AM Technical Profile: WRNE
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- Frequency:
- 980
- Format:
- Adult R&B
- Transmitter
Location:
- [map]
[bird's
eye] [street
view] Out towards Garcon point, west of where Escambia Co.
roads 191 & 281 meet. Very close to a monopole cell phone
tower.
- Power (ERP):
- Day: 4 kW
- Night: 1 kW
- Antenna:
- Day: 1 tower
- Night: 2 towers [pattern
- PDF]
- Other
Information:
- 0.5
mV/m Daytime
Groundwave Service Contour from the
FCC's Public Files
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[Picture]
Image showing the FM translator's RDS text display on a Toyota
HD radio.
Owned by Media One Communications, Inc.
- Stereo (inactive)
// W295AP Pensacola, FL
:
PS-CHOICE 106.9 WRNE
Time-[?]
Text-WRNE 980 AM & CHOICE 106.9 - YOUR COMMUNITY
STATION-
PTY-Rhythm and Blues
PI-[?]
- History:
- 980 started as
WBOP around 1956. Became an R&B ("Bop") station within a few
years after it started. For several decades, it was Pensacola's only
station programming to the black community. Since 980 was a daytime
frequency, WBOP bought the fulltime 1230 signal in the 80's and
moved there. 980 then stayed more or less an Adult Contemporary
station as WCHZ (Big Cheese) and WFXP (The Fox), during which time
it was re-licensed from Pensacola to Gulf Breeze to get full time
operation. The tower was originally near Bayou Chico, co-located
with WCOA. With re-licensing to Gulf Breeze, the station
constructed the current site on Garcon Point, added night service
and AM stereo. One worker was killed in the construction of
one of the towers.
- Later,
WBOP (now on 1230) abandoned it's black format after 30+ years,
leaving a format void. 980 returned to the black format as WRNE
(Rhythm Nine Eighty), as it is today. To avoid competition with FM
stations, WRNE leaned mostly towards Oldies and Gospel and was known
as "Touch 980", carrying the Touch-braded Citadel canned music
service. Sadly, the stereo was turned off some time ago.
In more recent time the station's name was updated to "Choice 106.9
and 980" to reflect the addition of an FM translator that was moved
in from Bay Minette in Alabama. The format as of 2015 is more
modern Urban adult contemporary with some public affairs/talk
programming aimed at the black community in the panhandle.
WRNE and TV station WBQP-CD are co-located together at the same
office complex.