WAPI-AM: Difference between revisions

From Bhamwiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(1st pass (adapting from WRAX, don't worry))
 
No edit summary
Line 2: Line 2:


==History==
==History==
The call letters "WRAX" (meaning "rock alternative, the X") originated in [[1996]] when Dick Broadcasting bought a 6 KW station in [[Trussville]] called  [[WWBR]] (105.9 FM, "The Bear"). Dick changed format from album-oriented rock/active rock to modern rock/alternative rock, and called the new format "106 the X".
The call letters "WAPI" stand for the [[Auburn University|Alabama Polytechnic Institute]] at [[Auburn]], which took over equipment from [[Alabama Power Company]]'s failed [[WSY]] station in [[1925]] and merged it with its own [[WMAV]] equipment on campus. The Federal Radio Commission was established in [[1927]] and assigned WAPI to five different frequencies over the course of that year.


[[Image:107.7 the X.jpg|left|85px]]
Three years later, in [[1928]] WAPI moved back to Birmingham to provide a big city market for the two-year-old NBC Radio Network. The City of [[Birmingham]] agreed to pay half the operating costs for the station. Negotiations began with other state universities interesting in radio broadcasting, and from 1929 to 1932 the station was jointly-owned by Auburn (39%), the [[University of Alabama]] (39%), and the [[University of Montevallo|Alabama College for Women]] in [[Montevallo]] (22%).
In [[1998]], WRAX switched frequencies with another Dick station, the 100 KW [[WENN]] (107.7 FM "107-7 the X"). Morning radio team [[Beaner and Ken]] debuted on the X that year and became one of the most popular morning teams in the Birmingham market. They duo split in summer [[2001]], with "Beaner" ([[Guy Patten]]) moving to a station in Washington D.C.


A new morning duo, [[Tuttle and Kline]], debuted in early 2002.
Having upped its power to 5,000 Watts the new WAPI began broadcasting NBC programming from studios on the 14th floor of the [[Protective Life Building]] downtown on December 31, 1929. In [[1930]] the city's budget, which had declined precipitously at the start of the [[Great Depression]], required it to withdraw its funding. As a result, the station began accepting local commercial programming for the first time. By [[1931]] the station was having difficulty staying afloat and applied to the FRC to boost power to 50 Kilowatts. Attorney [[Oscar W. Underwood, Jr]] represented the station using a $100 grant from the [[Birmingham Chamber of Commerce]]. Only half the request was approved, and ultimately the station was unable to afford the equipment needed.


During the height of its popularity, the X was the second-highest rated station in Birmingham and one of the highest-rated alternative stations in the United States. DJ [[Scott Register]]'s "[[Reg's Coffee House]]" program on Sundays introduced Birmingham listeners to hundreds of new artists, many of which then made program director Rossi's regular rotation. Several regional and national bands, such as Matchbox Twenty, Train, Creed, Sister Hazel, Vertical Horizon and John Mayer were boosted by the X's promotional efforts.
In [[1932]] WAPI became a private business, with [[W. O. Pape]] forming the '''WAPI Broadcasting Company''' to lease the station. A year later, he sold his interest to [[Bascomb H. Hopson]], who created, in turn, the '''WAPI Broadcasting Corporation]] and shared the frequency with Tulsa, Oklahoma's KVOO. On August 1, [[1937]] the lease was sold to [[Ed Norton]] and [[Thad Holt]], who sub-leased to [[The Voice of Alabama]], with an agreement to boost power to 50,000 Watts.


From [[1998]] to [[2004]] the station released a series of seven albums featuring live performances under the name ''[[Live in the X Lounge]]''. Profits from the hot-selling CDs benefited [[United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Birmingham]].
Norton borrowed $50,000 from [[Birmingham Trust National Bank]] and he and Holt negotiated with the CBS network to invest in half the cost of the upgrades. With a 45% interest in the station, CBS took over programming in [[1940]] and provided engineer [[Victor J. Andrew]] to help design a directional antenna array to avoid interference with KVOO and other stations in Los Angeles and Nova Scotia. Another station engineer tested the signals from outside Memphis, Tennessee and found the directional array successful.


In March [[2005]], Citadel changed the station's frequency again, moving to 100.5, the former home of [[WANZ]], which had been competing as an alternative rock station until it was acquired from Apex Broadcasting by Citadel. Among the changes were the hiring of [[Ken Wall]] as program director. He made clear in a now-infamous memo to the staff that "We are not in the business of breaking new music." (Geiss - 2006)
Nevertheless, in [[1941]] the American entry into [[World War II]] created many changes. WAPI and KVOO were moved to 1170 AM. WAPI soon moved down the dial to 1070 under a Special Temporary Authority and regained their permit to broadcast full time. Meanwhile the U. S. Army appropriated all unused radio transmitters, delaying the station's power upgrade until well into the Cold War.


WANZ, meanwhile, had reintroduced the Beaner and Ken show in 2004. Patten moved to Syracuse, New York the following year, but continued to collaborate with Ken long-distance for airing in both markets. After Citadel moved the X to 100.5, they took over the syndication of Beaner and Ken, returning the show to the Birmingham market. Tuttle and Kline relocated to a Texas sation. The power and range of the 100.5 signal was much less than 107.7 and the X's ratings took an immediate hit from which it never recovered.
By [[1942]] the station's move to 1070 was made permanent. In [[1949]], WAPI's owners launched [[WAFM-TV]] (Channel 13), Alabama's first television broadcast station. A few years earlier [[WAFM-FM]], WAPI's sister FM station at 94.5 MHz had been launched as well. In [[1952]] the station did increase power, to 10,000 Watts.  [[1953]] The [[Birmingham News|Birmingham News Company]] bought the trio of stations and moved their studios to [[Red Mountain]]. The following year, WAPI returned to the NBC network, where it remained through the rest of the decade until local programming superseded the national networks. The three stations, as well as the ''[[Birmingham News|News]]'' were bought out by [[S. I. Newhouse]] in [[1956]]. Two years later, the 50,000 Watt power upgrade was approved for daytime broadcasting.


Various format tweaks were tried before Citadel brought in Robison, most recently from Houston's KTBZ-FM. On Tuesday November 28, station employees were informed that the X was ceasing operations and that [[WJOX]], an AM sports talk station, would be using the 100.5 frequency.
In [[1961]] the [[Newhouse Broadcasting Corporation]] bought the station from the three universities for $340,000. Through the 1960s WAPI featured a popular music format with call-in shows in the evenings, evolving into an "adult contemporary" format by the 1970s as pop music passed it by.
 
In [[1980]] the FCC mandated that Newhouse split off its media interests. WAPI-AM and [[WAPI-FM]] were sold and moved together to newly-equipped studios at 2146 [[Highland Avenue]]. In [[1985]] the format was changed to "adult standards", and on January 1, [[1996]] WAPI became an all-news station. It has since dropped most of its news programming in favor of syndicated talk radio. The only locally-originating programs currently on WAPI are [[Frank Matthews]] and morning team [[Dixon & Willoughby]].
 
In November, 2006 Dixon & Willoughby announced they were moving to another market.


{{start box}}
{{start box}}
{{succession box |
{{succession box |
   before= [[WWBR]] (album rock) |
   before= none |
   title=[[FM 105.9]]/[[FM 105.5]] |
   title=[[AM 1140]] |
   years=[[1996]] - [[1997]] |
   years=[[1927]] - [[1941]] |
   after= [[WENN]] (urban music)
   after= none
}}
}}
{{succession box |
{{succession box |
   before= [[WENN]] (urban music) |
   before= none |
   title=[[FM 107.7]] |
   title=[[AM 1170]] |
   years=[[1998]] - [[2005]] |
   years=[[1941]] - [[1942]] |
   after= [[WUHT]]  (urban adult contemporary)
   after= none
}}
}}
{{succession box |
{{succession box |
   before= [[WANZ]] (modern rock) |
   before= none |
   title=[[FM 100.5]] |
   title=[[AM 1070]] |
   years=[[2005]] - [[2006]] |
   years=[[1942]] - present |
   after= [[WJOX-FM|WJOX]] (sports talk)
   after= current
}}
}}
{{end box}}
{{end box}}


==Programming==
==Programming==
* Weekday early mornings: Dirk Van
* Weekday mornings: [[Dixon & Willoughby]] (through December 8, 2006)
* Weekday mornings: [[Dixon & Willoughby]] (through December 8, 2006)
* Weekday midmornings: Neal Boortz (Atlanta)
* Weekday midmornings: Neal Boortz
* Weekday afternoons: [[Steve Robison]]
* Mid-days: Paul Harvey
* Weekday/Saturday evenings: [[Amber]]
* Weekday early afternoons: Laura Ingraham
* Sunday late-mornings: [[Reg's Coffee House]]
* Weekday afternoons/Saturday morning/Sunday afternoon: Sean Hannity
* Saturday mid-day: [[Geno]]
* Weekday/Saturday evenings: Michael Savage
* Sunday evenings: [[Coyote J.]]
* Weekday later evenings: Bill O'Reilly
* Weekends: [[Michael Vance]]
* Weekday late night: Jerry Doyle
* Weekend/Monday mid-days: Lars Larson
* Saturday midmorning: paid programming
* Sunday midmorning: [[Canterbury United Methodist Church]] services
* Special programming: Jim Bohannon


==References==
==References==
* "WAPI (AM)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 26 Nov 2006, 08:55 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 30 Nov 2006 [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WAPI_%28AM%29&oldid=90189958].
* "WAPI (AM)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 26 Nov 2006, 08:55 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 30 Nov 2006 [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WAPI_%28AM%29&oldid=90189958].
* Carlton, Bob (November 29, 2006) "Dixon, Willoughby leaving Birmingham radio." ''Birmingham News''.


==External links==
==External links==

Revision as of 23:53, 29 November 2006

WAPI-AM (called Alabama's Big Talker 1070) is a talk radio format AM station broadcasting at 1070 KHz. The station is licensed to Birmingham and broadcast at 50 KW (day)/5 KW (night) from an pair of directional towers near Sandusky north of Birmingham (map). The station's daytime coverage area includes most of the state from Montgomery north and stretching toward Rome, Goergia and Tupelo, Mississippi. The low-power evening range is confined to the Birmingham Area with a small directional transmitter aimed into Walker County and the larger one coving Birmingham, Bessemer and Hoover, ectending as far as Clanton and Talladega. The station's studios are located in Citadel's local headquarters at 244 Goodwin Crest Drive on Red Mountain. The station's general manager is Dale Daniels, and Frank Giardina is program director.

History

The call letters "WAPI" stand for the Alabama Polytechnic Institute at Auburn, which took over equipment from Alabama Power Company's failed WSY station in 1925 and merged it with its own WMAV equipment on campus. The Federal Radio Commission was established in 1927 and assigned WAPI to five different frequencies over the course of that year.

Three years later, in 1928 WAPI moved back to Birmingham to provide a big city market for the two-year-old NBC Radio Network. The City of Birmingham agreed to pay half the operating costs for the station. Negotiations began with other state universities interesting in radio broadcasting, and from 1929 to 1932 the station was jointly-owned by Auburn (39%), the University of Alabama (39%), and the Alabama College for Women in Montevallo (22%).

Having upped its power to 5,000 Watts the new WAPI began broadcasting NBC programming from studios on the 14th floor of the Protective Life Building downtown on December 31, 1929. In 1930 the city's budget, which had declined precipitously at the start of the Great Depression, required it to withdraw its funding. As a result, the station began accepting local commercial programming for the first time. By 1931 the station was having difficulty staying afloat and applied to the FRC to boost power to 50 Kilowatts. Attorney Oscar W. Underwood, Jr represented the station using a $100 grant from the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce. Only half the request was approved, and ultimately the station was unable to afford the equipment needed.

In 1932 WAPI became a private business, with W. O. Pape forming the WAPI Broadcasting Company to lease the station. A year later, he sold his interest to Bascomb H. Hopson, who created, in turn, the WAPI Broadcasting Corporation]] and shared the frequency with Tulsa, Oklahoma's KVOO. On August 1, 1937 the lease was sold to Ed Norton and Thad Holt, who sub-leased to The Voice of Alabama, with an agreement to boost power to 50,000 Watts.

Norton borrowed $50,000 from Birmingham Trust National Bank and he and Holt negotiated with the CBS network to invest in half the cost of the upgrades. With a 45% interest in the station, CBS took over programming in 1940 and provided engineer Victor J. Andrew to help design a directional antenna array to avoid interference with KVOO and other stations in Los Angeles and Nova Scotia. Another station engineer tested the signals from outside Memphis, Tennessee and found the directional array successful.

Nevertheless, in 1941 the American entry into World War II created many changes. WAPI and KVOO were moved to 1170 AM. WAPI soon moved down the dial to 1070 under a Special Temporary Authority and regained their permit to broadcast full time. Meanwhile the U. S. Army appropriated all unused radio transmitters, delaying the station's power upgrade until well into the Cold War.

By 1942 the station's move to 1070 was made permanent. In 1949, WAPI's owners launched WAFM-TV (Channel 13), Alabama's first television broadcast station. A few years earlier WAFM-FM, WAPI's sister FM station at 94.5 MHz had been launched as well. In 1952 the station did increase power, to 10,000 Watts. 1953 The Birmingham News Company bought the trio of stations and moved their studios to Red Mountain. The following year, WAPI returned to the NBC network, where it remained through the rest of the decade until local programming superseded the national networks. The three stations, as well as the News were bought out by S. I. Newhouse in 1956. Two years later, the 50,000 Watt power upgrade was approved for daytime broadcasting.

In 1961 the Newhouse Broadcasting Corporation bought the station from the three universities for $340,000. Through the 1960s WAPI featured a popular music format with call-in shows in the evenings, evolving into an "adult contemporary" format by the 1970s as pop music passed it by.

In 1980 the FCC mandated that Newhouse split off its media interests. WAPI-AM and WAPI-FM were sold and moved together to newly-equipped studios at 2146 Highland Avenue. In 1985 the format was changed to "adult standards", and on January 1, 1996 WAPI became an all-news station. It has since dropped most of its news programming in favor of syndicated talk radio. The only locally-originating programs currently on WAPI are Frank Matthews and morning team Dixon & Willoughby.

In November, 2006 Dixon & Willoughby announced they were moving to another market.

Preceded by:
none 		AM 1140
1927 - 1941 		Succeeded by:
none
Preceded by:
none 		AM 1170
1941 - 1942 		Succeeded by:
none
Preceded by:
none 		AM 1070
1942 - present 		Succeeded by:
current

Programming

  • Weekday early mornings: Dirk Van
  • Weekday mornings: Dixon & Willoughby (through December 8, 2006)
  • Weekday midmornings: Neal Boortz
  • Mid-days: Paul Harvey
  • Weekday early afternoons: Laura Ingraham
  • Weekday afternoons/Saturday morning/Sunday afternoon: Sean Hannity
  • Weekday/Saturday evenings: Michael Savage
  • Weekday later evenings: Bill O'Reilly
  • Weekday late night: Jerry Doyle
  • Weekend/Monday mid-days: Lars Larson
  • Saturday midmorning: paid programming
  • Sunday midmorning: Canterbury United Methodist Church services
  • Special programming: Jim Bohannon

References

  • "WAPI (AM)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 26 Nov 2006, 08:55 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 30 Nov 2006 [1].
  • Carlton, Bob (November 29, 2006) "Dixon, Willoughby leaving Birmingham radio." Birmingham News.

External links

Retrieved from "http://bhamwiki.com/w/index.php?title=WAPI-AM&oldid=12843"