WLRH

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WLRH (89.3 FM, "89.3 FM Public Radio") is a National Public Radio-affiliated radio station in Huntsville, Alabama. It primarily features news and classical music programming on weekdays and news, humor, and other musical genres on weekends. WLRH serves the northern counties of Alabama and several counties in southern middle Tennessee. WLRH is the state's oldest public radio station.

The station maintains studios on the campus of the University of Alabama in Huntsville, although UAH is not its licensee; the Alabama Educational Television Commission rents a building from the university for that purpose. WLRH's signal, which is transmitted from a tower on Monte Sano Mountain(on the WHIQ TV tower) travels in about a 60-mile radius.

History

Although Huntsville is only the state's third-largest city, it has boasted for many years a large population of highly-educated, affluent professionals such as technicians, engineers, and entrepreneurs, mostly associated with the U.S. Army's Redstone Arsenal installation, NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center and contractors. Many of these individuals were responsible for organizing an unusually high-quality performing arts scene for such a small city in the 1960s. These were among factors that led to Huntsville receiving Alabama's first public radio license, and broadcasts began on October 13, 1976 from the Huntsville Times Building on Holmes Avenue. The state's largest city, Birmingham, followed suit two months later when WBHM-FM started in December.

The station was originally owned by the Huntsville Madison County Public Library. However, within a few months, the library realized that it had gotten in over its head with operating a full-service radio station. The Alabama Educational Television Commission (AETC) stepped in and bought the station in December 1977, and still owns it today. The station carried, as was customary for public stations during that era, mostly classical music programming, with jazz late nights and on weekends. In 1987, after significant listener growth, UAH offered the AETC use of a newly-constructed facility on its campus, several miles to the west of downtown; WLRH took the offer and remains at that location today.

In the early years, the station carried some unusual programs, most notably a weekly hour-long German-language news and features show for the benefit of several natives of that land who worked in Huntsville's aerospace and defense industry. It also was the home of northern Alabama's first call-in radio talk show, which had a very different flavor than those found on commercial stations today (in fact, when the format's popularity exploded elsewhere in the 1990s, WLRH dropped the show).

Programming

Local hosts

• Ginny Kennedy—Morning Edition
• Judy Watters, Beth Norwood—morning classical music
• Bobby Milk—All Things Considered
• Joe Cook—Weekend Edition

Mrs. Watters is the sole remaining announcer from the station's beginning 35 years ago. For many years in the 1980s and 1990s, she and husband Harry Watters, Sr. hosted the Saturday morning feature show "Sundial", remembered by many residents of the Tennessee Valley for its gentle humor, listener participation games and unusual musical selections. Mrs. Watters discontinued the program when her husband died. Mrs. Watters is the mother of jazz trumpeter Ken Watters and trombonist Harry Watters, Jr.^{[citation needed]}

Ms. Norwood is an animal savior, a singer, and a visual artist. She performed with the Huntsville Opera Theater for several years until its dissolution. The Flying Monkey Arts Gallery in Huntsville, Alabama, is home to several of her current interests in art, both static and performance.^{[citation needed]}

Local programming

• Reelin' in the Years--hosted by former WAAY-TV sports anchor Bob Labbe, this Friday-night show features songs from the host's extensive collection of 45 R.P.M. records, covering popular music from the 1950s through the 1980s.
• Brass, Reeds, and Percussion--the longest-running specialty show on the station, dating from the late 1970s. Darryl Adams, a retired engineer and amateur band musician, plays concert and marching band numbers on this program, which may be the only one of its kind in the entire country. The program is heard early Saturday afternoons.
• Talkin' the Blues--a one-hour examination, heard Saturday evenings, of various aspects of blues music, hosted by a blues musician himself, "Microwave Dave" Gallaher. Gallaher, who has a band that plays nightclubs throughout the Southeastern U.S., in fact began the program while performing during a pledge drive for the station once. Gallaher also does this show for Huntsville's other public station, WJAB, the Alabama A&M University NPR outlet.
• The Invisible City--two hours of alternative rock music, hosted by Brad Posey, and heard Friday evenings, with a repeat on late night Saturdays.

Operations

WLRH is the Alabama Educational Television Commission's only radio property; that state government agency is better known as the operator of the Alabama Public Television network.

One distinctive programming practice of WLRH is its frequent announcements throughout the broadcast day of underwriting day sponsorships made by individuals or families, in addition to the usual businesses and non-profit organizations. Usually, these messages honor birthdays or wedding anniversaries.

George Dickerson, a former South Bend, Ind. television news anchor, served as the only general manager in WLRH's entire history from its 1976 inception until his retirement in early 2007. It is believed that Dickerson's tenure was the longest ever for a manager of an American public radio station (and perhaps all public broadcasting), exceeding 30 years.

External links

• WLRH official website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WLRH
• Radio-Locator information on WLRH
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WLRH