WBPT
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| City | Homewood, Alabama |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Birmingham, Alabama |
| Branding | 106.9 The Eagle |
| Slogan | "The Only Classic Rock Station" |
| Frequency | 106.9 MHz |
| First air date | 1947 on 102.5, then 1957 (as WBRC-FM) |
| Format | Classic Rock |
| ERP | 97,000 watts |
| HAAT | 404 meters |
| Class | C0 |
| Facility ID | 5355 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 33°29′04″N 86°48′25″W / 33.48444°N 86.80694°W |
| Callsign meaning |
Birmingham's PoinT (former branding) |
| Former callsigns | 1992-2001: WODL 1991-1992: WIKX 1991: WBMH 1977-1991: WKXX 1972-1977: WERC-FM 1947-48, 1957-1972: WBRC-FM |
| Owner | Summit Media LLC (SM-WBPT, LLC) |
| Sister stations | WAGG, WBHJ, WBHK, WENN, WPYA, WZZK |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | birminghamseagle.com |
WBPT (106.9 FM, "106-9 The Eagle") is a classic rock music-formatted radio station licensed to Homewood, Alabama, that serves the Birmingham and central Alabama area. The station was assigned the WBPT call letters by the Federal Communications Commission on October 17, 2001. Since October 2005, it has used the branding "106.9 the Eagle". The station is owned by Summitmedia, LLC, along with six other stations in the cluster, and all share studios in the Cahaba neighborhood in far southeast Birmingham. Its transmitter is located atop Red Mountain in Birmingham.
The 106.9 frequency has been the home of several formats and callsigns throughout its history. It originally signed on as WBRC-FM in 1947 as the FM companion to WBRC, broadcasting on 102.5 FM at a power of 500,000 watts. The station was taken off the air the next year so that the station's owners could finance WBRC-TV, which debuted in 1949. The station returned to the air in 1957, broadcasting from its present frequency. Throughout the 1960s, the FM station simulcasted the AM station, a typical practice for its day. By 1971, WBRC-FM was playing Top 40 music, but it was not successful in competing against the AM Top 40 powerhouses WSGN or WVOK. In 1972, both the AM and FM radio stations were sold by Taft Broadcasting to Mooney Broadcasting; as a result, the callsigns of the radio stations were changed to WERC AM and -FM, respectively. The AM station dropped "middle of the road" music (a precursor to today's adult contemporary format) in favor of Top 40. The FM station repeated the AM station's daytime programming, while at night it featured separate album-oriented rock shows.
In 1977, the broadcast facilities of WERC-FM were upgraded, and in July of that year the callsign was changed to WKXX. After several weeks of stunting, WKXX became the only Top 40 station on the FM dial in Birmingham, with the branding "Kicks 106" on August 5, 1977. By the next year, "Kicks 106" had become the top-rated radio station in Birmingham, dethroning the longstanding ratings leader, WSGN "the Big 610" (now WAGG). The success of "Kicks 106" eventually forced both WSGN and WKXX's own AM sister station, branded "96-ERC", to abandon their Top 40 formats.
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