| City of license | Birmingham, Alabama |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater Birmingham |
| Branding | Power 102.1 |
| Slogan | Classic Hip Hop and R&B |
| Frequency | 1320 kHz |
| Repeaters | 102.1 W270BW (Birmingham), 228 watts |
| First air date | 1950 (as WEZB) |
| Format | Old school hip hop/R&B |
| Power | 5,000 watts (day) 111 watts (night) |
| Class | D |
| Facility ID | 6411 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 33°33′41″N 86°51′37″W / 33.56139°N 86.86028°W |
| Former callsigns | WEZB (1950-?) WENN (?-1983) WAGG (1983-1999) WEZN (1999-2000) WRJS (2000-2003) WZZK (2003-2006) WPSB (2006-2009)[1] |
| Owner | Cox Radio |
| Sister stations | WAGG, WBHJ, WBHK, WBPT, WZNN, WZZK |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | wennfm.com |
WENN (1320 AM, simulcast on translator W270BW) is a radio station licensed to Birmingham, Alabama. Its daytime power is 5,000 watts, and at nighttime, it broadcasts at 111 watts. Formerly known on-air as "The People's Station of Birmingham", WENN is an old-school hip-hop/R&B station that targets Birmingham and central Alabama's African-American population. It is owned by Cox Radio, who also owns six other Birmingham stations.
Station history [link]
The station that now broadcasts at 1320 AM in Birmingham started in 1950 as WEZB, an easy listening music station licensed to Homewood, Alabama. When WEZB changed frequencies, moving to 1220 AM, it was replaced by WENN, playing music that targeted Birmingham's African-American community. During the turbulent early 1960s, the new WENN was one of two stations that played rhythm and blues music; the other was WJLD. Because of FCC restrictions, WENN broadcast only from sunrise until sunset; still, it enjoyed dominance over its main rival, WJLD. In 1969, WENN launched an FM companion station on 107.7 FM. The new WENN-FM was the first FM station in Birmingham aimed at the listening tastes of the community’s African-American population.
The popularity of FM radio in Birmingham greatly increased during the late 1970s and early 1980s; WENN-FM's audience growth in particular led the station management to seek a separate identity for WENN-AM. In 1983, the AM station changed its call letters to WAGG, and it became an urban gospel music station.[1] This change in programming proved to be successful, and by the end of the 1980s, WAGG was one of the highest-rated AM stations in Birmingham.
In 1998, Cox Radio, who already owned WZZK-FM, WODL-FM and WEZN, bought WAGG. One year later, WEZN, at the time an adult standards-formatted station, and WAGG swapped dial positions, in order for WAGG to take advantage of the superior nighttime signal on 610 AM. As a result, 610 would be the new station for gospel, while 1320 would be the new home for adult standards.
After WAGG and WEZN swapped dial positions, the 1320 AM frequency has changed both its callsign and its programming format several times. In 2000, the adult standards programming was dropped, and the station was relaunched as WRJS ("Rejoice 1320"), another urban gospel station. In 2002, the station changed formats again, becoming a regional Mexican music station known on the air as "La Favorita". In 2003, the station was reincarnated as WZZK (at one time in the 1980s the callsign of 610 AM), playing classic country music.
The station became WPSB in February 2006, with an urban talk format under the moniker "The People's Station of Birmingham."[2]
On January 29, 2007, the station began stunting in anticipation of a change in formats. "Oye Como Va" by Santana was played continuously all day. The station was officially relaunched as a Regional Mexican music station branded as "Radio Centro Birmingham" on February 1, 2007.[3] The station was run out of Cox Radio's Birmingham facilities but was operated under a local marketing agreement by KPI Latino.[3][4]
On March 15, 2009, the legacy WENN callsign was returned to this station.[1] At about the same time, the station dropped the Regional Mexican music format and revert to urban-oriented talk programming.
On February 16, 2010, WENN changed their format to neo soul/urban AC, branded as "WENN 101.9, Birmingham's Neo Soul Station", with AM 1320 simulcasting on W270BW at 101.9 FM. After approved modifications, W270BW now broadcasts at 102.1 FM and can be received over most of downtown Birmingham.
As of December 12, 2011, WENN now airs old-school hip-hop and R&B music. Their moniker was also changed to "Power 102.1."
References [link]
- ^ a b c "Call Sign History". FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database. https://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=6411&Callsign=WPSB.
- ^ Ekman, Jennifer (September 1, 2006). "Cox rocks Birmingham". Birmingham Business Journal. https://baltimore.bizjournals.com/birmingham/stories/2006/09/04/focus1.html.
- ^ a b DeButts, Jimmy (February 9, 2007). "Hispanic radio station launched". Birmingham Business Journal. https://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/stories/2007/02/12/story3.html?from_rss=1.
- ^ "Strategic Bilingual Media Services". KPI Latino. https://www.kpilatino.com/radio.html. Retrieved March 6, 2009.
External links [link]
- Radio/TV page of Birmingham Rewound
- Query the FCC's AM station database for WENN
- Radio-Locator Information on WENN
- Query Arbitron's AM station database for WENN
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