WUMP

WUMP
City Madison, Alabama
Broadcast area Huntsville, Alabama
Branding SportsRadio 730 The UMP
Slogan "The Tennessee Valley's Sports Authority"
Frequency 730 kHz
Translator(s) 103.9 W280BA (Madison)
First air date 1983 (as WABT at 1360)
Format Sports
Power 1,000 watts (day)
129 watts (night)
Class D
Facility ID 39590
Transmitter coordinates 34°41′46″N 86°44′19″W / 34.69611°N 86.73861°W / 34.69611; -86.73861
Callsign meaning UMPire[1]
Former callsigns WABT (1982-1985)
WDKT (1985-1991)
WKMW (1991-1993)
WBBI (1993-1995)[2]
Former frequencies 1360 kHz (1983-1985)
Affiliations CBS Sports Radio
Owner Cumulus Media
(Cumulus Licensing LLC)
Sister stations WHRP, WVNN, WVNN-FM, WWFF-FM, WZYP
Webcast Listen Live
Listen Live via iHeart
Website 730ump.com

WUMP (730 AM, "SportsRadio 730 The UMP") is a sports talk formatted radio station licensed to Madison, Alabama, where its transmitter tower is located. WUMP primarily serves the Huntsville, Alabama, market, though its studios are located in Athens. The station is owned by Cumulus Media, based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Programming

Sports

WUMP currently carries Alabama Hammers (Professional Indoor Football League (2012)) games.[3] The station is the Huntsville affiliate for the Tennessee Titans (NFL) radio network,[4] Dial Global play-by-play (including NCAA and NFL games), and University of Alabama athletics.[5][6] As part of its previous affiliation with ESPN Radio, WUMP also broadcast select NCAA Football, Major League Baseball, and NBA games, including the Bowl Championship Series, World Series, and NBA Finals.

WUMP broadcast the entire schedule of games for the Huntsville Stars (AA baseball-Southern League) in 2007 and 2008.[7][8] WUMP also formerly featured live broadcasts of the Huntsville Havoc (SPHL) [9] and Huntsville Flight (NBDL).

Network affiliation

The station is currently an affiliate of CBS Sports Radio. The station was an ESPN Radio affiliate in the late-1990s and early-2000s before losing it to then-rival WTKI (1450 AM) in late 2002.[10] The affiliation returned to WUMP on February 6, 2007, after WTKI was sold and changed formats.[11]

History

Launch at 1360 AM

This station received its original construction permit for a 500 watt station broadcasting on 1360 kHz from the Federal Communications Commission on September 13, 1982.[12] The new station was assigned the call letters WABT by the FCC. WABT received its license to cover from the FCC on June 19, 1983.[13] The station aired a country music format.

In June 1985, The Great American Broadcasting Corporation reached an agreement to sell this station to Excelsior Broadcasting Corporation. The deal was approved by the FCC on July 19, 1985, and the transaction was consummated on January 22, 1986.[14]

Move to 730 AM

The station had applied to the FCC in September 1983 to change frequencies from 1360 kHz to 730 kHz and increase power to 1,000 watts. In July 1985, after WJMW moved from 730 kHz to 770 kHz, the FCC issued a construction permit for the changes.[15] The new owners had the FCC change to station's callsign to WDKT on December 26, 1985.[2]

With new ownership, new call letters, a new frequency, and increased power in place, the station changed formats to an urban contemporary format branded as "D-73".

Financial problems

Facing increasing financial difficulties, in February 1989 the license for this station was involuntarily transferred from Excelsior Broadcasting Corporation to Excelsior Broadcasting Corporation, Debtor-In-Possession. The involuntary transfer was approved by the FCC on March 2, 1989.[16] In April 1989, Vascular Diagnostic Labs bought out the previous shareholders of Excelsior Broadcasting Corporation, the licensee for this station. The transfer of control was approved by the FCC on July 13, 1989.[17]

In August 1989, with the financial issues resolved and the previous shareholders bought out, Excelsior Broadcasting Corporation was dissolved and the license was involuntarily transferred to Vascular Diagnostic Labs owner Dr. Merlin Kelsick. The transfer was approved by the FCC on November 29, 1990.[18]

News and talk

The call letters were changed to WBBI on August 19, 1991,[2] after Dr. Merlin Kelsick completed a deal to sell this station to Phoenix Capital Corporation. The deal was approved by the FCC on September 12, 1991, and the transaction was consummated on September 17, 1991.[19] The station switched to a news/talk format.

The station's callsign was changed to WKMW on June 1, 1993.[2] In June 1993, Phoenix Capital Corporation reached an agreement to sell WKMW to Madison Radio Company, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on July 19, 1993, and the transaction was consummated on October 28, 1993.[20]

Sports radio

WUMP logo, 2004 to 2007

In May 1995, Madison Radio Company, Inc., reached an agreement to sell this station to Tennessee Valley Radio, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on July 31, 1995, and the transaction was consummated on October 3, 1995.[21] The new owners had the FCC change the station's call letters to the current WUMP on October 6, 1995.[2] The new callsign was chosen to match the station's new sports radio format and branding as "The Ump", an abbreviation of umpire.

Corporate ownership

The Dunnavant family of Athens owned the station from the early 1990s until agreeing to sell it to Cumulus Broadcasting in 2003. This ended a 55-year presence in the market by Athens Broadcasting, founded in 1948 by Homer Felix "Pap" Dunnavant.[22]

On April 1, 2003, WUMP was sold by Athens Broadcasting Co. (William E. Dunnavant, president) to Cumulus Broadcasting Inc. as part of a four station deal with a total sale price of $22 million in cash and Cumulus common stock.[23][24] The acquisition of the stations was completed in July 2003.[25] WUMP remains co-owned with former Dunnavant stations WVNN and WZYP, in addition to WHRP and WWFF-FM.

Translators

WUMP's programming is also carried on a broadcast translator station to extend or improve the coverage area of the station. WUMP programming first appeared on the FM signal on November 26, 2008.

Call sign Frequency
(MHz) 		City of license ERP
W 		Class FCC info
W280BA 103.9 Madison, Alabama 99 D FCC

References

  1. ↑ Nelson, Bob (October 18, 2008). "Call Letter Origins". The Broadcast Archive. Retrieved October 31, 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Call Sign History". FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database.
  3. ↑ Benson, Reggie (May 21, 2004). "Vipers' voice on injury list". The Huntsville Times. p. 6E.
  4. ↑ "Titans Radio in Alabama". Titans Radio. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
  5. ↑ "Football Radio Network". Rolltide.com - The Official Web Site of University of Alabama Athletics. Retrieved December 7, 2008.
  6. ↑ "Men's Basketball Radio Network". Rolltide.com. Retrieved December 7, 2008.
  7. ↑ "Huntsville Stars games to air on 'The Ump'". The Huntsville News. January 31, 2007. p. 2E.
  8. ↑ "Huntsville Stars: General Info". AL.com. Retrieved December 7, 2008.
  9. ↑ "Local The UMP will carry Havoc hockey games". The Huntsville Times. July 21, 2005. p. 2C.
  10. ↑ Welch, Chris (November 24, 2002). "WTKI breaks off 'Relationship' with move to ESPN radio". The Huntsville Times. p. G6.
  11. ↑ McCarter, Mark (February 6, 2007). "ESPN programming will start today on radio's 'The UMP'". The Huntsville Times. Huntsville, Alabama.
  12. ↑ "Application Search Details (BP-19820416AJ )". FCC Media Bureau. September 13, 1982.
  13. ↑ "Application Search Details (BL-19830315AA)". FCC Media Bureau. June 19, 1983.
  14. ↑ "Application Search Details (BAPL-19850605ED)". FCC Media Bureau. January 22, 1986.
  15. ↑ "Application Search Details (BP-19830912AC)". FCC Media Bureau. July 2, 1985.
  16. ↑ "Application Search Details (BAL-19890216ED)". FCC Media Bureau. March 2, 1989.
  17. ↑ "Application Search Details (BTC-19881230EA)". FCC Media Bureau. July 13, 1989.
  18. ↑ "Application Search Details (BAL-19900824EC)". FCC Media Bureau. November 29, 1990.
  19. ↑ "Application Search Details (BAL-19910823EI)". FCC Media Bureau. September 17, 1991.
  20. ↑ "Application Search Details (BAL-19930604ED)". FCC Media Bureau. October 28, 1993.
  21. ↑ "Application Search Details ()". FCC Media Bureau. October 3, 1995.
  22. ↑ "Obituaries - Elsewhere". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. September 14, 1996. p. 4B. Dunnavant, Homer Felix "Pap," 98, whose media career began with a part-time job in radio and ended with a chain of stations; in Athens, Ala. He had been a farmer and barber in north Alabama when he decided to buy some time on radio in the 1930s and do his own show. In 1948, the Federal Communications Commission gave him permission to open his first radio station in Athens. From that grew Athens Broadcasting, with radio stations WZYP, WVNN, WPZM and WUMP in Athens
  23. ↑ "Cumulus Media Inc. Enters Huntsville, AL with Purchase of Four Stations". Business Wire. Atlanta, Georgia. April 1, 2003.
  24. ↑ BIA Financial Networks (2003-04-21). "Changing Hands". Broadcasting & Cable.
  25. ↑ "Breaking News - July 24, 2003". FMQB. July 24, 2003. Retrieved January 2, 2008.
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