TALLRED said:
It's 12:09 AM, and WKLD is gone :'( :'( :'( :'(
Their Last song was "When Will I See You Again," by Three Degree.
Wayne Shaddix Gave an ID, the current weather, and Announced that WKLD was leaving the airwaves. Terri Bentley Lowry Also came on air, and said Good Bye, then after a few more sentences, everything got quiet and went to static. I called WKLD and I'll be darned if during the middle of the conversation my call was dropped. Now, I sit here listening to a a very static-ish 97.7 WKXM.
Travis
Sorry to hear that WKLD is no more, at least in Oneonta. When I was growing up, I lived up on Shades Mountain, just south of Birmingham, and we were about halfway between the xmtrs for WKLD and WEZZ (now WHPH) in Clanton, although we were probably slightly closer to WKLD. I can remember being able to hear both those stations on different radios/receivers in our house. Some of them picked up just WEZZ while others were only able to receive WKLD. We did have one small portable GE radio, though, which would receive both of them
at the same time. I could hear WEZZ primarily, but WKLD could be heard underneath the WEZZ audio. I live in south Shelby county now, so I hear WHPH all the time now. BTW, I know that area well where WKLD is relocating their xmtr, as my grandmother used to live near there. She actually lived in Oleander but had a Union Grove mailing address. That new xmtr location for WKLD is within "spitting distance" of her property there, probably less than half a mile.
I figured Great South Wireless might pair WKLD and WHPH together once they bought them and use them to cover both parts of Birmingham (WKLD from the north and WHPH from the south). WHPH has a CP to upgrade to a C3 status and move their xmtr a few miles to the northwest from where they are now. Looking at the coverage maps, it doesn't appear the station will significantly improve its coverage in Birmingham (I'm already under the city-grade signal now, so I won't really notice any difference here). I guess Great South Wireless feels it would be more advantageous to market the stations to Birmingham and Huntsville, respectively, instead of combining the two operations here. Once WKLD moves closer to Huntsville, I'm sure it will be "just another" Huntsville station with no type of local aim at its actual COL, Union Grove. I know WHPH has pretty much given up on its identity as a Clanton station. There's seldom any mention of Clanton anymore since the station moved their xmtr further north and changed their COL to Jemison. Their lack of focus on Clanton is particularly noticeable in the station ID, which very seldom mentions Clanton, but usually lists one or more Birmingham "suburbs" in Shelby County (Calera, Montevallo, Columbiana, etc). They're still trying to re-invent themselves as sort of a "southern Birmingham suburb station" and it's unfortunate the station has lost (or given up, however you want to look at it) its Clanton ties, particularly in light of the fact that most people in the areas WHPH is trying to identify with have probably never heard of "The Peach". I'm sure WKLD will undergo a similar metamorphosis, touting themselves to be a Huntsville station and only mentioning Union Grove in the station's ID which they're required to do. It's sad to see all the small local FM's get swallowed up into the larger metropolitan areas, but it's inevitable, I suppose.
So what happens to WKLD now? Does it just stay silent for a while until its re-emergence in Huntsville?
_______________________
What If...
Radio
Didn't Exist?
www.LifeWithoutRadio.com
