WYOK
Encyclopedia
WYOK is a radio station
licensed to serve the community of Atmore, Alabama
. The station, founded in 1966, broadcasts to the greater Mobile metropolitan area
and Pensacola, Florida
. It broadcasts an adult hits
music format and is under ownership of Cumulus Media
. The WYOK broadcast license
is held by Cumulus Licensing, LLC.
, as WATM-FM. On December 7, 1987, the call letters were changed to WIZD-FM, and then changed again on October 7, 1988, to WGCX. Almost exactly six years later, on October 11, 1994, the Federal Communications Commission
assigned the station new callsign WDWG. The station was assigned the current WYOK call letters by the FCC on January 11, 1999.
In July 1984, Talton Broadcasting Company of Escambia County agreed to sell this station to Keymarket Gulf Coast, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on August 31, 1984, and the transaction was consummated on November 15, 1984.
In July 1988, Keymarket Gulf Coast, Inc., contracted to transfer the broadcast license for this station, then known as WIZD-FM, to Wescom of Alabama, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on September 22, 1988, and the transaction was consummated on October 3, 1988. The new owners had the callsign changed to WGCX.
In September 1994, Wescom of Alabama, Inc., reached an agreement to sell this station to Capitol Broadcasting Company, LLC. The deal was approved by the FCC on November 16, 1994, and the transaction was consummated on December 6, 1994. While the sale was pending, the station's callsign was changed to WDWG.
In April 1997, Capitol Broadcasting Company, LLC, reached an agreement to sell this station to Clear Channel Communications
subsidiary Clear Channel Radio License, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on November 21, 1997, and the transaction was consummated on December 31, 1997. As part of an internal reorganization, Clear Channel Radio License, Inc., agreed to transfer the license for WDWG to Clear Channel Metroplex Licenses, Inc., in December 1997. The transfer was approved by the FCC on December 18, 1997, and the transaction was consummated on December 31, 1997.
In August 1998, Clear Channel Metroplex Licenses, Inc., agreed to transfer the license for this station to Roberds Broadcasting (Kevin Wagner, president) holding company WYOK Licenses, LLC. The deal was approved by the FCC on December 7, 1998, and the transaction was consummated on January 5, 1999. The station's callsign was changed to WYOK just days later.
Roberds Broadcasting, through WYOK Licenses, LLC, agreed to sell WYOK to Cumulus Media
subsidiary Cumulus Licensing Corp. in July 1999 for a reported as part of a two-station deal. The deal was approved by the FCC on October 18, 1999, and the transaction was consummated on February 18, 2000.
format (playing Hip-Hop and R&B), competing with WBLX-FM, the only other urban station in the Mobile, Alabama
, market. But once Cumulus Media
bought both stations, they switched to "Star 104" and began to go with more of a Top 40 music format, and was the main rival station to WABB-FM
. With only one show beating WABB in ratings, The Rodman's Saturday Night Dance Party with Star 104 afternoon drive jock Rod "The Rodman" Cochran, WABB-FM hired "The Rodman" away from Star 104. Rod "The Rodman" Cochran is the only on-air personality to work on 104.1 under almost all of its different call letters, as WGCX Rock 104, WYOK Star 104 and WYOK Hot 104. After briefly going to an all-80's format, they changed to "Hot 104" and another unsuccessful attempt at a Top 40 format.
They then switched from "Hot 104" to "Kicks 104" and a country music
format in April 2006. The new format signed on with notable on-air personality "Cadillac Jack" after two days of stunting
with Lynyrd Skynyrd
's "Sweet Home Alabama
". Cadillac Jack left the station for Las Vegas' KCYE in September 2006.
WYOK's modern country format was dropped at 5 PM CST on March 18, 2009. The station then began stunting with a temporary format identified on-air as "TV 104.1" which played theme songs of popular classic television program
s. Liners pointed to a change occurring on March 19 at 1:04 PM, and at that time, WYOK flipped to variety hits as "104.1 Jack FM". The station is broadcasting one of the Dial Global
satellite-distributed versions of the Jack FM
format, which is licensed to be broadcast in smaller markets. Jack104Online.com was registered on March 18, and was active before the format change. , RDS
-equipped radios still indicated a Country format for the station, but with "Jack-FM Playing What We Want" also being sent to the radios' displays.
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 to serve the community of Atmore, Alabama
Atmore, Alabama
Atmore is a city in Escambia County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 7,676. According to the 2005 U.S. Census estimates, the city had a population of 7,530. The city was named for Mr. C.P. Atmore....
. The station, founded in 1966, broadcasts to the greater Mobile metropolitan area
Mobile 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...
and Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...
. It broadcasts an adult hits
Adult hits
Adult hits is a radio format, popular in the early 2000s, that does not adhere to a specific music genre, but instead draws from a wider playlist...
music format and is under ownership of 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...
. The WYOK 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...
is held by Cumulus Licensing, LLC.
Call letters
This station began broadcast operations on May 19, 19661966 in radio
The year 1966 in radio involved some significant events.-Debuts:*May 3 - Swinging Radio England and Britain Radio commence broadcasting on AM, with a combined potential 100,000 watts, from the same ship anchored off the south coast of England in international waters.-Births:* January 25 - Wes...
, as WATM-FM. On December 7, 1987, the call letters were changed to WIZD-FM, and then changed again on October 7, 1988, to WGCX. Almost exactly six years later, on October 11, 1994, 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...
assigned the station new callsign WDWG. The station was assigned the current WYOK call letters by the FCC on January 11, 1999.
Ownership
In June 1979, original owner Southland Broadcasting Company reached an agreement to sell WATM-FM to Talton Broadcasting Company of Escambia County. The deal was approved by the FCC on August 10, 1979.In July 1984, Talton Broadcasting Company of Escambia County agreed to sell this station to Keymarket Gulf Coast, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on August 31, 1984, and the transaction was consummated on November 15, 1984.
In July 1988, Keymarket Gulf Coast, Inc., contracted to transfer the broadcast license for this station, then known as WIZD-FM, to Wescom of Alabama, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on September 22, 1988, and the transaction was consummated on October 3, 1988. The new owners had the callsign changed to WGCX.
In September 1994, Wescom of Alabama, Inc., reached an agreement to sell this station to Capitol Broadcasting Company, LLC. The deal was approved by the FCC on November 16, 1994, and the transaction was consummated on December 6, 1994. While the sale was pending, the station's callsign was changed to WDWG.
In April 1997, Capitol Broadcasting Company, LLC, reached an agreement to sell this station to 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...
subsidiary Clear Channel Radio License, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on November 21, 1997, and the transaction was consummated on December 31, 1997. As part of an internal reorganization, Clear Channel Radio License, Inc., agreed to transfer the license for WDWG to Clear Channel Metroplex Licenses, Inc., in December 1997. The transfer was approved by the FCC on December 18, 1997, and the transaction was consummated on December 31, 1997.
In August 1998, Clear Channel Metroplex Licenses, Inc., agreed to transfer the license for this station to Roberds Broadcasting (Kevin Wagner, president) holding company WYOK Licenses, LLC. The deal was approved by the FCC on December 7, 1998, and the transaction was consummated on January 5, 1999. The station's callsign was changed to WYOK just days later.
Roberds Broadcasting, through WYOK Licenses, LLC, agreed to sell WYOK to 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...
subsidiary Cumulus Licensing Corp. in July 1999 for a reported as part of a two-station deal. The deal was approved by the FCC on October 18, 1999, and the transaction was consummated on February 18, 2000.
Programming
WYOK spent the mid- to late- 1990s and early 2000s with an urban contemporaryUrban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...
format (playing Hip-Hop and R&B), competing with WBLX-FM, the only other urban station in the 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...
, market. But once 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...
bought both stations, they switched to "Star 104" and began to go with more of a Top 40 music format, and was the main rival station to WABB-FM
WABB-FM
WABB-FM is a radio station broadcasting a Top 40 format serving the Mobile, Alabama area, with coverage in the Pensacola, Florida, area. It first began broadcasting in 1973...
. With only one show beating WABB in ratings, The Rodman's Saturday Night Dance Party with Star 104 afternoon drive jock Rod "The Rodman" Cochran, WABB-FM hired "The Rodman" away from Star 104. Rod "The Rodman" Cochran is the only on-air personality to work on 104.1 under almost all of its different call letters, as WGCX Rock 104, WYOK Star 104 and WYOK Hot 104. After briefly going to an all-80's format, they changed to "Hot 104" and another unsuccessful attempt at a Top 40 format.
They then switched from "Hot 104" to "Kicks 104" and 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 in April 2006. The new format signed on with notable on-air personality "Cadillac Jack" after two days of stunting
Stunting (broadcasting)
In radio broadcasting, stunting occurs when a station abruptly airs programming that is seemingly uncharacteristic compared to what they normally play...
with Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band prominent in spreading Southern Rock during the 1970s.Originally formed as the "Noble Five" in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964, the band rose to worldwide recognition on the basis of its driving live performances and signature tune, Freebird...
's "Sweet Home Alabama
Sweet Home Alabama (song)
"Sweet Home Alabama" is a song by Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd that first appeared in 1974 on their second album, Second Helping.It reached #8 on the US charts in 1974, and was the band's second hit single.-Creation and recording:...
". Cadillac Jack left the station for Las Vegas' KCYE in September 2006.
WYOK's modern country format was dropped at 5 PM CST on March 18, 2009. The station then began stunting with a temporary format identified on-air as "TV 104.1" which played theme songs of popular classic television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
s. Liners pointed to a change occurring on March 19 at 1:04 PM, and at that time, WYOK flipped to variety hits as "104.1 Jack FM". The station is broadcasting one of the Dial Global
Dial Global
Dial Global is a radio syndication company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Triton Media Group and is a sister company to Townsquare Media, both of which are owned by Oaktree Capital Management....
satellite-distributed versions of the Jack FM
Jack FM
JACK FM is the alternative name and on-air brand of 60 radio stations in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia. Jack stations play a mix of 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s hits with some current hot adult contemporary singles. Jack's slogan "playing what we want" can also be...
format, which is licensed to be broadcast in smaller markets. Jack104Online.com was registered on March 18, and was active before the format change. , RDS
Radio Data System
Radio Data System, or RDS, is a communications protocol standard for embedding small amounts of digital information in conventional FM radio broadcasts. RDS standardises several types of information transmitted, including time, station identification and programme information.Radio Broadcast Data...
-equipped radios still indicated a Country format for the station, but with "Jack-FM Playing What We Want" also being sent to the radios' displays.