WZHT

WZHT

City of license	Troy, Alabama
Broadcast area	Montgomery, Alabama
Branding	Hot 105.7
Slogan	"The Station You Hear Everywhere"
Frequency	105.7 (MHz)
First air date	1972
Format	Rhythmic Top 40
ERP	100,000 watts
HAAT	558 meters (1,831 feet)
Class	C
Facility ID	8649
Callsign meaning	WZHoT
Former callsigns	WTUB, WRES, WIGC, WRJM, WALQ, WMGF
Owner	Clear Channel Communications
Sister stations	WHLW, WWMG
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	http://www.myhot105.com

WZHT (105.7 FM, "Hot 105.7") is a Rhythmic Top 40 formatted radio station that broadcasts on the 105.7 MHz frequency licensed to Troy, Alabama, that serves the Montgomery area.

The station has an unusually large coverage area due its antennas being co-located with WSFA, which has one of the tallest towers in the Southern United States at 1,830 feet; it uses this in its slogan "The Station You Hear Everywhere".

History

105.7 FM began operations as 100,000 watt WTUB in 1972 and was owned by the Boothe family from Opp, Alabama. It primarily served Troy and South Central Alabama. It was formatted as a country music station until 1977, when it was sold to Troy businessman R.E. Shelley and became Top-40 "WRES", the new call letters being Shelley's initials.

The station was known as "106 FM". In 1982, Ozark, Alabama, architect H. Jack Mizell purchased WRES and changed the station back to a country format with WIGC (We're In God's Country), as the call sign. Mizell succeeded in having the transmitter site changed from a 400' tower in Troy to the nearly 2000' tall WSFA-TV12 tower in the Grady community, about half way between Troy and Montgomery. The 105.7 signal could then be heard from Birmingham to the north, the Northwest Florida Beaches to the south, the central Mississippi/Alabama border to the west and well into Georgia to the east.

In December 1984, WRJM "Classic 105.7" was born with a soft adult contemporary format, except for Saturday nights, when the popular oldies program "Hubcap Classics" was heard.

The station was sold to Mississippi broadcaster Eddie Holliday in October 1987. Holliday moved the offices and studios from Troy to Montgomery and began focusing on the Montgomery market exclusively. "Magic 105.7" had the calls "WALQ" briefly and then "WMGF". 1988 saw another call letter change to "WZHT" and the station moved into the urban contemporary format (with some R&B and rap music mixed in) and became "Hot 105.7". Holliday sold the station to Clear Channel in the mid-1990s.

In 2009, WZHT started to include rhythmic top 40 tracks in their playlist from the likes of Lady Gaga, Ke$ha, Justin Bieber, and Jason Derulo. However, they still report to Mediabase and BDS as Mainstream Urban.

External links

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