WHMA-FM (95.3 FM, "The Big 95") is a radio station broadcasting 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 ...

format. Licensed to Alexandria, Alabama, United States, it serves the Anniston-Oxford metropolitan area. The station is owned by Williams Communications, Inc.

History

The station was originally applied-for by Perry Communications in 1979, with

Ashland, Alabama Ashland is a city in and the county seat of Clay County, Alabama, United States. The population was 2,037 at the 2010 census. History Clay County was formed by an act of the Alabama General Assembly on December 7, 1866. Less than a year late ...

, as its

city of license In U.S., Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American broadcast ...

. After being approved in 1980, it was granted two extensions to the original 18 months before its

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 ...

expired in 1981. After later being granted a new CP in 1983, it finally went on the air and was given a license to cover in 1984. During this process, the city of license was changed from Ashland- Lineville, Alabama, to Hobson City. The station was WASZ until mid-December 2004. The WHMA-FM

callsign 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 assi ...

and

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

were previously on 100.5, which moved from Anniston to

metro Atlanta Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell metropolitan statistical area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the sixt ...

to become WWWQ (now

WNNX WNNX (100.5 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial Radio broadcasting, radio station licensed to College Park, Georgia, featuring a classic alternative format as "99X". Owned by Cumulus Media, the station serves the Atlanta metropolitan area. ...

) in January 2001. The present WHMA-FM signed on the air January 2005, replacing WASZ on 95.5; as with the original WHMA-FM, it is the FM sister station to WHMA (1390 AM). WHMA-FM on 100.5 played a country music format from March 1985 to January 2001; the current WHMA-FM also plays a country format. WHMA-FM filed an application with 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 ...

to change its frequency down by one channel, from 95.5 to 95.3 FM. The station changed its city of license again to Alexandria, Alabama, in conjunction with this change. The station would have the same transmitter location and height, but dropped its power in the maximum direction from 530 watts to 400. A different

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna that radiates or receives greater radio wave power in specific directions. Directional antennas can radiate radio waves in beams, when greater concentration of radiation in a certain directio ...

would also be used, shifting the southern end of its coverage area further west. A license to cover with the new facilities was granted in April 2019.

History of call letters

The call letters WHMA-FM were earlier assigned to another station in Anniston. It began broadcasting November 10, 1947, on 100.5 MHz. Studios were in the Radio Building in Anniston. The station was licensed to Anniston Broadcasting Company, which also had the license for

WHMA (AM) WHMA (1390 AM, "Mighty Power 1390") is a radio station licensed to serve Anniston, Alabama, United States. The station is owned by Williams Communications, Inc. It broadcasts a gospel music format and features news programming from Fox News R ...

. Both stations were owned by Consolidated Publishing which printed ''

The Anniston Star ''The Anniston Star'' is the daily newspaper serving Anniston, Alabama, and the surrounding six-county region. Average Sunday circulation in September 2004 was 26,747. However, by 2020 it was approximately half of this. The newspaper is locally ...

'' newspaper. This WHMA-FM, which was a class C 100,000 watt FM, moved from Anniston to

to become WWWQ (now

) in January 2001.

References

External links

* {{Country Radio Stations in Alabama HMA-FM Country radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1984 Mass media in Calhoun County, Alabama 1984 establishments in Alabama