WZYP

WZYP (104.3 FM, "104.3 'ZYP") is a Top 40 (CHR) music-formatted radio station licensed to serve Athens, Alabama, and broadcasting in the Huntsville, Alabama, area.[2] The station is owned by Cumulus Media and also broadcasts in HD Radio. The broadcast signal can be heard throughout all of northern Alabama and much of southern central Tennessee. Its studios are in Athens and its transmitter is in Madison, Alabama.

WZYP
CityAthens, Alabama
Broadcast areaHuntsville, Alabama
Frequency104.3 MHz (HD Radio)
104.3 HD-1: simulcast of WZYP
104.3 HD-2: simulcast of WHRP
104.3 HD-3: simulcast of WWFF-FM
Branding104.3 ZYP
SloganAll The Hits
Programming
FormatTop 40 (CHR)
Ownership
OwnerCumulus Media
(Cumulus Licensing LLC)
WHRP, WUMP, WVNN, WVNN-FM, WWFF-FM
History
First air date
1958 (as WJOF)
Former call signs
WJOF (1958-1980)[1]
Technical information
Facility ID3083
ClassC
ERP100,000 watts
HAAT340 meters (1116 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
34°49′05″N 86°44′16″W
Links
WebcastListen live
Websitewzyp.net

History

It was founded by the Dunnavant family of Athens, Alabama (which remains its city of license), as WJOF. Prior to 1978, WJOF featured a mixture of beautiful music and, at night, country music.

On June 10, 1980, the call letters were switched to the current WZYP.[1] Through most of the 1980s, WZYP was northern Alabama's top-rated station, dethroned only by WDRM when country experienced a resurgence in popularity among young people in the late 1980s and 1990s. Nonetheless, it has remained among the Huntsville market's most-listened-to stations through the mid-2000s.[3]

Ownership

On April 1, 2003, WZYP was sold by Athens Broadcasting Co. (William E. Dunnavant, president) to Cumulus Broadcasting Inc. as part of a four-station deal with a sale price of $22 million in cash and Cumulus common stock.[4][5] The acquisition of the stations was completed in July 2003.[6] WZYP remains co-owned with former Dunnavant stations WVNN and WUMP, in addition to WHRP and WWFF-FM. This ended a 55-year presence in the market by Athens Broadcasting, founded in 1948 by Homer Felix "Pap" Dunnavant.[7]

References
  1. "Call Sign History". FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database.
  2. "Station Information Profile". Arbitron.
  3. "WDRM-FM still king of area radio". The Huntsville Times. 2007-12-09.
  4. "Cumulus Media Inc. Enters Huntsville, AL with Purchase of Four Stations". Business Wire. Atlanta, Georgia. 2003-04-01. Cumulus Media Inc. (Nasdaq:CMLS) today announced it has signed an Acquisition Agreement to purchase stations from Athens Broadcasting Company, Inc. which owns WZYP-FM, WUSX-FM, WVNN-AM and WUMP-AM. The purchase price is $22 million and includes approximately $2.5 million of net working capital. The consideration for this transaction will consist entirely of Cumulus Media Class A common stock.
  5. BIA Financial Networks (2003-04-21). "Changing Hands". Broadcasting & Cable.
  6. "Breaking News - July 24, 2003". FMQB. 2003-07-24. Retrieved 2008-01-02. Cumulus has completed its acquisition of Nashville stations WSM and WWTN, and Huntsville, AL stations WZYP, WUSX, WVNN and WUMP from Athens Broadcasting.
  7. "Obituaries - Elsewhere". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. 1996-09-14. p. 4B. Dunnavant, Homer Felix "Pap," 98, whose media career began with a part-time job in radio and ended with a chain of stations; in Athens. He had been a farmer and barber in north Alabama when he decided to buy some time on radio in the 1930s and do his own show. In 1948, the Federal Communications Commission gave him permission to open his first radio station in Athens. From that grew Athens Broadcasting, with radio stations WZYP, WVNN, WPZM and WUMP in Athens


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