Birmingham
Broadcasting
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama, with a population of 230,650 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2009. The city of Birmingham was founded in 1871, just shortly after the American Civil War by merging three pre-existing towns. Because of Birmingham’s iron and steel production, the city was the primary industrial center of the southern United States from 1881 through the 1960s.
Birmingham is nicknamed “The Magic City,” and one of the most popular events — the two annual NASCAR races at the Talladega Superspeedway — happens 45-miles east of downtown Birmingham. Birmingham is also the headquarters of both the Southeastern Conference and the Southwestern Athletic Conference — two prominent college conferences. Birmingham was also home to the Black Barons, a baseball team in the Negro League. The team played at Rickwood Field, which is verified as being the oldest baseball field in America.
Birmingham — which is part of the Birmingham/Anniston/Tuscaloosa television market — has the 40th largest number of television households in the United States, with 742,140 “TV Homes” according to the Nielson Media Local Market Estimates of 2010.
A number of television stations broadcast from Birmingham including: WBRC 6 FOX, WBIQ 10 PBS, WVTM 13 NBC, WTTO 21 CW, WUOA 23, WCFT 33 ABC, WIAT 42 CBS and WABM 68 MNT.
WBMA-TV made national news in 1997 for refusing to air the <i>Ellen</i> episode when Ellen DeGeneres announces she is a lesbian. The station cited a need to respect family values as the reason to not air the episode. ABC sent a satellite feed of the show to a community center in Birmingham, where more than 1,000 people watched the episode.
After a merger between Park Communications and Media General in 1997, WBMG (now WIAT) went through an extreme overhaul of its newscast after only receiving a 1-percent market share. On January 1, 1998 general manager Eric Land terminated nearly all the reporters and anchors for WIAT and replaced its 5 pm and 10 pm newscasts with a picture of a clock for nearly a month as the station hired staff.
A notable personality who worked in the Birmingham media is former WVTM anchor Rene Syler, who eventually worked on CBS’ <i>The Early Show</i>.
Birmingham has a number of radio stations that broadcast from within the city limits on both the FM and AM frequencies. FM stations that broadcast include: WLJR 88.5 FM Religious; WBFR 89.5 Religious; WBHM 90.3 Public Radio; WJSR 91.1 FM Variety; WVSU 91.1 FM Jazz; WGIB 91.9 FM Religious; WDJC 93.7 FM Christian Contemporary; WYSF 94.5 FM Adult Contemporary; WMJJ 96.5 Adult Contemporary; WZRR 99.5 FM Classic Rock; WZZK 104.7 Country; WBPT 106.9 FM 80’s Rock; WRAX 107.7 FM Alternative; GWCA 107.9 FM Contemporary; and AM stations: WAGG 610 AM Gospel; WJOX 690 AM Sports; WXJC 850 AM Gospel; WATV 900 AM Rhythmic Oldies; WERC 960 AM News/Talk; WAPI 1070 AM News/Talk; WAYE 1220 AM Gospel; WYDE 1260 AM Talk; and WZZK 1320 AM Country.
The syndicated Rick and Bubba radio show originates from WZZK-FM, and is broadcasted in 25 stations throughout the Southeast.
