WHHL

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WHHL
  • Urban contemporary
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
1978 (1978)
Former call signs
  • WJBM-FM (1978–85)
  • WKKX (1985–94)
  • WKBQ-FM (1994–97)
  • WALC (1997–98)
  • WXTM-FM (1998–2000)
  • WMLL (2000–04)
  • WRDA (2004–05)
Call sign meaning
"Where Hip-Hop Lives"
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID74578
ClassC2
ERP50,000 watts
HAAT140 meters (460 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
38°39′07″N 90°17′02″W / 38.652°N 90.284°W / 38.652; -90.284
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live (via Audacy)
Websitewww.audacy.com/hot1041

WHHL (104.1

Forest Park, and operates from offices and studios in Downtown St. Louis
.

History

1978-1994: Country

The station signed on in 1978 as WJBM-FM, airing a

full service country format targeting the more Northern areas of the St. Louis metropolitan area, as well as the Metro East area, with its city of license being Jerseyville. The station's transmitter at the time was located north of the city (near Jerseyville), which was a partial hindrance to any chance for success in the market for the next 21⁄2 decades, despite later moving to a tower on Douglas Road in Florissant, Missouri. They began targeting St. Louis in September 1985 as country music station WKKX ("Kix 104 FM"), and owned by Shelly Davis' Gateway Radio Partners. Zimmer Broadcasting bought the station out of bankruptcy in July 1991.[2]

1994-1997: Top 40

On January 20, 1994, WKKX would swap frequencies with Top 40/CHR-formatted WKBQ-FM, with WKKX moving to 106.5 FM, and WKBQ-FM moving to 104.1 FM, and rebranding as "Q104". (WKBQ's simulcast on 1380 AM would continue with the swap.)[3][4]

WKBQ-FM was also the FM home for St. Louis morning team “

Emmis Communications bought the station in November 1996, for $42.5 million.[citation needed
]

1997-1998: Modern AC

WHHL transmitting tower

On January 24, 1997, the Top 40/CHR format was dropped for

Modern AC as WALC, "Alice 104.1".[7][8][9]

1998-2000: Active Rock

On June 25, 1998, at 3 p.m., WALC flipped to active rock as "Extreme Radio 104.1" and the WXTM-FM call letters (which were both adopted July 15, 1998).[10] WXTM was the original St. Louis affiliate of The Howard Stern Show.

2000-2004: 80s Hits

On September 24, 2000, at 2 p.m., after playing "Fade to Black" by Metallica, and after Emmis purchased KPNT (and moved Stern to that station), WXTM flipped to All-80s Hits as WMLL ("104.1 The Mall").[11][12][13] The format would later evolve into a 80s/90s hits format, and would be the home of popular morning DJ's Steve & DC. On November 20, 2003, at Midnight, WMLL began stunting with Christmas music; on December 25, the stunting changed to a "wheel of formats" by playing music from any given genre, as well as old airchecks from past formats on the frequency.[14][15]

2004-2005: Adult Standards

At noon on January 8, 2004, the stunting stopped and the station flipped to an

The Lady is a Tramp", both by Frank Sinatra.[16][17][18][19][20] The station specialized in "Music with Class" as they called it, playing classic standards singers such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Bobby Darin, along with more modern 'crooners' such as Rod Stewart and Michael Bublé
.

2005-present: Urban Contemporary

Previous logo

In September 2005, after 18 months of subpar ratings and low advertising revenues, Emmis announced they would sell WRDA to

urban contemporary format as "Hot 104.1" on October 1, 2005, at Midnight. The first song on "Hot" was "Play" by rapper David Banner.[21][22] The call letters would change to WHHL on November 24, 2005. Radio One would take full possession of the station in 2006 after running it under a local marketing agreement from Emmis.[citation needed] The station's signal problems were finally solved in 2008, when it changed its city of license to Hazelwood and relocated its transmitter to a site in the city of St. Louis, giving the station full market coverage.[citation needed
]

WHHL transmitter building

On November 5, 2020, Urban One announced that it would swap WHHL, the intellectual property of WFUN-FM, and two other stations in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. to Entercom, in exchange for its Charlotte, North Carolina stations. Entercom took over the station under a local marketing agreement on November 23. The swap was consummated on April 20, 2021.[23]

References

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WHHL". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "RR-1991-07-12" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com.
  3. ^ Stark, Phyllis (January 15, 1994). "Vox Jox". Billboard. Vol. 106, no. 3. p. 64.
  4. ^ "RR-1994-01-07" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com.
  5. ^ Stark, Phyllis (January 15, 1994). "Vox Jox". Billboard. Vol. 106, no. 3. p. 64.
  6. ^ "RR-1994-01-07" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com.
  7. ^ "RR-1997-01-31" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com.
  8. ^ Alice 104.1 Commercial, retrieved 2024-01-31
  9. ^ ALICE @ 104.1 St Louis Fall 1997 Composite, retrieved 2024-01-31
  10. ^ "RR-1998-07-03" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com.
  11. ^ "RR-2000-09-29" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com.
  12. ^ Roberts, Randall. "Death of a Format". Riverfront Times. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
  13. ^ WMLL "104.1 The Mall" Jerseyville IL/St. Louis - Tony Columbo - May 11 2001, retrieved 2024-01-31
  14. ^ "St. Louis' 104.1 FM Flips to all Christmas Music, all the Time... -- re> ST. LOUIS, Nov. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --". Archived from the original on 2012-12-11.
  15. ^ "Too Soon - St. Louis Journalism Review | HighBeam Research". 2016-09-10. Archived from the original on 2016-09-10. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
  16. ^ Lance (2004-01-08). ""104.1 The Mall" WMLL flips from 80's to Standards "Red 104.1" WRDA". Format Change Archive. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
  17. ^ "St. Louis Stories". www.bizjournals.com. May 1, 2004. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
  18. ^ "RR-2004-01-16" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com.
  19. ^ Research, Edison (2004-01-21). "First Look: "Modern Standards" Red 104/St.Louis". Edison Research. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
  20. ^ Red 104.1 Radio Station Commercial [2004, St. Louis, Missouri], retrieved 2024-01-31
  21. ^ "Emmis Announces Sale of St. Louis' "Red" to Radio One". Emmis Corporation. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
  22. ^ Lance (2005-10-01). "WRDA Becomes Hot 104.1". Format Change Archive. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
  23. ^ "Entercom To Swap Charlotte Stations To Radio One For WPHI, WTEM and St. Louis Duo". RadioInsight. 5 November 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  • "1". Retrieved 2008-02-27.

External links

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