Alabama Radio Stations with Same Call Letters Throughout its Life

[ccgrider]

I thought it may be interesting to recognize Alabama radio stations that have had the same call letters since the first day it went on the air. In Montgomery and within 30 miles of Montgomery, I believe WMGY (800khz on AM, Montgomery), WTLS (1300khz on AM, Tallassee), and WACQ (1130khz on AM, Tallassee) are the only stations that fall into this category. How 'bout WKLF (980khz, Clanton), WTBF (970khz, Troy), and WBIL (580khz on AM, Tuskegee)? Does anybody know their history? Let's include the AMs and FMs in this topic.

 

[R.D.P.]

WHBB 1490 AM Selma (One of of the oldest radio stations in the state)
WALX 100.9 FM Selma
WAPR 88.3 FM Selma
WRNF 89.5 FM Selma
WAQU 91.1 FM Selma
WBFZ 105.3 FM Selma
WVFG 107.5 FM Uniontown
WYVC 102.3 FM Camden
WCOX 1450 AM Camden
WXAL 1400 AM Demopolis (Another One of the oldest radio stations in the state)
WGYV 1380 AM Greenville
WQZX 94.3 FM Greenville
WFXX 107.7FM Georgiana
WKXN 95.7 FM Greenville (Started off at 95.9 but moved to this spot recently)
WKXK 96.7 FM Pine Hill
WJDB 95.5 FM Thomasville
WJDB 630 AM Thomasville
WAMI 102.3 FM Opp
WAMI 860 AM Opp
WJIF 91.9 FM Opp
WOPP 1290 AM Opp
WMBV 91.9 FM Dixon's Mills
WMFT 89.9 FM Tuscaloosa
WSTF 91.5 FM Andalusia
WLBF 89.1 FM Montgomery
WVAS 90.7 FM Montgomery
WTSU 89.9 FM Troy/Montgomery
WDYF 90.5 FM Dothan
WGTF 89.5 FM Dothan
WVOB 91.3 FM Dothan
WBIB 1110 AM Centerville/Brent
WBYE 1370 AM Calera

R.D.P. <><

 

[Charles1]

Birmingham:

WJLD 1400 (since 1942)
WBHM 90.3 (since 1976)
WVSU 91.1 (since 1969?)
WGIB 91.9 (late 70's or early 80's)

Honorable mention goes to WAPI-AM. Its original call letters when it signed on in 1922 was WSY, but it has kept WAPI since 1925. WATV 900 is in its third set of call letters, but it has been WATV since 1958.

 

[J Alex Bowab]

Mobile AMs: 900 has been WGOK since inception 1958. 1220 WABF Fairhope has had same calls since 1961 sign on. 1480 has been WABB since inception around 1948, and same owner since 1959. 1310 Foley has been WHEP since the get-go. Most all the others have been through several call changes. 710 has been WKRG WPMI WNTM... 840 has been WKAB WWAX WBHY ... 1270 has been WAIP WKSJ WLLF WIJD ... 1360 has been WLIQ WPCY WMOB ... 1410 has been WALA WUNI WMML WNGL WLVV.

 

[J Alex Bowab]

Addendum to my foregoing comment ... the WMOB calls have also been on 840. Speaking of which ... that set of calls has been on three different AM facilities in Mobile, totally unrelated to each other. The first, WMOB 1230, was on the air in the 40s, but went dark. 840 picked up the WMOB call sign decades later ... and 1360 took them most recently.

 

[WBGR FM 93.1]

WCRL AM 1570 - Oneonta, since 1952.
WERH AM 970 - Hamilton, since late 40's or early 50's.
WAUD AM 1230 -Auburn, (possibly) since 1930's or 40's.
WKAC AM 1080 - Athens, since 1964
Honorable mention goes to WSLV AM 1110 which has had the same calls since inception in 1968. However, it is licensed to Ardmore, TN, but is only about 30' from Ardmore, AL

-Travis

 

[Poledo]

Mobile AMs: 900 has been WGOK since inception 1958. 1220 WABF Fairhope has had same calls since 1961 sign on. 1480 has been WABB since inception around 1948, and same owner since 1959. 1310 Foley has been WHEP since the get-go. Most all the others have been through several call changes. 710 has been WKRG WPMI WNTM... 840 has been WKAB WWAX WBHY ... 1270 has been WAIP WKSJ WLLF WIJD ... 1360 has been WLIQ WPCY WMOB ... 1410 has been WALA WUNI WMML WNGL WLVV.

I started stuttering when I read that 1410 had been WMML in the past.

 

[J Alex Bowab]

Yes, Tillis chose the WMML calls to reflect his speech pattern ... he also owned KMML in Amarillo TX ... Actually, Doug Eason, the black guy from St Louis who bought the station from M-M-M-el, kept the MML call letters even after turning the station into a hip hop outlet.

 

[jovialjay]

WEBJ/Brewton since 1947 (W. Emmett Brooks, Jr. was the original owner)
WOOF/Dothan since 1947
WBHP/Huntsville since 1937 (Wilton "Buster" H. Pollard was the original owner)

 

[Groove1670]

WEBJ/Brewton since 1947 (W. Emmett Brooks, Jr. was the original owner)

I noticed this station operates specific times of the day (It is a C) what are the hours.

 

[jovialjay]

WEBJ/Brewton since 1947 (W. Emmett Brooks, Jr. was the original owner)

I noticed this station operates specific times of the day (It is a C) what are the hours.

An SH (Specified Hours) license is very uncommon these days. It used to seen quite a bit in very small markets with Class IV (now Class C) AMs. With a fulltime license, these stations had to operate 2/3rds of the time period between 6PM and Midnight (or until 10PM). With a breathing human being required to be on duty during all hours of operation, an SH license would save on payroll and electricity. The usual SH license specified a 7PM sign-off.

With relatively cheap automation and unattended operation, most fulltime licensed stations operate 24/7 these days.

 

[onceradio]

WYLS / WSLY York. AM since sign on in 1970 and Fm since sign on in 1976

 

[rambo2]

WJLD 1400 Birmingham since 1942, same call letters and dial position. (70 years)

 

[J Alex Bowab]

WJLD has however changed its city of license ... was once HOmewood, later Fairfield.

 

[tomservo]

WJLD has however changed its city of license ... was once HOmewood, later Fairfield.

Any idea why the change? They started off in the early 40's licensed to Bessemer, but by 1950 the city had a second AM so I could understand changing to get some type of upgrade. But re-licensing from Homewood to Fairfield makes no sense; as far as I know, no stations at the time were licensed to Homewood, which would have made it more difficult to change COLs.

 

[passtheword]

WJLD has however changed its city of license ... was once HOmewood, later Fairfield.

Any idea why the change? They started off in the early 40's licensed to Bessemer, but by 1950 the city had a second AM so I could understand changing to get some type of upgrade. But re-licensing from Homewood to Fairfield makes no sense; as far as I know, no stations at the time were licensed to Homewood, which would have made it more difficult to change COLs.

WEZB (at 1320) was licensed to Homewood at one time, sometime during the 50s I believe before the intellectual property was moved to 1220.