WBHK

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WBHK (98.7 FM, "98.7 Kiss FM") is an urban adult contemporary music formatted radio station owned by Cox Broadcasting that serves Birmingham, Alabama. It is currently ranked by the Arbitron rating system as the nation's highest rated urban adult contemporary. 98.7 Kiss FM is licensed to Warrior and broadcasts on the 98.7 megahertz (MHz) frequency at effecitve radiated power of 39 kilowatts (kW) from atop of Red Mountain. It is owned by Cox Radio Holdings along with six other stations.

The station has an unusually strong signal that broadcasts on a class C1 that can be heard across the majority of North and Central Alabama and even in parts of eastern Mississippi and western Georgia. WBHK is sometimes mistaken for or confused with the New York urban AC with the same moniker, WRKS-FM, 98.7 Kiss FM. The similar musical format and dial position of both stations have allowed them to share on-air liners and even TV commercials--but neither station shares the same corporate ownership. In 2005, WBHK began broadcasting in IBOC digital radio, using the HD Radio system from iBiquity.

[edit] History

98.7 began as WLBI, "Great 98", a 6 kW rimshot hot adult contemporary station licensed to Warrior. Its tower was on a hill off Arkadelphia Road west of Warrior, and they broadcast from a small trailer also located in Warrior. The station was built by Terry Bentley Lowery and Danny Bentley, both with broadcasting interests in Oneonta, Alabama.

In 1994, the station became known as "98 Lite", and changed to a soft adult contemporary format. In 1995, the station began adding smooth jazz programming and eventually morphed into a smooth jazz format; the station continued to broadcast as "98 Lite".

In 1996, after many years as a low-rated AC, the station became an urban AC with the moniker and slogan, "98.7 Kiss FM, Smooth R&B and Classic Soul", changing to its current calls of WBHK. With the format change the ratings for the frequency increased. In 2002, the transmitter was upgraded and moved to Red Mountain after many years of broadcasting from a choppy signal.

[edit] Station management

• General Manager: David Dubose
• Operations Manager: Jay Dixon
• Program Director: Daryl Johnson
• Music Director: Chris Coleman
• News Director: Reginald Greene
• Public Affairs Director: Hollis Wormsby

[edit] External links

• 98.7 Kiss FM WBHK official website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WBHK
• Radio Locator information on WBHK
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WBHK