WJQX (100.5
FM, "JOX 2: ESPN 100.5") is a
sports
Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...
radio station licensed to Birmingham suburb of
Helena, Alabama
Helena () is a city in Jefferson and Shelby counties in the state of Alabama. Helena is considered a suburb of Birmingham and part of the Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area. As of 2022 thUnited States Census Bureau estimates the population to ...
, which serves
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
and central
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
. It is one of the Birmingham affiliates for the
Auburn
Auburn may refer to:
Places Australia
* Auburn, New South Wales
* City of Auburn, the local government area
*Electoral district of Auburn
*Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region
*Auburn, South Australia
*Auburn, Tasmania
*Aub ...
Sports Network. The station is owned by
Cumulus Media
Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 87 ...
. The station was assigned the WJQX 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 August 1, 2013.
This was the second station serving the Birmingham market to have held the WAPI-FM call sign. From 1958 until 1994, the station currently known as
WJOX-FM
WJOX-FM (94.5 FM) is a radio station licensed to Birmingham. The station airs a sports radio format. WJOX is owned by Cumulus Media (the parent of radio network Westwood One). The station was assigned the WJOX-FM call sign by the Federal Commun ...
was known as WAPI-FM. The station has studios in
Homewood and its transmitter is in
West Blocton, Alabama
West Blocton is a town in Bibb County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 1,217. The current mayor is Daniel Sims.
History
It was built on land once owned by Uriah Smith, near the company town Blocton. Many of its no ...
.
History of WJQX
The forerunner of WJQX signed on at 105.9 FM in the summer of 1993 as WWIV, licensed to
Trussville
Trussville is a city in Jefferson and St. Clair counties in the State of Alabama. It is a suburb of Birmingham and part of the Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its population at the 2020 census was
26,123.
Geography
Trussvi ...
, a suburb east of Birmingham. Originally, WWIV was a simulcast of
WYDE, which at the time was a talk radio station. After a few months, WWIV became WWBR and was known on the air as “105-9 the Bear”. WWBR was an
album rock
Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock.
Album-orient ...
/
active rock
Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...
station. While the format of the station was relatively well received by its listeners, a weak broadcast signal (3 kW) and less than ideal transmission tower location on Birmingham's eastern side hampered its ratings success.
In 1996, the format of WWBR was changed to alternative music, the call letters were changed to WRAX, and the on-air name of the station was changed to “106 the X”. In 1998, WRAX swapped dial positions with newly acquired sister station
WENN-FM, the former leading urban contemporary music station in Birmingham, and became known on the air as “107-7 the X”. The acquisition of WANZ by
Citadel Broadcasting
Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the country. Only iHeartMedia and Cumulus Media ...
caused WRAX to change dial positions once again, and in March 2005, WRAX moved again. Its on-air name was changed to “The X @ 100.5”. During its time on the air as "107.7 the X", the station released seven charity albums featuring live performances under the name Live in the X Lounge which benefited United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Birmingham.
History of 100.5 FM
The station first signed on at 100.7 FM in 1991 as WLXY-FM. WLXY was originally licensed to
Northport, served only the
Tuscaloosa
Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population of 1 ...
area and was known on the air as ''Arrow 100.7'', playing
classic rock
Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...
. Despite being less than 60 miles from Birmingham, the signal of Arrow 100.7 didn't cover any of the Birmingham metropolitan area. This was due in part to
WHMA-FM
WHMA-FM (95.3 FM, "The Big 95") is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Alexandria, Alabama, United States, it serves the Anniston-Oxford metropolitan area. The station is currently owned by Williams Communication ...
broadcasting from
Anniston at 100.5 and covering a significant part of the Birmingham area.
In 2001, WHMA-FM changed its city of license from Anniston to
College Park, Georgia
College Park is a city in Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton and Clayton County, Georgia, Clayton counties, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, adjacent to the southern boundary of the city of Atlanta. As of the 2020 United States Census, 20 ...
and became a part of the
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
radio market as
WWWQ
WWWQ (99.7 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Atlanta, Georgia, carrying a Top 40 (CHR) format known as "Q99.7". Owned by Cumulus Media, WWWQ serves the Atlanta metropolitan area as the regional affiliate for ''The Daly Download with ...
, leaving an open broadcasting channel for central Alabama. The ownership for WLXY petitioned to change the station's dial position from 100.7 to 100.5 in order to move its transmission tower closer to Birmingham and to boost its broadcast power, and in 2003, this petition was approved. In anticipation of its move into the Birmingham market, WLXY changed formats and call letters in early 2003. Looking to challenge Birmingham's alternative music station WRAX, the station adopted a similar format with the new call letters ''WANZ''. The station's on-air name was ''Z-100.7''. In April 2003, WANZ changed its dial position to 100.5 and began broadcasting from a taller tower near
Vance, enabling its signal to cover both the Birmingham and Tuscaloosa markets. With the new dial position, the station changed its name to ''Z-100.5''.
In 2005, Apex Broadcasting, the owners of WANZ and several Tuscaloosa-area stations, sold their radio properties to
Citadel Communications
Citadel Communications Ltd. is an American private broadcasting company. It is based in Bronxville, New York and owns 1 Low-power broadcasting#Television, low-power television station on which it operates a regional 24-hour news cycle, 24-hour Un ...
, owners of five stations in the Birmingham market including WRAX (107-7 the X), a station with a format that was virtually identical to that of WANZ. Not wanting to have two stations competing in the same format, the call letters and other intellectual property of WRAX was transferred to 100.5 FM in March 2005.
Switch to sports talk
At 3:00 p.m. on November 29, 2006, 100.5 became the FM home frequency of
WJOX, beginning a
simulcast
Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...
of the
AM sports talk station. The move came suddenly and unannounced on November 28, with the firing of the entire WRAX staff. On December 1, WRAX changed its call letters to WJOX-FM, and WJOX changed its call letters to
WSPZ. Reacting to the change in format at WRAX,
Clear Channel Communications
iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
changed the format of its
WENN-FM on December 2, thus returning alternative rock to the airwaves of Birmingham.
WJOX-FM and WSPZ began separate broadcast schedules on January 8, 2007, with many of the established programs from the former WJOX moving to the new FM sports outlet. The program schedule on WJOX-FM was:
* Mornings: ''The Opening Drive'', with Tony Kurre, former
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
Jay Barker
Jay Barker (born Harry Jerome Barker on July 20, 1972) is a retired professional American football quarterback. He is currently a Birmingham radio personality.
Football career
Barker attended Hewitt-Trussville High School in Trussville, Alab ...
, and former
Auburn University
Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...
placekicker
Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter.
Spe ...
Al Del Greco
Albert Louis Del Greco (born March 2, 1962) is a former American football placekicker and a current sports radio personality. After eight years as golf coach at Spain Park High School in Hoover, Alabama, Del Greco was named the head coach of the ...
* Mid-days: ''The Roundtable'' with Lance Taylor & Ian Fitzsimmon
roundtableradio.com* Afternoons: ''The
Paul Finebaum
Paul Finebaum is an American sports author, former columnist, and television-radio personality. His primary focus is sports, particularly those in the Southeast. After many years as a reporter, columnist, and sports-talk radio host in the Birmin ...
Radio Network''
Call sign and format changes for 100.5 frequency
On July 31, 2008, Citadel changed the callsign of the station to WWMM (the double "M's" in the call letters standing for the station's slogan–"Birmingham's Modern Music") and the city of license from Northport to
Helena.
The sports talk format and WJOX call-sign were moved to
94.5 FM
The following radio broadcasting, radio stations broadcast on FM broadcasting, FM frequency 94.5 MHz:
Argentina
* Radio María in Chascomús, Buenos Aires
* Radio María in Caleta Olivia, Santa Cruz
* Radio María in Río Gallegos, Santa Cruz
...
on July 6 and 31, respectively, as 100.5 began simulcasting on 94.5 as part of the transition. The rumors were 100.5 would flip to
Rhythmic AC
Rhythmic adult contemporary, often abbreviated as rhythmic AC or RAC, is an adult contemporary radio format. The format focuses primarily on rhythmic hits aimed towards an adult audience, often resembling a mixture of the classic hits and hot adult ...
as "100.5 The Vibe", but this never materialized, and WWMM would instead flip to
adult album alternative
Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. See pages 9 and 10Mills, Joshua. "A New Radio Music Format: Rock for Prosperous Adults" New York Times, Feb 28 1994, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. Accessed September 4, 2 ...
(Triple-A or AAA for short) as "Live 100.5, Birmingham's Modern Music" at 10:05 a.m. on August 15. The new station name and slogan were debuted live on-air by Scott Register, host of Reg's Coffee House, a local radio show, which held a special Friday edition of the program to kick off Live (the first song on the show was "How the Day Sounds" by
Greg Laswell
Greg Laswell (born April 26, 1974) is an American musician, recording engineer, and record producer from San Diego, California. He attended high school at Valley Christian High School in Cerritos, California. He has released 7 studio albums: '' ...
.) At Noon, the station launched regular programming, with the first song being "
Radio Nowhere
"Radio Nowhere" is the first single released from Bruce Springsteen's 2007 studio album ''Magic''. It was awarded Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance and Best Rock Song at the Grammy Awards of 2008.
History
The song is an up-tempo, electric guita ...
" by
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...
.
As WWMM, the station was never able to gain a significant share of local listenership. As rumors of a potential change in format began to surface, a Facebook group to save "Live 100.5" from the change (led by Jeff Tenner, owner of station sponsor Soca Clothing) garnered over 13,000 members after just a few days, and an online petition was started that garnered over 11,000 signatures to urge station management not to change the station's format. However, it served to be moot, as Citadel announced on February 14, 2010, that 100.5 would drop the format on February 22 in favor of a simulcast of sister station
WAPI. Reg's Coffee House aired its last show on 100.5 the same day; as a show of support for the protestors of the impending change, Register signed the show off with "
Uprising
Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority.
A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...
" by
Muse
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
. The station then ran jockless until the change at 12:01 a.m. on February 22. The stations were co-branded as "100-WAPI". Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011.
Commitment to "live and local" programming
The on-air line-up of 100-WAPI featured Matt Murphy and Valerie Vining in the morning, and Richard Dixon in the afternoons. Weekends and evenings featured national hosts like Mark Levin, Mike Huckabee, Kim Kommando, Bill Handel and others. WAPI was well known locally for covering breaking news events live.
The station achieved even more prominence when multiple tornadoes struck Alabama on April 27, 2011. Jim Stefkovich of the National Weather Service accurately predicted on WAPI ten hours before the tornadoes that the destruction would be very high and that there would be loss of life. As the tornado moved across northern Birmingham, WAPI hosts described it from their studio window overlooking downtown Birmingham. In the hours following the tornado, WAPI mobilized listeners to respond to critical needs, collecting and delivering more than two million dollars worth of basic supplies (ten semi-trucks) in the hardest-hit areas. In many cases, the WAPI delivery was the first help to arrive in some areas. WAPI continued to match needs and volunteers over the next ten days and the public service efforts of the station were covered by news media like the CBS Evening News and the BBC. Hundreds of volunteers worked with radio station staffers to organize and conduct the massive aid deliveries quickly.
JOX 2: ESPN 100.5
On July 24, 2013, the station announced it will join
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...
as a sister station to
WJOX-FM
WJOX-FM (94.5 FM) is a radio station licensed to Birmingham. The station airs a sports radio format. WJOX is owned by Cumulus Media (the parent of radio network Westwood One). The station was assigned the WJOX-FM call sign by the Federal Commun ...
. This resulted in WAPI returning exclusively to 1070 AM. Originally announced as ESPN Radio 100.5, the station announced it will simulcast several shows from WJOX-FM and call itself JOX 2: ESPN 100.5. The change came one month after
WZNN dropped the format and brought the sports format back to the 100.5 frequency after 5 years. This caused a name change on
WDGM in
Tuscaloosa
Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population of 1 ...
, as it was at the time a simulcast partner of WJOX as ''99.1 The Deuce''. On August 1, WAPI-FM changed its callsign to WJQX to match the format. On August 12, WJQX made the flip to sports.
WAPI Birmingham Breaks Up Simulcast to Bring ESPN Back
/ref>
Programming
All the programming is from ESPN Radio.
References
''Birmingham News'' article on format change, published 8/16/2008
''Birmingham News'' article on programming changes at WJOX-FM and WSPZ-AM, published January 6, 2007
External links
*
{{coord, 33.095, N, 87.254, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title
JQX
Radio stations established in 1991
Cumulus Media radio stations
1991 establishments in Alabama
ESPN Radio stations