WYAB
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
WYAB is a radio station on 93.1 FM. It serves substantially all of the northern suburbs of Jackson, Mississippi, including Madison County, Yazoo County, and northern Hinds County. The studios of WYAB are located within the Cotton Exchange Plaza in Flora.
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[edit] Format and programming
Since the station was put on the air in 1997, it has broadcast Oldies hits from the 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's.
WYAB is the local affiliate of Mississippi State University athletics, including football, men's basketball, and baseball.
WYAB is also the "flagship" home for Madison Ridgeland Academy and Tri County Academy football, boy's and girls basketball, and baseball. WYAB also serves Madison Central High School and Ridgeland High School with live broadcasts of its boy's and girls basketball games, as well as its baseball team.
WYAB airs many local and community-oriented programs as well, including a daily three-hour long local morning news show, a two-hour long local afternoon news and entertainment show, numerous public affairs programming, and special events and news reporting as well.
[edit] Broadcast site
WYAB currently broadcasts on 93.1 FM from a 400 foot high tower 9 miles north of Flora with 6,000 watts of effective radiated power. Tower construction started in November of 2005 with broadcast operations commencing at 8:15 p.m. on December 13, 2005. The first song played was "Georgia On My Mind", as performed by Ray Charles. The population served within WYAB's 50 dBu (.316 mV/m) contour is approximately 376,000 persons.
This facility is actually the second broadcast site over the course of the radio station's history. Prior to December of 2005, WYAB's operations were located at a site near Benton. The former 328 foot high WYAB tower still stands today, though it is now unused for any application.
[edit] History
WYAB originally began as "WAZF-FM" in 1984 as a vacant allotment in the FCC's Table of Allotments, which is essentially a community-by-community listing of all radio station channels and classes within the United States and its territories. The initial allotment was for a 3,000 watt station to broadcast on 93.7 FM to serve Yazoo City. The allotment was purported to have been created by a company known as Dri-Two, Inc. to serve as a "sister" FM station to the now silent WAZF 1230 AM, also licensed to Yazoo City. The vacant allotment sat without an actual broadcast station occupying its place from the 1984 until 1995, when Mississippi College and WHJT 93.5 FM petitioned the FCC to have the allotment removed from the Table. Mississippi College (which holds the license for WHJT) wanted to upgrade the facilities of WHJT in nearby Clinton from 3,000 watts to 6,000 watts, something that could not have been accomplished with interference from a potential station on 93.7 FM in Yazoo City. After some public interest in the retaining the allotment at Yazoo City, the FCC determined a solution that could accommodate all parties. The FCC moved the vacant allotment from 93.7 FM to 93.1 FM and granted the WHJT upgrade.
After making the frequency change in 1995, the FCC solicited interest from parties intent on building a radio station on 93.1 FM in Yazoo City. Although two parties expressed interest in the station during the frequency change stage (individual Clifton Thomas of Jackson and Dain Schult Radioactivity, Inc. of East Point, Georgia), a local third contender named Gordon ("Jerry") J. Lousteau, Jr., of WMGO 1370 AM in Canton was the only person that responded to the FCC's public notice, and therefore his WMGO Broadcasting Corporation was granted the license. He placed the station on the air in 1997 and it was known as WMGO-FM. The studio was located at 1307 East Broadway Street in Yazoo City.
In April of 2003, the WMGO Broadcasting Corporation sold the station to SSR Communications, Inc., and to avoid confusion of the still operating WMGO 1370 AM in Canton, WMGO-FM was renamed to WYAB, or "B93: Central Mississippi's Oldies Leader".
In April of 2004, WYAB was moved to the Cotton Exchange Plaza in Flora, a town some 22 miles south of Yazoo City.
In January of 2005, WYAB's city of license was changed from Yazoo City to the town of Benton, a community approximately six miles east of Yazoo City. This change in city of license was necessary for WYAB to move its tower approximately ten miles south of its former location.
In December of 2005, WYAB began broadcast operations from its new tower site ten miles south of Benton.
[edit] Audience demographics
WYAB's primary audience is between the ages of 45 and 64, with men making up a slight majority of the listening public. This phenomenon is likely due to increased listenership of males to the broadcasts of Mississippi State University and high school athletics.
[edit] Staff
WYAB's current staff members:
- Mike Adkins: Chief Engineer
- Dale Crews: Host, Midday All-Request Show
- Chris Davis: Host, "B93 Morning Drive"
- Michael McCulloch: Host, "B93 Afternoon Drive" and "Music With Memories"
- Danielle Wesolowski: Accounting
- Matthew Wesolowski: General Manager and host, "B93 Morning Drive"
- Josh West: Sports Director