WNCB is an FM radio station licensed to Gardendale, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham. It is known on the air as “New Country 97.3’’ and is one of seven stations in the Birmingham market that is owned by Cox Radio. Other Birmingham stations owned by Cox include WBHK-FM (95.7), WBHK-FM (98.7), WZZK-FM (104.7), WBPT-FM (106.9), WAGG-AM (610) and WPSB-AM (1320). In the United States (and potentially elswhere), each radio station or TV station is assigned a city of license by the Federal Communications Commission that they must serve. While this has become far less meaningful over the decades, stations are still required to post their public file somewhere within the... Gardendale is a city located in Jefferson County, Alabama. ... Nickname: The Magic City, Pittsburgh of the South, BHam Official website: http://www. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Sine waves of various frequencies; the lower waves have higher frequencies than those above. ... A megahertz (MHz) is one million (106) hertz, a measure of frequency. ... A radio format or programming format describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. ... Look up country in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or ERP is determined by subtracting system losses from system gains. ... The watt (symbol: W) is the SI derived unit of power. ... This is the list of broadcast station classes. ... Call sign can refer to different types of call signs: Airline call sign Aviator call sign Cosmonaut call sign Radio and television call signs Tactical call sign, also known as a tactical designator See also: International Callsign Allocations, Maritime Mobile Service Identity This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid... Cox Enterprises is the successor to the publishing company founded at Dayton, Ohio, by James Middleton Cox, who began with the Dayton Daily News. ... The front page of the English Wikipedia Website. ... Gardendale is a city located in Jefferson County, Alabama. ... Nickname: The Magic City, Pittsburgh of the South, BHam Official website: http://www. ... Cox Enterprises is the successor to the publishing company founded at Dayton, Ohio, by James Middleton Cox, who began with the Dayton Daily News. ... WBHK is an urban adult contemporary radio station owned by Cox Broadcasting that serves Birmingham. ... WBHK is an urban adult contemporary radio station owned by Cox Broadcasting that serves Birmingham. ... WBPT is a classic hits FM radio station licensed to Homewood, Alabama that serves Birmingham and central Alabama. ... 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. ...

History

As of 2006, 97.3 is the newest station to sign on in the Birmingham market. WEDA, then licensed to Homewood, signed on with a CHR format in 1998, calling itself Hot 97.3. Birmingham had not had a CHR station since WAPI-FM (now WYSF) changed formats in 1994, and the owners were hoping to fill that niche. However, WQEN, a CHR station licensed to Gadsden, began broadcasting from a tower closer to Birmingham earlier in the year and was more successful than WEDA. 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Homewood is a city located in Jefferson County, Alabama. ... CHR is a Habbo Hotel AU fansite with a online streaming radio station. ...

In 1999, Cox Radio purchased WEDA from the local investors who owned the station, changed the call letters to WRLR, and changed the format to active rock. The new on-air name of the station was Real Rock 97.3. Initially, the station was moderately successful. However, a weak signal (initially, the station broadcast at 640 watts ERP) and competition from modern rock/alternative station WRAX caused WRLR to become one of the lowest rated FM stations in Birmingham. Cox Enterprises is the successor to the publishing company founded at Dayton, Ohio, by James Middleton Cox, who began with the Dayton Daily News. ... Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in Canada and the United States. ... Modern rock is a phrase commonly used by radio stations to describe rock music styles that are commonly found on mainstream radio stations, generally beginning with late 1970s punk but referring especially to any rock music of the 1980s, 1990s or 2000s, mainly to differentiate the format from classic rock... An alternative is one of two possible choices. ...

In October 2001, WODL (Oldies 106.9) unexpectedly changed its format to all ‘80’s music and became known as WBPT, “106-9 the Point”. Cox moved the oldies format and call letters to 97.3, and the station became known as Oldies 97.3. Once again, the weak signal of 97.3 proved to be a hindrance to the station’s success. Also, the popularity of oldies stations focusing on music from the 1960’s began to decline. In June 2004, the power of the station increased from 640 watts to 6,400 watts. In July of that year, the station changed its emphasis from ‘60’s oldies to music from the 1970’s. Core artists of the station known as “70’s Hit Radio, 97-3 WODL” included Chicago, the Doobie Brothers, Alice Cooper, Grand Funk Railroad and James Taylor. Oldies is a generic term commonly used in the United States to describe a radio format that concentrates on popular Top 40 music from the 1950s, 1960s and/or 1970s, as well as such music itself. ... WBPT is a classic hits FM radio station licensed to Homewood, Alabama that serves Birmingham and central Alabama. ... Chicago is a rock band that was formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. ... The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band, best known for hit singles like Black Water. They were popular throughout the 1970s. ... Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948), is a rock singer and musician. ... Grand Funk Railroad is an American power trio band. ... The Best of James Taylor album cover James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, born in Boston, Massachusetts. ...

After less than three months as a ‘70’s oldies station, the station once again changed formats to hot country in September 2004, placing it in competition with co-ownwed country station WZZK.

External links

Official Website of New Country 97.3