before it paid off: a little-known conservative talk host named Rush Limbaugh. The reaction was immediate and hostile, with angry callers flooding the station and Rabbi Barry Weinstein picketing outside. Within about two weeks the tide turned, new listeners started tuning in, and Limbaugh stayed on WJBO for the next 25 years.
Tune In
From a New Orleans basement broadcast to an underground wartime transmitter and a talk host who survived a picket line, WJBO has carried Baton Rouge's airwaves for a century. Stream it free on Radio Shuffle to hear it live.