WHIL (FM)

WHIL (91.3 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported, public radio station in Mobile, Alabama. It features news and talk programming in morning and afternoon drive times, classical music in middays and evenings, and the BBC World Service in late nights. It is part of Alabama Public Radio's "News and Classics" network and a member of National Public Radio (NPR). The studios are at the Digital Media Center on the campus of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

WHIL is a Class C station with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 100,000 watts, the maximum for most FM stations. The transmitter tower is on Austin Lane in Spanish Fort.^[1] WHIL's signal covers an area centered at the southern part of Alabama along the Gulf of Mexico Coast, stretching from Pascagoula, Mississippi, to Pensacola, Florida.

History

Spring Hill College

WHIL-FM signed on the air on August 29, 1974; 49 years ago (1974-08-29).^[2] It was owned by Spring Hill College, a Roman Catholic Jesuit institution that held the broadcast license. The HIL in its call sign reflects the name "Spring Hill." In its early years, WHIL-FM primarily played classical music, with some news and educational programs.

Only a week after its debut, Hurricane Frederic struck the Alabama Gulf Coast, rendering the station silent for weeks due to transmitter and tower damage. From those rough beginnings, the station grew to provide one of the few non-commercial radio services available to the region, apart from Christian talk and teaching stations. In later years, it used the branding "Fine Arts Radio for the Gulf Coast," a summary of its mission and scope. It later became a member of National Public Radio and added some NPR programming.

Of the public radio stations and networks located in Alabama, WHIL-FM was the only one not operated by an agency or educational institution of the state. It was the fourth chronologically, after Huntsville's WLRH, Birmingham's WBHM, and Troy's WTSU; only Tuscaloosa (Alabama Public Radio) came later, in 1982.

Dispute over NPR programming

In the mid-to-late 1990s, Spring Hill College officials took exception to some news reports on National Public Radio about subjects such as abortion rights and homosexuality. Because these seemed to run counter to the moral positions of the Roman Catholic order of the Society of Jesus, the parent organization of the college, WHIL-FM discontinued airing NPR news programs for several years. Protests from disappointed listeners prompted WHIL-FM to restore Morning Edition, but the station continued to preempt All Things Considered in favor of classical music and Public Radio International's Marketplace.

However, in response to a survey of local public radio listeners, WHIL-FM returned All Things Considered to its schedule in early 2007.^[3]

Alabama Public Radio

On March 21, 2011, Spring Hill College and University of Alabama officials announced the sale of the station to UA. WHIL-FM began carrying the programming of Alabama Public Radio on July 1, 2011. This move reflected increasing consolidation in non-commercial radio, a situation largely occurring because of the economic factors.

On June 14, 2016, the station changed its call sign from WHIL-FM to the current WHIL.

References

External links

• WHIL official website
• WHIL in the FCC FM station database
• WHIL in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
• "Radio Avalon" site

This page was last edited on 28 April 2024, at 18:20