Broadcast area Huntsville, Alabama HAAT 278.5 meters (914 ft) Facility ID 65223 City of license New Market Owner Cumulus Media Branding 93.3 Nash Icon | ERP 14,500 watts Class C1 Frequency 93.3 MHz Format Country music Area Huntsville | |
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First air date July 1, 1962 (as WJIG-FM) Sister stations WVNN, WUMP, WZYP, WHRP, WVNN-FM | ||
WWFF-FM is an American radio station licensed to New Market, Alabama, and serving the Huntsville, Alabama, market. Owned by Cumulus Media, the station broadcasts a classic-leaning country music format branded as 93.3 Nash Icon. Studios are in Athens, Alabama while its transmitter is in Huntsville.
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History
The station signed on originally as WJIG-FM in Tullahoma, Tennessee, in 1962 (simulcasting WJIG-AM). In 1987, the transmitter was moved to Elora, Tennessee, and the station began serving the Huntsville market.
The station has sported various formats over the years, including Disco (as "Boogie 93" WBGY-FM), CHR (as "The New Power 93 FM" WKQD), rock (as "93.3 The Ugly" WKQD), country (as "93.3 Huntsville's Country" WHVK, "93.3 The Twister" WTZT, "93.3 The Possum" WPZM, "US 93 FM" WUSX, and "93.3 The Wolf" WWFF-FM), and adult contemporary (as "Mix 93.3" WXMR). After an ownership change in 2003, it switched to a mainstream urban format (again called "Power 93.3"), originally playing Hip Hop and R&B music as WHRP to compete with heritage urban WEUP-FM. Over the course of several months in late 2005, the station gradually shifted from Hip Hop and R&B to Urban Adult Contemporary as "93.3 WHRP, The Adult Mix."
On April 5, 2006, Cumulus acquired 94.1 WXQW, and it immediately began simulcasting WHRP. On December 21, 2007, 94.1 WXQW switched to the WHRP call letters, and 93.3 was assigned WWFF-FM. The new WHRP maintained the Urban AC format, and on January 12, 2008, WWFF-FM switched back to country, again branded as "The Wolf".
In 2008, the station's license was reassigned to New Market, Alabama, and the transmitter was again moved, this time to Drake Mountain in Huntsville.
Following three-and-a-half years of poor ratings as a country outlet, on August 31, 2011, WWFF began stunting with a "wheel of formats" that was predominantly classic country, oldies, CHR, smooth jazz, urban oldies, and urban AC, as well as playing news and history bits from Huntsville history. It also included a tribute to Michael Jackson and snippets of Casey Kasem describing the then-new Compact Disc technology from a 1980s American Top 40 show. At exactly 9:33 AM on the 2nd, the station began airing its new format as "Journey 93-3", with a three-minute introduction, and a short promo by Randy Jackson, former bass player for the 1980s rock band Journey, followed by their song "Don't Stop Believin'". The format is promoted as a "journey" through 1980s and 1990s popular music, similar to other Journey-branded stations launched by Cumulus in Atlanta (W250BC) and Cincinnati (WNNF) earlier in the summer of 2011 (both have since changed formats).
WWFF-FM began airing all-Christmas music on November 16, 2012, at 5 PM, still using the "Journey" moniker. It switched back to its 80s/90s Hits format on December 26 at midnight.
On November 14, 2014, after stunting briefly with Christmas music, WWFF returned to country music under Cumulus's Nash Icon format, which focuses primarily on popular country music acts from the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s.
Ownership
The station was originally owned by Jerry Newton (the brother of Wayne Newton) and started circa 1973. In 1987, the station became WKQD and moved the transmitter to Elora, Tennessee, which would cover the original city of license (Tullahoma, Tennessee) along with the Huntsville area. The Dunnavant family LMAed the station in 1991 and eventually purchased the station outright. On April 1, 2003, the then-WUSX was sold by Athens Broadcasting Co. (William E. Dunnavant, president) to Cumulus Broadcasting Inc. as part of a four station deal with a total sale price of $22 million in cash and Cumulus common stock. The acquisition of the stations was completed in July 2003.