Spring Hill College WHIL-FM
signed on the air on August 29, 1974. It was owned by
Spring Hill College, a
Roman Catholic Jesuit institution that held the broadcast license. The HIL in its
call sign reflects the name "Spring Hill." In its early years, WHIL-FM primarily played classical music, with some news and educational programs. Only a week after its debut,
Hurricane Frederic struck the Alabama Gulf Coast, rendering the station
silent for weeks due to transmitter and tower damage. From those rough beginnings, the station grew to provide one of the few non-commercial radio services available to the region, apart from
Christian talk and teaching stations. In later years, it used the branding "Fine Arts Radio for the Gulf Coast," a summary of its mission and scope. It later became a member of National Public Radio and added some NPR programming. Of the public radio stations and networks located in Alabama, WHIL-FM was the only one not operated by an agency or educational institution of the state. It was the fourth chronologically, after
Huntsville's
WLRH,
Birmingham's
WBHM, and
Troy's
WTSU; only
Tuscaloosa (Alabama Public Radio) came later, in
1982.
Dispute over NPR programming In the mid-to-late 1990s, Spring Hill College officials took exception to some news reports on National Public Radio about subjects such as
abortion rights and
homosexuality. Because these seemed to run counter to the moral positions of the
Roman Catholic order of the
Society of Jesus, the parent organization of the college, WHIL-FM discontinued airing NPR news programs for several years. Protests from disappointed listeners prompted WHIL-FM to restore
Morning Edition, but the station continued to preempt
All Things Considered in favor of classical music and
Public Radio International's
Marketplace. However, in response to a survey of local public radio listeners, WHIL-FM returned
All Things Considered to its schedule in early
2007.
Alabama Public Radio On March 21, 2011, Spring Hill College and University of Alabama officials announced the sale of the station to UA. WHIL-FM began carrying the programming of Alabama Public Radio on July 1, 2011. This move reflected increasing consolidation in non-commercial radio, a situation largely occurring because of the economic factors. On June 14, 2016, the station changed its call sign from WHIL-FM to the current WHIL. ==References==