WWWH (AM)

WWWH
City Haleyville, Alabama
Broadcast area Marion County and Franklin County, Alabama
Frequency 1230 kHz
First air date April 1, 1949
Format Silent (was News/Talk)
Power 1,000 watts (unlimited)
Class C
Facility ID 25850
Transmitter coordinates 34°14′00″N 87°37′32″W / 34.23333°N 87.62556°W / 34.23333; -87.62556
Former callsigns WJBB (1949-2011)[1]
Affiliations Dial Global, Westwood One
Owner AMS Radio, LLC
Sister stations WWWH-FM

WWWH (1230 AM) was a 1,000-watt radio station licensed to serve the community of Haleyville, Alabama. The station, established in 1949 as "WJBB", was owned by AMS Radio, LLC.

Programming

WWWH originally broadcast a news/talk radio format to the Winston, Marion and Franklin County, Alabama area. Weekday "NewsTalk 1230" programming included "3WH Mornings" with a mix of news and information, business news from the MarketWatch radio network, plus talk shows hosted by Dennis Miller,[2] Michael Smerconish,[3] and Jim Bohannon.[4] The station flipped from full-service Southern Gospel to news/talk on January 1, 2012.[5]

History

This station was assigned call sign "WJBB" in 1949 by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and began operating with just 250 watts of power.[1] From 1951 though November 2011, the station was owned by the Slatton family.[6][7] John Lewis Slatton was the president of The Haleyville Broadcasting Company, Inc., and general manager of WJBB (1230 AM) and its sister station WJBB-FM (92.7) until his death in 2008.[7] In 1986, Slatton was named ABA Broadcaster of the Year by the Alabama Broadcasters Association for his work with WJBB-AM/FM.[8] Slatton's son, Terry Slatton, managed the station in later years.

In October 2011, The Haleyville Broadcasting Company, Inc., reached an agreement to transfer the broadcast licenses for WJBB and WJBB-FM to AMS Radio, LLC, for a combined price of $90,000. The new company was owned by Timothy and Emily A. Smyder of Marietta, Georgia. The FCC approved the deal on November 29, 2011, and formal consummation of the transaction took place the next day.[9] The new owners had the stations' call signs changed to WWWH and WWWH-FM, respectively, on December 7, 2011.[1]

Through December 31, 2011, this station aired a full service "Good News Radio" format branded as "The Light".[10] This included Southern Gospel music, live and local disc jockeys, plus local news, farm reports, community bulletins, political coverage, and other northwest Alabama happenings and events.[11] The station aired Haleyville High School varsity football plus varsity boys and girls basketball live. The station was an affiliate of the University of Alabama college sports network.

On February 1, 2015, WWWH went silent. On July 27, 2015, WWWH turned in its license to the FCC; the FCC cancelled the license and deleted the WWWH call sign on August 4, 2015.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Call Sign History". FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
  2. "Radio Station Search Results: Alabama". The Dennis Miller Show. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
  3. "Affiliate Map". Smerconich. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
  4. "Station Listings for America In the Morning in the state of Alabama". The Official Jim Bohannon Site. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
  5. "Paradise 92.7 Contest". HBTV. December 28, 2011. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
  6. "Directory of AM and FM Radio Stations in the U.S.". 1963 Broadcasting Yearbook. Washington, DC: Broadcasting Publications, Inc. 1963. p. B-5.
  7. 1 2 "Ownership Report for Commercial Broadcast Stations (BOA - 20071129ADC)". Federal Communications Commission. November 29, 2007.
  8. "ABA Broadcaster of the Year 1986". Alabama Broadcasters Association.
  9. "Application Search Details (BAL-20111020AFJ)". FCC Media Bureau. November 30, 2011. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
  10. "Station Information Profile". Arbitron. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
  11. Elliott, J.W. Of Mikes and Men: WJBB / J.W.E. Haleyville, Alabama: Quillen Studios.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/28/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.