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Great locally owned Alabama Stations.

G

Groove1670

Guest
What are some of your favorite locally owned Alabama radio stations:

WHEP Foley. 50+ years under the same ownership. Just added a translator on FM. Great community station.
 
WCRL 1570 AM/95.3 FM (translator).... Small town station in Oneonta. It has been on since 1952, and still in the Bentley family.
WRAB AM 1380... Small daytimer Country/Gospel station in Arab, Just to name a couple

-Travis
 
WALX
"ALEX FM"
100.9 FM Selma

WHPH
"The Peach"
97.7 FM Jemison/Clanton
(When I'm Able To Drag Them In)

When I Need a Laugh or Two WYVC
"The Best Gospel Around"
102.3 FM Camden
(As of Late, Brother John McLemore and His so-called pal Dr. Neolin Craig, have been keeping the volume pumped up too loud and that ticks me off.)

Soon To Be WVLV
106.3 FM Maplesville
Hope this station will do the Classic Country and/or Southern Gospel thing and I'll be able to drag them in.

R.D.P. <><

P.S. Now for some of my favorite online stations that are locally owned.  WAMI 102.3 FM from Opp.  Love their presentation and the way they run things.  WOPP 1290 AM from Opp.  Love them for the same reasons why I like WAMI. 
 
I'll second WHEP since I'm practically under their stick.

50 years of ownership and during local shows they pretty much sound the same they did 50 years ago. And I mean that as a compliment.

Is K98 in Oxford locally owned? They always seemed to have a good grasp on live and local for E. Ala.

And although some may hate the ownership, I think Alabama 810 in Jacksonville is a good local station still making it work with 50,000 watts.
 
Along with WCKA AM, theres WCKF FM 100.7 in Ashland.... Also a great local station.

Another station, WAAZ FM 104.7 in Crestview. I know it's out of FL but with 100,000 watts puts a decent signal into South Alabama. They are just an old-fashioned station that is 100% live... never automated. In fact, they still sign off every night at around 8 minutes after midnight lol.

WKUL in Cullman is also a perty decent station too. I've preached on there a time or two, and although I'd tweak the format a bit, they serve the community very well!

-Travis
 
WKAC 1080 in Athens. Live jocks, oldies format, and they dusted off some of their early '70s PAMS jingles.

--Russell
 
Another station, WAAZ FM 104.7 in Crestview. I know it's out of FL but with 100,000 watts puts a decent signal into South Alabama. They are just an old-fashioned station that is 100% live... never automated. In fact, they still sign off every night at around 8 minutes after midnight lol.
Click to expand...

I give WAAZ a vote also.
 
To be fair, we should also start a thread called:

"TERRIBLE locally owned Alabama Stations"

I can guarantee the list will be (or should be) just as long.
 
The purpose of this thread was to point out stations that still have a local staff and ownership.

There are choices other than the big corporate groups. I was hoping we would highlight the stations listed in a positive way.

Sometimes the "Mom & Pop" stations get overshadowed with all the RIF stories, and corporate format changes.

Several great stations have been listed.

How many times can we talk about that new "Kiss" "Hot" "Beat" "Q" station
with the same 143 songs and recycled jingles from another market on the boards.

If you are looking for "variety" on the dial. The only place you are going to find it is on your local hometown station in most cases.
 
I wish they'd join the 2000s and have a website and a regularly attended email address, but...I vote for WMFC-FM in Monroeville. The AM 1360 daytimer that it sprang from has been signed off, but the remaining outfit is still owned by the Stewart family (d/b/a Monroe Broadcasting Company). Local in the mornings, "Kool Gold" oldies throughout the day with ABC Radio News. Crimson Tide sports with a locally produced high school game of the week.


WYVC does not belong in this thread.
 
Zach - you asked about K98 (WVOK) in Oxford. Yes, they are locally owned and now managed by the son of the owners, Joe and Geraldine Woodard. They operate with a full local staff and stay very involved in the community. The facilities are nicer than some of the stations in Birmingham. I remember a time when I was working there that Clear Channel tried to buy them out and when Joe refused to sell they threatened to put him out of business. He replied that it was "hard to starve a cockroach." I'm pretty sure that Clear Channel will go out of business before he does.

A couple of people that honed their skills there before moving on are Rick Burgess (Rick and Bubba) and Justin Brown (WDJC) plus myself. I can think of at least 3 others that made it to Birmingham before changing careers. The staff they have now includes 3 on-air people that have been there for over a decade each. How many stations can say that? Most stations today don't even have 3 live personalities.
 
Another station is WQLT 107.3 "Q107" in Florence. They are locally owned by Big River Broadcasting, and still have live local personalities, even in the overnight hours (and will even take requests during the overnight hours too)! The format is mostly 60's through today (yes, I have heard them play an ELO song, followed by a Nickelback song). They know how to pull it off. Their sister station WXFL Kix 96.1 isn't bad either.

Is 900 WATV in Birmingham still locally owned? They seem like they have done very well through the years, and are a great service to their audience...

-Travis
 
You have to include 1300 WTLS in the mix. They were Alabama Broadcaster of the Year a few years ago. Granted, their programming list is peculiar, if not creative. They do have several national talk shows, and Finebaum in the afternoon, but every weekday morning they have a local (emphasis on LOCAL) community and county-oriented talk show, which is repeated each night at 6 PM if not interrupted by local sports programming (of which there is a great deal). And, all 80s music overnight and much of the weekend. Michael Butler and crew work their butts off.

I think WTBF AM Troy deserves a shout out as well. Indeed they feature a lot of national talk programming but the opportunities they have provided in the past and present to students and future broadcasters is noteworthy. And they still are and always will be the voice of Pike County.
 
TALLRED said:
Another station is WQLT 107.3 "Q107" in Florence. They are locally owned by Big River Broadcasting, and still have live local personalities, even in the overnight hours (and will even take requests during the overnight hours too)! The format is mostly 60's through today (yes, I have heard them play an ELO song, followed by a Nickelback song). They know how to pull it off. Their sister station WXFL Kix 96.1 isn't bad either.

Is 900 WATV in Birmingham still locally owned? They seem like they have done very well through the years, and are a great service to their audience...

-Travis
Click to expand...
 
I looks like there is alot of wonderful variety in radio. Next time someone complains about radio being stale and boring, send them to this thread. There is alternatives to big radio. :)

In fact it would be nice to see a board listing stations like this in each state.

To qualify:
You must be locally owned
involved with your community
must be available to your community.

Hey, just a thought, one could wish.
 
Don't Forget WOOF FM. It's still owned by the Simpson family.
 
ChrisWright said:
Zach - you asked about K98 (WVOK) in Oxford. Yes, they are locally owned and now managed by the son of the owners, Joe and Geraldine Woodard. They operate with a full local staff and stay very involved in the community. The facilities are nicer than some of the stations in Birmingham. I remember a time when I was working there that Clear Channel tried to buy them out and when Joe refused to sell they threatened to put him out of business. He replied that it was "hard to starve a cockroach." I'm pretty sure that Clear Channel will go out of business before he does.

A couple of people that honed their skills there before moving on are Rick Burgess (Rick and Bubba) and Justin Brown (WDJC) plus myself. I can think of at least 3 others that made it to Birmingham before changing careers. The staff they have now includes 3 on-air people that have been there for over a decade each. How many stations can say that? Most stations today don't even have 3 live personalities.
Click to expand...

That cockroach line is full of awesome. :)

Is one of Rick Burgess' relatives there now? I saw a Burgess name while going through the station's website and wonder if they're related.
 
TALLRED said:
Is 900 WATV in Birmingham still locally owned? They seem like they have done very well through the years, and are a great service to their audience...
Click to expand...

Still locally owned and according to their website they have a few local hosts beyond the usual block of religious/gospel programming from local churches on Sunday.

I was surprised to see the variety and local hosts, because I always remember them as a nearly 24-hour relay of some satellite oldies/R&B type feed. But that was eons ago back when they still had a tower on Finley Blvd and broadcast in stereo.

Hmm… there's even a "WATV is looking for air talent" banner at the bottom of the home page. I hope that means they're growing!

Going back to S Alabama, does anyone know about WHOD in Jackson? They appear to still host the usual community show and swap shop along with local sports and Alabama football, with Rick and Bubba in the morning.

I guess we can't expect to find 100% local anymore. Even WHEP here in Foley has syndicated talk most of the day including Finebaum, Laura Ingraham and… some other folks. They don't put a schedule on their website so I never know what airs when.
 
-----Is one of Rick Burgess' relatives there now? I saw a Burgess name while going through the station's website and wonder if they're related.-----

No, Jock Burgess is unrelated... at least as far as I am aware. Great guy, though. He's one of the "new guys" there, even though he's been there longer than a typical personality at many stations.
 
Zach said:
TALLRED said:
Is 900 WATV in Birmingham still locally owned? They seem like they have done very well through the years, and are a great service to their audience...

Still locally owned and according to their website they have a few local hosts beyond the usual block of religious/gospel programming from local churches on Sunday.
Click to expand...

WATV is owned by Sheridan Broadcasting out of Pittsburgh. It was sold to them several years ago. Up until that time, it was owned by Birmingham Ebony (Shelly Stewart and Erskine Faush) who were both Birmingham radio legends.
Click to expand...
 
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