WHEP (1310 AM, "Radio Baldwin") is an American

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 to serve the

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

of Baldwin County. The station was established in 1953 and is owned by Stewart Broadcasting Company, Inc.

Programming

WHEP broadcasts

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...

music and news to Baldwin County, Alabama. In addition to its usual news and Rock’n Roll programming, WHEP airs a twice-daily

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

program called ''Baldwin County Trading Post'' six days a week. Weekday programming includes ''Breakfast in Baldwin'' with Kenny Graves, featuring news, sports, and weather, plus a daily church program from Berean Baptist Church. Mid-days feature Jack Bell playing all era of Rock’n Roll. '' The Paul Finebaum Sports Show'' airs weekday afternoons. Syndicated evening programming includes ''America's Radio News Network'', a conservative talk show hosted by Jerry Doyle, and ''Advice Line'' from Dial Global's Talk Radio Network. Weekend programming typically includes music, news, and

Auburn Tigers football The Auburn Tigers football program represents Auburn University in the sport of American college football. Auburn competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Western Division o ...

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

baseball in season, plus local church programs on Sunday mornings.

History

This station launched on May 31,

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

, as a 1,000

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 ...

daytime-only station under the ownership of Howard E. Pill's Alabama Gulf Radio, Inc. The station has been assigned the "WHEP"

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 ...

by the

U.S. 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) since it was initially licensed. The station was acquired by James E. Stewart, Sr.'s Stewart Broadcasting Company on May 1, 1961. In June 1980, station ownership applied to the FCC to transfer the broadcast license from the unincorporated Stewart Broadcasting Company to Stewart Broadcasting Company, Inc. The FCC approved the move on July 21, 1980. In January 2003, James E. Stewart, Sr., transferred his 52% ownership stake in Stewart Broadcasting Company, Inc., to his son, Clark J. Stewart. After the transfer, the younger Stewart held 98% of the voting stock with his siblings Elizabeth Stewart Purvis and James E. Stewart, Jr., each holding 1%. The FCC approved this transfer of control on February 27, 2003. The transfer took place on March 6, 2003. This move made Clark J. Stewart the president of the company with his father stepping back to be vice-president. From its launch in 1953, WHEP had been licensed to operate as 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 ...

, restricted to broadcasting only during daylight hours to protect WDOD in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

from

skywave In radio communication, skywave or skip refers to the propagation of radio waves reflected or refracted back toward Earth from the ionosphere, an electrically charged layer of the upper atmosphere. Since it is not limited by the curvature of ...

interference. In July 2005, the station applied to the FCC for 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 add nighttime service with a signal restricted to just 48 watts of power. The commission granted this permit on November 15, 2005, and after construction and testing were completed in September 2007, the station began licensed nighttime operation on December 6, 2007.

Translators

WHEP programming is also carried on a broadcast translator station to extend or improve the coverage area of the station.

References

External links

WHEP official website
{{News/Talk Radio Stations in Alabama HEP News and talk radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1953 1953 establishments in Alabama Mass media in Baldwin County, Alabama