WLRH


WLRH or "WLRH 89.3 FM/HD Huntsville" is Alabama's first Public Radio station. It offers music, news, and entertainment programming from American Public Media, Public Radio Exchange, National Public Radio, and other nationally recognized public media outlets, as well as airing several local shows produced by WLRH staff and volunteers. WLRH provides three HD channels. HD1 is a digital version of the main WLRH signal, HD2 is a 24-hour classical music service, and HD3 provides news and talk. WLRH serves an area roughly 60 miles in all directions from its transmitter on Monte Sano, including north central Alabama and south central Tennessee, as well as Fort Payne via a translator.

History

Huntsville 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 Times Building on Holmes Avenue. The state's largest city, Birmingham, followed suit two months later when WBHM started in December.
The station was originally owned by the Huntsville Madison County Public Library; in fact the call letters stand for Library Radio Huntsville. However, just over a year after the station signed on, library officials realized they were in over their heads with operating a full-service radio station. The Alabama Educational Television Commission 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 2010 WLRH added 89.3 HD2, a 24-hour classical music service. It added 89.3 HD3 News/Talk in 2012.
WLRH added a translator at 104.5 FM in Fort Payne, Alabama in 2018.

Translators

Programming

Station staff

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. Additionally, for more than 25 years, WLRH has offered a unique community service to its listening area. The WLRH PSA Program provides representatives from local non-profit and community organizations the opportunity to record 30 second public service announcements for their group or event for free. Other radio stations may also have a public service announcement program, but none provide such extensive coverage or prime-time placement. WLRH features PSAs on its 3 channels in all day parts, including morning and afternoon drive time. The PSAs are deeply integrated into all parts of on-air programming. For many of the non-profits that use it, PSA Program is the only way to connect with the communities they serve. WLRH offers two categories of PSAs. General PSAs share a group's service message for up to a year. Event PSAs provide information about a group's events and fundraisers.
George Dickerson, a former South Bend, Indiana 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, exceeding 30 years. Brett Tannehill has been WLRH's general manager since 2011.