WVNN (AM)

Infobox Radio station
name = WVNN


city = Athens, Alabama
area = Huntsville, Alabama
branding = "NewsTalk 770 AM/92.5 FM WVNN"
slogan = "Depend on it."
frequency = 770 (kHz)
airdate =
format = News/Talk
power = 7000 watts (day)
250 watts (night)
class = B
facility_id = 3084
coordinates = coord|34|44|59|N|86|47|55|W
callsign_meaning = We're the Valley's News Network
former_callsigns = WJMW
affiliations =
owner = Cumulus Media
licensee = Cumulus Licensing LLC
sister_stations = WHRP, WUMP, WVNN-FM, WWFF-FM, WZYP
webcast = [http://mmslb.eonstreams.com/wvnn.asf Listen Live]
website = http://www.wvnn.com

WVNN (770 AM) is a News/Talk formatted radio station in Athens, Alabama. Owned by Cumulus Media, it simulcasts on WVNN-FM (92.5 FM) licensed to Trinity, Alabama. This combo primarily serves the Huntsville, Alabama market, though it can also be heard in the Florence/Muscle Shoals market. Collectively, the stations are branded as "NewsTalk 770 AM/92.5 FM WVNN".

Broadcast coverage

The WVNN signal covers the northern-third of Alabama (and southern Middle Tennessee) during the day, though signal limitations prevent the station from penetrating any further than the Athens area after sunset. Due to FCC regulations, the station switches to a lower power at sunset (from a separate four tower array) in deference to WABC-New York (a clear channel station also occupying 770 AM).

Programming

Notable weekday programming includes local shows hosted by Dale Jackson and Pamela Furr; plus syndicated shows hosted by Bill Bennett, Neal Boortz, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham [cite web |work=Radio & Records |title=Syndication Scorecard: April 21, 2006 |url=http://www.radioandrecords.com/RRWebSite/SearchStoryPage.aspx?ContentID=gbN0%2fAcqehs%3d&Version=0&Search=Huntsville |date=2006-04-21 |accessdate= 2007-12-30] , Mark Levin [cite web|url=http://www.radioandrecords.com/RRWebSite/SearchStoryPage.aspx?ContentID=kf0ifKUioAY%3d&Version=0&Search=Huntsville |title=Levin Hits 75 |work=Radio & Records |date=2006-11-28 |accessdate=2007-12-30] , Mike Gallagher, and Michael Medved.

ports

WVNN carries University of Alabama football during the fall, normally on Saturday afternoons. [ cite web|url=http://www.rolltide.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8000&ATCLID=239736|title=Football Radio Network|work=RollTide.com - University of Alabama Athletics] On Friday evenings during the fall, WVNN carries high school football games from nearby Athens High School and Sparkman High School. It is not uncommon to hear WVNN simulcast with sister station WUMP ("SportsRadio 730, The UMP") during live sports programming.

Past programming

Notable former WVNN air personalities include George Rose who, along with his alter-ego "Cousin Josh" character, hosted "The Cousin Josh Jam-O-Ree" on several North Alabama radio stations in a career than began in 1948 at then-WJMW and ended at WKAC with his death in 2006. [cite news |title=George Rose, famous as radio's 'Cousin Josh,' dies at 78; funeral today. |work=The Decatur Daily |date=2006-12-09 |last=Bishop |first=Kristen |accessdate=2007-12-29]

Many well-known talk radio hosts spent early portions of their careers hosting local shows at WVNN, including Sean Hannity [cite news |work=The New York Times |first=Robin |last=Finn |title=Run the Country? No. He Just Wants to Rouse It. |date=2002-10-25 |accessdate=2008-01-02 |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9501E3D7103CF936A15753C1A9649C8B63 |quote=Mr. Hannity, a Long Island boy, is an aficionado of all things Southern: he got his first break on WVNN radio in Huntsville, Ala., and married an Alabama girl, Jill.] , Peter Thiele, Kevin Miller [cite web |work=Radio & Records |date=2007-05-03 |url=http://www.radioandrecords.com/RRWebSite/SearchStoryPage.aspx?ContentID=4ZKgNqtpESY%3d&Version=0&Search=Huntsville |title=Kevin Miller Joins KDKA Fulltime |first=Mike |last=Boyle |quote=A frequent contributor to MSNBC, the Today Show, Fox and CNN, Miller has hosted mornings on WWTN in Nashville, as well as shows on WPTF/Raleigh, WERC/Birmingham, Ala., WVNN/Huntsville, Ala., and WMVU/Nashua, N.H. |accessdate= 2007-12-30] , Keith Larson, Darla Jaye [cite news |title=In Brief - June 15, 2005 |url=http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=93577 |work=FMQB |date=2005-06-15 |accessdate=2008-01-02 |quote=At KMBZ/Kansas City [...] Darla Jaye joins from WVNN/Huntsville for middays] , and Mike Church. Will Anderson hosted a show on WVNN until August 2007. Tim Knox hosted a show on WVNN until December 2007. [cite web |work=The Huntsville Times |title=WDRM-FM still king of area radio |url=http://www.al.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/entertainment/1197195594305360.xml&coll=1 |date=2007-12-09 |accessdate=2007-12-27]

History

The station, once signed WJMW, started as an AM daytimer on 730 AM in Pulaski, Tennessee, and was later brought to Athens, Alabama. WJMW was owned and operated by the Dunnavant family of Athens for 55 years prior to being sold to Cumulus Media as part of a four station deal in 2003. This sale ended a 55-year presence in the market by Athens Broadcasting, founded in 1948 by Homer Felix "Pap" Dunnvant. [cite news | title = Obituaries - Elsewhere | work = The Miami Herald | location = Miami, Florida | page = 4B | date = 1996-09-14 | accessdate = 2008-01-02 | quote = 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, Ala. 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] Moving the station from 730 to 770 in the early-1980s gave the station a 24 hour signal. The station was assigned the WVNN call letters by the Federal Communications Commission on September 26, 1988. cite web |url=http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=3084 |title=AM Call Sign History |work=FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database]

References

External links

* [http://www.wvnn.com/ News/Talk 770 AM/92.5 FM WVNN official website]
* [http://www.cumulus.com/ Cumulus Media corporate website]
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