Tim Camp, a radio host whose name was synonymous with a beloved independent rock station and sports talk station in Mobile, has died, according to information provided by WZEW-FM 92.1.<\/p>\n
WZEW business manager and general manager Jane Hamilton confirmed that Camp had died on Saturday, Sept. 13. He had turned 73 on Thursday, Sept. 11. Camp\u2019s wife, Esther Chung, said that cancer had been the cause. \u201cHe fought a hard fight, it was more than four years,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Sound of Mobile, WNSP and 92 Zew Family regrets to announce the passing of Charles \u201cTim\u201d Camp who departed this life on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025,\u201d said a statement released by station officials. \u201cAn undisputed pillar of the greater Mobile community, part owner of four radio stations: 92.1 FM WZEW, 92.5 FM The Soul of Mobile, 96.5 The Crab and founder of the first 24-hour FM sports radio station in the country \u2013 WNSP 105.5 FM \u2013 Tim did so much for so many, working tirelessly to bring countless performers and bands to the Gulf Coast, and promoting their music.\u201d<\/p>\n
The station\u2019s statement credited Camp with helping launch the Hangout Music Festival and Mobile\u2019s Ten Sixty Five festival, a free event that followed Mobile\u2019s BayFest. It described him as \u201ca consummate sound engineer, avid keyboard player, songwriter, father, husband and friend. Tim spent nearly 56 years in radio broadcasting and his lasting influence will be sorely missed. A celebration of Tim\u2019s life is forthcoming, date and time to be announced.\u201d<\/p>\n
WZEW switched to an AAA or Adult Album Alternative format in 1984 and quickly carved out a niche with an eclectic mix of blues-based rock, Southern rock, contemporary singer-songwriters and local artists. After a hiatus from 1994 to 1997 due to ownership changes, WZEW returned under the ownership of Dot Com Plus, which also operates sister station WNSP.<\/p>\n
Camp was not the only person whose tastes shaped the WZEW playlist and attitude, but his definitely were evident.<\/p>\n
\u201cMobile has always been under the influence of New Orleans and the Mississippi Delta and the blues and soul music transcends cultural backgrounds,\u201d Camp told an interviewer in 2014<\/a>. \u201cWhat may work in Birmingham may not work in Mobile and vice versa. The ZEW\u2019s playlist mixes in Dr. John, Trombone Shorty, and Galactic. We say we are the sound of Mobile because this is who we are. We play music that people on the coast turn us on to and music that was written here by local artists.\u201d<\/p>\n Camp\u2019s death follows the death of his wife Lee Ann Camp<\/a>, another WZEW personality, in 2020. The couple had two children and Camp had three grown children. Camp and Chung married in 2024.<\/p>\n Chung said the station would publicly announce details of the planned celebration when they are finalized.<\/p>\n If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tim Camp, a radio host whose name was synonymous with a beloved independent rock station and sports talk…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":146699,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":["post-146698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146698\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}