W262BL Gulf Shores transferred to Red Mountain Broadcasting

We don't usually chronicle the license transfers of stations but this one is worth noting.  W262BL is a 1-watt translator licensed to Gulf Shores in Baldwin County.  It has never been on the air as far as anyone is aware, but has remained active in the database all these years.  It has just been transferred to Red Mountain Broadcasting, which operates translators in and around Birmingham that relay Clear Channel formats.

Does this mean WNTM is headed to FM via 100.3?  We shall see.  A translator can only be moved as far as its 60 dBu signal reaches (or thereabouts) so they will have to file for a massive power increase before they can contemplate moving anything, and even then there are no guarantees because the FCC has put the kybosh on moving translators more than one or two "hops".

WNTM has recently been rebroadcast on WRKH-HD2, which would allow the station to be heard via translator throughout much of southern Alabama and Florida, but The Rocket's HD signal has been off air for the last few weeks.

Whatever the plans for this tiny translator, it will merit watching as the Mobile area has not embraced translators like Birmingham, Montgomery and Huntsville have.

Mobile's WABB-FM sold to EMF, will flip to religious programming March 1st

In a shocking development in Mobile broadcasting news, Dittman family owned WABB has been sold to Educational Media Foundation, a non-profit religious broadcaster.  They will take over programming of the station on 1 March 2012.  The station has posted a press release on their website and broken the news to their Facebook fans, who are unsurprisingly upset.  Discussion is ongoing on multiple forums including Radio-Talk and Radio-Info.  See also this Examiner article on the station.

Bernie Dittman acquired WABB-AM from the Mobile Press-Register in 1959 and took the little station to top 40 and ratings domination in the Mobile market. In 1984 WABB-FM abandoned its AOR format for CHR and the transition from AM to FM started for listeners.  The FM eventually became the legendary hit music powerhouse we know today.  Bernie Dittman was the driving force behind WABB's musical success, but after his passing in 2006 the remaining family members lost their passion for the day to day operations of the organization.  When the station flips to religious programming, it will mark the end of over 25 years of pop music on WABB and over 50 years of Dittman ownership.  

EMF operates two Christian religious music formats, the contemporary K-Love and modern/youth oriented Air1.  Although K-Love is on the air out of Navarre, it is expected that it will migrate to or simulcast on WABB.  Air1 is not currently heard in any of the coastal markets covered by ABMP.

Speculation abounds as to "what happens next" for the competition, which at this point is only Clear Channel's Hit Music Now at 107.3.  Is a swap with The Rocket in the cards?  Will Cumulus try one more time to get a toe-hold in the world of CHR?  One thing's for certain, this shake-up has just begun to be felt across the Mobile and Pensacola markets.