WENN (AM)
| City | Birmingham, Alabama |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater Birmingham |
| Branding | 98.7 Kiss FM |
| Frequency | 1320 kHz |
| First air date | 1950 (as WEZB) |
| Format | Urban AC (WBHK simulcast) |
| Power | 5,000 watts (day) 111 watts (night) |
| Class | D |
| Facility ID | 6411 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 33°33′41″N 86°51′37″W / 33.56139°N 86.86028°W |
| Former callsigns | WEZB (1950–1959) WENN (1959–1983) WAGG (1983–1999) WEZN (1999–2000) WRJS (2000–2003) WZZK (2003–2006) WPSB (2006–2009) |
| Owner | Summit Media LLC (SM-WENN, LLC) |
| Sister stations | WAGG, WBHJ, WBHK, WBPT, WPYA, WZZK |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | 987kiss.com |
WENN (1320 AM) is a radio station licensed to Birmingham, Alabama. Its daytime power is 5,000 watts, and at nighttime, it broadcasts at 111 watts from a transmitter in Hopper City on the city's northside. It is owned by Summit Media LLC, who also owns six other Birmingham stations, and all share studios in the Cahaba neighborhood in far southeast Birmingham.
The station that now broadcasts at 1320 AM in Birmingham started in 1950 as WEZB, an easy listening music station licensed to Homewood, Alabama. When WEZB changed frequencies, moving to 1220 AM in 1959, it was replaced by WENN, playing music that targeted Birmingham's African-American community. During the turbulent early 1960s, the new WENN was one of two stations that played rhythm and blues music; the other was WJLD. Because of FCC restrictions, WENN broadcast only from sunrise until sunset; still, it enjoyed dominance over its main rival, WJLD. In 1969, WENN launched an FM companion station on 107.7 FM. The new WENN-FM was the first FM station in Birmingham aimed at the listening tastes of the community’s African-American population.
The popularity of FM radio in Birmingham greatly increased during the late 1970s and early 1980s; WENN-FM's audience growth in particular led the station management to seek a separate identity for WENN. In 1983, the AM station changed its call letters to WAGG, and it became an urban gospel music station. This change in programming proved to be successful, and by the end of the 1980s, WAGG was one of the highest-rated AM stations in Birmingham.
In 1998, Cox Radio, who already owned WZZK-FM, WODL-FM and WEZN, bought WAGG. One year later, WEZN, at the time an adult standards-formatted station and WAGG swapped dial positions in order for WAGG to take advantage of the superior nighttime signal on 610 AM. As a result, 610 would be the new station for gospel, while 1320 would be the new home for adult standards.
After WAGG and WEZN swapped dial positions, the 1320 AM frequency has changed both its callsign and its programming format several times. In 2000, the adult standards programming was dropped, and the station was relaunched as WRJS ("Rejoice 1320"), another urban gospel station. In 2002, the station changed formats again, becoming a regional Mexican music station known on the air as "La Favorita". In 2003, the station was reincarnated as WZZK (the callsign of 610 AM from 1985–1998), playing classic country music.
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Wikipedia