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WJSR

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For the former station at Jefferson State University, see WJSR (Alabama).
WJSR
Broadcast areaRichmond, Virginia
Petersburg, Virginia
Frequency100.9 MHz
BrandingAwesome 100.9
Programming
FormatClassic hits
AffiliationsCompass Media Networks
Ownership
Owner
W291CL, WKHK, WKLR, WURV, W282CA
History
First air date
December 1988
(35 years ago) (1988-12)[1]
Former call signs
  • WDYL (1968–2010)
  • WHTI (2010–2016)[2]
Former frequencies
  • 92.1 MHz (1968–1995)
  • 105.7 MHz (1995–1998)
  • 101.1 MHz (1998–2009)
Call sign meaning
Former Star branding
Technical information[3]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID27439
ClassB1
ERP15,000 watts
HAAT130 meters (430 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
37°37′17.0″N 77°22′14.0″W / 37.621389°N 77.370556°W / 37.621389; -77.370556
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live
Websiteawesome1009.com

WJSR (100.9 FM) is a broadcast radio station licensed to Lakeside, Virginia, serving Richmond and Petersburg in Virginia.[4] WJSR is owned and operated by SummitMedia, and broadcasts a classic hits format.[4] The station's studios are located west of Richmond proper in unincorporated Chesterfield County,[5] and its transmitter is located in Mechanicsville, Virginia.

WJSR is licensed by the FCC to broadcast in the HD Radio (hybrid) format.[6][7]

Programming and corporate history

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101.1 FM

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When WRFK-FM (106.5) was planning to sign off as an NPR station in March 1988, it was clear that a new NPR station must be found. Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corporation, owners of WCVE-TV and WCVW-TV, applied for and received, a license to temporarily broadcast at 101.1 until a suitable permanent frequency could be found. From March 1988 to October 1989, 101.1 was the home of WCVE-FM and NPR. After WCVE-FM moved to a permanent home at 88.9, the 101.1 frequency went dark.[8][9][10][11][12]

WDYL

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In December 1968, WDYL signed on first as a country station, then later as a religious station, where it operated on 92.1 FM until 1995.[13] Throughout its first stage of operation, WDYL-FM was a Christian music and ministry station, focusing on Contemporary Christian music. WDYL also was home to several sports teams, such as VCU basketball, VMI football, Virginia Tech football and basketball, and the Richmond Renegades pro hockey team.

In a complicated series of events, on November 8, 1995, WDYL moved to 105.7 to allow WCDX (which was on 92.7 FM at the time) to move closer to the city with more power on 92.1. The 101.1 frequency was allotted to Chester (the former city of license of 92.1).[14]

In September 1998, Sinclair Telecable sold the 101.1 frequency to Hoffman, who moved the WDYL call sign and format to 101.1 and traded the 105.7 frequency to Sinclair. Sinclair then signed off WSMJ, which had been on 101.1 and airing a smooth jazz format, and debuted the country-formatted WJRV on their newly purchased 105.7 frequency.[15]

WDYL then continued on 101.1 with Christian music. On July 16, 1999, Hoffman signed off the original Christian station, and sold the dark 101.1 frequency to Radio One, who brought it back as modern rock-formatted "Y101" on October 13, 1999, to fill the void after WBZU flipped to oldies.[16][17][18] In 2001, Radio One sold WDYL to Cox Radio.[19]

On September 1, 2009, WDYL moved to 100.9 FM, and kept the "Y101" moniker.[20]

On April 23, 2010, WDYL began redirecting listeners to WMXB, which flipped to adult album alternative "103.7 The River" the previous day. This led to rumors of a possible format change. Six days later on April 29, WDYL flipped to rhythmic contemporary Hot 100.9,[21] with new call letters WHTI. On January 6, 2012, WHTI relaunched the Hot branding and segued to contemporary hit radio, with a launch campaign attacking its competitor WRVQ.[22]

On July 20, 2012, Cox Radio announced the sale of WHTI and 22 other stations to SummitMedia for $66.25 million. The sale was consummated on May 3, 2013.[23][24]

On May 7, 2014, WHTI began redirecting listeners to new translator W291CL, which began simulcasting WHTI via WURV-HD2. After a 15-day simulcasting period, "Hot" officially moved to W291CL on May 22, and 100.9 FM began stunting with nature sounds.[25] On May 23, 2014, WHTI flipped to soft adult contemporary as "Easy 100.9".[26][27] On January 27, 2016, WHTI flipped to classic hits as Star 100.9. Bill Bevins and Shelly Perkins continued to host the morning show.[28][29] The station's call letters changed to WJSR on February 9, 2016.

On October 24, 2018, WJSR flipped to adult hits using the Jack FM branding.[30]

On October 1, 2020, WJSR dropped the adult hits format and began stunting with snippets of songs as "Short Attention Span Radio".[31] On October 13, WJSR shifted their stunting to Christmas music as Santa 100.9.[31] The stunt continued well beyond the holiday season, until March 4, 2021 as WJSR returned to classic hits as Awesome 100.9.[32]

References

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  1. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 2010 (PDF). ProQuest, LLC/Reed Publishing (Nederland), B.V. 2010. p. D-562. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  2. ^ "Call Sign History". Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
  3. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WJSR". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  4. ^ a b "WJSR Facility Record". Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
  5. ^ "Contact Us | WJSR | Star 100.9". Archived from the original on 2018-09-09. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
  6. ^ "Station Search Details".
  7. ^ "HD Radio Guide for Richmond, Virginia". hdradio.com. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  8. ^ "Goodbye, radio WRFK, and hello new WCVE", The Richmond Times-Dispatch, May 5, 1988.
  9. ^ "Radio station to change today", The Richmond Times-Dispatch, May 6, 1988.
  10. ^ "WRFK-FM crosses river", The Richmond Times-Dispatch, May 7, 1988.
  11. ^ "WCVE to begin airing on from 88.9 FM on Monday", The Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 21, 1989.
  12. ^ "Richmond's public radio is home at last at 88.9", The Richmond Times-Dispatch, November 4, 1989.
  13. ^ "BC-YB-1986" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  14. ^ "Stations play musical frequencies to expand their listening audience", The Richmond Times-Dispatch, November 4, 1995.
  15. ^ "Jazz station WSMJ off the air here", The Richmond Times-Dispatch, September 29, 1998.
  16. ^ "Christian radio station off air", The Richmond Times-Dispatch, July 16, 1999.
  17. ^ "Radio One will buy four more", The Richmond Times-Dispatch, March 16, 1999.
  18. ^ "New rock revolution' on the air", The Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 13, 1999.
  19. ^ "BC YB 2003 04" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  20. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "WDYL-FM 'Y101' Freq. Tweak". YouTube.
  21. ^ "River Runs Through Richmond, Will It Get Hot?". RadioInsight. 29 April 2010. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  22. ^ "Hot 100.9 Richmond Relaunches". RadioInsight. 6 January 2012. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  23. ^ "Cox Puts Clusters Up For Sale". RadioInsight. 20 July 2012. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  24. ^ "Cox Sells Stations In Six Markets To Two Groups". RadioInsight. 6 May 2013. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  25. ^ "Richmond's Hot 100.9 Moves to 106.1".
  26. ^ "Easy 100.9 Richmond Debuts". 23 May 2014.
  27. ^ "Richmond's 100.9 is Now 'Easy'".
  28. ^ Venta, Lance (January 27, 2016). "Star 100.9 Rises Over Richmond". radioinsight. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  29. ^ "WHTI/Richmond Flips to Classic Hits Star 100.9".
  30. ^ "WJSR Brings Jack To Richmond - RadioInsight". RadioInsight. 2018-10-24. Retrieved 2018-10-24.
  31. ^ a b "WJSR Goes All-Christmas As Santa 100.9". RadioInsight. 13 October 2020. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  32. ^ "SummitMedia Makes Double Flip In Richmond". RadioInsight. 4 March 2021. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
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