WBHJ (95.7 FM) is an urban-leaning rhythmic-formatted radio station that serves

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 ...

. In 2005, it also began broadcasting in

IBOC In-band on-channel (IBOC) is a hybrid method of transmitting digital radio and analog radio broadcast signals simultaneously on the same frequency. The name refers to the new digital signals being broadcast in the same AM or FM band (in-band), ...

digital radio Digital radio is the use of digital technology to transmit or receive across the radio spectrum. Digital transmission by radio waves includes digital broadcasting, and especially digital audio radio services. Types In digital broadcasting sy ...

, using the

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...

system from

iBiquity iBiquity Digital Corporation is a company formed by the merger of USA Digital Radio and Lucent Digital Radio. Based in Columbia, Maryland, with additional offices in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, and Auburn Hills, Michigan, iBiquity is a private ...

. It is owned by SummitMedia along with six other stations in the market, and all share studios in the Cahaba neighborhood in far southeast Birmingham where the Program Director is Nuyork. Its transmitter is located atop Red Mountain in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

History

95.7 originally came on the air in 1958 as WTBC-FM, a Tuscaloosa station that was a companion to WTBC (AM)/1230 with its transmitter on 15th Street. As WTBC-FM, the station was just a placeholder for the AM station, playing a stack of MOR format LPs on a turntable. A contributor who worked at WTBC (AM) notes that when the stack of records was finished, it just started playing over. Station IDs weren't done regularly because they were done by the often-forgetful AM jocks. The program director would go live for a few hours each night and was probably the only live person on the air daily. In 1969, It later became WUOA (University of Alabama), an

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

-formatted college radio station. Another change occurred in 1984 with the calls switching to WFFX, "95.7 the Fox", and the addition of modern rock. It then moved into the Birmingham market in the 1990s, and was during that period the transmitter moved to a taller tower near Vance. On July 15, 1996, the calls were changed to WBHJ and the format of the station to "95.7 Jamz", an Urban-formatted radio station. The first Jamz program director was Mickey Johnson. Since that time, the station has been one of Birmingham's top rated radio stations. In November 2004, after years of being plagued by an inadequate signal into its primary listening area of Birmingham, the station applied for a construction permit 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 jurisd ...

(FCC) to move its transmitter from Vance to Red Mountain. In June 2005 the station completed a move to boost its signal in the Birmingham market by getting relicensed to the Birmingham suburb of

Midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

and moving its transmitter site from rural Bibb County (near Vance) to Red Mountain, where the other high-power Birmingham stations are located. Although the move required a reduction in power from 100

kilowatt 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 Jame ...

s to just 12.2 kilowatts, the move has provided a strong signal to listeners in the immediate market area. WBHJ is a

rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip hop and upbeat R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary never uses ...

reporter on

Mediabase Mediabase is a music industry service that monitors radio station airplay in 180 US and Canadian markets. Mediabase publishes music charts and data based on the most played songs on terrestrial and satellite radio, and provides in-depth analyti ...

and an urban reporter per

Nielsen BDS Broadcast Data Systems (also known as BDS or Luminate BDS), is a service that tracks radio, television and internet airplay of songs. The service, which is a unit of MRC Data, is a contributing factor to North American charts published by co-owne ...

. On July 20, 2012, Cox Radio, Inc. announced the sale of WBHJ and 22 other stations to Summit Media LLC for $66.25 million. The sale was consummated on May 3, 2013.

Station management

* General Manager: John Walker * Program Director: NuYork * Music Director: Young Dil

References

External links

95.7 Jamz WBHJ official website
* {{coord, 33.460, N, 86.852, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title Mainstream urban radio stations in the United States Rhythmic contemporary radio stations in the United States BHJ Radio stations established in 1958 1958 establishments in Alabama