WTXT (98.1
FM, "98 TXT") is a
commercial
Commercial may refer to:
* (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services
** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money
* a dose of advertising ...
radio station
Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...
licensed
A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit).
A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...
to
Fayette, Alabama
Fayette is a city and the county seat of Fayette County, Alabama, Fayette County, Alabama, United States. The population was 4,619 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, down from 4,922 at the 2000 census.
History
Originally known as " ...
, and serving the
Tuscaloosa metropolitan area and west-
central Alabama
Central Alabama is a region in the state of Alabama. It is sometimes considered part of North Alabama because both regions are mountainous, but in some definitions they are different regions.
The Valley and Ridge Province of the Appalachians co ...
. It airs 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
Format may refer to:
Printing and visual media
* Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements
* Paper formats, or paper size standards
* Newspaper format, the size of the paper page
Computing
* File format, particular way that informatio ...
and is owned by
iHeartMedia, Inc. WTXT carries two
nationally syndicated
Broadcast syndication is the practice of content owners leasing the right to broadcast their content to other television stations or radio stations, without having an official broadcast network to air it on. It is common in the United States whe ...
programs on weekdays: ''
The Bobby Bones Show
''The Bobby Bones Show'' is an American, nationally syndicated country music radio show aired during the morning hours. The Bobby Bones Show, which originally aired from Austin, Texas, now broadcasts from studios at WSIX-FM in Nashville. Premie ...
'' in morning
drive time
Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...
and ''
After Midnite with Granger Smith'' overnight.
The studios and offices are on 11th Avenue, off
Interstate 359
Interstate 359 (I-359) is a part of the Interstate Highway System in the US state of Alabama. It is a spur route that runs for entirely within the city limits of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tuscaloosa. Its terminuses are just south of Interstate ...
in Tuscaloosa. WTXT calls itself "98 TXT, Tuscaloosa's Country."
WTXT is a
Class C1 station. It has an
effective radiated power
Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ha ...
(ERP) of 100,000
watt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...
s, the maximum for most FM stations. The
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 ...
is off Boyd Road near Columbus Creek in
Echola.
Radio-Locator.com/WTXT
/REF> WTXT broadcasts using 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 ...
technology. Its HD2 subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compressi ...
airs a classic country format known as "The Possum
Possum may refer to:
Animals
* Didelphimorphia, or (o)possums, an order of marsupials native to the Americas
** Didelphis, a genus of marsupials within Didelphimorphia
*** Common opossum, native to Central and South America
*** Virginia opossum ...
." The HD3 subchannel plays Southern gospel music. They feed 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 ...
s at 92.1 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 96.1 MHz respectively.
History
In the early 1970s, broadcaster Harlon Kenneth Watts sought to build a new FM station in Fayette and applied for a 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 ...
from 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). While it was still under construction, it was given the 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 ...
WVEL. It signed on
A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...
the air on . It used the call letters WHKW, representing Watts' initials.
During the 1980s, the format was Top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...
hits. Watts served as the president and general manager. WHKW was Tuscaloosa's affiliate
Affiliation or affiliate may refer to:
* Affiliate (commerce), a legal form of entity relationship used in Business Law
* Affiliation (family law), a legal form of family relationship
* Affiliate marketing
* Affiliate network or affiliation platfo ...
for the ''Rick Dees Weekly Top 40
''Rick Dees Weekly Top 40'' (sometimes known as ''The Weekly Top 40'') is an internationally syndicated radio program created and hosted by American radio personality Rick Dees. It is currently heard on over 200 radio stations worldwide. It is ...
''. The station's Top 40 format lasted more than a decade.
In the early 1990s, the call sign changed to WTXT and a country music format was adopted. In August 2000, the station was acquired 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 Clear Channel Communications
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 ...
, a forerunner to today's iHeartMedia.
In 2006, WTXT added the ''Big D and Bubba
The Big D and Bubba Show is a nationally syndicated radio show airing six days a week on approximately 120 country music FM radio stations.
The show is syndicated by Compass Media Networks. Live shows are broadcast from 6 to 10 AM (Eastern Ti ...
'' morning show from WYNK-FM
WYNK-FM (101.5 MHz) – branded ''101.5 WYNK'' – is a commercial country radio station licensed to serve Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Owned by iHeartMedia, the station covers the Baton Rouge metropolitan area and is the local affiliate for ''The Bo ...
in Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...
. The station also had Wild Bill Seckbach hosting afternoons. In 2014, ''The Bobby Bones Show'' from Nashville
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
was added to the lineup, replacing Big D and Bubba.
On April 27, 2011, following severe weather known as the 2011 Super Outbreak
The 2011 Super Outbreak was the largest, costliest, and one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks ever recorded, taking place in the Southern, Midwestern, and Northeastern United States from April 25 to 28, 2011, leaving catastrophic destruc ...
, WTXT's broadcast tower
Radio masts and towers are typically tall structures designed to support antennas for telecommunications and broadcasting, including television. There are two main types: guyed and self-supporting structures. They are among the tallest human-m ...
in Echola was destroyed. That forced the station to broadcast with a reduced signal. In the Fall of 2012, WTXT returned to full-power from a new tower at the same site.Columbus
Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to:
* Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the Italian explorer
* Columbus, Ohio, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio
* Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...
, Starkville and West Point
The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...
in Mississippi
Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
. The station's signal extends into the western suburbs of 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 ...
(e.g., Bessemer, Fairfield, Hueytown).
References
Previous logos
External links
WTXT official website
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*
*
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*
{{coord, 33.3215, N, 87.7747, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title
TXT
Country radio stations in the United States
IHeartMedia radio stations
Radio stations established in 1977
1977 establishments in Alabama