WTAZ (AM)

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Radio station in Oxford–Anniston, Alabama

title: "WTAZ (AM)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["radio-stations-in-alabama", "oldies-radio-stations-in-the-united-states", "radio-stations-established-in-1956", "1956-establishments-in-alabama", "oxford,-alabama"] description: "Radio station in Oxford–Anniston, Alabama" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WTAZ_(AM)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Radio station in Oxford–Anniston, Alabama ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox radio station"]

Field	Value
name	WTAZ
city	Oxford, Alabama
country	US
area	Anniston–Oxford metropolitan area
branding	Sports Radio 1580 The Stadium
frequency
airdate
format	Sports Radio
power
class	D
facility_id	73608
coordinates	(day)
(night)
former_callsigns
affiliations	Fox Sports Radio
owner	Woodard Broadcasting Company, Inc.
sister_stations	WVOK-FM
licensing_authority	FCC
::

WTAZ (1580 AM, "1580 The Stadium") is a commercial radio station broadcasting a sports format. Most programming comes from Fox Sports Radio with some local sports shows. Licensed to Oxford, Alabama, it serves the Anniston–Oxford metropolitan area. The station is owned by Woodard Broadcasting Company, Inc. The studios are on Church Street in Oxford.

WTAZ is a Class D station. By day, it is powered at 2,500 watts. But to protect other stations on 1580 AM from interference, at night it greatly reduces power to 22 watts.

History

In Talladega: WJHB, WEYY

The Confederate Broadcasting Company, owned by W. K. Johnson, James Hemphill and Ned Butler, put WJHB on the air in Talladega, Alabama, on April 15, 1966. It was Talladega's second radio station and it was a daytimer, operating between sunrise and sunset with 1,000 watts.

The Tallabama Broadcasting Company, which owned WGSV in Guntersville and WGAD in Gadsden, acquired WJHB in 1961, with the sale closing in 1962. A new WEYY call sign was instituted along with the sale. The station was the victim of 1966 vandalism when someone disconnected the fuse blocks from the station's transmitter, causing a delay of more than two hours in signing it on for the day; general manager Jimmy Earl "Joe" Woodard said the intruder "apparently knew what he was doing" and was unsure as to the motive, since no items were stolen. WEYY's owners started a sister station, WANL, in Lineville in 1967; both stations broadcast country formats.

After having been the general manager since 1962, General manager Woodard became the owner when he acquired the station from former congressman Albert Rains in 1973; the licensee name was changed to the present Woodard Broadcasting Company in 1976. Features on WEYY in 1975 included Auburn Tigers football, ABC Contemporary newscasts, a daily Swap Shop, and a Gospel Music Showcase program at midday.

Move to Oxford

In 1973, Woodard opened WHTB (92.7 FM). 13 years later, he sought to reduce overlap between the AM and FM stations. On April 1, 1985, WHTB became WEYY-FM; the next year, 1580 AM moved to Oxford, Alabama as WOXR. The station broadcast an easy listening format, hoping to capture an audience that had listened to WHMA before that station flipped to country. 1580's move made it the first locally based radio station in Oxford, and Woodard gave it a second when Woodard settled with three competing applicants for a new FM station in the town in 1989—the first new FM for Calhoun County in 41 years—which signed on the air as adult contemporary WKFN "K-98" on February 19, 1990. The FM move enabled Woodard to remain competitive; within 18 months, K-98 was described as having changed Anniston into a two-station market opposite WHMA-FM "Alabama 100", while both stations' associated AMs had switched to automated programming.

By 2000, WOXR was airing a classic country format; it changed its call sign to WARB on August 28 of that year. The station changed its call sign to WVOK in 2002, matching the FM station which had adopted it in 1992. The station also adopted its present oldies format after changing its call sign.

On April 17, 2023, the station changed its call sign to WTAZ.

References

"Radio Stations". Fox Sports Radio.
"WTAZ Facility Record". United States [[Federal Communications Commission]], audio division.
(April 8, 1956). "Talladega to have new radio station". Birmingham News.
"History Cards for WTAZ". [[Federal Communications Commission]]}} ([[Wikipedia:WikiProject Radio Stations/History Cards.
(October 20, 1961). "WGSV now getting ABC broadcasts". The Advertiser-Gleam.
(July 25, 1966). "Turns It Off—From The Station". Alabama Journal.
Perry, Paul. (September 30, 1967). "Nashville Report". Record World.
"Jimmy Earl "Joe" Woodard". Alabama Broadcasters Association.
(August 23, 1975). "WEYY AM 1580 Talladega". Anniston Star.
Sapers, Jonathan. (April 12, 1986). "Oxford hits the airwaves". Anniston Star.
Gilbert, Michelle. (June 3, 1987). "Smith looks for corridor to blossom". Anniston Star.
Evans, Deborah. (August 16, 1989). "Calhoun County about to get new FM station". Anniston Star.
Smith, Matt. (February 8, 1990). "FM station will debut in Oxford". Anniston Star.
Stedham, Mike. (September 19, 1991). "Battle of the bands: FM causing AM static". Anniston Star.
Martin, Grant. (June 15, 2000). "Crossover means country music has lost its individuality". Anniston Star.
(2003). "WVOK(AM)". Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2003–2004.

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