WYEA named Alabama radio station of the year

HOOVER, Ala. – Sylacauga’s WYEA was named Radio Station of the Year by the Alabama Broadcasters Association at the annual ABBY Awards ceremony on Saturday.

Receiving the state’s top honor, Yea!106.5 and WYEA!1290 also took a Best in Broadcasting Award for social media efforts and a Judges’ Award of Merit for a community service project last year.

• The Radio Station of the Year designation recognized the stations’ exemplary service in their coverage area. In addition to support of local community organizations, businesses, and industries, of note were charity involvement and significant public service airtime; Business of the Month and Veteran of the Month profile programs; cash college scholarship awards for graduating high school seniors; and the new complementary SylacaugaNews.com online product.

• An additional Best in Broadcasting Award recognized social media engagement through the co-branded SylacaugaNews.com, cross-promoted via Facebook and Twitter with Yea!106.5, WYEA!1290, and 98.3 Fox FM. Covering the greater Sylacauga area and magnifying reach on-air, online, and through complementary social media content, a dedicated staff creates local enterprise news, sports, finance, education, crime, politics, history, business, and feature stories, driving both station listenership and website traffic.

• A holiday season “Stuff the Bus” campaign, in cooperation with Pursell Farms, Coosa Valley Medical Center, the Sylacauga Chamber of Commerce, Sylacauga City Schools, and Talladega County Schools, earned a special Judges’ Award of Merit in the service category. Inspired by extensive on-air and online promotion, the project collected non-perishable food items for distribution by Alabama Childhood Food Solutions and toys to help children in families served by the Sylacauga Alliance for Family Enhancement.

Selection and judging were done by a group of independent broadcast professionals in another state.

“WYEA exemplifies what radio stations should be for their community,” said Sharon Tinsley, president of the Alabama Broadcasters Association. “The Radio Station of the Year award recognizes an overall excellence in programming, promotion, community relations, and public service, and the ABA is proud of the role WYEA continues to play in providing quality on-air and online content.”

“These honors are an appreciated and important recognition of our staff’s incredibly hard work to make a difference, our focus on trying to do the right things every day, and support from local business and industry partners,” said Lee Perryman, Managing Member of Marble City Media LLC. “Reinventing WYEA under new ownership in 2012, and in adding five more regional signals since, we have remained fully energized, with a non-stop commitment to the communities we are privileged to serve.”

“We have been passionate about creating engaging on-air content, serving listeners, and building relationships,” added Michael Brannon, Marble City Media’s Director of Business Development and Manager, Digital Projects & Strategy. “By mirroring those efforts online through SylacaugaNews.com and social media platforms, not just reaching but also interacting with our audiences, we have opportunities to make an even bigger difference.”

About Marble City Media LLC

Based in Sylacauga, Marble City Media LLC is the state’s fastest-growing radio group with four FM signals and two AMs in east central Alabama. Following its first acquisition in 2012, the company purchased stations in Alexander City and Ashland in 2016 and constructed new stations in 2014, 2015, and 2016. Current brands include Yea!106.5 & WYEA!1290, 98.3 Fox FM, 105.1 WRFS, 96.3 & 1050 WLMA, and SylacaugaNews.com, and the company also holds a construction permit for a new FM facility near Auburn. The company’s stations won ABBY Awards for broadcast excellence in 2013, 2015, and 2016 and were home of the Alabama Broadcasters Association’s Broadcaster of the Year in 2014 and Best Morning Show in 2016. Principal Lee Perryman was inducted into the Alabama Broadcasters Association’s Hall of Fame in 2014. Marble City Media LLC is an active member of the Alabama Broadcasters Association, National Association of Broadcasters, Sylacauga Chamber of Commerce, Greater Coosa Valley Chamber of Commerce, Greater Talladega Area Chamber of Commerce, Coosa County Chamber of Commerce, Alexander City Chamber of Commerce, and Dadeville Area Chamber of Commerce.

About the Alabama Broadcasters Association

The Alabama Broadcasters Association has served as the official voice of the radio and television stations in Alabama since 1946. Dedicated to protecting and enhancing broadcasting and promoting the professional status of members, it also provides vital programs and services including legal guidance, research, a job bank, the ABA Engineering Academy, the ABBY Awards, an inspection program, and lobbying and conducts management, sales, news, programming, and legal training and seminars. The ABA also maintains the state’s Emergency Alert System.