WBHP (1230 kHz, "The Big Talker") was a

commercial radio Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship, for example. It was the United States' first model ...

station in

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is the List of municipalities in Alabama, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the List of United States cities by population, 100th-most populous ...

, and served Madison County. The station was owned by

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

-based

iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...

and aired a

news/talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, interviews ...

format. WBHP programming was

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

on WHOS (800 AM) in nearby Decatur,

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater ( two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tr ...

W273CX at 102.5

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

and on the second

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. HD radio generally simulcast, simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD R ...

channel of WDRM (102.1 FM). Its studios were located in Madison, Alabama, and its AM

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

was located southwest of downtown Huntsville. WBHP went on the air in 1937. It was the indirect successor to a previous station, WBHS, which operated from 1932 to 1935. WBHP was a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

station until 1997, when it began an

all-news All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to the discussion and broadcast of news. All-news radio is available in both local and radio syndication, syndicated forms, and is carried on both major US satellite radio networks. All-news sta ...

format. The station went off the air in 2024 after its tower collapsed; it did not return, and surrendered its license in 2025.

History

The first

construction permit Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. House building permits, for example, are subject to bu ...

for a station on 1200 kHz in Huntsville was issued in May 1931. It signed on the air on April 22, 1932, as WBHS, the first radio station in Huntsville. It was a service of The Hutchens Company, a hardware firm; the WBHS

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

stood "World's Best Hardware Store". The studios were in the Russel Erskine Hotel in downtown Huntsville. WBHS later moved to a building on Governor’s Drive. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, WBHS ran into financial problems and went off the air in 1935. The

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

(FCC) reassigned the frequency and a new station went on the air on May 23, 1937, with the call letters WBHP. This call sign stemmed from longtime previous owner Wilton "Buster" Harvey Pollard. In 1941, due to the

North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement The North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA, ; ) refers to a series of international treaties that defined technical standards for AM band (mediumwave) radio stations. These agreements also addressed how frequency assignments were d ...

, WBHP moved from 1200 kHz to 1230 kHz. WBHP went through several owners until its eventual acquisition by iHeartMedia, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications). From its early days until the November 1997 switch to an

format, WBHP broadcast

. In the 1960s the country music station put its format aside for one hour each Sunday afternoon to air

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

. The program was called "The German Hour" and catered to Wernher von Braun’s German rocket scientists and their families. More than 1500 German scientists, engineers and technicians were brought to Huntsville to work on developing rockets as part of

Operation Paperclip The Operation Paperclip was a secret United States intelligence program in which more than 1,600 German scientists, engineers, and technicians were taken from former Nazi Germany to the US for government employment after the end of World War I ...

. In 2018, WBHP launched

W273CX (102.5 FM) to simulcast the station. On October 3, 2024, a delivery truck clipped a guy wire and toppled the WBHP transmission tower on Governors Drive, taking the station off the air. It never returned; iHeartMedia returned the WBHP license to the FCC in February 2025, and it was cancelled on February 25, 2025. WBHP's programming would continue on WHOS, WDRM-HD2, and W273CX; on March 4, 2025, iHeartMedia filed to change WHOS's call sign to WBHP effective March 31.

Programming

Weekdays on WBHP and WHOS began with ''Alabama's Morning News with JT'', based at co-owned WERC-FM in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. The rest of the weekday schedule was made up of nationally syndicated talk shows, mostly from co-owned Premiere Networks: '' The Glenn Beck Radio Program, The Sean Hannity Show, The Michael Berry Show, The Jesse Kelly Show, Our American Stories with Lee Habeeb'' and '' Coast to Coast AM with George Noory''. Weekends featured shows on money, health, technology, travel and religion. Weekend syndicated programs include '' Rudy Maxa World Travel, The Weekend with Michael Brown, Armstrong & Getty, Rich DeMuro on Tech, The Ben Ferguson Show'' and '' Sunday Night with Bill Cunningham''. Most hours began with an update from Fox News Radio. In addition to its regularly scheduled talk programming, the station was an affiliate of the

Auburn Tigers football The Auburn Tigers football program represents Auburn University in the sport of American college football. Auburn competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Confe ...

radio network. It also carried

Auburn Tigers men's basketball The Auburn Tigers men's basketball program is the intercollegiate men's basketball team that represents Auburn University. The school competes in the Southeastern Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). T ...

. WBHP and WHOS were the flagship stations for the 1999-2000 final season of the Huntsville Channel Cats and for the short-lived Huntsville Tornado for the 2000-2001 hockey season. Both teams played their home games at the Von Braun Center and competed in the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

Awards and honors

As a

-formatted station, WBHP on-air personality Dana Webb was nominated for and won a

Country Music Association Award The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards or CMAs, are presented to country music artists and broadcasters to recognize outstanding achievement in the country music industry. The televised annual presentation ceremony f ...

as "Small Market Broadcast Personality of the Year" in 1986.

References

External links

WBHP official website
{{Huntsville radio BHP Defunct radio stations in the United States BHP Radio stations established in 1937 1937 establishments in Alabama Radio stations disestablished in 2025 2025 disestablishments in Alabama IHeartMedia radio stations