WIEZ (1490

kHz 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 uni ...

) is a AM radio station licensed to

Decatur, Alabama Decatur () is the largest city and county seat of Morgan County, Alabama, Morgan County (with a portion also in Limestone County, Alabama, Limestone County) in the U.S. state of Alabama. Nicknamed "The River City," it is located in North Alabam ...

that serves the western

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 ...

, market. The station airs a

rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 20, Rhythmic Top 30, Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip-hop and upbeat R&B hit ...

format. WIEZ carries Austin High School football on Friday evenings during the fall.

History

During the early 1960s to the early 1990s, WAJF was the call sign and the format was mostly Top 40. Its main competition during much of that time was WMSL (now WWTM), also in Decatur. There were several local legends that worked there, including Hamilton Masters, George "The Cardboard" Carden, "Bill and Dave", Thom Collins, and others. WAJF also carried the ''

CBS Radio Mystery Theater ''CBS Radio Mystery Theater'' (a.k.a. ''Radio Mystery Theater'' and ''Mystery Theater'', sometimes abbreviated as ''CBSRMT'') is a radio drama series created by Himan Brown that was broadcast on CBS Radio Network affiliates from 1974 to 1982, ...

'' each weeknight at midnight during the 1970s. With FM radio becoming more and more popular, AM stations began to suffer. The local talent moved on and advertising got virtually impossible to sell. Eventually, the station had only a handful of faithful sponsors, but not enough to maintain solvent operations. Before switching to the current call sign, this station was known as WAJF. The station was assigned the WDPT call letters by 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 ...

on November 20, 2006. The 1490 frequency was re-allocated to Decatur after then-WHBS (later WAAY and WAAJ, Now

WLOR WLOR (1550 AM broadcasting, AM, "MY Star 107.5") is a radio station licensed to Huntsville, Alabama, United States, that serves the greater Tennessee Valley area. WLOR is part of the Black Crow Media Group and the broadcast license is held by B ...

)/Huntsville moved from to 1550 kHz in 1952. In December 2002, the then-WAJF was sold to WAJF Inc. (Ira Littman, president) by Daniel L. Oppenheim for $150,000. In June 2007, WDPT was sold to Christian Voice of Central Ohio Inc. by WAJF Inc. (Troy Bryant, president) for a reported sale price of $167,500. The station, branded as "ProTalk 1490", was operated as a

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) ...

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

WTKI in Huntsville until both ceased operations and went temporarily silent on January 30, 2009, due to the

late 2000s recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

. Both stations returned to the air in November 2009 broadcasting a mix of talk radio and sports talk programming. The station's callsign was changed to WEKI on November 19, 2009, to better match its simulcast partner. On December 23, 2009, Christian Voice of Central Ohio Inc. applied to the FCC to transfer the

broadcast license A broadcast license is a type of spectrum license granting the licensee permission to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses generally include restrictions, which va ...

for WEKI to FRC of Alabama LLC, doing business as "Focus Radio Communications" (Frederick Holland, managing member). The Commission approved this application on February 16, 2010, and the transaction was consummated April 30, 2010. Focus Radio, which provided programming for both WEKI and WTKI under a

local marketing agreement In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one corporation, company agrees to operate a radio station, radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it ...

from November 2009, paid a total of $235,000 for the licenses and assets of both stations. Upon commencement of the

with Focus Radio, WEKI was originally a simulcast of sister WTKI in Huntsville. Also in 2009, WEKI began broadcasting on FM translator W234AD, Decatur, at 94.7 FM. In 2010, WEKI broadcast at least 85 Southern League baseball games as a member of the

Huntsville Stars The Huntsville Stars were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Huntsville, Alabama, from 1985 to 2014. They competed in the Southern League as the Double-A affiliate of Major League Baseball's Oakland Athletics from 1985 to 1998 and Milw ...

Radio Network. The network also included sister station WTKI and

WWIC WWIC (1050 AM, "Real Country 1050") is a radio station licensed to serve Scottsboro, Alabama. The station, established in 1950, is owned by Scottsboro Broadcasting Co. Formatting WWIC airs a classic country music format featuring the " Real ...

in Scottsboro. The Stars discontinued play in 2015, when the team moved to

Biloxi, Mississippi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It lies on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast in southern Mississippi, bordering the city of Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport to its west. The adjacent cities ar ...

. In 2011, WEKI separated from the WTKI simulcast, focusing on Decatur and the western part of the metro area - although the two stations carried much of the same programming throughout the week. On March 8, 2018, WEKI changed its format from talk to oldies, branded as "94.7 Oldies Radio" under new WIEZ calls. Veteran DC programmer Chris Roth became the Program Director. On March 4, 2019, an application was filed with the FCC to transfer ownership of WIEZ and the 94.7 translator (now W234DN) to MKRadio1, LLC (Joshua Bohn, managing member) for $131,500. Ownership transferred from Focus Radio to MKRadio1 on July 1, 2019. Accuweather forecasts and ABC News were added in October. The format shifted from oldies to soft oldies on October 25, 2019. At 9:47 am on September 13, 2021, WIEZ began stunting with a loop of

Tone Lōc Anthony Terrell Smith (born March 3, 1966), best known by his stage name Tone Lōc (), is an American rapper and actor. He is known for his raspy voice, his hit songs " Wild Thing" and " Funky Cold Medina", for which he was nominated for a Gr ...

's early 1989 rap hit "Wild Thing". At 5:15 pm on September 16, the station debuted a 1980s–1990s dance music format. The oldies format continues to air on WIEZ's website. On September 24, WIEZ rebranded as "Wild 94.7".

Previous logos

References

External links

* * * {{Huntsville Radio 1953 establishments in Alabama Morgan County, Alabama Radio stations established in 1953 IEZ (AM) Rhythmic contemporary radio stations in the United States