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WZRR is a classic rock FM radio station licensed to Birmingham in the U.S. state of Alabama. Its on-air name is Classic Rock 99.5. It is the flagship station of the Alabama Crimson Tide college football and college basketball radio network. It is the Birmingham affiliate of the John Boy and Billy network. The station is owned by Citadel Broadcasting. Other stations in the market that Citadel owns include WYSF-FM (94.5), WJOX-FM (100.5), WUHT-FM (107.7), WSPZ-AM (690) and WAPI-AM (1070). Citadel also owns WTUG-FM (92.9) from Tuscaloosa, whose signal covers much of the Birmingham market.
[edit] History
The station broadcasting at 99.5 FM in Birmingham first signed on in 1977 as WVOK-FM. K-99, as the station was called, was Birmingham’s first full-time album rock station; previously, WJLN-FM (now WZZK) and WERC-FM (now WBPT) dabbled in that format on a part-time basis. K-99 played an eclectic mix of rock songs from artists of the 1960’s and 1970’s, and was a ratings success. When its AM sister station WVOK-AM (now WSPZ) was sold in 1978, the call letters of the FM station were changed to WRKK, but the K-99 handle was retained.
In 1981, WAPI-FM (now WYSF) changed its format from easy listening to album rock, thus giving Birmingham two stations in the same format. This continued until the next year, when the new owners of WRKK changed the station’s format to country music. The on-air name of the station was modified to “K-99 Country’’. Competing against market leader WZZK, the new WRKK was not successful. In an attempt to change K-99’s fortunes, in 1984, the call letters were changed to WQUS, and the on-air name of the station was changed to U.S. 99. Neither the new name nor the hiring of the popular Birmingham morning drive team of Tommy Charles and John Ed Willoughby improved the fortunes of the station.
In 1985, U.S. 99 dropped country music and changed its call letters to WLTB. Lite 99 was a soft adult contemporary station, but was no more successful than its predecessor. At 6:00 p.m. on Christmas Day, 1988, the 99.5 frequency became the new home of classic rock in Birmingham, with the new call letters of WZRR and the new on-air name Rock 99. The very first song that was played under the 'WZRR' moniker on Christmas Day, 1988 was "Alright Now" by Free. The station has stayed true to its format since then. In 1995, the on-air name of the station was changed to "Classic Rock 99.5". From 2002 until the next year it was known as “99.5 the Buzzard”, and in 2003, the name was changed again, this time to “Rock 99.5”, using basically the same logo as it did in the late 1980’s.
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