WTDR-FM (92.7 FM, "Thunder 92.7") is a

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 radi ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

to serve Talladega, Alabama, United States. The station is owned by Jeff Beck, through licensee The Jeff Beck Broadcasting Group, LLC. It airs a combination

classic country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on innov ...

and

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

format.

History

New FM station WHTB Stereo 93 began broadcasting with 250

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

s of

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 h ...

at 92.7

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

on November 10,

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

. The station was launched under the ownership of Jimmy E. Woodward. On April 1,

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, the station was assigned the call letters WEYY-FM (to match former AM sister station WEYY, now known as WVOK) 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 jurisdicti ...

. In February 1987, Woodard Broadcasting Company owner Jimmy E. Woodard agreed to sell WEYY-FM to Radio Talladega, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on February 25, 1987. In August 1992, Radio Talladega, Inc., reached an agreement to sell this station to James H. Jacobs, Jr., and Laura A. Jacobs, the equal co-owners of Jacobs Broadcast Group, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on September 16, 1992, and the transaction was consummated on September 30, 1992. The station was assigned the WTDR call letters by the FCC on October 25,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

. The station flipped from

to a

format on January 5, 2009. Less than a year later, however, Thunder began to add country music back into its playlist. On September 5, 2012, WTDR, along with its sister station WFZX, were sold to Jeff Beck, owner of The Jeff Beck Broadcasting Group, LLC. On September 12, 2012, the station's call sign was changed to WTDR-FM. The sale of the two stations to Beck was consummated on January 3, 2012, at a purchase price of $745,000.

Construction permit

On November 16, 2005, the station was granted a construction permit to change the station's

community of license In American, Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American broad ...

to Munford, Alabama. The station's

would be reduced to 250

s but the antenna would be raised to a

height above average terrain Height above average terrain (HAAT), or (less popularly) effective height above average terrain (EHAAT), is the vertical position of an antenna site is above the surrounding landscape. HAAT is used extensively in FM radio and television, as it i ...

of 481.2 meters (1579 feet) on the tower currently used by

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the eart ...

WCIQ located at 33°29'06"N, 85°48'32"W, on the top of

Mount Cheaha Cheaha Mountain , often called Mount Cheaha, is the highest natural point in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is located a few miles northwest of the town of Delta in Cheaha State Park, which offers a lodge, a restaurant, and other amenities. Desc ...

, the highest point in the state of Alabama. This permit expired on November 16, 2008 with the move not yet completed, but on November 24, 2008, the station applied for an identical construction permit. That application was approved on January 29, 2009 and expired on January 29, 2012 with no action having been taken by the station.

References

External links

WTDR official website
* {{Country Radio Stations in Alabama TDR-FM Classic country radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1972 Talladega County, Alabama 1972 establishments in Alabama