Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Birmingham's NEW Lite 99 vs local AM/FM broadcast radio? Why There's a Difference...

So...you've seen our posts on Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere about Birmingham's new LITE 99 Radio and thinking..."What is that? Is that a radio station? Is that in Birmingham, AL or some other Birmingham somewhere? I haven't ever heard of that station before. Is that at "99.1, 99.3...etc" on the FM dial? Is this LITE 99 an internet-based radio station? If it is, why should I listen to it or any other internet-based radio station, when AM/FM broadcast radio is already an option for listening?" We're so glad you asked! Yes, we are an internet radio station at lite99radio.com but not on the FM broadcast dial. We'd like to share with you about who we are and why you should choose to listen to Lite 99 rather than a local AM/FM station. Here's why we want to be your NEW favorite radio station!


  • Better Music Variety
  • You hear the Birmingham AM/FM radio stations always touting the idea that they offer a great variety of music, play the most music, that you can listen longer, etc...but is that truly the case? Many times broadcast radio stations are only willing to offer you a few hundred tracks...music that they... and radio consultants....hand-pick they assume you want to hear. At LITE 99 Radio, we don't just make statements about music variety...it's our PROMISE to you! We play six decades of easy favorites from artists such as: Elton John, Chicago, Celine Dion, Phil Collins James Taylor, Neil Diamond, Mariah Carey, Rod Stewart, just to name a few. Our music library is composed of three to four times the amount of music that most broadcast radio stations offer today. Our tagline is "Easy Favorites. BETTER Variety"...and we stand by what we say...and PLAY! No other Birmingham radio station offers MORE music! We play all the big hits that the other local adult contemporary stations air, but we also offer those hits the other stations have tossed in a back closet somewhere...songs they assume you don't want to hear anymore. We believe in playing ALL the hits...including those WOW songs you haven't heard in a long time, too..We don't use radio consultants for our music selection for LITE 99. Our entire format is designed by someone who enjoys easy favorites, just like YOU, so you can rest assured the programming is done by someone who not only has an understanding of the music, but also appreciates it as well.


  • Less Talk
  • You've heard the "less talk" pitch mentioned by many Birmingham FM radio stations. At LITE 99, we also tell our listeners that we play the music with less talk, but we abide by what we say. We don't use annoying DJs who talk constantly and we don't talk over your favorite music, either. The talk is kept to a MINIMUM because we know you want to relax and enjoy our programming, not hear us bantering about something which might not interest you, anyway.


  • Less Commercial Interruptions
  • Notice how many of the broadcast FM stations in town are now airing five to ten minute commercial blocks every hour? We know airing commercials are a necessary evil as far as for-profit commerical radio goes (after all, we do have to pay bills and eat, too) ;), but we know there MUST be a balance between operating a business/generating revenue (in our case, playing commercials) and what you, the listeners want and don't want to hear. We know you don't want to hear several minutes of commercials, one after the other. We promise to confine our commercial breaks to once an hour, and for reasonable periods of time (no more than a minute's time). We want you to hear about our advertisers in an "uncluttered fashion" and not have to endure long commercial blocks at a time. If listeners are subjected to lenghty commercial breaks, no one benefits. Listeners are frustrated with listening to long strings of commercials, and our advertisers don't profit, either, because their ads are "lost in the shuffle" of long commercial breaks where listeners cannot hear about what goods and services are being offered.


  • Longer No Repeat Workdays (and then some...)
  • Many of the Birmingham radio stations give you No Repeat Workdays from 9 am to 5 or 6 pm, Monday through Friday. Why stop there? We want to give you MORE! We offer the "9 to 9 No Repeat LITEmix", where no song repeats from 9 am to 9 pm and from 9 pm to 9 am as well, giving you TWO twelve hour blocks of no repeat music, so you can enjoy the greatest variety of music at work AND when you come home to relax. Our 9 to 9 No Repeat also airs on weekends, too, so no matter what day of the week, you can enjoy TWELVE hours of no repeat easy favorites every day.


  • The Information You Need
  • We do promise less talk, but we also realize you need info for your everyday life, such as local news and weather forecasts, traffic reports, and other general information. We promise to air those items on our station, but again, only for reasonable periods of time. We also realize there are times when you need information quickly and don't want to wait to access that information (by having to wait for a song to end, etc). We use our Facebook and Twitter pages to provide all the local info you need, especially those crucial items that you need now and not later. It's our way of providing you local information to the fullest while keeping our promise of less talk. Our Facebook page can be accessed at facebook.com/lite99radio and our Twitter at twitter.com/lite99bham.


  • We're FULLY mobile
  • We've had many of our listeners tell us they listen to LITE 99 while at work and at home, but want to know if they can listen in their car. The answer is YES! Many times when people hear about internet radio, they envision having to be tethered to a computer all day to listen. That might have been the case years ago, but not today. Internet radio is FULLY mobile...and Birmingham's LITE 99 is as well! If you want to listen to us "on the go" and have access to either a smartphone, tablet, or other mobile device, you can listen to us at BirminghamLite.com. We're also available on the devices shown above via TuneIn by visiting the following link on your mobile device:

    http://tunein.com/radio/Lite-99-s226017/.

    If you don't already have the TuneIn app installed on your device, you can download it here for FREE. Download the app once, then save us on your favorites list on TuneIn for easy access each time you listen.

    For additional ways to listen to LITE 99 on smart speakers and even using your TV, please visit our listening options page


  • Better Audio Quality than FM
  • Birmingham's new LITE 99 offers our programming in 128k, DIGITAL, CD-quality sound. It's all your favorite music, with the BEST possible audio quality. None of the AM/FM broadcast stations in town can give you DIGITAL sound, but we CAN at the new LITE 99 Radio.


  • We care about nonprofits
  • Many of the larger broadcast stations in town have forgotten their purpose for doing radio...serving the public. At Birmingham's new LITE 99, we haven't lost sight of that fact, and we still honor it. We are more than willing to work with local nonprofits to do whatever we can to help. If you are a local nonprofit and would like us to air/post any of your information, either on a temporary or permanent basis, please contact us by phone at 205.671.8499 or email us at nonprofits@lite99radio.com. Corporate radio may have forgotten you, but we haven't..and won't.


  • ..And last but not least...We care about you, the LISTENER
  • As the radio landscape evolves and increasingly moves toward corporate ownership, listeners become less important and tend to be ignored. Broadcasting corporations look at the "bottom dollar", seeking to keep their shareholders happy and not much else. We understand that listeners are a VITAL part of radio, and YOU and what you think about us are important. In short, we are here to listen to you and take your comments and suggestions seriously. Listeners MATTER!



We invite you to give our station a try. We're changing the way you look at...and LISTEN to...radio! For more information about us, please visit our FAQ page or contact us via phone, email, or our Facebook/Twitter pages. If you like what you hear, please tell others about Lite 99..but if you don't...please tell us. Thank you for your time today! :)


Monday, April 6, 2015

The Artist SpotLITE

Every month, we'll be featuring an artist heard on Lite 99 and giving away some FREE music! Our featured artist for the month of April is Roberta Flack, who will be performing at the BJCC on Saturday, April 18. Details are coming soon from Birmingham's NEW choice for Easy Favorites and BETTER Variety, the NEW Lite 99 Radio. Listen on your computer with just ONE click at lite99live.com OR download our FREE mobile app for Iphone, Ipad, and Android...without all the annoying ads...at lite99app.com.