WXQW (660
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 an
AM 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 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 ...
to
Fairhope, Alabama
Fairhope is a city in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States, located on the eastern shoreline of Mobile Bay. The 2020 Census lists the population of the city as 22,477. Fairhope is a principal city of the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley metropolita ...
, and serving the
Mobile metropolitan area
The Mobile Metropolitan Area comprises Mobile and Washington counties in the southwest corner of Alabama in the United States. As of the 2020 census the metropolitan area had a population of 430,197. The Mobile metropolitan area is the third-lar ...
. 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 ...
and the
broadcast license
A broadcast license is a type of spectrum license granting the licensee permission to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses generally include restrictions, which vary ...
is held by Cumulus Licensing LLC. The
radio studio
A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...
s and offices are on Dauphin Street in Midtown Mobile.
By day, WXQW broadcasts at 10,000
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
non-directional, covering parts of
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 ...
,
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 the
Florida Panhandle
The Florida Panhandle (also West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida; it is a Salient (geography), salient roughly long and wide, lying between Alabama on the north and the west, Georgia (U. ...
. But at night, it reduces power to 19 watts to avoid interfering with other stations on
660 kHz, a
clear-channel frequency. WXQW's
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 ...
is on Pollard Road at Newman Road in
Daphne, Alabama
Daphne () is a city in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States, on the eastern shoreline of Mobile Bay. The city is located along I-10, 11 miles east of Mobile and 170 miles southwest of the state capital of Montgomery. The 2010 United States C ...
.
Programming
WXQW airs mostly
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 from
Westwood One
Westwood One is an American radio network
There are two types of radio network currently in use around the world: the one-to-many (simplex communication) broadcast network commonly used for public information and mass-media entertainment, and ...
, a
subsidiary
A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...
of Cumulus Media. They include
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
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. ...
,
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 ...
,
Michael J. Knowles
Michael John Knowles (born March 18, 1990) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative political commentator, actor, author and media host. He works for ''The Daily Wire''.
Early life and education
Knowles was born in Bedford ...
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 ...
." Mornings begin with two Westwood One news shows, "
America in The Morning" and "
First Light." From
Fox News Talk
Fox News Talk is a satellite radio channel that showcases talk shows and news reports from Fox News Channel personalities, along with other Fox News and talk programming. Fox News Talk carries a combination of Fox News syndicated radio programmin ...
,
Brian Kilmeade
Brian Kilmeade (born May 7, 1964) is an American television and radio presenter and political commentator for Fox News. On weekdays he co-hosts the morning show, ''Fox & Friends'', and he hosts the Fox News Radio program ''The Brian Kilmeade Sho ...
is heard in middays. National news is heard at the beginning of each hour from
CBS Radio News
CBS News Radio, formerly known as CBS Radio News and historically known as the CBS Radio Network, is a radio network that provides news to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by Paramount Global. It ...
.
The station began as a
country & western
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, old ...
outlet in 1964, later broadcasting
contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...
,
children's radio Children's radio is a radio format aimed primarily at preteen children. Examples include the now defunct Radio Disney network of radio stations, Kids Place Live satellite radio channel and in the UK Fun Kids.
Stations
See also
*List of children ...
,
urban contemporary gospel
Urban/contemporary gospel is a modern subgenre of gospel music. Although the style developed gradually, early forms are generally dated to the 1970s, and the genre was well established by the end of the 1980s. The radio format is pitched prima ...
,
all-news radio
All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to the discussion and broadcast of news.
All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried on both major US satellite radio networks. All-news stations can run the ...
from
CNN Headline News
HLN is an American basic cable network. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, the network primarily carries true crime programming.
The channel was originally launched on January 1, 1982 by Turner Broadcasting as CNN2 (later renamed Headline News ...
,
blues music
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
, and syndicated talk formats in its nearly 50 years on the air.
History
Launch
In the early 1960s, Springhill Broadcasting, Inc., applied to 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) for a new
AM radio
AM broadcasting is radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions. It was the first method developed for making audio radio transmissions, and is still used worldwide, primarily for medium wave (also known as "AM band") transm ...
station in Mobile which would be powered at 50,000
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. It would broadcast on 1550 kHz as a
daylight-only station, required to go off the air at sunset.
The FCC granted the company a
construction permit
Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...
to build this new station and assigned
call letters
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 ...
"WMOE" while construction was under way. Springhill Broadcasting was initially led by Marvin Burton as president and Samuel R. David as both vice president and general manager.
Assigned new call sign "WMOO", the station began licensed broadcast operations in 1964 with a
country & western
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, old ...
music format.
By 1969, Samuel R. David would take over as president of license holder Springhill Broadcasting.
Under his leadership, Springhill Broadcasting reached a deal to sell WMOO to Trio Broadcasters, Inc. (George Beasley, president) which was consummated on December 17, 1969.
The new owners flipped the format from country to
contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...
and maintained it through the 1970s and into the 1980s.
Move to 660 kHz
In March 1981, Trio Broadcasters, Inc., applied to the FCC to make extensive changes to their
broadcast license
A broadcast license is a type of spectrum license granting the licensee permission to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses generally include restrictions, which vary ...
for WMOO.
The company applied to change the
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 broa ...
from Mobile to Fairhope, Alabama, to convert from
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 ...
status to a 24-hour operation with reduced daytime power plus nighttime service at 1,000 watts, to change broadcast frequency from 1550 kHz to 660 kHz, and to move the reconfigured antenna system to a new location just outside Daphne, Alabama. The FCC accepted the filing on May 15, 1981, and finally granted a construction permit for these changes on September 26, 1984. This permit was scheduled to expire one year later, on September 2, 1985.
After a long series of modifications and extensions, the station completed construction and applied for a
license to cover these changes in August 1988.
The FCC granted this request and the station began licensed operation on the new frequency from the new location with the new operating hours and power levels on November 10, 1988.
As part of these changes, the station requested a new call sign from the FCC and was assigned "WLIT" on January 24, 1988. That change proved short-lived as the station became "WBLX" on July 4, 1988.
The new WBLX was sold shortly after it was completed. Trio Broadcasters, Inc., reached a deal to sell the station to Central Life Broadcasting of Alabama, Inc., in September 1988. The FCC approved the sale on November 2, 1988, and the transaction was formally consummated on May 11, 1989.
1990s
Less than a year later, in April 1990, a deal was reached to sell WBLX to April Broadcasting, Inc. The FCC approved the sale on July 23, 1990, and the transaction was formally consummated on October 31, 1990.
On October 4, 1996, the station's call sign was changed to "WHOZ" when the station flipped to
children's radio Children's radio is a radio format aimed primarily at preteen children. Examples include the now defunct Radio Disney network of radio stations, Kids Place Live satellite radio channel and in the UK Fun Kids.
Stations
See also
*List of children ...
as an affiliate of
Radio AAHS
Radio AAHS was a radio network managed by the Children's Broadcasting Corporation.
Its flagship station was WWTC (1280 AM) in Minneapolis, which broadcast from the former First Federal Bank building at Minnesota State Highway 100 and Excelsior ...
. The new format made its formal debut with a promotion at
Bayfest Bayfest may refer to the following annual music festivals:
* Bayfest (Corpus Christi), Texas
*Bayfest (Mobile)
BayFest was an annual three-day music festival held in the heart of downtown Mobile, Alabama. Founded in 1995, the festival offered a v ...
on October 5, 1996.
WHOZ became the first radio station in the
Mobile metropolitan area
The Mobile Metropolitan Area comprises Mobile and Washington counties in the southwest corner of Alabama in the United States. As of the 2020 census the metropolitan area had a population of 430,197. The Mobile metropolitan area is the third-lar ...
to air a
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, ...
designed for children.
Unable to compete with
Radio Disney
Radio Disney was an American radio network operated by the Disney Radio Networks unit of Disney Branded Television within the Disney General Entertainment Content, headquartered in Burbank, California.
The network broadcast music programming ...
, the entire Radio AAHS network discontinued programming in January 1998.
Cumulus era
On January 21, 1998, the FCC assigned this station the "WDLT" call sign.
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 ...
agreed to purchase WDLT from April Broadcasting, Inc., in November 1999. After a legal challenge to the sale was dismissed, the FCC approved the sale on November 30, 1999, and the transaction was formally consummated the same day.
Nine years later, the station was briefly assigned the call letters "WWFF" on September 21, 2007, before switching to the current "WXQW" on December 31, 2007.
This WXQW call sign was most recently assigned to a
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 ...
(now
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 ...
, 94.1
FM) in the
Huntsville, Alabama
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 t ...
, market.
On October 12, 2015, WXQW changed its format from
urban gospel
Urban/contemporary gospel is a modern subgenre of gospel music. Although the style developed gradually, early forms are generally dated to the 1970s, and the genre was well established by the end of the 1980s. The radio format is pitched prima ...
(simulcasting
WGOK
WGOK (900 AM), "Gospel 900") is a radio station serving the Mobile, Alabama, area with a Gospel music format. The station is under ownership of Cumulus Media. Its studios are on Dauphin Avenue in Midtown Mobile, and its transmitter is northwest ...
900 AM in Mobile) to
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 ...
.
On January 20, 2016 WXQW was granted an
FCC
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 ...
construction permit
Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...
to decrease the night power to 180 watts. On January 4, 2017 WXQW filed an application for a construction permit to decrease night power to 19 watts. The application was accepted for filing on January 20, 2017.
Application for Construction Permit for Commercial Broadcast Station - Federal Communications Commission
/ref>
References
External links
WXQW official website
*
{{Cumulus Media
XQW
News and talk radio stations in the United States
Radio stations established in 1964
Mass media in Baldwin County, Alabama
1964 establishments in Alabama
Cumulus Media radio stations