WAPI (AM)

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'WAPI'

City of license	Birmingham, Alabama
Broadcast area	Birmingham
Branding	News Talk 1070 AM
Slogan	Alabama's Big Talker
First air date	1922 as WSY
Frequency	1070 KHz
Format	News Talk
ERP	50,000 watts (daytime), 5,000 watts (nighttime)
Class	B
Callsign meaning	Alabama Polytechnic Institute (the official name of Auburn University at the time the university acquired the station
Owner	Citadel Communications
Website	www.wapi1070.com

WAPI is an AM radio station licensed to Birmingham, Alabama. Its daytime power is 50,000 watts and at nighttime it broadcasts at 5,000 watts. Calling itself "Big Talk 1070", it is a talk radio station. It is the Birmingham outlet of numerous nationally syndicated talk programs, including Neal Boortz, Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage and Bill O’Reilly. WAPI is owned by Citadel Communications. Other Birmingham area stations owned by Citadel include WTUG-FM (92.9), WYSF-FM (94.5), WZRR-FM (99.5), WJOX-FM (100.5), WUHT-FM (107.7), and WSPZ-AM (690).

[edit] History

In April 1922, WSY radio signed on as the first radio station in Alabama, owned by Alabama Power Company. Some five months later, the second radio station in the state, WMAV, owned by Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University) began broadcasting from Auburn. WSY was not successful, and in 1925, its broadcast facilities were dismantled and donated to WMAV and Alabama Polytechnic. At that time, the station’s call letters were changed to WAPI, reflecting the ownership of the station.

In 1928, WAPI returned to Birmingham, due in part to NBC’s interest in affiliating with a station in Alabama’s largest city, rather than a station in a small town such as what Auburn was at the time. In 1929, ownership of the station was split between Alabama Polytechnic, the University of Alabama, and Alabama College for Women (now the University of Montevallo), and the broadcast power was increased to 5,000 watts. In 1932, the station was sold to private business interests.

WAPI remained affiliated with NBC until 1940, when it became an affiliate of CBS. After sharing its dial position with KVOO in Tulsa, Oklahoma for several years, it moved to its present dial position in 1942. In 1949, WAPI launched the first television station in Alabama, as WAFM-TV (now WVTM) began broadcasting some six weeks before WBRC-TV signed on.

The Birmingham News purchased WAPI and its FM and TV sister stations in 1953, and in 1954, WAPI-AM re-affiliated with NBC. As network radio programming began to lose its importance, the station evolved into a middle of the road music station in the mid-1960’s, featuring several local call-in shows at night. By the mid-1970’s, it was the only Birmingham AM adult contemporary radio station, remaining in this format until 1985. When crosstown rival WSGN (now WAGG) dropped adult standards, WAPI switched to that format. It retained the adult standards format until January 1, 1996 when it became an all-news radio station. Over the last decade, the station has evolved into a talk-radio station. The station airs the syndicated programs of such personalities as Sean Hannity and Neal Boortz.

[edit] External links

• Official Website of WAPI
• Query the FCC's AM station database for WAPI