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WHUR-FM

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Coordinates:38°57′01″N77°04′46″W/ 38.950389°N 77.079417°W/38.950389; -77.079417
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WHUR-FM
Broadcast areaMetro D.C.
Frequency96.3MHz(HD Radio)
Branding96.3 WHUR
Programming
Language(s)English
FormatUrban adult contemporary
Subchannels
AffiliationsCompass Media Networks
Premiere Networks
United Stations Radio Networks
Ownership
OwnerHoward University
WHUT-TV
History
First air date
1939(85 years ago)(1939)(W3XO experimental)
September 1946(78 years ago)(1946-09)
Former call signs
W3XO (1939–1946)
WINX-FM (1946–1949)
WTOP-FM (1949–1971)[1]
Former frequencies
43.2 MHz (1939–1947)
44.7 MHz (1947)
92.9 MHz (1946–1947)[1]
Call signmeaning
Howard University Radio
Technical information
Facility ID65707
ClassB (Non-commercial)
ERP16,500watts
HAAT244 meters
Transmitter coordinates
38°57′01″N77°04′46″W/ 38.950389°N 77.079417°W/38.950389; -77.079417
Translator(s)HD2:98.3W252DC (Reston, Virginia)
Links
WebcastListen Live
Listen Live (HD2)
Listen Live (HD3)
Listen Live (HD4)
Websitewhur.com
thequietstormstation.com(HD2)
whbc963hd3.com(HD3)
dcradio.gov(HD4)

WHUR-FM(96.3MHz) is anurban adult contemporaryradio stationthat is licensed toWashington, D.C.,and serving theMetro D.C.area. It is owned and operated byHoward University,making it one of the few commercial radio stations in the United States to be owned by a college or university, as well as being the only independent, locally-owned station in the Washington, D.C., area. Staff members of the station mentor the students of the university's school of communications. The studios are located on campus in its Lower Quad portion, and the transmitter tower is based in theTenleytownneighborhood. It is also co-owned with its television partner,WHUT-TV,one of D.C.'sPBSaffiliates.

WHUR is also the home of the originalQuiet Stormprogram, which longtime D.C. listeners have rated number one in the evening since 1976, and which spawned the namesake music genre that now airs on many radio stations across the United States. In 2005, it also began broadcasting inIBOCdigital radio,using theHD Radiosystem fromiBiquity.

History

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1940 Jansky & Bailey advertisement featuring the W3XO transmitter.[2]

The station began operations in August 1939 as experimental FM stationW3XO,on 43.2 MHz in theoriginal FM band.[3][4]It was founded by Jansky & Bailey, a local Washington firm headed by consulting radio engineers C. M. Jansky and Stuart Bailey.[5]In October 1945 W3XO was sold to WINX Broadcasting Company for $75,000.[6][7]This company also operatedWINX(1340 AM), and was owned by theWashington Postnewspaper.

In May 1940, theFederal Communications Commission(FCC) had announced the establishment, effective January 1, 1941, of an FM band operating on 40 channels spanning 42–50 MHz.[8]However, as of 1945 there were no commercial FM stations in the Washington area, with the only local FM broadcasters consisting of two experimental authorizations: W3XO, plus Everett L. Dillard'sW3XL.In November 1945, the WINX Broadcasting Company filed an application to convert W3XO into the Washington-area's first commercial station. The application was granted the following August, and assigned the call lettersWINX-FM.

WINX-FM started regular broadcasting in September 1946, with a daily schedule from 9:00 a.m. to 11:15 p.m., mostly duplicating the programming of WINX.[9]The FCC was in the process of reassigning the original FM band frequencies to other services, and ordered existing stations to move to a new band from 88 to 106 MHz, which was later expanded to 88–108 MHz. During a transition period from the original FM "low band" to the new "high band", some stations broadcast simultaneously on their old and new frequencies. Thus, initially WINX-FM transmitted on both 43.2 and 92.9 MHz. In July 1946 the FCC directed that FM stations currently operating on 42-44 MHz would have to move to new frequencies by the end of the year,[10]and the station received a temporary authorization to transmit on 44.7 MHz.[1]In 1947, WINX-FM was reassigned to 96.3 MHz.[11]

WINX-FM had the slogan "Sounds like Washington", to reflect the station's local ownership, which is still in use today. In 1949, thePostsold the AM station, WINX, and purchasedWTOP(1500 AM). At this point WINX-FM's call letters were changed toWTOP-FM.[1][12]

In 1971 thePostdonated WTOP-FM to Howard University, in order to "stimulate the intellectual and cultural life of the whole community and to train more people for the communications industry". On December 6, 1971, the station changed its call letters toWHUR-FM.WHUR became ajazz-formatted radio station, which it remained until April 1993, when it switched to anurban adult contemporaryformat.

In 1976, the station became the birthplace of thequiet stormradio format. It was introduced by DJMelvin Lindseyand named after aSmokey Robinsonalbum of the same name.

In 1977, WHUR-FM reporter and student intern Maurice Williams was killed during theHanafi Siegein Washington, D.C.[13]

By 1995, WHUR became one of the highest-rated radio stations in the market, right behindWPGC-FM.Also that year, WHUR became the Washington radio and flagship affiliate of the syndicatedTom Joyner Morning Show(TJMS). However, in 1999,ABC Radio Networksdid not renew its contract with WHUR and moved the show toWMMJ,thus ending its four-year relationship with the station. WHUR was forced to produce its own locally-based morning drive show. This initially affected the station's dominance over rivalWMMJ.WHUR, in 2002, acquiredTheMichael BaisdenShowand later, in 2005,TheSteve HarveyMorning Show.The station regained its top two spots in the market to date, pacing number two in the 12+ demographic and number one in the 25–54 demographic and the number one urban formatted station in D.C. In 2013,The Michael Baisden Showwas cancelled due to its distributor,Cumulus Mediaand Baisden failing to reach an agreement; WHUR has since replaced its P.M. drive with former Baltimore and Atlanta radio personalityFrank Ski,former host of the morning show onWVEEin Atlanta (where Ski still resides).

Thequiet stormformat of mellow,rhythm and bluesandsoul music,smooth jazzand love songs often played at night on many radio stations started at WHUR. The format originated when then intern Melvin Lindsey played a soothing string of songs during a particularly bad storm in the mid-1970s, even as power was cut to most of the other radio stations in theWashington, D.C.,area. The quiet storm nighttime format has since been replicated in other major cities that have R&B station formats, such asSan Francisco-basedKBLX(which formerly utilized a 24-hour quiet storm format for three decades).

Bob "Nighthawk" Terry (real name: Bobby Joe Horn), a former WHUR personality, disappeared in August 1977 under mysterious circumstances.[14]

In September 2016, the station was awarded "Urban Station of The Year" by the National Association of Broadcasters'.[15]

HD and satellite radio

[edit]

WHUR-FM produces several ancillary programming streams, variously available over itsHD Radiosignal andSiriusXMsatellite radio:

  • WHUR-FMHD2 is "The Quiet Storm Station", a 24-hour music stream modeled after WHUR's longtime evening program.[16]
  • WHUR-FMHD3, branded as "WHBC 96.3", is a student-runmainstream urbanformat focused on hit-drivenhip hop,soul and R&B titles.
  • WHUR-FMHD4 is "DC Radio", a city-run community station with local music and community affairs.
  • "HUR Voices" is anurban talkchannel hosted onSiriusXM.[17]
  • "HBCU RadioNet" is a second SiriusXM channel hosting talk and music programming produced by Howard and otherhistorically black colleges and universities.[18]

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^abcdFCC History Cards for WHUR-FM
  2. ^Jansky & Bailey advertisement(featuring W3XO),Broadcasting Yearbook(1940 edition), page 375.
  3. ^"Actions of the Federal Communications Commission: Decisions: August 23",Broadcasting,September 1, 1939, page 88.
  4. ^Radio Engineering Labs., Inc.(advertisement),Broadcasting,November 15, 1940, page 45.
  5. ^"Collection: Oscar Reed, Jr. Papers | Archival Collections".archives.lib.umd.edu.Retrieved2020-08-28.
  6. ^"Capital FM Outlet is Bought by 'Post'",Broadcasting,July 2, 1945, page 20.
  7. ^"Actions of the FCC: Decisions: October 3",Broadcasting,October 8, 1945, page 78.
  8. ^"FCC Order No. 67",Federal Register,May 25, 1940, page 2011.
  9. ^"For Radio Listeners"by Bill Coyle,Washington (DC) Evening Star,September 15, 1946, page C-8.
  10. ^"Filling in the Spectrum",Television Digest and FM Reports,July 20, 1946, page 1.
  11. ^"FM Broadcast Stations: Frequency Assignments"(June 12, 1947),Federal Register,Volume 12, Number 108, June 3, 1947, page 4039.
  12. ^O'Neal, James (February 4, 2010)."The Inside-Out Antenna Installation".Radio World.Archived fromthe originalon 14 February 2010.
  13. ^Theresa Vargas (March 12, 2007)."'Some Things You Never Forget': Thirty years ago, gunmen stormed three D.C. buildings, taking 150 hostages and one life ".Washington Post.p. B01.RetrievedSeptember 10,2015.
  14. ^"Bobby Joe Horn – The Charley Project".
  15. ^"Newsroom".Howard Newsroom.
  16. ^WHUR Launches The Quiet Storm StationRadioinsight - December 16, 2020
  17. ^"H.U.R. Voices".Sirius XM Radio.Retrieved31 July2020.
  18. ^"HBCU".Sirius XM Radio.Retrieved31 July2020.
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