WAGG
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. Known on the air as "
Heaven 610", WAGG is a gospel music station that targets Birmingham's African-American population. It is owned by
Cox Radio, who also owns the following Birmingham stations:
WBHJ-FM (95.7),
WNCB-FM (97.3),
WBHK-FM (98.7), WZZK-FM (104.7),
WBPT-FM (106.9), and WPSB-AM (1320).
The station that now broadcasts at 610 AM in Birmingham is that city's second oldest radio station. It signed on in 1926 as
WKBC, broadcasting at 1310 AM. The original owner of the station was a local furniture company. In 1934, the station was sold to
The Birmingham News, and the call letters were changed to
WSGN. Those call letters stood for
South's Greatest Newspaper, an obvious tribute to
The Chicago Tribunes WGN, whose call letters stand for World's Greatest Newspaper
.
Throughout the 1940's WSGN was an affiliate of the NBC Blue Network, the forerunner of the ABC Network. In 1957, WSGN became the second station in Birmingham to become a Top 40 radio station. Initially, it was not as popular as competing station WYDE (850 AM). A new program director joined the station in 1963, and by the next year, WSGN was the dominant Top 40 station, if not the dominant radio station, in Birmingham. They would not relinquish this position for the next ten years.
Many legendary personalities worked at WSGN over the years. Perhaps the most famous alumnus of WSGN is Rick Dees, who was the morning host at the station from 1973-1974.
The dominance of WSGN was challenged when in 1972 when longtime middle of the road station WBRC was sold. Its call letters were changed to WERC, and for the first time since 1965, WSGN had a Top 40 challenger in the market. For much of the mid-‘70's, the battle between "The Big 610, WSGN" and "96-ERC" gave Birmingham listeners two outstanding choices for Top 40 music.
Until 1977, there were no Top 40 stations on the FM dial in Birmingham. That changed when WKXX (now WBPT) made its debut. The ratings of WSGN began to decline, and by 1981, the station had moved away from its longtime Top 40 format and began targeting adult listeners. "The Big 610
" was now "Music 610, The Station That Grew Up with You
", and the format was adult contemporary with a heavy mix of oldies.
The debut of a second FM challenger, WMJJ, in late 1982 signaled the beginning of the end of contemporary music on WSGN. In 1984, the station became known as "Real Music 610
", playing adult standards and big band music. This continued until the next year, when the station was sold and became the AM simulcast partner of country station WZZK-FM (104.7). After over fifty years, the call letters of WSGN were changed to WZZK-AM. This simulcast continued until 1998, when 610 AM returned to big band and adult standards with the new call letters, WEZN'.
Originally at 1320 AM,
WAGG has been an
Urban Gospel station since 1982. Before then, the call letters were
WENN-AM. Throughout the 1960's and 1970's, WENN was one Birmingham's more popular stations that targeted African-American listeners, although it broadcast only during daylight hours with a relatively weak signal. The growing popularity of its FM station led station ownership to adapt the gospel format, which proved to be successful. By the end of the ‘80's, WAGG was one of the highest rated AM stations in Birmingham.
In 1998, Cox Radio, who already owned WZZK-FM, WODL-FM (now
WBPT) and WEZN, bought WAGG,
WBHJ and
WBHK. One year later, WEZN and WAGG swapped dial positions in order to take advantage of the superior signal on 610 AM.
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Official Website of WAGG
