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WHIY
WHIY (1600 AM) is an Urban oldies and Blues music formatted radio station that serves Huntsville, Alabama, and the majority of the Tennessee Valley in north Alabama, United States. The station's studios and transmitter are both co-located along Jordan Lane (U.S. Highway 53) in Northwest Huntsville.
WHIY began broadcasting, as WEUP, on March 20, 1958, on a 1000-watt 1600 kilohertz (kHz) AM transmitter. This transmitter was built by the Brennan/Benns group while building WVOK, WAPE, and WBAM. The station was owned by Leroy and Viola Garrett, who became the first African-American owners of a radio station in the state of Alabama. WEUP first broadcast from a pink trailer in the grounds of Syler Tabernacle Church in Huntsville, before moving to studios on Jordan Lane. The station's format was a mixture of gospel music, sermons, news, and R&B, everyday from sunrise to 6 p.m.
Listeners of 1600 AM were able to hear a viable mix of gospel and soul music as well as news and public affairs catering to the interests of the Tennessee Valley's black population.
The Garretts made history when they testified before a congressional committee in 1963, the outcome of which resulted in the change of a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) law regulating 24-hour broadcasts in the 1960s. That same year WEUP began 24-hour broadcasts, yet another milestone for urban radio.
The station celebrated its 50th anniversary by hosting a Blues Festival on August 16, 2008, at Kalea Park in Meridianville, Alabama. The festival featured national, regional, and local blues artists performing live.
Viola Garrett decided to sell the station in 1987 after the death of her husband, Leroy. Later that year, Hundley Batts Sr. and Dr. Virginia Caples, another married couple, assumed the ownership and operation of WEUP. They also acquired another station, WEUZ-FM (92.1 FM), licensed to Minor Hill, Tennessee, (just north of the Alabama border) and brought WEUP onto the FM broadcast airwaves.
They operated WEUP and WEUZ-FM under the parent company name of Broadcast One. They continued to expand the station's audience by acquiring WHIY (then at 1190 AM) and WXKI (103.1 FM, now WEUP-FM), both licensed to Moulton in 1989.
In the 1980s, the station aired a country music format. In August 1987, WEUP co-founder Viola Garrett's Garrett Broadcasting reached an agreement to sell WEUP to the married couple of Hundley Batts, Sr. and Dr. Virginia Caples. The deal was approved by the FCC on September 29, 1987, and the transaction was consummated on November 1, 1987. The couple also acquired WEUZ-FM (92.1 FM), licensed to Minor Hill, Tennessee, and brought WEUP onto the FM broadcast airwaves. They operated WEUP and WEUZ-FM under the parent company name of Broadcast One. They continued to expand the station's audience by acquiring WHIY (1190 AM) and WEUP-FM (103.1), both licensed to Moulton, Alabama, in 1989
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WHIY
WHIY (1600 AM) is an Urban oldies and Blues music formatted radio station that serves Huntsville, Alabama, and the majority of the Tennessee Valley in north Alabama, United States. The station's studios and transmitter are both co-located along Jordan Lane (U.S. Highway 53) in Northwest Huntsville.
WHIY began broadcasting, as WEUP, on March 20, 1958, on a 1000-watt 1600 kilohertz (kHz) AM transmitter. This transmitter was built by the Brennan/Benns group while building WVOK, WAPE, and WBAM. The station was owned by Leroy and Viola Garrett, who became the first African-American owners of a radio station in the state of Alabama. WEUP first broadcast from a pink trailer in the grounds of Syler Tabernacle Church in Huntsville, before moving to studios on Jordan Lane. The station's format was a mixture of gospel music, sermons, news, and R&B, everyday from sunrise to 6 p.m.
Listeners of 1600 AM were able to hear a viable mix of gospel and soul music as well as news and public affairs catering to the interests of the Tennessee Valley's black population.
The Garretts made history when they testified before a congressional committee in 1963, the outcome of which resulted in the change of a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) law regulating 24-hour broadcasts in the 1960s. That same year WEUP began 24-hour broadcasts, yet another milestone for urban radio.
The station celebrated its 50th anniversary by hosting a Blues Festival on August 16, 2008, at Kalea Park in Meridianville, Alabama. The festival featured national, regional, and local blues artists performing live.
Viola Garrett decided to sell the station in 1987 after the death of her husband, Leroy. Later that year, Hundley Batts Sr. and Dr. Virginia Caples, another married couple, assumed the ownership and operation of WEUP. They also acquired another station, WEUZ-FM (92.1 FM), licensed to Minor Hill, Tennessee, (just north of the Alabama border) and brought WEUP onto the FM broadcast airwaves.
They operated WEUP and WEUZ-FM under the parent company name of Broadcast One. They continued to expand the station's audience by acquiring WHIY (then at 1190 AM) and WXKI (103.1 FM, now WEUP-FM), both licensed to Moulton in 1989.
In the 1980s, the station aired a country music format. In August 1987, WEUP co-founder Viola Garrett's Garrett Broadcasting reached an agreement to sell WEUP to the married couple of Hundley Batts, Sr. and Dr. Virginia Caples. The deal was approved by the FCC on September 29, 1987, and the transaction was consummated on November 1, 1987. The couple also acquired WEUZ-FM (92.1 FM), licensed to Minor Hill, Tennessee, and brought WEUP onto the FM broadcast airwaves. They operated WEUP and WEUZ-FM under the parent company name of Broadcast One. They continued to expand the station's audience by acquiring WHIY (1190 AM) and WEUP-FM (103.1), both licensed to Moulton, Alabama, in 1989