WNSP
Encyclopedia
WNSP is a radio station
licensed
to serve Bay Minette, Alabama
, USA. The station, founded in 1964, is currently owned by Dot Com Plus, LLC. WNSP and sister station WZEW
broadcast from the former Smith Bakery building in Mobile, Alabama
.
. In addition to its daily lineup of local programs covering the Southeastern Conference
, golf, hunting, fishing, NASCAR
, and other regional sports, the station features select programming from ESPN Radio
and hourly newscasts from CNN Radio. WNSP is the flagship station
of the University of South Alabama
men's basketball radio network. The station is the Mobile affiliate of the New Orleans Saints
radio network and both the Auburn Tigers football
and Auburn Tigers basketball radio networks. Beginning with the 2009 college football season, WNSP became the affiliate for the University of South Alabama Jaguars football program.
On February 16, 2009, the station began airing the regionally syndicated The Paul Finebaum Radio Network
on weekday afternoons, replacing a locally-hosted program. The station cited budgetary reasons for the change in lineup.
s of effective radiated power
, the Faulkner Radio, Inc.-owned station was the FM sister station
to WBCA
(1110 AM). As with the AM station, the WBCA callsign was said to stand for "Wonderful Baldwin County Alabama". James H. Faulkner, owner of Faulkner Radio, also owned The Baldwin Times newspaper and had served as the mayor
of Bay Minnette from 1941 to 1943.
In 1967, the station raised its antenna to 104 meters (340 feet), lowered its effective radiated power to 2,300 watts, and changed its call letters to WWSM. Programmed separately from its country music
formatted AM sister station since its launch in 1964, WWSM played a soul music
format for most of the 1970s. However, by 1979, the station had adopted a Top 40 format and was simulcast
ing as much as 60% of the AM station's programming.
In August 1985, the Faulkner family agreed to transfer control of licensee Faulkner Radio Inc. to Faulkner University
. The deal was approved by the FCC on October 3, 1985, and the transaction was consummated on January 10, 1986. In March 1986, Faulkner Radio Inc. agreed to formally transfer the broadcast license
for WWSM to Faulkner University. This transfer was approved by the FCC on April 2, 1986, and the transaction was consummated on August 4, 1986.
In March 1987, Faulkner University reached an agreement to transfer the WWSM license to a new company called Faulkner-Phillips Media Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on April 15, 1987, and the transaction was consummated on May 22, 1987. The station was assigned the WMMV call letters by the Federal Communications Commission
on September 1, 1989. The station was assigned new call letters WYMZ on March 9, 1992, but this was a short-term change as the station made another application to the FCC and was granted WNWT on October 12, 1992. These too would prove short-lived as the station was assigned the current WNSP callsign less than a year later on August 31, 1993.
The new callsign was chosen to accompany a new sports talk format which launched on September 11, 1993. WNSP claims to be the first sports talk station in the United States to operate on the FM band. Operation of the station was taken over by Capitol Broadcasting in 1995 as part of a local marketing agreement
. Capitol Broadcasting was bought out and absorbed by Clear Channel Communications
in mid-1997. With Clear Channel unwilling to continue the LMA, WNSP's owners reached an agreement in May 1998 to sell this station to Dot Com Plus, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on July 6, 1998, and the transaction was consummated on July 9, 1998.
Mark Hiem - Morning Sportscenter
Pat Greenwood - Afternoon Sports Drive, South Alabama Jaguars athletics, The Tide & Tiger Report, Talkin' Football
Randy Kennedy - Afternoon Sports Drive, The Tide & Tiger Report, Talkin' Football, Prep Sports Report
Tommy Praytor - Inside Alabama Racing
Randy Burgan - Sidelines
Max Howell - Sidelines, Prep Sports Report
Notable former on-air personalities include Mobile Press-Register sports reporter Neal McCready. McCready said he lost his job co-hosting the weekday "Afternoon Sports Drive" show in part due to complaints by advertisers over his negative coverage of University of Alabama
football.
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 Bay Minette, Alabama
Bay Minette, Alabama
Bay Minette is a city in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city was 7,820. According to the 2007 U.S. Census estimates, the city had an population of about 7,726 people. The city is the county seat of Baldwin County...
, USA. The station, founded in 1964, is currently owned by Dot Com Plus, LLC. WNSP and sister station WZEW
WZEW
WZEW is a radio station broadcasting an Album Adult Alternative format. Licensed to Fairhope, Alabama, USA, the station serves the Mobile metropolitan area. The station is currently owned by Dot Com Plus, LLC and features programming from Westwood One....
broadcast from the former Smith Bakery building in Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
.
Programming
Since September 11, 1993, WNSP has broadcast a sports talk format to the greater Mobile metropolitan areaMobile metropolitan area
Metropolitan Mobile has a population of 412,992 within Mobile County Alabama in the southwestern tip of Alabama. The Mobile metropolitan area is the third-largest metropolitan area in the state of Alabama. The Mobile–Daphne–Fairhope combined statistical area also includes the micro but...
. In addition to its daily lineup of local programs covering the Southeastern Conference
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...
, golf, hunting, fishing, NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
, and other regional sports, the station features select programming from 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...
and hourly newscasts from CNN Radio. WNSP is the flagship station
Flagship station
In broadcasting, a flagship is the broadcast which originates a television network, or a particular radio show or TV show, primarily in the United States and Canada. This includes both direct network feeds and broadcast syndication, but generally not backhauls...
of the University of South Alabama
University of South Alabama
The University of South Alabama is a public, doctoral-level university in Mobile, Alabama, USA. It was created by the Alabama Legislature in 1963, and replaced existing extension programs operated in Mobile by the University of Alabama. No other areas of the state were willing to support such a...
men's basketball radio network. The station is the Mobile affiliate of the New Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....
radio network and both the 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...
and Auburn Tigers basketball radio networks. Beginning with the 2009 college football season, WNSP became the affiliate for the University of South Alabama Jaguars football program.
On February 16, 2009, the station began airing the regionally syndicated The Paul Finebaum Radio Network
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...
on weekday afternoons, replacing a locally-hosted program. The station cited budgetary reasons for the change in lineup.
History
This station began regular broadcast operations on October 1, 1964, as WBCA-FM. Broadcasting with 3,000 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:...
s of effective radiated power
Effective radiated power
In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...
, the Faulkner Radio, Inc.-owned station was the FM sister station
Sister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio and/or television stations operated by the same ownership....
to WBCA
WTOF
WTOF is a radio station licensed to serve Bay Minette, Alabama. The station is owned by Buddy Tucker Association, Inc...
(1110 AM). As with the AM station, the WBCA callsign was said to stand for "Wonderful Baldwin County Alabama". James H. Faulkner, owner of Faulkner Radio, also owned The Baldwin Times newspaper and had served as the mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Bay Minnette from 1941 to 1943.
In 1967, the station raised its antenna to 104 meters (340 feet), lowered its effective radiated power to 2,300 watts, and changed its call letters to WWSM. Programmed separately from its 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...
formatted AM sister station since its launch in 1964, WWSM played a soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
format for most of the 1970s. However, by 1979, the station had adopted a Top 40 format and was simulcast
Simulcast
Simulcast, shorthand for "simultaneous broadcast", refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are often...
ing as much as 60% of the AM station's programming.
In August 1985, the Faulkner family agreed to transfer control of licensee Faulkner Radio Inc. to Faulkner University
Faulkner University
Faulkner University is a private Christian university, located in Montgomery, Alabama, USA, and affiliated with the Church of Christ. The University was founded in 1942 as Montgomery Bible School. In 1953 the school's name was changed to Alabama Christian College . In 1965, the college was moved to...
. The deal was approved by the FCC on October 3, 1985, and the transaction was consummated on January 10, 1986. In March 1986, Faulkner Radio Inc. agreed to formally transfer the broadcast license
Broadcast license
A broadcast license or broadcast license is a specific type of spectrum license that grants the licensee the privilege to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses are generally straddled with additional restrictions that...
for WWSM to Faulkner University. This transfer was approved by the FCC on April 2, 1986, and the transaction was consummated on August 4, 1986.
In March 1987, Faulkner University reached an agreement to transfer the WWSM license to a new company called Faulkner-Phillips Media Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on April 15, 1987, and the transaction was consummated on May 22, 1987. The station was assigned the WMMV call letters by the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
on September 1, 1989. The station was assigned new call letters WYMZ on March 9, 1992, but this was a short-term change as the station made another application to the FCC and was granted WNWT on October 12, 1992. These too would prove short-lived as the station was assigned the current WNSP callsign less than a year later on August 31, 1993.
The new callsign was chosen to accompany a new sports talk format which launched on September 11, 1993. WNSP claims to be the first sports talk station in the United States to operate on the FM band. Operation of the station was taken over by Capitol Broadcasting in 1995 as part of a local marketing agreement
Local marketing agreement
In U.S. and Canadian broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another licensee...
. Capitol Broadcasting was bought out and absorbed by Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
in mid-1997. With Clear Channel unwilling to continue the LMA, WNSP's owners reached an agreement in May 1998 to sell this station to Dot Com Plus, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on July 6, 1998, and the transaction was consummated on July 9, 1998.
Personalities
Lee Shirvanian - Morning Sportscenter, South Alabama Jaguars athletics, The Joey Jones Show, Gumbo ExpressMark Hiem - Morning Sportscenter
Pat Greenwood - Afternoon Sports Drive, South Alabama Jaguars athletics, The Tide & Tiger Report, Talkin' Football
Randy Kennedy - Afternoon Sports Drive, The Tide & Tiger Report, Talkin' Football, Prep Sports Report
Tommy Praytor - Inside Alabama Racing
Randy Burgan - Sidelines
Max Howell - Sidelines, Prep Sports Report
Notable former on-air personalities include Mobile Press-Register sports reporter Neal McCready. McCready said he lost his job co-hosting the weekday "Afternoon Sports Drive" show in part due to complaints by advertisers over his negative coverage of University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
football.