WUHT (107.7 FM, "Hot 107.7") is a Hot Urban Adult Contemporary radio station that serves the Birmingham,
Alabama
, area. In 2007, the station was also the
flagship station of the
UAB Blazers
Radio Network which is now heard on sister station
WWMM.
History
The first station to broadcast from 107.7 in Birmingham was
WENN-FM, a simulcast of the popular AM station at 1320 with the
same call letters. WENN was the first FM station in Birmingham to
target African-American listeners, playing what was then called
“soul” music; the station had no FM competition until 1996. When
WENN-AM changed formats and call letters in 1983, WENN-FM was well
established as Birmingham’s leading station for what is now called
urban contemporary music.
In 1998, new owners of the 107.7 frequency moved the programming
and call letters of WENN to 105.9 FM and moved the
alternative music format and WRAX call
letters to 107.7. Known on the air as "107.7 the X", WRAX became
one of the highest rated
alternative
music/
modern rock stations in the
country. The station was successful, even though it broadcast from
a tower atop Miles Mountain in
Palmerdale, Alabama, some 15 miles
northeast of downtown Birmingham.
The majority of Birmingham’s other FM
stations broadcast from towers atop Red
Mountain
, which overlooks the city.
In 2005,
Citadel Broadcasting purchased
several stations in nearby Tuscaloosa
, including alternative
music WANZ, whose signal covered Birmingham. Not wanting
to own two stations with the same format in the same market, the
WRAX call letters were moved to 100.5 FM. On
March 31,
2005, "The X" changed
frequencies again, moving to 100.5 and becoming known on the air as
"The X @ 100.5". On the same day, WUHT "Hot 107.7" debuted,
branding itself as "Birmingham’s New #1 for R & B Hits". The
station now broadcasts at slightly reduced power from an antenna
atop Birmingham’s Red Mountain. Its musical presentation places it
squarely between
Cox Radio's stations,
urban contemporary
WBHJ (95.7 Jamz) and adult
urban
WBHK (98.7 Kiss FM). WUHT carries two
nationally syndicated shows:
Steve
Harvey in the Mornings and
Michael
Baisden in the Afternoons.
Translators
References
External links