WMSP
Encyclopedia
WMSP is a radio station
licensed
to serve Montgomery, Alabama
, USA. The station is owned by Cumulus Media
and the broadcast license is held by Cumulus Licensing LLC. Originally licensed in 1953
as WBAM, the station broadcast contemporary
and country music
before turning to sports talk under the WMSP callsign in 1995.
-talk
format. Notable local programming includes Sportsline with John Longshore and Barry McKnight on weekday mornings and The MAX Roundtable with Doug Amos and Josh Moon on weekday afternoons. On Sunday mornings, WMSP airs both the traditional service and the contemporary service of Frazer United Methodist Church
.
Regional syndicated programming includes Paul Finebaum
's afternoon drive-time show. The station is an affiliate of ESPN Radio
. Network programming on WMSP includes The Herd
with Colin Cowherd
on mid-days and assorted ESPN Radio shows on nights and overnights.
In addition to sports talk programming, WMSP airs both Alabama Crimson Tide football
games and Auburn Tigers football
games as well as select daytime baseball games of the Southern League
's Montgomery Biscuits
.
AM station broadcasting on 740 kHz as WBAM. Owned and operated by the Deep South Broadcasting Company, WBAM broadcast area covered most of Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. "The Big BAM" aired a variety of music formats over the years, including Top 40 during the late-1960s and early-1970s, but by 1973 had settled on a country music
format. As a daytimer, WBAM had to cease broadcasting each night at sunset and the station played "Dixie
" as a sign-off.
After more than 30 years of ownership by the Brennan family, Deep South Broadcasting Company reached an agreement in October 1984 to sell this station to Colonial Broadcasting Company, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on November 30, 1984, and the transaction was consummated on March 5, 1985.
In September 1994, Colonial Company, Inc., which owned station licensee Colonial Broadcasting Company, agreed to transfer control of the licensee to Robert E. Lowder. The deal was approved by the FCC on December 8, 1994, and the transaction was consummated on March 8, 1995. Less than one week later, Robert E. Lowder applied to the FCC to transfer control of the licensee company to Republic Corporation. The transfer was approved by the FCC on April 14, 1995, but the transaction was never consummated.
In February 1995, after more than 40 years as a 50,000 watt
regional "blowtorch", WLWI applied to the FCC to decrease its daytime broadcast power to 10,000 watts. The station was granted a construction permit
on April 20, 1995, and began licensed operation at the lower power on November 15, 1996.
In January 1998, Robert E. Lowder reached an agreement to sell WMSP license holder Colonial Broadcasting Company, Inc., to Cumulus Holdings, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on March 10, 1998. In December 1998, after a number of internal ownership transfers of Colonial Broadcasting Company, the broadcast license for WMSP was transferred to Cumulus Licensing Corporation. The transfer was approved by the FCC on December 12, 1998, and the transaction was consummated on December 31, 1998.
Cyril Brennan, the general manager and program director of WBAM, was named the 1976 "Program Director of the Year for Country Music" by Billboard
magazine's International Radio Programming Forum.
Radio personality Johnny Gilbert began his broadcasting career at WBAM. Gilbert was killed in a helicopter accident while working as an airborne traffic reporter at KULF in Houston, Texas
, on March 15, 1974. He was posthumously awarded the Steve Pieringer Award by the Texas Association of Broadcasters in 1974.
In the 1960s and early 1970s, the station sponsored a series of pop/rock concerts known as "Big BAM Shows" featuring acts ranging from Paul Revere and the Raiders, Lou Christie
, and The Beach Boys
to comedian Pat Paulsen
.
Cliff Ellis
, award-winning college basketball
coach and currently the head coach at Coastal Carolina University
, was a musician in the late-1960s and his group, The Villagers, had several regional hits in the Southeastern U.S. The group got their first big break when Ellis convinced WBAM disc jockey Bill Moody to play their first self-financed record, "Laugh It Off", on the air. The airplay led the band to a record deal with FAME Studios
.
Alabama author Paul Hemphill
included references to WBAM in his 1979 novel Long Gone as the preferred radio station of the protagonist, Jamie Weeks. In 1987, Long Gone was made into a movie starring Dermot Mulroney
by HBO Films
.
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
licensed
City of license
A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator....
to serve Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
, USA. The station is owned by Cumulus Media
Cumulus Media
Cumulus Media, Inc. is the second largest Owner and Operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States, behind Clear Channel Communications, operating 570 stations in 150 markets as of September 16, 2011. The company also owns Cumulus Media Networks...
and the broadcast license is held by Cumulus Licensing LLC. Originally licensed in 1953
1953 in radio
The year 1953 saw a number of significant happenings in radio broadcasting history.-Events:*January 15: Harry Truman becomes the first US president to broadcast his farewell address on radio and television....
as WBAM, the station broadcast contemporary
Contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
and country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
before turning to sports talk under the WMSP callsign in 1995.
Programming
WMSP broadcasts a sportsSports radio
Sports radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A popular format with an almost exclusively male demographic in most areas, sports radio is characterized by an often-boisterous on-air style and extensive debate and analysis by both hosts and...
-talk
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
format. Notable local programming includes Sportsline with John Longshore and Barry McKnight on weekday mornings and The MAX Roundtable with Doug Amos and Josh Moon on weekday afternoons. On Sunday mornings, WMSP airs both the traditional service and the contemporary service of Frazer United Methodist Church
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...
.
Regional syndicated programming includes Paul Finebaum
Paul Finebaum
Paul Finebaum is an American sports author, television and radio personality and former columnist based in Birmingham, Alabama. His primary focus is sports, particularly those in the Southeast. Finebaum was born in Memphis, Tennessee and attended the University of Tennessee, where he received a...
's afternoon drive-time show. The station is an affiliate of ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio is an American sports radio network. It was launched on January 1, 1992 under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN." ESPN Radio is located at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut...
. Network programming on WMSP includes The Herd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd is a sports talk radio show hosted by Colin Cowherd and broadcast on ESPN Radio from Bristol, Connecticut. The show is heard Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. ET until 1 p.m. ET on most ESPN Radio stations and is simulcasted on ESPNews...
with Colin Cowherd
Colin Cowherd
Colin Murray Cowherd is an American sports radio personality. He is currently the host of The Herd with Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio and ESPNews. He is also the co-host of the television show SportsNation on ESPN2.-Career:...
on mid-days and assorted ESPN Radio shows on nights and overnights.
In addition to sports talk programming, WMSP airs both Alabama Crimson Tide football
Alabama Crimson Tide football
|TeamName = Alabama football |Image = Alabama Crimson Tide Logo.svg |ImageSize = 110 |Helmet = Alabama Football.png |ImageSize2 = 150 |CurrentSeason = 2011 Alabama Crimson Tide football team...
games and Auburn Tigers football
Auburn Tigers football
Only Mohamed Amin Abughadir set the record with 1,890 yards in 1 season. He was the QB for Auburn in 1998.The Auburn Tigers football team represents Auburn University in college football as a member of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, competing in the Western Division of the...
games as well as select daytime baseball games of the Southern League
Southern League (baseball)
The Southern League is a minor league baseball league which operates in the Southern United States. It is classified a Double-A league. The original league was formed in , and shut down in . A new league, the Southern Association, was formed in , consisting of twelve teams...
's Montgomery Biscuits
Montgomery Biscuits
The Montgomery Biscuits are a minor league baseball team based in Montgomery, Alabama. The team is the Class AA affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays and plays in the Southern League. The 2004 season was the team's first in Montgomery...
.
The Big BAM
This station first began licensed operations in 1953 as a daytime-only 50,000 wattWatt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
AM station broadcasting on 740 kHz as WBAM. Owned and operated by the Deep South Broadcasting Company, WBAM broadcast area covered most of Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. "The Big BAM" aired a variety of music formats over the years, including Top 40 during the late-1960s and early-1970s, but by 1973 had settled on a country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
format. As a daytimer, WBAM had to cease broadcasting each night at sunset and the station played "Dixie
Dixie (song)
Countless lyrical variants of "Dixie" exist, but the version attributed to Dan Emmett and its variations are the most popular. Emmett's lyrics as they were originally intended reflect the mood of the United States in the late 1850s toward growing abolitionist sentiment. The song presented the point...
" as a sign-off.
After more than 30 years of ownership by the Brennan family, Deep South Broadcasting Company reached an agreement in October 1984 to sell this station to Colonial Broadcasting Company, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on November 30, 1984, and the transaction was consummated on March 5, 1985.
The WLWI years
The new owners had the FCC change the station's call letters to WLWI on March 11, 1985.In September 1994, Colonial Company, Inc., which owned station licensee Colonial Broadcasting Company, agreed to transfer control of the licensee to Robert E. Lowder. The deal was approved by the FCC on December 8, 1994, and the transaction was consummated on March 8, 1995. Less than one week later, Robert E. Lowder applied to the FCC to transfer control of the licensee company to Republic Corporation. The transfer was approved by the FCC on April 14, 1995, but the transaction was never consummated.
In February 1995, after more than 40 years as a 50,000 watt
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
regional "blowtorch", WLWI applied to the FCC to decrease its daytime broadcast power to 10,000 watts. The station was granted a construction permit
Construction permit
A construction permit or building permit is a permit required in most jurisdictions for new construction, or adding on to pre-existing structures, and in some cases for major renovations. Generally, the new construction must be inspected during construction and after completion to ensure compliance...
on April 20, 1995, and began licensed operation at the lower power on November 15, 1996.
The WMSP era
This station's legal callsign was changed to the current WMSP on August 1, 1995, to reflect a new emphasis on sports talk programming.In January 1998, Robert E. Lowder reached an agreement to sell WMSP license holder Colonial Broadcasting Company, Inc., to Cumulus Holdings, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on March 10, 1998. In December 1998, after a number of internal ownership transfers of Colonial Broadcasting Company, the broadcast license for WMSP was transferred to Cumulus Licensing Corporation. The transfer was approved by the FCC on December 12, 1998, and the transaction was consummated on December 31, 1998.
Awards and honors
Paul Simpkins, an original WBAM on-air personality from the time of the station's launch in 1953 until the sale in 1984, received a number of honors during his more than three decades with the station. These include being named Sterling Magazine Personality of the Month and TV Radio Mirror Personality of the Month in 1967, 1968 and 1972. Simpkins was inducted into the Country Music DJ Hall of Fame in 1998.Cyril Brennan, the general manager and program director of WBAM, was named the 1976 "Program Director of the Year for Country Music" by Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
magazine's International Radio Programming Forum.
Former programming and personalities
In the mid-1950s, the station was home to the "WBAM Deep South Jamboree" featuring live country and bluegrass acts such as Shorty Sullivan and his Green Valley Boys, Rebe Gosdin and his Sunny Valley Gang, Judy Jenkins, Jack Turner, and other rotating regulars.Radio personality Johnny Gilbert began his broadcasting career at WBAM. Gilbert was killed in a helicopter accident while working as an airborne traffic reporter at KULF in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, on March 15, 1974. He was posthumously awarded the Steve Pieringer Award by the Texas Association of Broadcasters in 1974.
In the 1960s and early 1970s, the station sponsored a series of pop/rock concerts known as "Big BAM Shows" featuring acts ranging from Paul Revere and the Raiders, Lou Christie
Lou Christie
Luigi Alfredo Giovanni Sacco , known professionally as Lou Christie, is an American singer-songwriter best known for three separate strings of pop hits in the 1960s , including his 1966 smash, "Lightnin' Strikes" and his incredible 3 octave vocal range.-Biography:Sacco was born in Glenwillard,...
, and The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
to comedian Pat Paulsen
Pat Paulsen
Patrick Layton "Pat" Paulsen was an American comedian and satirist notable for his roles on several of the Smothers Brothers TV shows, and for his campaigns for President of the United States in 1968, 1972, 1980, 1988, 1992, and 1996, which had primarily comedic rather than political objectives,...
.
Cliff Ellis
Cliff Ellis
Cliff Ellis is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach at Coastal Carolina University. Going into the 2011–2012 season, Coach Ellis's 614 victories rank him 50th on the list of all-time career coaching victories in Division 1 basketball...
, award-winning college basketball
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....
coach and currently the head coach at Coastal Carolina University
Coastal Carolina University
Coastal Carolina University is an independent, state-supported, liberal arts university in Conway, South Carolina, USA, located eight miles west of Myrtle Beach. Founded in 1954, Coastal became an independent university in 1993. The University enrolls approximately 8,300 students on its campus...
, was a musician in the late-1960s and his group, The Villagers, had several regional hits in the Southeastern U.S. The group got their first big break when Ellis convinced WBAM disc jockey Bill Moody to play their first self-financed record, "Laugh It Off", on the air. The airplay led the band to a record deal with FAME Studios
FAME Studios
FAME Studios are located at 603 East Avalon in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. They have been an integral part of American popular music from the late 1950s to the present...
.
In popular culture
WBAM is name-checked with "This is country country on WBAM coming to you live, neighbor" in the poem "Pickup" by American poet Paul Allen.Alabama author Paul Hemphill
Paul Hemphill
Paul James Hemphill was an American journalist and author who wrote extensively about often-overlooked topics in the Southern United States such as country music, evangelism, football, stock car racing and the blue collar people he met on his journeys around the South.-Early life and...
included references to WBAM in his 1979 novel Long Gone as the preferred radio station of the protagonist, Jamie Weeks. In 1987, Long Gone was made into a movie starring Dermot Mulroney
Dermot Mulroney
-Early life:Mulroney was born in Alexandria, Virginia, the son of Ellen, a housewife and amateur actress originally from Manchester, Iowa, and Michael Mulroney, a law professor at Villanova University School of Law, originally from Elkader, Iowa. He has a sister, Moira, and three brothers, Conor,...
by HBO Films
HBO Films
HBO Films is a division of the cable television network HBO that produces feature films and miniseries. While much of HBO Films' output is created directly for the television market, such as the film Witness Protection and the mini-series Band of Brothers, Pacific, Generation Kill and Angels in...
.