WAGG

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WAGG

City of license	Birmingham
Broadcast area	Greater Birmingham
Branding	Heaven 610
Slogan	Birmingham's Best Gospel
First air date	1926 (as WKBC)
Frequency	610 KHz
Format	Urban Gospel
ERP	5,000 watts (daytime)/ 1,000 watts (nighttime)
Class	B
Callsign meaning	“Alabama’s Gospel Giant” or A.G. Gaston (former owner of the station)
Owner	Cox Radio
Website	www.wagg610.com

WAGG is a radio station licensed to Birmingham, Alabama, broadcasting at 610 AM. Its daytime power is 5,000 watts, and at nighttime, it broadcasts at 1,000 watts. Known on the air as “Heaven 610”, WAGG is a gospel music station that targets Birmingham’s African-American population. It is owned by Cox Radio, who also owns the following Birmingham stations: WBHJ-FM (95.7), WNCB-FM (97.3), WBHK-FM (98.7), WZZK-FM (104.7), WBPT-FM (106.9), and WPSB-AM (1320).

[edit] History of AM 610

The station that now broadcasts at 610 AM in Birmingham is that city’s second oldest radio station. It signed on in 1926 as WKBC, broadcasting at 1310 AM. The original owner of the station was a local furniture company. In 1934, the station was sold to The Birmingham News, and the call letters were changed to WSGN. Those call letters stood for South’s Greatest Newspaper, an obvious tribute to The Chicago Tribune’s WGN, whose call letters stand for World’s Greatest Newspaper.

Throughout the 1940’s WSGN was an affiliate of the NBC Blue Network, the forerunner of the ABC Network. Late in 1955, WSGN became the first station in Birmingham to become a Top 40 radio station. In the early days it did battle with WYDE 850 and WVOK 690 to lead the pack in top-40.

Many legendary personalities worked at WSGN over the years. Perhaps the most famous alumnus of WSGN is Rick Dees, who was the morning host at the station from 1973-1974.

The dominance of WSGN was challenged when in 1972 when longtime middle of the road station WBRC was sold. Its call letters were changed to WERC, and for the first time since 1965, WSGN had a Top 40 challenger in the market. For much of the mid-‘70’s, the battle between “The Big 610, WSGN” and “96-ERC” gave Birmingham listeners two outstanding choices for Top 40 music.

Prior to 1977, FM top-40 consisted of automated WAPI-FM 94.5 and the daytime simulcasts of WERC on WERC-FM 106.9. In 1977, Birmingham got its first live top-40 FM when WKXX (now WBPT) made its debut. The ratings of WSGN began to decline, and by 1981, the station had moved away from its longtime Top 40 format and began targeting adult listeners. “The Big 610” was now “Music 610, The Station That Grew Up with You”, and the format was adult contemporary with a heavy mix of oldies.

The debut of a second FM challenger, WMJJ, in late 1982 signaled the beginning of the end of contemporary music on WSGN. In 1984, the station became known as “Real Music 610”, playing adult standards and big band music. This continued until the next year, when the station was sold and became the AM simulcast partner of country station WZZK-FM (104.7). After over fifty years, the call letters of WSGN were changed to WZZK-AM. This simulcast continued until 1998, when 610 AM returned to big band and adult standards with the new call letters, WEZN.

[edit] WAGG History

Originally at 1320 AM, WAGG has been an Urban Gospel station since 1982. Before then, the call letters were WENN-AM. Throughout the 1960’s and into the 1970’s, WENN was Birmingham’s most popular station targeting African-American listeners, although it broadcast only during daylight hours with a relatively weak signal. The growing popularity of its FM station led station ownership to adopt the gospel format, which proved to be successful. By the end of the ‘80’s, WAGG was one of the highest rated AM stations in Birmingham.

In 1998, Cox Radio, who already owned WZZK-FM, WODL-FM (now WBPT) and WEZN, bought WAGG, WBHJ and WBHK. One year later, WEZN and WAGG swapped dial positions in order to take advantage of the superior signal on 610 AM.

[edit] External links

• Official Website of WAGG
• Query the FCC's AM station database for WAGG
• Radio/TV page of Birmingham Rewound