Type | Radio network |
---|---|
Country | |
Programming | |
Language(s) | English |
Format | All news African-American culture |
Ownership | |
Owner | iHeartMedia |
History | |
Launch date | June 30, 2020 |
Coverage | |
Availability | National, through online, HD Radio, and broadcast affiliates (see stations) |
Links | |
Webcast | Listen live (via iHeartRadio) |
Website | www |
Black Information Network (BIN) is a radio network and content brand owned by iHeartMedia. Launched on June 30, 2020, it is an all-news radio network of stations targeting the African American community, carrying mostly important national news headline stories as well as current events and special interest features. Some stations also incorporate local news, traffic, weather and sports updates into the network feed. Tony Coles is the network's president and Tanita Myers is the news director. [1]
On June 29, 2020, 15 iHeartMedia radio stations in markets with large African American populations (including AM, FM, and HD Radio subchannel stations) ceased their regular programming, and began stunting with clips of speeches by prominent African Americans, such as Malcolm X's "The Ballot or the Bullet" address, interspersed with messages stating that "our side of the story is about to be told", and promoting a major change in their programming at 12:00 p.m. EDT the next day. [2]
On June 30, 2020 at 12:00 p.m. EDT, iHeartMedia officially launched the Black Information Network (BIN) on the 15 stunting stations, carrying national news coverage catered to African American communities. The service draws from other iHeartMedia services for local traffic and weather updates, and promotes podcasts oriented towards the audience. The network will be carried by additional stations over time, and is also being distributed on the iHeartRadio streaming platform.
BIN also serves as the provider of news content for iHeartMedia stations carrying formats that predominantly target African-Americans, including hip hop, R&B, and gospel. [3] [4] Stations not owned by iHeart may also subscribe to the service, with newscasts available at the :00 and :30 mark each hour.
Alongside traditional advertising, BIN is also being backed by a group of "national founding partners", including Bank of America, CVS Health, GEICO, Lowe's, McDonald's, Sony, 23andMe, and Verizon Communications which will air outreach towards African-American communities on the network. [4] Currently, the number of minutes each hour devoted to commercials is considerably lower than most radio networks.
On September 10, 2020, iHeartMedia announced that it would acquire WWRL in New York City, a station that had historically carried formats serving the African American community, to carry BIN beginning November 2. BIN programming was previously available in the New York radio market via 105.1 WWPR-FM's third HD Radio subchannel. [5] On December 2, 2020, iHeartMedia announced that it would acquire Fort Worth's KHVN and its simulcast partner KKGM, with an intent for them to be BIN's stations in the Dallas-Fort Worth market, replacing their existing Black Gospel format. [6] [7]
Callsign | Frequency | Band | City | State | Network status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
W257DS | 99.3 | FM | Montgomery | Alabama | n/a (WMRK-HD2 relay) |
WDXB-HD2* | 102.5-2 | FM | Pelham (Birmingham) | Alabama | Affiliate |
WHTY | 1460 | AM | Phenix City (Columbus) | Alabama (Georgia) | Affiliate |
WMRK-HD2 | 107.9 | FM | Shorter (Montgomery) | Alabama | Affiliate |
W224CK | 92.7 | FM | Vestavia Hills (Birmingham) | Alabama | n/a (WDXB-HD2 relay) |
KFOO | 1440 | AM | Riverside | California | Affiliate |
KKSF | 910 | AM | Oakland-San Francisco | California | Affiliate |
KRRL-HD2* | 92.3-2 | FM | Los Angeles | California | Affiliate |
KSSX-HD2* | 95.7-2 | FM | Carlsbad (San Diego) | California | Affiliate |
WUST | 1120 | AM | Washington | District of Columbia | Affiliate |
WMZQ-HD2* | 98.7-2 | FM | |||
WJBT-HD2* | 93.3-2 | FM | Callahan (Jacksonville) | Florida | Affiliate |
WBTP-HD2* | 95.7-2 | FM | Clearwater (Tampa) | Florida | Affiliate |
W281AM | 104.1 | FM | Macclenny (Jacksonville) | Florida | n/a (WJBT-HD2 relay) |
WXBN | 880 | AM | Sweetwater (Miami) | Florida | Affiliate |
WBIN | 640 | AM | Atlanta | Georgia | Affiliate |
WYNF | 1340 | AM | Augusta | Georgia | Affiliate |
WMGE | 1670 | AM | Dry Branch (Macon) | Georgia | Affiliate |
W234BX | 94.7 | FM | Highland Pines (Columbus) | Georgia | n/a (WHTY) relay) |
W279AQ | 103.7 | FM | Mascoutah (St. Louis) | Illinois (Missouri) | n/a (KATZ-HD2 relay) |
WVAZ-HD2* | 102.7-2 | FM | Oak Park (Chicago) | Illinois | Affiliate |
WMFN | 640 | AM | Peotone (Chicago) | Illinois | Affiliate |
WODT | 1280 | AM | New Orleans | Louisiana | Affiliate |
K244FX | 96.7 | FM | New Orleans | Louisiana | n/a (WODT relay) |
WQLL | 1370 | AM | Pikesville (Baltimore) | Maryland | Affiliate |
WJMN-HD2* | 94.5-2 | FM | Boston | Massachusetts | Affiliate |
WDFN | 1130 | AM | Detroit | Michigan | Affiliate |
KQQL-HD2* | 107.9-2 | FM | Anoka (Minneapolis) | Minnesota | Affiliate |
W227BF | 93.3 | FM | Shoreview (Minneapolis) | Minnesota | n/a (KQQL-HD2 relay) |
WSFZ | 930 | AM | Jackson | Mississippi | Affiliate |
W251DB | 98.1 | FM | Jackson | Mississippi | n/a (WSFZ relay) |
KJMS-HD2 | 101.1-2 | FM | Olive Branch (Memphis) | Mississippi (Tennessee) | |
WTUP | 1490 | AM | Tupelo | Mississippi | Affiliate |
W299CS | 107.7 | FM | Tupelo | Mississippi | n/a (WTUP relay) |
KATZ-HD2* | 100.3-2 | FM | Bridgeton (St. Louis) | Missouri | Affiliate |
WWRL | 1600 | AM | New York City | New York | Affiliate |
WWPR-HD3* | 105.1-3 | FM | |||
W254AZ | 98.7 | FM | Belmont (Charlotte) | North Carolina | n/a (WRFX-HD2 relay) |
WRFX-HD2* | 99.7-2 | FM | Kannapolis (Charlotte) | North Carolina | Affiliate |
WMMS-HD2* | 100.7-2 | FM | Cleveland | Ohio | Affiliate |
W256BT | 99.1 | FM | Cleveland | Ohio | n/a (WMMS-HD2 relay) |
WYTS | 1230 | AM | Columbus | Ohio | Affiliate |
WCHD-HD2* | 99.9-2 | FM | Kettering (Dayton) | Ohio | Affiliate |
WIZE | 1340 | AM | Springfield (Dayton) | Ohio | Affiliate |
WTEL | 610 | AM | Philadelphia | Pennsylvania | Affiliate |
WDAS-HD2* | 105.3-2 | FM | |||
WPRM-HD2* | 99.1-2 | FM | San Juan | Puerto Rico | Affiliate |
W288CX | 105.5 | FM | Columbia | South Carolina | n/a (WXBT-HD2 relay) |
WGVL | 1440 | AM | Greenville | South Carolina | Affiliate |
WXBT-HD2 | 100.1 | FM | West Columbia | South Carolina | Affiliate |
WNRQ-HD2* | 105.9-2 | FM | Nashville | Tennessee | Affiliate |
W248BQ | 97.5 | FM | Nashville | Tennessee | n/a (WNRQ-HD2 relay) |
KHVN | 970 | AM | Fort Worth (Dallas) | Texas | Affiliate |
KKGM | 1630 | ||||
K237HD | 95.3 | FM | Fort Worth | Texas | n/a (KHVN relay) |
KXYZ | 1320 | AM | Houston | Texas | Affiliate |
W244AV | 96.7 | FM | Blacksburg | Virginia | n/a (WROV-HD2 relay) |
WROV-HD2* | 96.3-2 | FM | Martinsville (Roanoke) | Virginia | Affiliate |
WNOH | 105.3 | FM | Windsor (Norfolk) | Virginia | Affiliate |
KHHO | 850 | AM | Tacoma-Seattle | Washington | Affiliate |
WBIN is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Atlanta, Georgia. It is owned by iHeartMedia, through its subsidiary iHM Licenses, LLC. It serves the Atlanta metropolitan area as its affiliate for the Black Information Network. The station's studios and offices located at the Peachtree Palisades Building in the Brookwood Hills district. The transmitter site is off Joseph E. Boone Boulevard Northwest in the Center Hill neighborhood of Atlanta.
KQQL is a commercial radio station serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul radio market and is licensed to suburban Anoka. It plays classic hits and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are on Utica Avenue South in St. Louis Park.
WODT is a commercial radio station in New Orleans, Louisiana. It broadcasts an all-news radio format as an affiliate of the Black Information Network. It is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., with studios on Howard Avenue.
WWRL is a commercial radio station licensed to New York City. WWRL airs an all-news radio format as an affiliate of the Black Information Network (BIN). The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc.
WMZQ-FM is a commercial radio station in Washington, D.C. owned by iHeartMedia. It has had a country music radio format since 1977. The studios and offices are on Rockville Pike in Rockville, Maryland.
WNRQ is an FM radio station in Nashville, Tennessee, broadcasting on a frequency of 105.9 MHz. Owned and operated by iHeartMedia, it serves counties in northern middle Tennessee and southern central Kentucky. The station's studios are located in Nashville's Music Row district and the transmitter site is located in Brentwood, Tennessee, a Nashville suburb.
WRUM is a commercial radio station in Orlando, Florida, known as "Rumba 100.3". It airs a Spanish-language radio format featuring Latin pop, reggaeton and tropical music, and is owned by iHeartMedia. The studios and offices are on Maitland Center Parkway in Maitland.
WFLZ-FM is a commercial radio station in Tampa, Florida. It airs a contemporary hit radio radio format and is owned and operated by iHeartMedia. The station's studios and offices are located on Gandy Boulevard in South Tampa. Local DJs are heard on weekdays, with syndicated shows, including American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest, the iHeartRadio Countdown, the Remix Top 30 with Hollywood Hamilton and On The Move with Enrique Santos, heard on weekends.
WRFX is a commercial radio station licensed to Kannapolis, North Carolina and serving the Charlotte metropolitan area. Owned by iHeartMedia, it airs a classic rock radio format, and calls itself "99.7 The Fox." The radio studios and offices are on Woodridge Center Drive in South Charlotte. WRFX is the flagship station for the John Boy and Billy Big Show, a nationally syndicated morning show heard around the country.
WNOH is a commercial radio station licensed to Windsor, Virginia, serving the Hampton Roads radio market in Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina. WNOH is owned and operated by iHeartMedia. The station airs an African American-oriented all-news radio format, as an affiliate of the Black Information Network.
W227BF is a translator broadcasting Black Information Network programming from the HD2 subcarrier of iHeartMedia's KQQL. Licensed to Shoreview, Minnesota, it serves the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area inside the I-494/I-694 beltway. The station is owned by iHeartMedia. All the offices and studios are located in St. Louis Park and the transmitter is atop the IDS Center in downtown Minneapolis.
KHHO is a commercial radio station licensed to Tacoma, Washington, United States, the station serves the Tacoma portion of the Seattle-Tacoma radio market. The station is an affiliate of Black Information Network and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc.
WMFN is a radio station broadcasting a Black-oriented news format from the Black Information Network. The station is owned by Birach Broadcasting, and under a local marketing agreement with iHeartMedia, specifically its Chicago cluster.
KWBL is a commercial radio station licensed to Denver, Colorado. It is owned by iHeartMedia and it broadcasts a country format branded as 106.7 The Bull. KWBL carries two nationally syndicated country music shows from co-owned Premiere Networks: The Bobby Bones Show on weekday mornings and CMT Nites with Cody Alan heard overnight. The radio studios are located in the Denver Tech Center.
WYNF is a radio station licensed to Augusta, Georgia, United States. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, and serves as Augusta's affiliate for the Black Information Network. Its studios are located at the Augusta Corporate Center near the I-20/I-520 interchange in Augusta, and the transmitter tower is west of Paine College in Augusta.
WHTY is a radio station licensed to serve Phenix City, Alabama, United States. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and licensed to iHM Licenses, LLC. WHTY operates as the Black Information Network affiliate for Columbus, Georgia. Its studios are in Columbus east of downtown, and its transmitter is southeast of downtown.
WMMS-HD2 is a digital subchannel of WMMS, a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, and features programming from the Black Information Network. Owned by iHeartMedia, WMMS-HD2 serves Greater Cleveland and surrounding Northeast Ohio. Using the proprietary technology HD Radio for its main digital transmission, WMMS-HD2 is rebroadcast over low-power analog Cleveland translator W256BT (99.1 FM), and streams online via iHeartRadio. WMMS-HD2's studios are located at the Six Six Eight Building in downtown Cleveland's Gateway District, while the WMMS-HD2 and W256BT transmitters reside in Seven Hills and Parma, respectively.
KSSX is a commercial radio station located in San Diego, California, although the station is legally licensed to serve Carlsbad, in nearby North County. The station airs an Urban Contemporary format, and is one of seven stations in the market owned and operated by iHeartMedia. The station's studios are located in San Diego's Kearny Mesa neighborhood on the northeast side, and the transmitter is atop Mt. Soledad, located in La Jolla.
WROV-HD2 is an all-news radio station, aimed at African-American listeners and licensed to Martinsville, Virginia. It carries the Black Information Network and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The HD-2 digital subchannel feeds 250-watt FM translator W244AV at 96.7 MHz in Blacksburg, Virginia.
W254AZ is an FM translator station licensed to serve Belmont, North Carolina.