WVNN (AM)

WVNN
City Athens, Alabama
Broadcast area Huntsville, Alabama
Branding NewsTalk 770 AM/92.5 FM WVNN
Slogan "Depend on it."
Frequency 770 kHz
First air date 1948
Format News/talk
Power 7000 watts (day)
250 watts (night)
Class B
Facility ID 3084
Transmitter coordinates 34°45′2″N 86°47′58″W / 34.75056°N 86.79944°W / 34.75056; -86.79944 (day)
34°50′20″N 86°55′42″W / 34.83889°N 86.92833°W / 34.83889; -86.92833 (night)
Callsign meaning We're the Valley's News Network
Former callsigns WJMW
Owner Cumulus Media
(Cumulus Licensing LLC)
Sister stations WHRP, WUMP, WVNN-FM, WWFF-FM, WZYP
Webcast Listen Live
Website wvnn.com

WVNN (770 AM) is a news/talk formatted radio station licensed to Athens, Alabama, where the station's studios are also located. Owned by Cumulus Media, it simulcasts on WVNN-FM (92.5 FM) licensed to Trinity, Alabama. This combo primarily serves the Huntsville, Alabama market, though it can also be heard in the Florence-Muscle Shoals market. Collectively, the stations are branded as "NewsTalk 770 AM/92.5 FM WVNN".

Broadcast coverage

The WVNN signal covers the northern-third of Alabama (and southern Middle Tennessee) during the day, though signal limitations prevent the station from penetrating any further than the Athens area after sunset. Due to FCC regulations, the station switches to a lower power at sunset (from a separate four tower array) in deference to WABC-New York (a fellow Cumulus station which operates on a clear channel occupying 770 AM).

Programming

Notable weekday programming includes Alabama-based shows hosted by Dale Jackson and Matt Murphy; plus nationally-syndicated shows hosted by Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, and Mark Levin.[1]

Sports

WVNN carries University of Alabama football during the fall, normally on Saturday afternoons.[2] On Friday evenings during the fall, WVNN often originates area high school football games. It is not uncommon to hear WVNN simulcast with sister station WUMP ("SportsRadio 730, The UMP") during live sports programming. WVNN is an affiliate of the Tennessee Titans football radio network.[3]

Past programming

Notable former WVNN air personalities include George Rose who, along with his alter-ego "Cousin Josh" character, hosted The Cousin Josh Jam-O-Ree on several North Alabama radio stations in a career than began in 1948 at then-WJMW and ended at WKAC with his death in 2006.[4]

Many well-known talk radio hosts spent early portions of their careers hosting local shows at WVNN, including Sean Hannity,[5] Peter Thiele, Kevin Miller,[6] Keith Larson, Darla Jaye,[7] and Mike Church. Will Anderson hosted a show on WVNN until August 2007. Tim Knox hosted a show on WVNN until December 2007.[8]

History

The station, once signed WJMW, started as an AM daytimer on 730 AM in Pulaski, Tennessee, and was later brought to Athens, Alabama.

WJMW came on the air in 1948 on the frequency of 1010 kHz with 250 watts of power. The move to 730 kHz (which was WKSR in Pulaski, TN first station) was in 1953. Power increase of 1000 watts. WKSR moved to 1420 kHz.

WJMW was owned and operated by the Dunnavant family of Athens for 55 years prior to being sold to Cumulus Media as part of a four station deal in 2003. This sale ended a 55-year presence in the market by Athens Broadcasting, founded in 1948 by Homer Felix "Pap" Dunnvant.[9] Moving the station from 730 to 770 in the early-1980s gave the station a 24-hour signal. The station was assigned the WVNN call letters by the Federal Communications Commission on September 26, 1988.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Levin Hits 75". Radio & Records. November 28, 2006. Retrieved December 30, 2007.
  2. ↑ "Football Radio Network". RollTide.com - University of Alabama Athletics.
  3. ↑ "Titans Radio in Alabama". Titans Radio. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  4. ↑ Bishop, Kristen (2006-12-09). "George Rose, famous as radio's 'Cousin Josh,' dies at 78; funeral today.". The Decatur Daily.
  5. ↑ Finn, Robin (2002-10-25). "Run the Country? No. He Just Wants to Rouse It.". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-01-02. Mr. Hannity, a Long Island boy, is an aficionado of all things Southern: he got his first break on WVNN radio in Huntsville, Ala., and married an Alabama girl, Jill.
  6. ↑ Boyle, Mike (2007-05-03). "Kevin Miller Joins KDKA Fulltime". Radio & Records. Retrieved 2007-12-30. A frequent contributor to MSNBC, the Today Show, Fox and CNN, Miller has hosted mornings on WWTN in Nashville, as well as shows on WPTF/Raleigh, WERC/Birmingham, Ala., WVNN/Huntsville, Ala., and WMVU/Nashua, N.H.
  7. ↑ "In Brief - June 15, 2005". FMQB. 2005-06-15. Retrieved 2008-01-02. At KMBZ/Kansas City [...] Darla Jaye joins from WVNN/Huntsville for middays
  8. ↑ "WDRM-FM still king of area radio". The Huntsville Times. 2007-12-09. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
  9. ↑ "Obituaries - Elsewhere". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. 1996-09-14. p. 4B. Dunnavant, Homer Felix "Pap," 98, whose media career began with a part-time job in radio and ended with a chain of stations; in Athens, Ala. He had been a farmer and barber in north Alabama when he decided to buy some time on radio in the 1930s and do his own show. In 1948, the Federal Communications Commission gave him permission to open his first radio station in Athens. From that grew Athens Broadcasting, with radio stations WZYP, WVNN, WPZM and WUMP in Athens
  10. ↑ "AM Call Sign History". FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database.
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