Paradise 92.7 FM in Haleyville has become 92.7 The Bee as of Saturday, March 1st. The Bee features a Traditional Country format, replacing the Classic Hits of Paradise.
The change comes as part of the transition from AMS Radio to the Haleyville Broadcasting Company, who will now operate it. The call letters have also changed, from WWWH-FM to WSHF, “We Shop Haleyville First.”
The station signed on the air on the AM dial in 1949 as WJBB, moving to FM in 1979. AMS Radio purchased the stations late in 2011 and changed the call letters to WWWH before turning off the AM in 2015.
New station manager Evan Tidwell says he wanted to change the call letters back to WJBB, but that callsign is currently in use at a station in Georgia.
The station was known as “B-93 Country” for many years, reflecting the station’s dial position on vintage analog radio dials. According to Tidwell, various bee mascots have been used since the 1950’s, with the earliest photo showing a bee on the station’s news car in 1954.
Locally-focused features will be a mainstay of the new format, with local “Around The Town News” broadcasts, Haleyville Lions Sports, daily death announcements, and of course severe weather coverage.