Off Sandusky Road in
the Pratt City community of Birmingham.
Power (ERP):
850 watts day / 158
watts night
Antenna:
Omnidirectional
Other Information:
Stereo
Owned by Birmingham
Ebony
History:
For many years, was
a classy sounding easy listening station, with CBS affiliation. The calls
were WLBS, and the studio was in the old Cabana Motel for some period in
the late 70's and early 80's. Had no real ratings to speak of. Calls
changed to WATV at one point... In the mid 70's, it was "taken over" by
the general manager and staff of WENN's AM outlet and switched to the black
format. (The white GM of WENN (Joe Lackey) was fired by it's new black
owners and the entire staff walked out with him, going to WATV.) Up to
that time, the WENN DJs had developed quite a following in the community
and was a dominant market force. That popularity went to WATV, which became
a high rated station (unheard of for a daytimer!) and remained so until
FM took over. The station, now owned by local man Shelly Stewart, plays
a mix of black oldies and black adult contemporary. Shelly was a WENN DJ
whose on air name was "Shelly the Playboy". According to the NAB, in 1985
the station was broadcasting in stereo with the Kahn system, but currently
uses the Motorola C-QUAM system.
Early in 2000 the station
recieved a permit to move to a new transmitter site, about 2 miles west
of their old location on Finley Blvd. The old transmitter tower has deteriorated
beyond repair. It has come down since the new site has been fired up. I
might add that their converage has gotten a little better, too.
Finally, this note from
a big contributor to the site: "I got the biggest kick out of their old
sign-off, basically saying "the whiteys in Congress make us go off the
air" - never mind the station was a daytimer long before R&B found
its way to that dial position!"
In September 2004
this station switched from its longtime R&B oldies music to a Sheridan
Broadcasting satellite black gospel format called "The Light". With the
gospel competition running red hot, the station didn't do well as it has
switched back to "900 Gold" with R&B oldies.