WBHM

Last updated
WBHM
Broadcast area Birmingham metropolitan area
Frequency 90.3 MHz
BrandingWBHM
Programming
Format Public radio - News Talk Information (days) and Classical Music (late nights)
Affiliations National Public Radio
American Public Media
Public Radio Exchange
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
December 5, 1976
Call sign meaning
W BirmingHaM [1]
Technical information [2]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 4240
Class C1
ERP 32,000 watts
HAAT 370 meters (1,210 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
 33°29′19″N86°47′58″W / 33.48861°N 86.79944°W / 33.48861; -86.79944
Translator(s) 106.1 W291DC (Birmingham)
Links
Public license information
Webcast Listen Live
Website wbhm.org

WBHM (90.3 MHz) is a non-commercial public FM radio station in Birmingham, Alabama. The station is licensed to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where it maintains its radio studios on 11th Street South. WBHM features programming from National Public Radio, American Public Media and Public Radio Exchange. [3] On weekdays, it carries news and information programming, with classical music heard late nights, seven days a week. Weekend programming includes public radio shows such as Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me , On The Media , The Moth Radio Hour and Travel with Rick Steves , as well as Bluegrass music and New Age music.

Contents

WBHM has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 32,000 watts. The transmitter is in Vulcan Park, amid towers for other Birmingham-area FM and TV stations. [4] It broadcasts using HD Radio technology. On a digital subchannel, it operates the Alabama Radio Reading Service for blind and visually impaired listeners. Articles from the Birmingham News and popular magazines are read on the service. WBHM programming is also heard on 99 watt FM translator W291DC at 106.1 MHz in Birmingham. [5]

History

Early years

Even though Huntsville beat Birmingham, the state's largest city in 1976 (in population), in getting Alabama's first public radio station in October 1976 (the present WLRH), WBHM did not follow far behind, beginning operations on December 5. WBHM became Birmingham's full-time classical music station since the demise of a commercial FM outlet, WSFM, which gave way to the present WDJC-FM in 1967.

By the 1990s, WBHM discontinued local classical hosts. It switched to syndicated programming from the Classical Public Radio Network, a joint production of KUSC-FM Los Angeles and Colorado Public Radio, to provide programming in the middays, evenings, and overnight. Weekday mornings and afternoons were dedicated to news and information programming, largely from National Public Radio.

When CPRN shut down operations in 2008, WBHM switched to an all-news/discussion format in the daytime hours with programming from PRI and NPR, a move that several other previously classical-formatted NPR affiliates elsewhere have made in recent times. Classical music is now heard on WBHM after 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 10 p.m. on Saturdays and Midnight on Sundays. Also on Sunday nights, two long-running atmospheric music programs, Echoes and Hearts of Space, air on WBHM.

WSGN

WSGN began operation as WEXP (for experiment) on February 11, 1975, primarily as a training facility for Gadsden State Community College's broadcasting department. The station was assembled using equipment donated by several Alabama radio stations and by Rick Maze of Birmingham, plus purchases from the State of Alabama Surplus Property warehouse. Construction was performed by broadcast instructors Don Smith and Bob Mayben with assistance from WBRC-TV personnel in Birmingham.

The station was operated by students and faculty for many years. When both Smith and Mayben left the school for other interests, new instructor Neil Mullen took over the station operation and a cooperative arrangement was struck with WBHM to provide programming.

The call letters of WSGN (for founder Birmingham News, the "South's Greatest Newspaper" [1] ) date back to the beginning of radio broadcasting in the state, and were formerly located in Birmingham at 610 on the AM dial. In fact, there was a WSGN-FM in the 1950s which today is known as WDJC in Birmingham. The call letters were changed under Mullens' leadership when WSGN 610 AM was sold to a company that did not want to use the call letters, but did not want another station in Birmingham to be able to use them, so another deal was struck to rename WEXP as WSGN. As of 2013, the WEXP call letters are located in Brandon, Vermont. [6]

On September 30, 2018, WSGN ceased broadcasting programming from WBHM as Gadsden State Community College sold the license to a non-profit religious broadcaster. [7] The sale, to Educational Media Foundation, was consummated on January 31, 2019. GSCC had discontinued its broadcasting curriculum some years earlier, leaving the school no further use for the station.

Local programs

Tapestry --Originally a weekly 30-minute program, the show spotlights aspects of Birmingham's local artistic and musical scene, as well as features interviews with artists coming through the Birmingham region, hosted by Greg Bass. From July 2009 to 2013, the program was reduced in frequency to a 60-minute monthly broadcast. Arts-related segments on WBHM are now a part of regular news and feature shows, but Tapestry is no longer broadcast over the air. Tapestry archival programs and segments are still available on the WBHM website.

The WBHM news department has local updates inserted in Morning Edition (weekdays from 5-9 a.m.) and All Things Considered (weekdays from 3-7 p.m.).

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WLRH</span> Public radio station in Huntsville, Alabama

WLRH, branded as "WLRH 89.3 FM/HD Huntsville," is an American public radio station located in Huntsville, Alabama, the state's first such broadcaster. It offers music, news, cultural and entertainment programming from American Public Media, Public Radio Exchange, National Public Radio, and other nationally-recognized public media outlets, as well as airing several local shows produced by staff and volunteers. WLRH provides three HD channels. The HD1 signal is a digital version of the main WLRH signal, the HD2 signal is a 24-hour classical music service, and the HD3 signal provides news and talk programs. WLRH serves an area roughly 60 miles in all directions from its transmitter on Monte Sano Mountain, located on the city's eastern end, including north-central Alabama and south-central Tennessee, as well as northeastern Alabama via a translator.

WBPT is a classic rock music-formatted radio station licensed to Homewood, Alabama, that serves the Birmingham and central Alabama area. The station was assigned the WBPT call letters by the Federal Communications Commission on October 17, 2001. From October 2005 to December 20, 2022, it used the branding "106.9 the Eagle". The station is owned by SummitMedia, along with six other stations in the cluster, and all share studios in the Cahaba neighborhood in far southeast Birmingham. Its transmitter is located atop Red Mountain in Birmingham.

WAGG is a commercial radio station licensed to Birmingham, Alabama. It is owned by SummitMedia and broadcasts an urban gospel radio format that targets Birmingham's African-American community. The studios and offices are in the Cahaba neighborhood in Southeast Birmingham, along with six other stations owned by SummitMedia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WJOX (AM)</span> Sports radio station in Birmingham, Alabama

WJOX is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Birmingham, Alabama. It is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts a sports format. WJOX is the Birmingham affiliate of the UAB Blazers Radio Network, the Tennessee Titans Radio Network and the Atlanta Braves Radio Network. It used to be the broadcast home of the Birmingham Barons. The station has studios and offices in Homewood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WZRR</span> Radio station in Alabama, United States

WZRR is a radio station licensed to Birmingham, Alabama. It carries a news/talk format, simulcast with AM sister station WAPI. WZRR is one of several Birmingham-area radio stations owned by Cumulus Media, with radio studios and offices on Goodwin Crest Drive in Homewood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KXL-FM</span> Radio station in Oregon, United States

KXL-FM is a commercial radio station in Portland, Oregon. It is owned by Alpha Media and broadcasts a news/talk radio format. The studios are on SW 5th Avenue in downtown Portland. KXL-FM is the flagship station for the nationally syndicated Lars Larson Show. In addition to news blocks in weekday AM and PM drive time, KXL-FM also carries syndicated shows from Chad Benson, Markley, Van Camp and Robbins, Red Eye Radio, This Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal and America in the Morning.

WERC is a commercial radio station licensed to Birmingham, Alabama. It is owned by iHeartMedia and it simulcasts a talk radio format with sister station WERC-FM. The studios and offices are in Beacon Ridge Tower on First Avenue South in Birmingham, off Interstate 65.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WDXB</span> Country music radio station in Pelham–Birmingham, Alabama

WDXB is a country music formatted radio station licensed to Pelham, Alabama, and serving the Birmingham metropolitan area and north-central Alabama. The radio studios and offices are at Beacon Ridge Tower in Birmingham. The station calls itself "102.5 The Bull" and is owned by San Antonio–based iHeartMedia

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WAPI (AM)</span> Radio station in Birmingham, Alabama

WAPI is a commercial AM radio station in Birmingham, Alabama. It is owned by Cumulus Media and carries a news/talk format, simulcast with FM sister station 99.5 WZRR. The radio studios and offices are on Goodwin Crest Drive in Homewood.

WXJC-FM is a commercial Christian radio station licensed to Cullman, Alabama, serving the Birmingham metropolitan area and nearly all of north-central Alabama. The station is owned by Crawford Broadcasting Company, and airs a mix of Christian talk and teaching programs with Southern Gospel music. The studios and offices are located in Homewood.

WHIL is a non-commercial, listener-supported, public radio station in Mobile, Alabama. It features news and talk programming in morning and afternoon drive times, classical music in middays and evenings, and the BBC World Service in late nights. It is part of Alabama Public Radio's "News and Classics" network and a member of National Public Radio (NPR). The studios are at the Digital Media Center on the campus of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

WYDE is a commercial AM radio station. The station is owned by the Crawford Broadcasting Company and airs a Southern Gospel radio format with some Christian talk and teaching programs. It is simulcast with WYDE-FM 92.5 MHz in Cordova.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WDJC-FM</span> Radio station in Birmingham, Alabama

WDJC-FM is a radio station licensed to Birmingham, Alabama. The station was one of the first commercial FM radio stations in the United States to exclusively feature Christian programming. Today the station programs contemporary Christian music. Owned by Crawford Broadcasting Company, WDJC-FM's transmitter tower is in Southwest Birmingham, and its studios are located in Homewood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WJLD</span> Radio station in Fairfield, Alabama

WJLD is a radio station licensed to Fairfield, Alabama, that serves most of the Birmingham metropolitan area. The station offers talk and music programming targeted towards African-American listeners, including a mixture of locally originated talk programming and urban oldies music. The station is owned by Richardson Broadcasting Corporation, a company based in Birmingham. Richardson Broadcasting Corporation also owns WAYE 1220 AM in Birmingham, Alabama and has construction permits for low power television stations in Dothan, Montgomery and Selma Alabama. The station's studios and transmitter are located separately in Southwest Birmingham.

WKAR-FM is a non-commercial public radio station in East Lansing, Michigan. It is owned by Michigan State University, along with sister stations WKAR and WKAR-TV. They are owned by Michigan State University, with studios are in the Communication Arts and Sciences Building, at Wilson and Red Cedar Roads on the MSU campus.

WAAX is a radio station broadcasting a news/talk format. Licensed to Gadsden, Alabama, United States, the station is currently owned by San Antonio-based iHeartMedia. Overnight, the station broadcasts the syndicated Coast to Coast AM hosted by George Noory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WGAD</span> Radio station in Rainbow City, Alabama

WGAD is a radio station licensed to serve Rainbow City, Alabama, United States. It operates at 930 kilohertz, with a daytime power of 5,000 watts non-directional, and 500 watts directional at night. Established in 1951, the station is currently owned by Jeff Beck and the broadcast license is held by Gadsden Radio Media, LLC.

WYDE-FM is a radio station broadcasting an inspirational music format. Licensed to Cordova, Alabama, United States, the station serves the Birmingham, area. To compensate for its weak signal over much of the eastern and southern parts of the Birmingham metropolitan area, the station is simulcast on 1260 AM. The station is licensed to Kimtron, Inc. and owned by Crawford Broadcasting.

WXJC is an AM radio station licensed to serve Birmingham, Alabama. The station is licensed to Kimtron, Inc., and is owned by Crawford Broadcasting Company. It airs a Southern Gospel music and Talk radio format.

WTSU is an American radio station licensed to serve Troy, Alabama and serving the Montgomery, Alabama market. The station, established in 1977, is owned and operated by Troy University. It broadcasts a classical music format as the flagship station of the Troy University Public Radio network.

References

  1. 1 2 Nelson, Bob (2008-10-18). "Call Letter Origins". The Broadcast Archive. Retrieved 2008-10-31.
  2. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WBHM". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ↑ "WBHM Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  4. ↑ Radio-Locator.com/WBHM
  5. ↑ Radio-Locator.com/W291DC
  6. ↑ . Retrieved on 2008-04-17.
  7. ↑ "Broadcast on WSGN to Cease". United States. 14 September 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.