(inactive)
:PS-Call 261-652-2000 to Advertise 93BLX
PS-(song/artist) 93BLX
Time-[?]
Text-Call 261-652-2000 to Advertise 93BLX
Text-(song/artist) 93BLX
PTY-Rhythm and Blues
PI-WBLX-FM
AUX: 4.7 kW @ 325 feet HAAT. 60 dBu protected contour map, from the FCC.
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[Picture] Screenshot of RDS text display from an Insignia HD portable radio, showing PI (call letters) and Radio Text fields.
[Picture] Image of a Mazda radio's display with RDS text, showing the PS (station name), Radio Text and PTY (format) fields.
[Studio] Street View imagery of the Cumulus Mobile studios.
As an aside, the contributed history for this station originally said it came on the air in 1973, however the way the FCC history card for this station is laid out, a license to cover was not actually filed until January 1979! By the mid-70's, the station did have an entry in the Broadcasting Yearbook, so it's almost certain that the 1973 date is accurate. The FCC history card shows no less than four extensions to complete the original construction permit, with the last being applied for in November 1974. In December 1974, the owners applied to move the transmitter location to the WMOO site in Daphne (today, this is the WXQW site), but again, this appears to have never come to fruition. Afterwards, the original permit was again kicked down the road six more times (!) before another application to return to the First National Bank building was filed in August 1977. This application specified a Harris FMC-6 six bay antenna, with adjusted height and power parameters to keep the coverage similar to the Jampro. It's unclear if this facility actually got put on the air, though. The license to cover for the original permit, dating back to 1971, was finally filed and granted by the FCC in May 1979.
When the station signed on, it took on the Black music format that had been on WMOO, and the AM station went to Gospel. From the beginning, the call sign has been WBLX, and it's been a market leading station ever since, with its iconic "The Beat of the Bay" slogan being used for many years.
In May 1981, the station was granted a permit to move to the old WKRG TV tower in Spanish Fort. This change would have the station using a Harris FMC-10B ten bay antenna at a HAAT of 738 feet, still at 100 kW, to help with coverage in the growing Pensacola, Florida area. Before this facility was built out, however, the application was amended to move to the even taller and more centrally-located WPMI-TV tower in rural Baldwin County, east of Robertsdale. This put them at 1,555 feet HAAT. A license to cover for this change was granted in December 1985. In 1988, they changed the antenna to a Dielectric DCPC 9/3, nine bay antenna.
April Broadcasting acquired the station and its AM sister station (by now, also WBLX, and on 660 kHz) in July 1990. In 1997, April Broadcasting bought crosstown competitor WDLT, putting both urban stations under the same umbrella. This allowed WBLX to start skewing to a younger sound with hip-hop while WDLT moved towards an Adult Urban Contemporary sound. In 1999, Cumulus acquired April Broadcasting's stations.
The station was taken off the air in September 2004, when winds from Hurricane Ivan caused the collapse of the tower holding this and many other stations. WBLX got back on the air quicker than just about anyone else and was able to maintain their high ratings because of that quick action. In 2005, the station eventually was able to get back on a rebuilt, taller tower in the same general vicinity of the one that had fallen during the hurricane.
The station was an early adopter of HD digital radio technology, turning it on in the summer of 2005. It would be discontinued in 2015, and no subchannels were ever added to the station as far as anyone can tell.