WHHL

Last updated
WHHL
Broadcast area Greater St. Louis
Frequency 104.1 MHz (HD Radio)
BrandingHot 104-1
Programming
Format Urban contemporary
Ownership
Owner
  • Audacy, Inc.
  • (Audacy License, LLC, as Debtor-in-Possession)
History
First air date
October 16, 1967;56 years ago (1967-10-16) (as WJBM-FM in Jerseyville, Illinois)
Former call signs
  • WJBM-FM (1967–85)
  • WKKX (1985–94)
  • WKBQ-FM (1994–97)
  • WALC (1997–98)
  • WXTM-FM (1998–2000)
  • WMLL (2000–04)
  • WRDA (2004–05)
Call sign meaning
"Where Hip-Hop Lives"
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 74578
Class C2
ERP 50,000  watts
HAAT 140 meters (460 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
 38°39′07″N90°17′02″W / 38.652°N 90.284°W / 38.652; -90.284
Links
Public license information
Webcast Listen live (via  Audacy)
Website www.audacy.com/hot1041

WHHL (104.1 FM "HOT 104-1") is a commercial radio station licensed to Hazelwood, Missouri, and serving the Greater St. Louis area. It broadcasts an urban contemporary radio format and is owned by Audacy, Inc. The studios and offices are on Olive Street at Tucker Boulevard in downtown St. Louis.

Contents

WHHL is a Class C2 station. It has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 50,000 watts, using a directional antenna. The transmitter is on DeBaliviere Avenue, just north of Forest Park. [2]

History

1978-1994: Country

The station signed on in 1978 as WJBM-FM, airing a full service country format targeting the more Northern areas of the St. Louis metropolitan area, as well as the Metro East area, with its city of license being Jerseyville. The station's transmitter at the time was located north of the city (near Jerseyville), which was a partial hindrance to any chance for success in the market for the next 21⁄2 decades, despite later moving to a tower on Douglas Road in Florissant, Missouri. They began targeting St. Louis in September 1985 as country music station WKKX ("Kix 104 FM"), and owned by Shelly Davis' Gateway Radio Partners. Zimmer Broadcasting bought the station out of bankruptcy in July 1991. [3]

1994-1997: Top 40

On January 20, 1994, WKKX would swap frequencies with Top 40/CHR-formatted WKBQ-FM, with WKKX moving to 106.5 FM, and WKBQ-FM moving to 104.1 FM, and rebranding as "Q104". (WKBQ's simulcast on 1380 AM would continue with the swap.) [4] [5]

WKBQ-FM was also the FM home for St. Louis morning team “Steve & DC” after one of the most significant stories/controversies in St. Louis radio history in the summer of 1993. The popular duo announced on January 6, 1994, that they would return on January 20 to “Q104” at a downtown press conference carried live on television stations KTVI (ch. 2), KMOV (ch. 4), KSDK (ch. 5) and KDNL (ch. 30). Reporters from all major newspapers and magazines presented as well. [6] [5] Emmis Communications bought the station in November 1996, for $42.5 million.[ citation needed ]

1997-1998: Modern AC

WHHL transmitting tower WHHL2.jpg
WHHL transmitting tower

On January 24, 1997, the Top 40/CHR format was dropped for Modern AC as WALC, "Alice 104.1". [7] [8] [9] [10]

1998-2000: Active Rock

On June 25, 1998, at 3 p.m., WALC flipped to active rock as "Extreme Radio 104.1" and the WXTM-FM call letters (which were both adopted July 15, 1998). [11] WXTM was the original St. Louis affiliate of The Howard Stern Show.

2000-2004: 80s Hits

On September 24, 2000, at 2 p.m., after playing "Fade to Black" by Metallica, and after Emmis purchased KPNT (and moved Stern to that station), WXTM flipped to All-80s Hits as WMLL ("104.1 The Mall"). [12] [13] [14] The format would later evolve into a 80s/90s hits format, and would be the home of popular morning DJ's Steve & DC. On November 20, 2003, at Midnight, WMLL began stunting with Christmas music; on December 25, the stunting changed to a "wheel of formats" by playing music from any given genre, as well as old airchecks from past formats on the frequency. [15] [16]

2004-2005: Adult Standards

At noon on January 8, 2004, the stunting stopped and the station flipped to an Adult Standards format as WRDA, "Red @ 104.1". The first songs on "Red" were "My Kind of Town" and "The Lady is a Tramp", both by Frank Sinatra. [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] The station specialized in "Music with Class" as they called it, playing classic standards singers such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Bobby Darin, along with more modern 'crooners' such as Rod Stewart and Michael Bublé.

2005-present: Urban Contemporary

Previous logo WHHL HOT104.1FM logo.png
Previous logo

In September 2005, after 18 months of subpar ratings and low advertising revenues, Emmis announced they would sell WRDA to Radio One, for $20 million. The station flipped to its current urban contemporary format as "Hot 104.1" on October 1, 2005, at Midnight. The first song on "Hot" was "Play" by rapper David Banner. [22] [23] The call letters would change to WHHL on November 24, 2005. Radio One would take full possession of the station in 2006 after running it under a local marketing agreement from Emmis.[ citation needed ] The station's signal problems were finally solved in 2008, when it changed its city of license to Hazelwood and relocated its transmitter to a site in the city of St. Louis, giving the station full market coverage.[ citation needed ]

WHHL transmitter building WHHL.jpg
WHHL transmitter building

On November 5, 2020, Urban One announced that it would swap WHHL, the intellectual property of WFUN-FM, and two other stations in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. to Entercom, in exchange for its Charlotte, North Carolina stations. Entercom took over the station under a local marketing agreement on November 23. The swap was consummated on April 20, 2021. [24]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WALR-FM</span> Radio station in Palmetto–Atlanta, Georgia

WALR-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Palmetto, Georgia and serving Metro Atlanta. It is owned by the Cox Media Group and airs an urban adult contemporary radio format. The studios are co-located with other Cox-owned radio stations and WSB-TV in Midtown Atlanta on West Peachtree Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KXXR</span> Radio station in Minneapolis, Minnesota

KXXR is an active rock/mainstream rock radio station broadcasting to the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. It is owned by Cumulus Media, which also owns KQRS-FM. Its transmitter is located in Shoreview, Minnesota. Its studios are in Northeast Minneapolis in the Como district.

KZJK is a commercial radio station licensed to St. Louis Park, Minnesota, and serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul radio market. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc., and airs an adult hits radio format known as "104.1 Jack FM." Audacy also owns Jack FM stations in Los Angeles and Dallas. KZJK's studios and offices are on Second Avenue South in Minneapolis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WARH</span> Radio station in Granite City, Illinois, serving St. Louis, Missouri

WARH is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Granite City, Illinois and serving Greater St. Louis including sections of Illinois and Missouri. WARH is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting and airs an Adult Hits radio format. The studios and offices are in Creve Coeur, Missouri. The transmitter is located near Resurrection Cemetery off Mackenzie Road in St. Louis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WIHT</span> Radio station in D.C., United States

WIHT is a Top 40 (CHR) formatted radio station that serves the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Located on the fourth floor of 1801 Rockville Pike in Rockville, Maryland, the station broadcasts 24 hours a day and is licensed to, and owned by, iHeartMedia. The transmitter is located on River Road in Bethesda, Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KRZZ</span> Regional Mexican radio station in San Francisco

KRZZ is a commercial radio station located in San Francisco, California, broadcasting to the San Francisco Bay Area. KRZZ airs a regional Mexican music format branded as "La Raza". The station's studios are located in San Jose just north of downtown, and the transmitter is located in the San Bruno Mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KBZT</span> Alternative rock radio station in San Diego

KBZT is a commercial radio station licensed to San Diego, California. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station broadcasts an alternative rock format. Its studios are located in San Diego's Stonecrest area, and the transmitter is located in La Jolla.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KALV-FM</span> Contemporary hit radio station in Phoenix

KALV-FM is a commercial radio station in Phoenix, Arizona. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and it airs a top 40 (CHR) format. KALV-FM's studios are located in downtown Phoenix, and its transmitter is in South Mountain Park. For its first 20 years, the stations went by the call letters KHEP. From 1992 - 2016, the station used the callsign KZON.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KIMN</span> Hot adult contemporary radio station in Denver

KIMN is a commercial radio station in Denver, Colorado. The station is owned by Stan Kroenke's KSE Radio Ventures and airs a hot adult contemporary radio format. Studios and offices are located on Colorado Boulevard in Glendale, and the transmitter site is on Mount Morrison west of Lakewood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KHMX</span> Hot adult contemporary radio station in Houston

KHMX is an American commercial hot adult contemporary radio station in Houston, Texas. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and serves the Greater Houston metropolitan area. The KHMX studios are located in Houston's Greenway Plaza district, while the station transmitter is located in the Houston suburb of Missouri City. In addition to a standard analog transmission, KHMX broadcasts using HD Radio technology, and is available online via Audacy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KFTK-FM</span> Radio station in Florissant, Missouri, serving St. Louis

KFTK-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Florissant, Missouri, and serving the Greater St. Louis area. It airs a talk radio format and is owned by Audacy, Inc. The studios are on Olive Street in downtown St. Louis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WFUN-FM</span> Adult R&B radio station in St. Louis

WFUN-FM is a radio station in St. Louis, Missouri. The station airs an urban adult contemporary radio format branded as "96.3 The Lou". Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station's studios are located on Olive Street in St. Louis, while its transmitter is located off Watson Road in Shrewsbury.

KXFN is a radio station in St. Louis, Missouri. It is owned by the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod and airs a simulcast of station KFUO's daytime signal and nighttime live stream. The station has a colorful history as a Top 40 station KWK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KJAQ</span> Adult hits radio station in Seattle

KJAQ is a commercial radio station in Seattle, Washington. KJAQ airs an adult hits music format branded as "Jack FM". It is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are in the Belltown neighborhood northwest of Downtown Seattle. The station's transmitter is on Tiger Mountain in Issaquah. KJAQ broadcasts in the HD Radio format. The HD-2 subchannel carries an alternative rock format and HD-3 simulcasts conservative talk KPTR, also owned by iHeart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KKHH</span> Radio station in Houston, Texas

KKHH is a radio station in Houston, Texas. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs an adult hits radio format. The studios and offices are located in the Greenway Plaza district of Houston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WNKS</span> Contemporary hit radio station in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States

WNKS is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Charlotte, North Carolina. The station is owned by Beasley Broadcast Group through licensee Beasley Media Group, LLC and broadcasts a contemporary hit radio format. Studios are located on South Boulevard in Charlotte's South End and the station's broadcast tower is located near Dallas, North Carolina, at.

KUFX is a classic rock radio station licensed to San Jose, California. Its studios are located along Junipero Serra Boulevard in Daly City, and the transmitter is located on Blackberry Hill above Los Gatos.

KLQB is a Regional Mexican radio station serving the Austin, Texas, area. It is owned by TelevisaUnivision, via Uforia Audio Network, and broadcasts with an ERP of 48,000 watts and is licensed to Taylor, Texas. Its transmitter is located in Coupland, Texas, and the station has studios along MoPac Expressway in Northwest Austin.

KLSW is a Contemporary Christian formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Covington, Washington, serving the Seattle metropolitan area. KLSW is owned and operated by Educational Media Foundation.

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

WJZ-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Catonsville, Maryland, and serving the Baltimore metropolitan area. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. through licensee Audacy License, LLC, and it broadcasts a sports radio format. Local shows are heard on weekdays, with programming from the Infinity Sports Network airing nights and weekends. The station's studios and offices are located in Towson.

References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WHHL". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ↑ Radio-Locator.com/WHHL
  3. ↑ "RR-1991-07-12" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com.
  4. ↑ Stark, Phyllis (January 15, 1994). "Vox Jox". Billboard . Vol. 106, no. 3. p. 64.
  5. 1 2 "RR-1994-01-07" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com.
  6. ↑ Stark, Phyllis (January 15, 1994). "Vox Jox". Billboard . Vol. 106, no. 3. p. 64.
  7. ↑ Diane Toroian, "St. Louis loses Top 40 station," The Boston Globe, January 25, 1997.
  8. ↑ "RR-1997-01-31" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com.
  9. ↑ Alice 104.1 Commercial , retrieved 2024-01-31
  10. ↑ ALICE @ 104.1 St Louis Fall 1997 Composite , retrieved 2024-01-31
  11. ↑ "RR-1998-07-03" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com.
  12. ↑ "RR-2000-09-29" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com.
  13. ↑ Roberts, Randall. "Death of a Format". Riverfront Times. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
  14. ↑ WMLL "104.1 The Mall" Jerseyville IL/St. Louis - Tony Columbo - May 11 2001 , retrieved 2024-01-31
  15. ↑ "St. Louis' 104.1 FM Flips to all Christmas Music, all the Time... -- re> ST. LOUIS, Nov. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --". Archived from the original on 2012-12-11.
  16. ↑ "Too Soon - St. Louis Journalism Review | HighBeam Research". 2016-09-10. Archived from the original on 2016-09-10. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
  17. ↑ Lance (2004-01-08). ""104.1 The Mall" WMLL flips from 80's to Standards "Red 104.1" WRDA". Format Change Archive. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
  18. ↑ "St. Louis Stories". www.bizjournals.com. May 1, 2004. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
  19. ↑ "RR-2004-01-16" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com.
  20. ↑ Research, Edison (2004-01-21). "First Look: "Modern Standards" Red 104/St.Louis". Edison Research. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
  21. ↑ Red 104.1 Radio Station Commercial [2004, St. Louis, Missouri] , retrieved 2024-01-31
  22. ↑ "Emmis Announces Sale of St. Louis' "Red" to Radio One". Emmis Corporation. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
  23. ↑ Lance (2005-10-01). "WRDA Becomes Hot 104.1". Format Change Archive. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
  24. ↑ "Entercom To Swap Charlotte Stations To Radio One For WPHI, WTEM and St. Louis Duo". RadioInsight. 5 November 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
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.