WJOX

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WJOX is an AM radio station licensed to Birmingham, Alabama. Its daytime power is 50,000 watts and at nighttime it broadcasts at 500 watts. Calling itself "The Sports Monster", it is an all-sports station. It is the Birmingham affiliate of the Crimson Tide Sports Network, the Auburn Network, Titans Radio, the Braves Radio Network, and ESPN Radio. WJOX features locally hosted call-in shows from 6:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. WJOX 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), WRAX-FM (100.5), WUHT-FM (107.7), and WAPI-AM (1070).

History

The station that now broadcasts from 690 AM in Birmingham signed on in 1947 as WVOK. It was the first radio station in Birmingham to broadcast at 50,000 watts. Due to Federal Communications Commission restrictions, the station broadcast only during daytime hours. It was not until the early 1980’s that WVOK was able to broadcast 24 hours a day.

Throughout the 1960’s and into the ‘70’s, WVOK was a Top 40 station calling itself “The Mighty 690” with a signal that covered almost all of north and central Alabama, as well as parts of Mississippi, Georgia and Tennessee. Rather than attempting to compete with crosstown station (and market leader) WSGN, WVOK targeted listeners in the rural areas of the states its signal reached. One of the most popular promotions of WVOK was their “Shower of Stars” concert series. Throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s these concerts brought such performers as the Rolling Stones, Jerry Lee Lewis, Neil Diamond and the Beach Boys to Birmingham.

In 1977, WVOK dropped Top 40 music and became a country station using the nickname OK 69. At about the same time, sister station WVOK-FM (now WZRR) signed on with an album rock format. Country music on WVOK-AM continued until 1985, when it became an oldies station. In 1989, oldies were dropped, and the station began playing classic country music.

During the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, several AM stations in Birmingham debuted afternoon sports talk call-in shows. Eli Gold had a successful show on WERC (960 AM), and local sportswriter Paul Finebaum had debuted a popular show on WAPI (1070 AM). In 1990, Herb Winches, a former TV sports anchor on WBRC and WVTM, joined WVOK with his own sports talk show. Because Winches’ show was fairly successful, and because by the 1990’s there were few AM radio stations that were successful playing music, station management made the decision to launch an all-sports station in 1992. The legendary WVOK call letters were dropped, and the station became known as WJOX.

Weekday Program Schedule

6:00-10:00 a.m.: The Opening Drive, with Tony Kurre, former University of Alabama quarterback Jay Barker, and former Auburn University placekicker Al Del Greco
10:00 a.m.-noon: Middays with Matt, featuring former WVTM sports anchor and former UAB broadcaster Matt Coulter
12:00-1:00 p.m.: The JOX Roundtable w/ Lance Taylor [roundtableradio.com]
1:00-3:00 p.m.: Dunaway & Brown, with Ryan Brown and WVTM's (NBC) Jim Dunaway, [NBC 13 Website]
3:00-6:00 p.m.: The Big Time, with Herb Winches, Birmingham News sports columnist Ray Melick, and former WBMA sportscaster Kelly Hunter

External links

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