WBHK (98.7 FM) is an

urban adult contemporary Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music on ...

music formatted

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

owned by SummitMedia that serves

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

. It is currently ranked by the

Arbitron Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...

rating system as the nation's highest rated

station. ''98.7 Kiss FM'' is

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Warrior A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have been p ...

and broadcasts on the 98.7 Megahertz (MHz) frequency at

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would hav ...

of 39 kilowatts (kW) from atop Red Mountain. It is owned by SummitMedia along with six other stations, and all share studios in the Cahaba neighborhood in far southeast Birmingham. The station has an unusually strong signal that broadcasts on a class C1 that can be heard across the majority of

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

Central Alabama Central Alabama is a region in the state of Alabama. It is sometimes considered part of North Alabama because both regions are mountainous, but in some definitions they are different regions. The Valley and Ridge Province of the Appalachians cons ...

and even in parts of eastern

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

and western

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. WBHK is sometimes mistaken for or confused with the former

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urban AC with the same moniker, WRKS-FM, 98.7 Kiss FM (now WEPN-FM with an ESPN sports format). The similar musical format and dial position of both stations have allowed them to share on-air liners and even TV commercials—but neither station shares the same corporate ownership. In 2005, WBHK began broadcasting in

IBOC In-band on-channel (IBOC) is a hybrid method of transmitting digital radio and analog radio broadcast signals simultaneously on the same frequency. The name refers to the new digital signals being broadcast in the same AM or FM band (in-band) ...

digital radio Digital radio is the use of digital technology to transmit or receive across the radio spectrum. Digital transmission by radio waves includes digital broadcasting, and especially digital audio radio services. Types In digital broadcasting syst ...

, using the

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...

system from

iBiquity iBiquity Digital Corporation is a company formed by the merger of USA Digital Radio and Lucent Digital Radio. Based in Columbia, Maryland, with additional offices in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, and Auburn Hills, Michigan, iBiquity is a privately ...

History

98.7 began as WLBI, ''"Great 98"'', a 6 kW rimshot hot adult contemporary station licensed to Warrior. The station was assigned the WLBI call letters by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

on December 13,

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

. Its tower was on a hill off Arkadelphia Road west of Warrior, and they broadcast from a small trailer also located in Warrior. The station was built by Terry Bentley Lowery and Danny Bentley, both with broadcasting interests in Oneonta, Alabama. In 1994, the station became known as ''"98 Lite"'', and changed to a soft adult contemporary format. In 1995, the station began adding smooth jazz programming and eventually morphed into a smooth jazz format; the station continued to broadcast as "98 Lite". On July 24, 1996, after many years as a low-rated AC, the station became an urban AC with the moniker and slogan, ''"98.7 Kiss FM, Smooth R&B and Classic Soul"'', changing to its current WBHK callsign on July 1, 1996. With the format change the ratings for the frequency increased. In 2002, the transmitter was upgraded and moved to Red Mountain after many years of broadcasting from a choppy signal. On July 20, 2012, Cox Radio, Inc. announced the sale of WBHK and 22 other stations to Summit Media LLC for $66.25 million. The sale was consummated on May 3, 2013.

Station management

* General Manager: John Walker * Program Director: Darryl Johnson * Marketing Director: Justin Ragland

References

External links

98.7 Kiss FM WBHK official website
* {{coord, 33.485, N, 86.807, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title BHK Urban adult contemporary radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1991 1991 establishments in Alabama