Two new west Alabama FMs get licenses to cover

There are two new west Alabama FMs that recently received their licenses to cover for fulltime broadcasting.  WMWI, Demopolis (88.7 MHz, 100 watts) and WKUA, Moundville (88.5, 5.5 kWV/1 watt H).  WMWI is owned and operated by Miles College and features a variety format targeting African-American tastes; it will also be used as a recruiting tool for the Birmignham-based college and also features an online component to allow people in the Birmingham area to listen.  WKUA is owned by Take Bake The Airwaves Ministries (it's unclear who has taken our airwaves away, ha ha) and features the Revocation Radio Christian rock/urban format that's also found on WKRE in Argo.  The WKUA station's directional antenna helps it cover much of the Tuscaloosa metro area.

WMWI Demopolis construction permit modified

Miles College's WMWI, a new construction noncommercial station in Demopolis, has received a demotion.  The original permit was for 13 kW at 407 feet and would have covered Linden, Thomaston and Linden in addition to Demopolis itself.  Alas, the permit is set to expire in March and there's no sign the facility has been built.  As such, a construction permit modification has just been approved by the FCC which will knock the station down to a bare minimum 100 watts at just 157 feet.

This new facility will allow them to get the station on the air quicker while reducing the coverage area to just barely covering all of Demopolis' city limits.  This is a similar tactic taken by another area noncomm, WQLS in Camden.  They went from 11 kW to just 400 watts to get on before the permit expired.