View source for WUBL

{{short description|Country music radio station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name             = WUBL
| logo             = WUBLlogo.png
| logo_size        = 170px
| city             = [[Atlanta|Atlanta, Georgia]]
| area             = [[Atlanta metropolitan area]]
| branding         = ''94-9 The Bull''
| frequency        = 94.9 [[MHz]] {{HD Radio}}
| repeater         =
| airdate          = October 24, [[1962 in radio|1962]] (as WAVQ)
| format           = [[Country music|Country]]
| erp              = 80,000 [[watt]]s
| haat             = {{convert|330|m|ft|sp=us}}
| class            = C1
| facility_id      = 29735
| callsign_meaning = [[Anagram]] of '''BUL''' in "bull"
| former_callsigns = WAVQ (1962–1965)<br>WAVO-FM (1965–1972)<br>WPCH (1972–2002)<br>WLTM (2002–2006)
| affiliations     = [[Premiere Networks]]
| owner            = [[iHeartMedia]]
| licensee         = iHM Licenses, LLC
| sister_stations  = [[WBIN (AM)|WBIN]], [[WBZW]], [[WBZY]], [[WRDG]], [[WWPW]]
| webcast          = [https://www.iheart.com/live/949-the-bull-2829/ Listen Live]
| website          = [https://949thebull.iheart.com/ 949thebull.iheart.com]
| licensing_authority= [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]
}}

'''WUBL''' (94.9 [[FM broadcasting|FM]]) is a [[commercial radio|commercial]] [[radio station]] known as '''94-9 The Bull'''.  It is owned by [[iHeartMedia]] and it plays a [[country music]] [[radio format]].  The [[radio studio|studios]] and offices are located at the Peachtree Palisades Building in the [[Brookwood Hills]] district of Atlanta.  It has local [[disc jockey|DJs]] in the daytime and at nighttime it carries two [[radio syndication|syndicated]] [[Premiere Networks]] country music programs, ''[[The Bobby Bones Show]]'' and ''After MidNite With Granger Smith''.
The station's [[transmitter|radio transmitter]] is located just northeast of [[Atlanta, Georgia|Atlanta]] near Druid Hills Road in [[North Druid Hills]], with [[list of Atlanta broadcast stations by location#North Druid Hills|several other stations]].

Along with [[WSB (AM)|WSB AM]] and [[WSB-FM]], this station is a primary entry point (PEP) for [[Emergency Alert System]] messages for the [[Georgia (U.S. state)|state of Georgia]].

==History==
=== Religious (1962–1972) ===
The station began on October 24, 1962, as religious WAVQ (changed to WAVO-FM in 1965<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=82489 |title= History Cards for WUBL|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]}} ([[Wikipedia:WikiProject Radio Stations/History Cards|Guide to reading History Cards]])<!--Converted from {{FCC letter}}--></ref>), sister to [[WWSZ|WAVO]] (1420 AM). The station was signed on by the Great Commission Gospel Association, which was in the process of selling both outlets to [[Bob Jones University]].

=== Easy listening/Soft rock (1972–2006) ===
In 1972, the [[radio format|format]] changed to [[easy listening]] with the '''WPCH''' callsign.  In the early 1980s, the station's format switched from easy listening to [[soft AC]] as a response to [[WSB-FM]]'s format change.  The station was branded as "FM95 WPCH" until mid-1991, when the "'''Peach 94.9'''" name was adopted, reflecting its exact frequency for newer radios with digital tuning, and Atlanta's nickname as the "Big [[Peach]]".  (This is derived from its main road of [[Peachtree Street]], and [[New York (city)|New York]] being the "[[Big Apple]]", as well as Atlanta being the "New York of the [[South (US)|South]]"; the callsign is now on [[WPCH-TV]] as "Peachtree TV" in Atlanta.){{citation needed|date=May 2023}} The format changed to [[soft adult contemporary]] in 1990. The easy listening format was revived [[Internet radio|online]] as "The Peach" by Pretty Cool Media in 2021.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ajc.com/life/radiotvtalk-blog/check-out-the-revamped-peach-radio-station-online/AWLSHA4NNNGJZOHBL2JHG4SSIA/|title=Check out the revamped Peach radio station online|last=Ho|first=Rodney|work=[[Atlanta Journal-Constitution]]|date=May 13, 2021|access-date=May 23, 2023}}</ref>  The station enjoyed consistent [[audience measurement|ratings]] success through the 1990s and early 2000s.

In December 2002, the name "Peach" was dropped, and the station rebranded as '''WLTM''' "'''94.9 Lite FM'''".  Prior to [[Christmas]] each year, Lite FM played all [[Christmas music]].

From 2005 to 2006, the station had Randy & Spiff as its [[morning show]]. After it was canceled, they moved their show to 640 [[WBIN (AM)|WGST]] later in 2007. The duo were formerly at WFOX "Fox 97" (now [[WSRV (FM)|WSRV]] "The River") and briefly at then sister [[iHeartMedia|Clear Channel]] station [[WBZY|WLCL]] FM "Cool 105.7". Lite's [[morning show]] from May 2003 until March 2005 was married couple Gene and Julie Gates. The nighttime show was the [[Radio syndication|syndicated]] [[Delilah Rene|Delilah]]. (However, Delilah was not on the new 96.7; instead it was aired on former competitor WSB-FM, "B98.5FM" from late December 2006 until 2011.)

=== Country (2006–present) ===
In the middle of its all-Christmas music format, and more than a week before [[Christmas Day]], Lite FM changed to country music as "The Bull" at noon on December 18, 2006.<ref>[http://formatchange.com/949-lite-fm-wltm-becomes-the-bull-wubl/  94.9 Lite-FM WLTM becomes The Bull WUBL]</ref>  WLTM's [[broadcast callsign|call letters]] were then changed to '''WUBL'''.  The old [[adult contemporary]] format officially moved to [[WBZW|96.7 FM]] two days later, and stayed there until December 26, 2007, when 96.7 switched to a [[classic country]] format to accompany WUBL.  On January 7, 2008, WUBL added ''The Cledus T. Party'', starring [[comedian]]/[[parody]] singer [[Cledus T. Judd]], as its [[morning zoo|morning show]].

Current personalities include: Kristen Gates (morning show co-host), Spencer Graves (morning show co-host), Art "Mad Man" Mehring (traffic), [[Angie Ward]] (mid-days), Otis "O-Man" (afternoons), Bobby Bones (Evenings), Aaron Micheal (Late Evenings)

==== HD radio ====
In 2011, the station changed its [[HD Radio]] [[digital subchannel|channel]] 2 to [[simulcast]] [[Immanuel Broadcasting Network]], whose [[flagship station]] is [[WCCV (FM)|WCCV]] FM 91.7 in [[Cartersville, Georgia|Cartersville]].  Two IBN-owned [[broadcast translator]]s are actually assigned to WUBL instead of WCCV as their primary station: [[W265AV]] 100.9 [[Woodstock, Georgia|Woodstock]], and [[W223BP]] 92.5 [[Lithia Springs, Georgia|Lithia Springs]] (previously [[W221CG]] 92.1 "[[Kennesaw]]", which was actually near [[Hiram, Georgia|Hiram]]/[[Dallas, Georgia|Dallas]]), both transmitting IBN programming.  WGST AM 640 was carried on WUBL's HD3 channel, as well as on [[W222AF]] FM 92.3, which is also owned by Immanuel and formerly rebroadcast WCCV.  However, W222AF was assigned directly to retransmit WGST, not WUBL.

[[File:WUBL 94.9TheBull logo.png|thumb|Former logo]]

In October 2012, not long after WGST became Spanish-language [[ESPN Deportes]], WUBL HD-3 and W222AF split from WGST and became "Comedy 92-3", the [[local insertion|locally inserted]] affiliate name for the [[satellite radio|satellite]]-fed [[radio network]] [[24/7 Comedy]].  This same local feed was also retransmitted on [[DTV radio]] by [[WANN-CD]] 29, on [[virtual channel]] 32.21, with 94-9 the Bull on 32.22.  In early June 2013, WUBL HD-3 and WANN 32.21 reverted to airing WGST at the same time that station again started English-language programming.  ESPN Deportes moved to [[WWPW (FM)|WWPW]] FM 96.1 HD-3, and now that station simulcasts on W222AF, although the FCC database still indicates WUBL as its [[legal fiction|supposed]] "primary" station. For a while in late 2014, WUBL HD-3 simulcasted the [[urban oldies]] and [[classic hip-hop]] formats of "Old School 99.3" (relayed on translator W257DF FM 99.3) through a lease agreement with owner Steve Hedgwood. After that translator was forced off-air due to [[co-channel interference]] with [[WCON-FM]], the "Old School" format remained on the HD-3 channel for a time before returning to a simulcast of WGST.<ref>[https://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/93721/atlantas-old-school-off-the-air/  Atlanta's Old School Off the Air]</ref> (The "Old School" format would be revived on [[WTBS-LD|WTBS-LP]] FM 87.7 in January 2016.)<ref>[https://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/95874/old-school-returns-to-atlanta/  Old School Returns to Atlanta]</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{portal|Radio|Georgia (U.S. state)}}
*[https://949thebull.iheart.com/ 94.9 The Bull]
*{{FM station data|29735|WUBL}}
*[https://www.iheart.com/live/the-peach-8812/ The Peach online]

{{Atlanta Radio}}
{{Country radio stations in Georgia}}
{{IHeartMedia}}

{{coord|33.808|N|84.341|W|type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC|display=title}}

[[Category:Radio stations in Georgia (U.S. state)|UBL]]
[[Category:HD Radio stations]]
[[Category:1962 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1962]]
[[Category:IHeartMedia radio stations]]