If you’ve ever sat in a cab crawling down FDR Drive at 7 a.m., you’ve heard the sound. It’s that crisp, authoritative staccato of a reporter breaking down the overnight Nikkei numbers while you're just trying to wake up. That’s WBBR 1130. For some, it’s just background noise. For anyone with a stake in the markets, it’s the actual pulse of the city.
Finding a way to wbbr 1130 listen live isn't just about turning a dial anymore. We’re in 2026. The way we consume data has changed, but the 1130 AM signal—blasting 50,000 watts from those four towers in Carlstadt, New Jersey—remains a beast. It’s a "clear-channel" station, which basically means it has the right to blast its signal across half the Eastern Seaboard at night without interference.
But honestly? Most of us aren't carrying around an AM pocket radio. We’re streaming.
Where to Actually Find the Live Stream
Let’s get the technical stuff out of the way first. You have about four "real" ways to get the feed without static.
- The Bloomberg Professional Terminal: If you’re lucky enough (or your firm is rich enough) to have a Terminal, you just type
RADIO <GO>. It’s the highest-fidelity version of the stream. - The Bloomberg Radio+ App: This is the flagship. It’s free. It doesn't just give you the live feed; it lets you "DVR" the radio. If you missed the first ten minutes of Surveillance, you can just slide the bar back.
- iHeartRadio & TuneIn: These are the workhorses. If you use a smart speaker like Alexa or Sonos, you’re likely pulling the WBBR 1130 feed through one of these aggregators.
- The Website: Simple, old-school, works in a browser tab while you’re pretending to work on a spreadsheet.
Why 1130 AM is Different from "Business News"
Most business news is reactionary. Something happens, a guy in a suit yells about it on TV, and everyone panics. WBBR is different because it’s effectively the audio wing of the Bloomberg Terminal.
The reporters on air, people like Tom Keene, Jonathan Ferro, and Lisa Abramowicz, have access to the same data feeds that the world’s biggest hedge fund managers are staring at in real-time. When they talk about "yield curve inversion" or "spread compression," they aren't guessing. They're looking at the raw math.
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It’s an elite vibe, for sure. But it’s accessible if you know the language.
The Heavy Hitters: Who You’re Hearing
If you're tuning in for the first time, you’ll notice a few distinct voices that define the station's personality.
Tom Keene is the undisputed dean of the morning. He’s known for his bow ties and his absolute refusal to tolerate "fluff." He’ll grill a CEO on their CAPEX strategy before they’ve even finished their first cup of coffee. Then you have June Grasso on Bloomberg Law, who takes the most dense Supreme Court filings and makes them actually make sense for the rest of us.
It’s not just New York talk either. Because markets never sleep, the station flips to London in the middle of the night for Daybreak Europe with Stephen Carroll and Caroline Hepker. Then it’s over to Hong Kong. It’s a relentless cycle.
From Frank Sinatra to Federal Reserves
There is a weird, ghost-like history to the 1130 frequency that most listeners don't realize. Before Michael Bloomberg bought the station in 1992 for about $13.5 million, it was WNEW.
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WNEW was the legendary home of "The Make-Believe Ballroom." It was where Frank Sinatra became a star. It was the station of sophistication and pop standards. When Bloomberg took over and flipped it to 24/7 business news, people were genuinely upset. They thought the soul was being ripped out of New York radio.
But Bloomberg did something smart. He kept the "sophistication" part. He just traded the violins for volatility. Today, WBBR 1130 is the flagship of a global network, but it still feels uniquely New York. It’s recorded in the Bloomberg Tower on Lexington Avenue, and you can feel that midtown energy in every broadcast.
The Secret to Using WBBR for Your Own Portfolio
Most people just listen to wbbr 1130 listen live for the headlines. That’s a mistake. The real value is in the long-form interviews.
When Barry Ritholtz hosts Masters in Business, he isn't doing 5-minute soundbites. He’s sitting down with people like Howard Marks or Ray Dalio for an hour. They talk about the philosophy of risk, not just what the S&P 500 did today.
If you want to actually get better at investing, stop watching the "ticker tape" on TV and start listening to the nuance on the radio. You learn the why behind the move, which is way more valuable than just knowing the price went up or down.
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Breaking Down the Daily Schedule
If you're trying to figure out when to tune in, here’s how the day generally shakes out on 1130 AM:
- Bloomberg Daybreak (Overnight - 6:00 AM): The "Global Hand-off." You get the closing numbers from Tokyo and the opening bell in London.
- Bloomberg Surveillance (6:00 AM - 9:00 AM): This is the "Must-Listen" window. It’s the pre-market setup for Wall Street.
- Bloomberg Markets (10:00 AM - 2:00 PM): Mid-day analysis. This is where the heavy lifting on sector-specific news happens.
- Balance of Power (1:00 PM & 5:00 PM): This covers the intersection of politics and money—Washington D.C. meets Wall Street.
- Bloomberg Businessweek (Daily at various times): Hosted by Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec, it’s more about the "stories" of companies and the people running them.
Practical Steps to Get Started
If you want to integrate this into your routine, don't just leave it to chance.
- Set a Shortcut: If you have an iPhone, create a "Shortcuts" automation that opens the Bloomberg Radio app as soon as your 7 a.m. alarm goes off.
- Download the Podcasts: If you can't listen live, almost every major show is chopped up into a podcast immediately after it airs. Look for Bloomberg Surveillance or Masters in Business on Spotify.
- Check the Signal: If you’re actually in New York and using a car radio, remember that 1130 AM can be finicky near skyscrapers. If it cuts out, the HD-2 or HD-3 signal on your FM dial often carries a digital version of the same feed.
The world of finance is moving faster than ever in 2026. Whether you're a day trader or just someone worried about their 401(k), having a direct line to the most data-rich newsroom in the world is a massive advantage. Just remember: when the markets get crazy, everyone else starts shouting. On 1130, they just start analyzing. That’s the difference.
Go ahead and download the Bloomberg Radio+ app today, or simply ask your smart speaker to "Play Bloomberg 1130" to start hearing the global markets in real-time.