Technical Profile: WPHH

FM Technical Profile: WPHH

Station Name:: The Joy FM
Frequency:: 93.5
106.5 (CP)
Format:: Christian Contemporary
Transmitter Location:: [map] On the south side of Liberty Church Road, between County Roads 19 and 23, southeast of Hope Hull.
[map] [street view | alternate view] Located in midtown Montgomery along Adrian Lane at the WCOV-TV studios.
Power (ERP):: 4.4 kW
3.4 kW (CP)
Antenna:: Omnidirectional
Antenna HAAT:: 381 feet
440 feet (CP)
Other Information:: 60 dBu protected contour map, from the FCC.
60 dBu protected contour map, from the FCC. (CP); :
PS-(song/artist) TheJOYFM
Time-[?]
Text-Helping you find JOY in Montgomery!
PTY-Adult Hits
PI-[?]
More Information:: [FCC]; [FCCdata]; [Radio-Locator]; [Wikipedia]
[Facebook] Page for The Joy FM Alabama network of stations

[Image] RDS display data as shown on a Mazda OEM stereo, from 2020.

// WIZB Abbeville
// WTID Marianna, FL
// WAXU Troy
// W241CB Dothan
Owner:: Radio Training Network
History:: This station started out on 93.5 as a Class A. It was part of the WGEA AM-FM combo in Geneva and put on the air around 27 June 1969 and was mostly programmed separate from the AM, except for some popular morning programming. Jimmy Helms was the General Manager until his death in 1980 at which time his wife Joan became General Manager.; In 1987, WGEA AM and FM were sold to Shelley Broadcasting, owned by Jack Mizell of Ozark. Jack owned the 105.7 FM station in Troy at the time, which at the time was called WRJM. As he was in the process of buying this station, he sold the Troy station to New South Broadcasting out of Dothan, but kept the calls to that station and put them here. There's been some mystery associated with Mizell and these calls; speculation is that they may have stood for Rita and Jack Mizell, Rita being his sister. Another story says he wanted WJRM for "Just the Right Music" but that was unavailable. Yet another says he wanted WHJM but it was taken, so he changed the H to an R for no reason at all. The station's large coverage area of the mostly-rural Wiregrass region of Alabama was meant to help attract ad sales for the ill-fated Country Crossing bingo hall near Dothan.; Back in the early 2000's the static RDS call sign / station name ID tag showed __WDFM__. It was shown in a few RDS guides with that call sign, despite being WRJM, legally. The last time I saw an RDS signal from this station was a few years ago but it still said WDFM. Go figure. This station played mostly beautiful music during this period, with "The Rose" as a slogan. In November of 2002 it switched to an all talk format, with bits of Christian music scattered on Sunday's schedule. In 2001 the station added a TV channel as well, with the same calls, with UPN affiliation; In 2008 the station was sold (again) to Holliday Broadcasting. The first time they were known as New South. This station flipped to country in September 2008, with several ex-employees of WTVY at the controls. The talk radio moved to WDBT 105.3, which aired a classic country format. The WRJM calls are being dropped for WUSD (U.S. country Dothan, I suppose). It's interesting to note that the RDS, which for so long carried the wrong calls, switched to "US 93" and format code "Country" before the flip from talk. Guess they are antsy about the changes!; In mid-July 2009 the station changed city of license from Geneva to Hartford. That same month the station dropped the "US 93" moniker for "Kickin'". In May 2011 the station flipped from country to a talk simulcast with WDBT Headland, due to low ratings. At the time, the Dothan market had four country outlets vying for a piece of the pie. The simulcast ended in late December 2011 when WDBT went country, leaving the talk to WUSD. WUSD eventually took on the WDBT calls, as well.

In November 2014 a big series of changes was put in to motion in the Dothan area, culminating with this station receiving a construction permit to move to Hope Hull, a small unincorporated community just south of Montgomery. The station will once again wind up on 93.5 MHz, just as it was when it was in the early days as a Geneva station. As part of the move, WDJR will re-license from Enterprise to Hartford, WAAO in Andalusia will be forced to change from 103.7 to 93.7 and WLDA in Fort Rucker will go up a class and increase its coverage area.

On 12 October 2015 the station dropped the WDBT calls long associated with the talk format for the WLDA calls from Fort Rucker-licensed 103.9 MHz. That station took the WDBT calls and talk format that were here.

The station's plan to return to the air in March or April of 2016 was delayed significantly due to some administrative issues, and it was finally put on the air (albeit temporarily, with a program test) until the end of September 2016. Reports from the area say it's airing a 60's and 70's hits format and using the WPHH calls, which became the official calls on 5 October 2016. The station was reported off after just a day or two of testing; a license to cover was filed in early October 2016, but a remain silent authority request was granted one month later. The station may be planning to simulcast WHPH Jemison "The Peach" when it returns to the air in the summer of 2017. In mid-October 2017 the station sprung back to life, with the same programming as WHPH.

The station was sold to Radio Training Network for $450,000 in June 2018. They flipped it to their Christian Contemporary "The Joy FM" shortly after filing for the purchase.

In February 2022 the station applied to change to 106.3 MHz with 1.2 kW, from the site in northeast Montgomery where several existing stations are located. The application would require short-spacing protection to the (then-empty) Maplesville allocation on the same frequency. Of interest is the technical exhibit continually referred to Hope Hull as "Hull Hope", which is not the right name for the unincorporated community. After multiple objections and a change to 106.5 MHz, at 3400 watts from the WCOV-TV tower in south central Montgomery, the FCC granted the application in early January 2023.