WMJM (101.3 FM "Magic 101.3") is an urban adult contemporary station licensed to Jeffersontown, Kentucky serving the Louisville metropolitan area owned and operated by Alpha Media. It currently carries the Steve Harvey Morning Show. The station's studios are located in downtown Louisville and the transmitter site is atop Wright Tower in east Louisville.
 | |
| Broadcast area | Louisville |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 101.3 MHz |
| Branding | Magic 101.3 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Urban adult contemporary |
| Affiliations | Premiere Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WDJX, WGHL, WGZB-FM, WXMA | |
| History | |
First air date | December 1, 1978[1] |
Former call signs | WZZX (1978–1981) WJYL (1981–1989) WLSY (1989) WLSY-FM (1989–1996) |
Former frequencies | 101.7 MHz (1978–1996) |
Call sign meaning | MaJic of Music |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 10322 |
| Class | A |
| ERP | 2,000 watts |
| HAAT | 59 meters (194 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 38°13′41″N 85°38′20″W / 38.228°N 85.639°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | www |
History
editThe station signed on in 1978 as WZZX with an album-oriented rock format. Unable to gain traction against market-leader 102.3 WLRS, WZZX switched to an adult contemporary music format as WJYL "The Joy of Louisville" in 1981. This station struggled against AC competitor 103.1 WRKA, so it began adding top 40 music to its playlist, becoming a hot AC outlet. This move was successful, but short-lived. Following a sale, in 1984, WJYL adopted an urban contemporary format, becoming the first FM station in the Louisville market to target African-American listeners. On January 5, 1989, the station began stunting with a loop of "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" by Gerry and the Pacemakers. It would be accompanied with a return to a Soft AC format, becoming WLSY-FM ("Lite and Sunny") [3]
WLSY-FM was sold to the owners of mainstream urban contemporary WGZB in 1994 and became an urban adult contemporary-formatted sister station to the younger-skewing WGZB. This FM-FM duopoly combination covered the entire demographic reach of Louisville's African-American radio listenership, and hastened competitor WLOU's decline as the longtime urban/black/soul formatted station for the Louisville market (WLOU switched to an urban gospel format in 1996). The call sign was changed to WMJM in 1996;[3] shortly afterward, the station moved from its original 101.7 frequency to 101.3 in a swap with WTHQ,[4] allowing the WMJM signal to move farther west and avoid violating FCC antenna separation distance rules with the former WLRS on 102.3 MHz.
WMJM was acquired by Alpha Media in July 2014, as part of its purchase of Main Line Broadcasting.[5]
References
edit- ^ Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2009 (PDF). 2009. p. D-245. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WMJM". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ a b "Call Sign History (WMJM)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
- ^ "Construction Permit Activity" (PDF). The M Street Journal. May 1, 1996. p. 3. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
- ^ "Alpha-L&L Merger Complete, Purchase Of Main Line Stations Closes". AllAccess.com.com. July 1, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
External links
edit- Magic 101.3 Facebook
- Facility details for Facility ID 10322 (WMJM) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
- WMJM in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
  | This article about a radio station in Kentucky is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This Louisville-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |