| SimulcastsWYDE 1260 AMBirmingham | |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater Birmingham |
| Frequency | 92.5MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | Alabama's God and Country Station |
| Programming | |
| Format | Conservative Talk -Christian Talk and Teaching |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WDJC-FM,WXJC,WXJC-FM,WYDE | |
| History | |
First air date | 1997; 28 years ago (1997) (as WZJT) |
Former call signs | WZJT (1997–2000) WQOP-FM (2000-04) WXJC-FM (2004–2006) WPHC (2006–2007) WXJC-FM (2007–2018)[1] |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 74245 |
| Class | A |
| ERP | 2,200watts |
| HAAT | 167 meters (548 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 33°38′55″N87°9′19″W / 33.64861°N 87.15528°W /33.64861; -87.15528 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | wyderadio |
WYDE-FM (92.5MHz) is acommercialradio stationlicensed toCordova, Alabama, and servingGreater Birmingham.[1] To compensate for its weak signal over the eastern and southern parts of the Birmingham metropolitan area, WYDE-FMsimulcasts withsister stationWYDE1260 AM (which isall-digital). The station is owned byCrawford Broadcasting with the licensed held by Kimtron, Inc.[3] WYDE-AM-FM air aformat ofconservative talk andChristian talk and teaching.[4] The offices and studios are on Summit Parkway at West Valley Avenue inHomewood.
WYDE-FM is aClass A FM station with aneffective radiated power (ERP) of 2,200watts. Thetransmitter is alongAlabama State Route 269, in southeasternWalker County near the border withJefferson County, about 25 miles (40 km) northwest of downtown Birmingham.[5]
The stationsigned on the air in 1997; 28 years ago (1997).[6] It was aTop 40 station with the call lettersWZJT, calling itself“Party Radio Z-92.5.” It was put on the air by the owner and operator of a nightclub in Birmingham. At the time, there were no another Top 40 music stations on the Birmingham dial. But the location of the station’s transmitter and its weak signal proved to be a hindrance to successfulArbitron ratings.
Within a few months of its debut, WZJT changed formats and became anactive rock station with the new on-air name of“Planet Rock 92-5”. The new format was no more successful in attracting listeners than its previous incarnation.
In 2000, the station was sold and became anaffiliate ofEWTN’s Catholic radio network. The station’s call letters were changed toWQOP-FM (QueenofPeace, referring to theVirgin Mary). EWTN is based inIrondale, Alabama, outside Birmingham.
In 2004, Crawford Broadcasting Company bought the station in order to establish an FM simulcast partner of what was then WDJC 850 AM. After the acquisition, the call letters of the AM and FM stations were changed to WXJC andWXJC-FM. The stations offered a combination ofSouthern gospel music andnationally syndicatedChristian talk and teaching programs.
In May 2006, WXJC-FM changed its call letters toWPHC. It flipped to acountry music format. With other country stations such asWDXB andWZZK-FM already established in Birmingham andTuscaloosa’sWTXT andWFFN serving its primary broadcast area, WPHC failed to attract significant listenership. The country sounds only lasted five months.
In October of the same year, WPHC returned to a format of Christian talk and teaching. WPHC changed its call letters back toWXJC-FM on July 9, 2007.[1]
On November 5, 2018, 92.5 FM switched its call sign toWYDE-FM. The previous WXJC-FM call letters were assigned to co-owned101.1 FM inCullman.[7] That station, along withWXJC 850 AM, simulcast all Christian talk and teaching programs, while WYDE-FM 92.5 and WYDE 1260 AM simulcast a different format ofconservative talk and Christian talk.