WHUR-FM

File:1940 Jansky & Bailey advertisement featuring radio station W3XO, Washington, DC.jpg

The station began operations in August 1939, as experimental FM station W3XO, on 43.2 MHz in the original FM band.[https://archive.org/details/broadcasting17unse/page/n569/mode/1up "Actions of the Federal Communications Commission: Decisions: August 23"], Broadcasting, September 1, 1939, page 88.[https://archive.org/details/broadcasting19unse/page/n1038/mode/1up Radio Engineering Labs., Inc.] (advertisement), Broadcasting, November 15, 1940, page 45. It was founded by Jansky & Bailey, a local Washington firm headed by consulting radio engineers C. M. Jansky and Stuart Bailey.{{Cite web|title=Collection: Oscar Reed, Jr. Papers {{!}} Archival Collections|url=https://archives.lib.umd.edu/repositories/2/resources/724|access-date=2020-08-28|website=archives.lib.umd.edu}} In October 1945, W3XO was sold to WINX Broadcasting Company for $75,000.[https://archive.org/stream/broadcasting291unse#page/n23/mode/1up "Capital FM Outlet is Bought by 'Post'"], Broadcasting, July 2, 1945, page 20.[https://archive.org/details/broadcasting292unse/page/n173/mode/1up "Actions of the FCC: Decisions: October 3"], Broadcasting, October 8, 1945, page 78. This company also operated WINX (1340 AM), and was owned by the Washington Post newspaper.

In May 1940, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had announced the establishment, effective January 1, 1941, of an FM band operating on 40 channels spanning 42–50 MHz.[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112059131711&view=1up&seq=767 "FCC Order No. 67"], Federal Register, May 25, 1940, page 2011. However, as of 1945, there were no commercial FM stations in the Washington area, with the only local FM broadcasters consisting of two experimental authorizations: W3XO, plus Everett L. Dillard's W3XL. In November 1945, the WINX Broadcasting Company filed an application to convert W3XO into the Washington-area's first commercial station. The application was granted the following August, and assigned the call letters WINX-FM.

WINX-FM started regular broadcasting in September 1946, with a daily schedule from 9:00 a.m. to 11:15 p.m., mostly duplicating the programming of WINX.[https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1946-09-15/ed-1/seq-45 "For Radio Listeners"] by Bill Coyle,Washington (DC) Evening Star, September 15, 1946, page C-8. The FCC was in the process of reassigning the original FM band frequencies to other services, and ordered existing stations to move to a new band from 88 to 106 MHz, which was later expanded to 88–108 MHz. During a transition period from the original FM "low band" to the new "high band", some stations broadcast simultaneously on their old and new frequencies. Thus, initially WINX-FM transmitted on both 43.2 and 92.9 MHz. In July 1946, the FCC directed that FM stations currently operating on 42-44 MHz would have to move to new frequencies by the end of the year,[https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-TV-Digest/40s/TV-Digest-1946-07.pdf#page=17 "Filling in the Spectrum"], Television Digest and FM Reports, July 20, 1946, page 1. and the station received a temporary authorization to transmit on 44.7 MHz. In 1947, WINX-FM was reassigned to 96.3 MHz.[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiuo.ark:/13960/t4nk9ts9n&view=1up&seq=491 "FM Broadcast Stations: Frequency Assignments"] (June 12, 1947), Federal Register, Volume 12, Number 108, June 3, 1947, page 4039.

WINX-FM had the slogan "Sounds like Washington", to reflect the station's local ownership, which is still in use today. In 1949, the Post sold the AM station, WINX, and purchased WTOP (1500 AM). At this point WINX-FM's call letters were changed to WTOP-FM.{{cite news |last1=O'Neal |first1=James |title=The Inside-Out Antenna Installation |url=http://www.radioworld.com/article/94216 |work=Radio World |date=February 4, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100214094126/http://www.radioworld.com/article/94216 |archive-date=14 February 2010 |url-status=dead}}

By 1970, WTOP-FM was playing pop music with large parts of the day spent simulcasting all-news WTOP. In December, the Post announced it would donate the station to Howard University. Howard had failed several months prior in its attempt to secure the last vacant FM allocation in the Washington market, 89.3 FM (now WPFW). University president James E. Cheek said in a statement that "we consider this a major step forward for Howard University in its determination to advance the role of black citizens toward a better America in the years ahead."{{cite news |title=Howard U. obtains its FM as a gift |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1970/1970-12-14-BC.pdf |work=Broadcasting |date=14 December 1970 |page=69}}

On December 6, 1971, the station changed its call letters to WHUR-FM. WHUR became a jazz-formatted radio station, which it remained until April 1993, when it switched to an urban adult contemporary format.

The quiet storm format of mellow, rhythm and blues and soul music, smooth jazz and love songs often played at night on many radio stations originated at WHUR. Then-intern Melvin Lindsey came up with the idea when he played a soothing string of songs during a particularly bad storm in 1976, even as power was cut to most other area radio stations. It is named after a Smokey Robinson album of the same name. The quiet storm nighttime format has since been replicated in other major cities that have R&B station formats, such as San Francisco-based KBLX (which formerly utilized a 24-hour quiet storm format for three decades).

In 1977, WHUR-FM reporter and student intern Maurice Williams was killed during the Hanafi siege.{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/11/AR2007031101562.html | title='Some Things You Never Forget': Thirty years ago, gunmen stormed three D.C. buildings, taking 150 hostages and one life | author=Theresa Vargas |newspaper=Washington Post | date=March 12, 2007 | page=B01| access-date=September 10, 2015}}

By 1995, WHUR became one of the highest-rated radio stations in the market, right behind WPGC-FM. Also that year, WHUR became the Washington radio and flagship affiliate of the syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show (TJMS). However, in 1999, ABC Radio Networks did not renew its contract with WHUR and moved the show to WMMJ, thus ending its four-year relationship with the station. WHUR was forced to produce its own locally-based morning drive show. This initially affected the station's dominance over rival WMMJ. WHUR, in 2002, acquired The Michael Baisden Show and later, in 2005, The Steve Harvey Morning Show. The station regained its top two spots in the market to date, pacing number two in the 12+ demographic and number one in the 25–54 demographic and the number one urban formatted station in D.C. In 2013, The Michael Baisden Show was cancelled due to its distributor, Cumulus Media and Baisden failing to reach an agreement; WHUR has since replaced its P.M. drive with former Baltimore and Atlanta radio personality Frank Ski, former host of the morning show on WVEE in Atlanta (where Ski still resides).

In September 2016, the station was awarded "Urban Station of The Year" by the National Association of Broadcasters'.{{Cite web|url=https://newsroom.howard.edu/newsroom/article/6551/whur-fm-named-urban-station-year|title=Newsroom|website=Howard Newsroom}}

WHUR-FM produces several ancillary programming streams, variously available over its HD Radio signal and SiriusXM satellite radio:

• WHUR-FMHD2 is "The Quiet Storm Station", a 24-hour music stream modeled after WHUR's longtime evening program.[https://radioinsight.com/headlines/202851/whur-launches-the-quiet-storm-station/ WHUR Launches The Quiet Storm Station] Radioinsight - December 16, 2020
• WHUR-FMHD3, branded as "WHBC 96.3", is a student-run mainstream urban format focused on hit-driven hip hop, soul and R&B titles.
• WHUR-FMHD4 is "DC Radio", a city-run community station with local music and community affairs.
• "HUR Voices" is an urban talk channel hosted on SiriusXM.{{cite web |title=H.U.R. Voices |url=https://www.siriusxm.com/hurvoices |publisher=Sirius XM Radio |access-date=31 July 2020}}
• "HBCU RadioNet" is a second SiriusXM channel hosting talk and music programming produced by Howard and other historically black colleges and universities.{{cite web |title=HBCU |url=https://www.siriusxm.com/hbcu |publisher=Sirius XM Radio |access-date=31 July 2020}}

• Patrick Ellis
• List of journalists killed in the United States

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://www.whur.com WHUR official website]
• [https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=81303 FCC History Cards for WHUR-FM] (covering 1945-1978)
• [https://www.whbc963hd3.com/ WHBC] (WHUR-FM HD3)
• [http://hurvoices.whur.com/ H.U.R. Voices]
• [http://hbcuradionet.whur.com/ HBCU RadioNet]
• [http://www.glasshouseradio.com/ Glasshouse Radio]
• {{FM station data|65707|WHUR-FM}}
• March 28, 2005 [http://www.eurweb.com/printable.cfm?id=19275 Michael Baisden replaced Doug Gilmore & Lorna Newton, "Live" with Doug & Lorna on WHUR weekday afternoons] Scroll down to 'radio' section
• March 2006 [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/08/AR2006030802485_pf.html DC Listeners Upset Over Switch To National Morning Radio Show]

{{Howard University}}

{{Washington Radio}}

{{Sirius XM Channels}}

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Category:1939 establishments in Washington, D.C.

Category:Howard University

Category:Radio stations established in 1939

HUR-FM

Category:Urban adult contemporary radio stations in the United States