WVNN (770

kHz 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 on ...

) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

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 ...

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 ...

Athens, Alabama Athens is a city in and the county seat of Limestone County, Alabama, Limestone County, in the U.S. state of Alabama; it is included in the Huntsville-Decatur-Albertville, AL Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 c ...

, serving parts of

North Alabama North Alabama is a region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Several geographic definitions for the area exist, with all descriptions including the nine counties of Alabama's Tennessee Valley region. The North Alabama Industrial Development Associ ...

including

Huntsville Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...

and Decatur. 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 ...

, it airs a

Talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

. Programming on WVNN is

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 ...

WVNN-FM WVNN-FM (92.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Trinity, Alabama. Owned by Cumulus Media, it airs a Talk Radio format. WVNN-FM simulcasts WVNN 770 AM, which is licensed to Athens, Alabama. The stations are branded as "NewsTalk 770 ...

92.5

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 ...

, which is licensed to

Trinity, Alabama Trinity is a town in Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is included in the Decatur Metropolitan Area and the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the town was 2,526, up from 2,095 in 2010. ...

. Collectively, the stations are branded as "NewsTalk 770 AM/92.5 FM WVNN." The

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

s and offices are on U.S. Route 72 East in Athens. WVNN broadcasts at 7,000

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 Wa ...

s by day non-directional, with its

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...

located off Lee Highway (

U.S. Route 72 U.S. Route 72 (US 72) is an east–west United States highway that travels for from southwestern Tennessee, throughout North Mississippi, North Alabama, and southeastern Tennessee. The highway's western terminus is in Memphis, Tennessee and ...

) in Huntsville. Because

AM 770 The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 770 kHz: 770 AM is a United States clear-channel frequency. WABC New York City and KCHU Valdez, Alaska, share Class A status on 770 kHz. In Argentina * Cooperativa in Buenos ...

is a clear channel frequency reserved for 50,000 watt Class A WABC in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, WVNN must go off the air at night to avoid interference. It abandoned the night signal in 2020 and operates day only with PSSA.

Programming

News and Talk

WVNN-AM-FM feature three Alabama-based shows on weekday mornings and afternoons, including "Hometown Heartbeat with Zach Walker" (5:00 AM–7:00 AM), "The Dale Jackson Show"(7:00 AM–11:00 AM), and "Yaffee and L.T." (2:00 PM–5:00 PM). Nationally syndicated

conservative talk Conservative talk radio is a talk radio format in the United States and other countries devoted to expressing conservative viewpoints of issues, as opposed to progressive talk radio. The definition of conservative talk is generally broad enough ...

shows are heard the rest of the day with

Dan Bongino Daniel John Bongino (born December 4, 1974) is an American conservative political commentator, radio show host, and author. He served as a New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer from 1995 to 1999 and as a Secret Service agent from 1999 ...

in middays, and at night

Mark Levin Mark Reed Levin (; born September 21, 1957) is an American lawyer, author, and radio personality. He is the host of syndicated radio show Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and rad ...

Ben Shapiro Benjamin Aaron Shapiro (born January 15, 1984) is an American attorney, businessman, columnist, conservative political commentator, and media personality. At age 17, he became the youngest nationally syndicated columnist in the United States. ...

Chris Plante Chris Plante (born December 12, 1959) is a syndicated radio talk show host, based at WMAL Radio in Washington D.C., and heard on the Westwood One Network. He is also a frequent guest on both Fox News and Fox Business. Chris Plante is the st ...

and

Red Eye Radio ''Red Eye Radio'' is a talk radio program currently hosted by Eric Harley and Gary McNamara. The program is syndicated nationwide by Westwood One, and originates from WBAP in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The show traces its history through ...

. Weekends feature shows on money, health, religion and the syndicated

Kim Komando Kimberly Ann Komando (born 1967) is the host of two daily radio shows and one weekend radio show about consumer technology. On her weekly call-in show, she provides advice about technology gadgets, websites, smartphone apps, and internet security. ...

show on technology, as well as repeats of weekday shows. Most hours begin with news from

ABC News Radio ABC News Radio is the news radio service of ABC Audio, a division of ABC News in the United States. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Skyview Networks, five minute newscasts on the hour and news briefs at half-pas ...

Sports

WVNN-AM-FM formerly carried University of Alabama Crimson Tide football and

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

during the fall, and

Alabama Vipers The Alabama Vipers were a professional arena football team, that played in the Arena Football League. For most of their history, the Vipers played as the Tennessee Valley Vipers in the now-defunct af2, the minor league for the original Arena Foo ...

arena football Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller ...

games in the spring, as part of a simulcast with

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

WUMP WUMP (730 AM, "SportsRadio 730 The UMP") is a sports talk-formatted radio station licensed to Madison, Alabama, where its transmitter tower is located. WUMP primarily serves the Huntsville, Alabama, market, though its studios are located in Athe ...

"SportsRadio 730/103.9, The UMP". Aside from occasional

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

games, or some spillover games from WUMP, WVNN-AM-FM currently offer no sports programming.

History

WJMW and WKSR

WVNN is descended from two radio stations; one is WJMW, a

daytimer A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The system exists to ensure the viability of cross-coun ...

that first

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...

in 1948. WJMW's frequency was 1010 kHz. It was powered at only 250 watts and was required to go off the air at sunset. It was owned by the Athens Broadcasting Company, founded by Homer Felix "Pap" Dunnavant. The other station was also a daytimer; WKSR went on the air in 1947, on 730 AM in

Pulaski, Tennessee Pulaski is a city in and the county seat of Giles County, which is located on the central-southern border of Tennessee, United States. The population was 8,397 at the 2020 census. It was named after Casimir Pulaski, a noted Polish-born soldier o ...

, a town about 30 miles north of Athens. It was owned by the Pulaski Broadcasting Company and was a

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Old-time radio, golden ...

network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...

Move to 730 and to 770

In 1953, the Athens Broadcasting Company acquired the license for WJMW and got permission from 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 ...

(FCC) to move it to Athens, putting WJMW on the lower frequency. This would give the station greater range, since lower frequencies travel farther. And the power was increased to 500 watts. But it remained a daytimer, because

AM 730 730 AM is a Mexican and Canadian clear-channel frequency. XEX Mexico City and CKAC Montreal are the Class A stations on 730 kHz. The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 730 kHz: Argentina * Radio Concepto in Buenos A ...

is a Mexican clear channel frequency. At the same time, WKSR moved to 1420 kHz, also in Pulaski, Tennessee. The station made another move on the dial in the early 1980s, from AM 730 to AM 770. While WJMW had to now protect WABC in New York, it was more than 800 miles away. That was far enough for the FCC to allow the station to operate around the clock, with reduced power at night. The station switched its

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

to WVNN on September 26, 1988. It changed to a news/talk format, using news from

and talk shows from the ABC TalkRadio Network.

Cumulus ownership

WJMW was owned and operated by the Dunnavant family of Athens for 55 years prior to being sold to

as part of a four station deal in 2003. The sale ended a 55-year presence in the market for Athens Broadcasting, founded in 1948 by Pap Dunnavant. Cumulus also acquired several other Huntsville-area stations,

WHRP WHRP (94.1 FM) is a radio station licensed to serve Gurley, Alabama, United States. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and the license is held by Cumulus Licensing LLC. WHRP broadcasts an urban adult contemporary music format to the Huntsv ...

WWFF-FM WWFF-FM (93.3 MHz) is an American radio station licensed to New Market, Alabama, and serving the Huntsville, Alabama, market. Owned by Cumulus Media, the station broadcasts a oldies-leaning country music format branded as ''93.3 Nash Icon''. St ...

and

WZYP WZYP (104.3 FM, "104.3 'ZYP") is a Top 40 (CHR) music-formatted radio station licensed to serve Athens, Alabama, and broadcasting in the Huntsville, Alabama, area. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and formerly broadcast in HD. The broadca ...

Past programming

Notable former WVNN air personalities include George Rose who, along with his alter-ego "Cousin Josh" character, hosted ''The Cousin Josh Jamboree'' on several North Alabama radio stations in a career that began in 1948 at then-WJMW and ended at WKAC with his death in 2006. Several well-known

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

hosts spent early portions of their careers at WVNN, including

Sean Hannity Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961) is an American talk show host, conservative political commentator, and author. He is the host of ''The Sean Hannity Show'', a nationally syndicated talk radio show, and has also hosted a commentar ...

, Peter Thiele, Kevin Miller, Keith Larson, Darla Jaye, and

Mike Church Mike Church (born 1962) is an American radio and internet talk show host, and singer/songwriter. ''The Mike Church Show'' was the first-ever produced talk show on Sirius Satellite Radio (now Sirius XM Radio). Prior to its cancellation in October ...

. Will Anderson hosted a show on WVNN until August 2007, then returned a few years later. Tim Knox hosted a show on WVNN until December 2007.

References

External links

FCC History Cards for WVNNNews/Talk 770 AM/92.5 FM WVNN official websiteCumulus Media corporate website
{{Cumulus Media VNN News and talk radio stations in the United States Limestone County, Alabama Radio stations established in 1948 1948 establishments in Alabama Cumulus Media radio stations