WUHT (107.7
FM, "Hot 107.7") 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 ...
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 ...
that serves the
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 ...
, area. The station is also the flagship station of the
UAB Blazers
The UAB Blazers are the varsity intercollegiate athletic programs that represent the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). The school is one of the fourteen member institutions of Conference USA (C-USA) and participates in Division I of th ...
Radio Network which had previously been heard on sister station
WWMM. 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 has studios in
Homewood and its transmitter is atop Red Mountain.
History
The first station to broadcast from 107.7 in Birmingham was WENN-FM, a simulcast of the popular AM station at 1320 with the same call letters. WENN was the first FM station in Birmingham to target African-American listeners, playing what was then called “soul” music; the station had no FM competition until 1996. When the AM changed formats and call letters in 1983, WENN-FM was well established as Birmingham’s leading station for what is now called
urban contemporary
Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...
music.
In 1998, new owners of the 107.7 frequency moved the programming and call letters of WENN to 105.9 FM and moved the
alternative music Alternative music may refer to the following types of music:
*Alternative rock
*Alternative pop
*Alternative R&B
*Neo soul, sometimes known as alternative soul
*Alternative reggaeton
*Alternative hip hop
*Alternative dance
*Alternative metal
*Chris ...
format and WRAX call letters to 107.7. Known on the air as "107.7 the X", WRAX became one of the highest rated alternative music/
modern rock
Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music.
Radio format
Mod ...
stations in the country. The station was successful, even though it broadcast from a tower atop Miles Mountain in
Palmerdale, Alabama
Palmerdale is an area in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. Most of the community falls within the city limits of Pinson. Palmerdale is located on Alabama State Route 75, north-northeast of the downtown area of Pinson.
The community trac ...
, some 15 miles northeast of downtown Birmingham. The majority of Birmingham’s other FM stations broadcast from towers atop
Red Mountain, which overlooks the city.
In 2005,
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 ...
purchased several stations in nearby
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 ...
, including alternative music
WANZ
Michael "Mike" Wansley (born October 9, 1961), better known by his stage names Wanz and TeeWanz, is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. He performs in various genres, including rock, R&B, soul, hip hop, and pop. He was featured on fellow ...
, whose signal covered Birmingham. Not wanting to own two stations with the same format in the same market, the WRAX call letters were moved to 100.5 FM. On March 31, 2005, "The X" changed frequencies again, moving to 100.5 and becoming known on the air as "The X @ 100.5". On the same day, WUHT "Hot 107.7" debuted, branding itself as "Birmingham’s New #1 for R & B Hits".
[http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/2000s/2005/RR-2005-04-08.pdf ] The station now broadcasts at slightly reduced power from an antenna atop Birmingham’s Red Mountain. Its musical presentation places it squarely between Summit Media's stations, urban contemporary
WBHJ
WBHJ (95.7 FM) is an urban-leaning rhythmic-formatted radio station that serves Birmingham, Alabama. In 2005, it also began broadcasting in IBOC digital radio, using the HD Radio system from iBiquity. It is owned by SummitMedia along with s ...
(95.7 Jamz) and adult urban
WBHK
WBHK (98.7 FM) is an urban adult contemporary music formatted radio station owned by SummitMedia that serves Birmingham, Alabama. It is currently ranked by the Arbitron rating system as the nation's highest rated urban adult contemporary station ...
(98.7 Kiss FM). WUHT carries two nationally syndicated shows:
Steve Harvey
Broderick Stephen Harvey Sr. Also aired August 16, 2015. (born January 17, 1957) is an American television host, producer, actor, and comedian. He hosts ''The Steve Harvey Morning Show'', ''Family Feud'', '' Celebrity Family Feud,'' the Miss U ...
in the Mornings and
D.L. Hughley
Darryl Lynn Hughley (; born March 6, 1963) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Hughley is best known as the original host of BET's ''ComicView'' from 1992 to 1993, the eponymous character on the ABC/ UPN sitcom ''The Hughleys'', and as ...
in the Afternoons. Citadel merged with
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 ...
on September 16, 2011.
Translators
References
External links
Hot 107.7 WUHT official website*
{{coord, 33.485, N, 86.807, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title
UHT
Ultra-high temperature processing (UHT), ultra-heat treatment, or ultra-pasteurization is a food processing technology that sterilizes liquid food by heating it above – the temperature required to kill bacterial endospores – for 2 ...
Urban adult contemporary radio stations in the United States
Cumulus Media radio stations
Radio stations established in 1969
1969 establishments in Alabama