WHHL

WHHL (104.1 FM "HOT 104-1") is a commercial radio station licensed to Hazelwood, Missouri, and serving the Greater St. Louis area. It broadcasts an urban contemporary radio format and is owned by Audacy, Inc. The studios and offices are on Olive Street at Tucker Boulevard in downtown St. Louis.

WHHL is a Class C2 station. It has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 50,000 watts, using a directional antenna. The transmitter is on DeBaliviere Avenue, just north of Forest Park.^[2]

History

1967-1985: Full Service MOR

The station signed on the air on October 16, 1967; 56 years ago (1967-10-16).^[3] Its original call sign was WJBM-FM, as the sister station of WJBM 1480 AM.

The two stations were owned by Tri-County Broadcasting. They mostly simulcast a full service, middle of the road (MOR) format, featuring popular adult music, local news and sports. With its city of license as Jerseyville, Illinois, and its transmitter about 40 miles (63 km) north of St. Louis, it targeted its surrounding communities and not the larger St. Louis radio market.

1985-1994: Country

Management realized if WJBM-FM could move closer to St. Louis, it would be able to cover a larger population and sell advertising for a higher rate. In September 1985, it relocated its transmitter to a tower on Douglas Road in Florissant, Missouri. It began targeting St. Louis as country music station WKKX "Kix 104 FM".

WKKX was owned by Shelly Davis' Gateway Radio Partners. Zimmer Broadcasting bought the station out of bankruptcy in July 1991.^[4]

1994-1997: Top 40

On January 20, 1994, WKKX swapped frequencies with Top 40 - CHR station WKBQ-FM. WKKX moved to 106.5 FM, and WKBQ-FM moved to 104.1 FM, rebranding as "Q104". (WKBQ's simulcast on 1380 AM continued with the swap.)^[5][6]

WKBQ-FM 106.5 was the home of popular morning team “Steve & DC.” The duo were on a break going into Christmas 1993 before the station swap occured. On January 6, 1994, they announced that they would return to the air on January 20. Their new home would be “Q104." They held a press conference carried on television stations KTVI (ch. 2), KMOV (ch. 4), KSDK (ch. 5) and KDNL (ch. 30). Reporters from the major newspapers and magazines covered the story as well.^[7][8]

Emmis Communications, based in Indianapolis, bought Q104 in November 1996. The price tag was $42.5 million.^{[citation needed]}

1997-1998: Modern AC

On January 24, 1997, Q104's Top 40/CHR format was dropped. The station switched to Modern AC as WALC, "Alice 104.1".^[9][10][11]

Using the moniker "Alice" was a popular handle for Modern AC stations in Denver and other cities. But the format lasted only a year and a half.

1998-2000: Active Rock

On June 25, 1998, at 3 p.m., WALC flipped to active rock as "Extreme Radio 104.1". Its new call letters were WXTM-FM call letters, adopted on July 15, 1998.^[12] To go with the new rock format, the station became an affiliate of The Howard Stern Show. Stern, based in New York City, was syndicating his show to other cities around the U.S. and Canada.

2000-2004: 80s Hits

In fall 2000, Emmis purchased alternative rock station KPNT 105.7 FM. The company moved Howard Stern to that station. Then on September 24, 2000, at 2 p.m., after playing "Fade to Black" by Metallica, WXTM flipped to All-80s Hits as WMLL ("104.1 The Mall").^[13][14][15] The format later evolved into a 80s/90s hits format, and was the home of popular morning drive time show "Steve & DC."

On November 20, 2003, at midnight, WMLL began playing with Christmas music for the holidays, an unusual move for an 80s/90s hits station. It signaled a likely change in format. Then on Christmas day, the station began stunting with a "wheel of formats." It played music from different genres, as well as old airchecks from past formats on the frequency.^[16][17] The stunting continued into the new year.

2004-2005: Adult Standards

At noon on January 8, 2004, the stunting stopped and the station flipped to an Adult Standards format as WRDA, "Red @ 104.1". The first songs on "Red" were "My Kind of Town" and "The Lady is a Tramp", both by Frank Sinatra.^{[18][19][20][21][22]} The station specialized in "Music with Class", playing standards performed by Ella Fitzgerald, Dean Martin and Bobby Darin, along with more modern 'crooners' such as Diana Krall and Michael Bublé.

2005-present: Urban Contemporary

In September 2005, after 18 months of subpar ratings and low advertising revenues, Emmis announced the company would sell WRDA. The new owner was Radio One, and the price tag was $20 million. The station flipped to its current urban contemporary format as "Hot 104.1." The flip occurred on October 1, 2005, at midnight.

The first song on "Hot" was "Play" by rapper David Banner.^[23][24] The call letters changed to WHHL on November 24, 2005. As the ownership transition evolved, Radio One ran the station as part of a local marketing agreement (LMA). Radio One (now Urban One) took full possession of WHHL in 2006.^{[citation needed]} The station's signal problems were finally solved in 2008, when it changed its city of license to Hazelwood and relocated its transmitter to a site in the city of St. Louis, giving the station full market coverage.^{[citation needed]}

On November 5, 2020, Urban One announced that it would swap WHHL, the intellectual property of WFUN-FM, and two other stations in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. to Entercom, in exchange for its Charlotte, North Carolina stations. Entercom took over the station under a local marketing agreement (LMA) on November 23. The swap was consummated on April 20, 2021.^[25]

References

• "1". Retrieved 2008-02-27.

External links

• Official website
• ‹The template FMQ is being considered for deletion.› WHHL in the FCC FM station database
• WHHL in Nielsen Audio's FM station database