
WEUP (AM)

WEUP (1700 AM) is an urban contemporary gospel formatted radio station that serves Huntsville, Alabama, and the majority of the Tennessee Valley in North Alabama, United States. WEUP is dubbed "Huntsville's Heritage Station" because it was the first in the region to broadcast an urban format. It has an urban contemporary sister station called WEUP-FM. The station's studios and transmitter are both co-located along Jordan Lane (SR 53) in Northwest Huntsville.
WEUP is simulcast on WEUV (1190 AM) in Moulton, Alabama. The WEUP call letters were on the 1600 AM signal from 1958 until a 2006 re-alignment with co-owned WEUV (originally 1700 AM) and WHIY (originally 1190 AM).
History.
WEUP began broadcasting on March 20, 1958, on a 1000-watt 1600 kilohertz (kHz) AM transmitter. This transmitter was built by the Brennan/Benns group while building WVOK, WAPE, and WBAM. The station was owned by Leroy and Viola Garrett, who became the first African-American owners of a radio station in the state of Alabama. WEUP first broadcast from a pink trailer in the grounds of Syler Tabernacle Church in Huntsville, before moving to its present studios on Jordan Lane. The station's format was a mixture of gospel music, sermons, news, and R&B, everyday from sunrise to 6 p.m.
Listeners of 1600 AM were able to hear a viable mix of gospel and soul music as well as news and public affairs catering to the interests of the Tennessee Valley's black population.
The Garretts made history when they testified before a congressional committee in 1963, the outcome of which resulted in the change of a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) law regulating 24-hour broadcasts in the 1960s. That same year WEUP began 24-hour broadcasts, yet another milestone for urban radio.
The station celebrated its 50th anniversary by hosting a Blues Festival on August 16, 2008, at Kalea Park in Meridianville, Alabama. The festival featured national, regional, and local blues artists performing live.
Ownership.
Viola Garrett decided to sell the station in 1987 after the death of her husband, Leroy. Later that year, Hundley Batts Sr. and Dr. Virginia Caples, another married couple, assumed the ownership and operation of WEUP. They also acquired another station, WEUZ-FM (92.1 FM), licensed to Minor Hill, Tennessee, (just north of the Alabama border) and brought WEUP onto the FM broadcast airwaves.
They operated WEUP & WEUZ-FM under the parent company name of Broadcast One. They continued to expand the station's audience by acquiring WHIY (then at 1190 AM) and WXKI (103.1 FM, now WEUP-FM), both licensed to Moulton in 1989. WEUV (then at 1700 AM) was later added to the group of stations that are part of the WEUP broadcast family.
Awards.
In November 2007, WEUP owner Hundley Batts was recognized as one of five 2008 Northern Alabama Business Hall of Fame Laureates by Junior Achievement of Northern Alabama. Batts was honored as a civic leader and for his contributions to free enterprise and the community.
Translators.
WEUP programming is also carried on a broadcast translator station to extend or improve the coverage area of the station.