:PS-95.1 | THE ROCKET plus song
title/artist Time-[unknown] Text-(song)
/ (artist) PTY-Rock PI-WRTT-FM[Facebook]
[Image] Image of the RDS text display from an Insignia HD portable showing the station's Radio Text and PI (call sign) fields.
[Studio] Street View imagery of the Rocket City Broadcasting studios at The Boardwalk in Huntsville.
The current facility dates to an permit for a new station on 92.9 MHz, with 3.1 kW, licensed to Hughey Broadcasting Corporation (Austin M. Hughey and Mitchell Jerome Hughey), issued in May 1960. It signed on in November 1960 as WNDA. The station broadcast from the same site as the studio, at 2409 9th Avenue SW in Huntsville, near the Lowe Mill complex on Pinhook Creek. The station used a Gates FM 1B transmitter feeding an Andrew 1304-2 4-bay antenna. The tower was short, and the "Height Above Average Terrain" was actually minus 50.2 feet because of the hilly terrain surrounding the city! Just a few months after signing on, the station sought to move to 95.1 MHz, with the same power and antenna height. That change debuted in February 1961.
Ownership of the station was sold to Wells Broadcasting (Frederic E. Wells) in 1970 for $95,000. Under their ownership, the station had a Christian Religious music format, along with a smattering of Classical tunes. In 1972, the station upgraded to a maximum Class C2 with 50 kW, but from a short tower height of just 108 feet HAAT, still from their studio site on 9th Avenue SW. They employed a Gates BCF-10C transmitter feeding Gates FMC-12B 12-section antenna.
At some point in the late 80s or early 90s it appears the format shifted to a Contemporary Christian presentation.
STG Media purchased the station in 2000 for $6 million. The station received another signal upgrade in 2000, when it moved to the (co-owned by STG) WAHR site northwest of Pulaski Pike. The big increase in height at this location required a downgrade in power to 12 kW but increased coverage overall. On 31 January 2000, the longtime Christian music format went away when the station flipped to "KIXX 95, Continuous Country", becoming WRTT in the process. On 14 February 2000, the format flipped again, this time to Classic Rock as "95.1 The Rocket, Huntsville's Rock Station". Rumor has it that Fred Wells wanted the new owners to "chase his listeners off" before they debuted the rock music, hence the short duration country format!
Morning show Rick and Bubba were yanked of the station in November 2007, after the duo chose not to renew their syndication rights with their employer. The show, under a new syndication deal, moved to River 100.3 shortly afterwards.
After Black Crow (formerly STG Media) filed for bankruptcy, the licenses of their stations were transferred to Southern Stone Communications in December 2011. The station received a construction permit to boost power from 12 kW to 13.5 kW, while remaining at the same location and antenna height, in December 2016. They filed a license to cover for this minor change in February 2017.