WJHM
Encyclopedia
WJHM is a radio station that is licensed
to Daytona Beach
but primarily serves the Orlando
and Space Coast
areas of Central Florida
. It is owned by CBS Radio
. It was a urban-leaning
rhythmic contemporary hit station
with a playlist consisting of a heavy-emphasis on hip-hop
and R&B. It has since moved to R&R's Urban Contemporary Airplay panel though in recent months there has been a sudden increase in Rhythmic-oriented songs to its playlist. Its signal can be picked up as far north as St. Augustine, Florida
, south as Sebastian, Florida
, as far west as Spring Hill, Florida
(which is north of Tampa
) as well as in the Lakeland
area.
. Sister to AM 1450 in Daytona Beach, WMFJ-FM was an automated Beautiful Music
station known as Stereo 102. The station's calls were changed to WQXQ in 1973 and the format became automated Album Oriented Rock as Q102. Despite the rock format's success, management felt that a Top 40 hit station would have more mass appeal, and so Q102 changed from rock to Top 40 in 1976; initially the station remained automated, but by the end of the 1970s it employed a staff of live and local announcers. The station changed its calls to WDOQ in 1980, but the format remained Top 40, the moniker remained Q102, and the ratings remained high. Due to new competition in the Daytona market from WNFI-FM in 1982, Q102 began to more aggressively target the Orlando market as opposed to only Daytona Beach. Although plans for a big 100,000-watt signal that would have extended to St. Augustine, Gainesville and Ocala were scrapped, WDOQ's listenership continued to grow.
In 1984, WDOQ was sold and adopted the new calls WCFI, with a satellite-fed adult contemporary format from Transtar (now Dial Global
), using the "I-4
" (a tribute to Miami's WINZ-FM) and later Sunny 102 monikers. In 1985 the station was purchased by Duffy Broadcasting for $7.7 million. By 1986, the format and calls changed again to WORZ, "Z-102FM", a classic rock
station. In 1987, it was sold to Beasley-Reed Broadcasting for $9.2 million. In early 1988, the call letters were changed to WJHM and the station adopted an Urban contemporary
format as "102 Jamz" under the direction of Program Director Duff Lindsey and consultant Jerry Clifton. The station was an immediate success with listeners and within two years ascended to the top of the 12+ Arbitron Ratings. Some of the DJs included Joe Nasty doing mornings and Cedric Hollywood as mid-day jock (also Music Director). WJHM was purchased by Chancellor Media
in 1997. In late 1998, longtime music director Cedric Hollywood, who had been with the station since its inception in 1988, left "102 Jamz" to go to WEDR
in Miami. Soon after, it started adding urban based songs to its playlist. The station was labeled as "Rhythmic", although it remained an urban
station at its core. It has since dropped rhythmic-based songs when it got competition when WCFB
acquired an urban AC format, being relabeled urban
.
The late 1990s brought a time of mergers with Chancellor merging with Evergreen and forming AMFM, Inc., who hold ownership of WJHM until it merged with Clear Channel
in 2000. In 2001, Clear Channel sold WJHM to Infinity Broadcasting (now CBS Radio), and they have held ownership since. It briefly reverted to rhythmic by 2005
to go up against rhythmic station WPYO
, although this was unsuccessful due to WCFB
having almost no competitor during the rhythmic experiment. WJHM shortly reverted to urban to challenge WCFB
.
Given WJHM's Urban heritage status in Orlando, it is in current competition with Urban AC rival WCFB
and Rhythmic rival WPYO
(both owned by Cox Radio
). Although it is still one of the top ranking radio stations in the market, in recent months WJHM has suffered the rare setback of ranking behind WPYO in the Arbitron ratings - rare to have an Urban format rank behind a Rhythmic. As of fall 2011
, WJHM began adding Rhythmic product again. It's still on Mediabase
's rhythmic panel despite still being urban contemporary
(per Nielsen BDS reports) rather than rhythmic.
Today, it is one of CBS Radio's only mainstream urban
stations along with Atlanta's WVEE-FM and Charlotte's
WPEG
, although all of them are in the southern United States
.
City of license
A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator....
to Daytona Beach
Daytona Beach, Florida
Daytona Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, USA. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city has a population of 64,211. Daytona Beach is a principal city of the Deltona – Daytona Beach – Ormond Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which the census bureau estimated had...
but primarily serves the Orlando
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
and Space Coast
Space Coast
The Space Coast is a region in the U.S. state of Florida around Kennedy Space Center , where NASA launched space shuttles until the last one on July 8th, 2011 at 11:29am; and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, site of unmanned civilian and military space launches...
areas of Central Florida
Central Florida
Central Florida is a regional designation for the area surrounding Orlando in east central Florida, United States. The area represents the third largest population concentration in Florida, after the South Florida and Tampa Bay regions, respectively....
. It is owned by CBS Radio
CBS Radio
CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
. It was a urban-leaning
Mainstream Urban
Mainstream Urban is a term used to describe a radio format similar to an Urban Contemporary format. The format differentiates itself due to two factors: playlist composition and target demographic...
rhythmic contemporary hit station
Rhythmic Contemporary
Rhythmic contemporary, also known as rhythmic top 40, rhythmic contemporary hit radio or rhythmic crossover, is a music radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip-hop and R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary rarely uses rock music or country music in its airplay, but it may...
with a playlist consisting of a heavy-emphasis on hip-hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
and R&B. It has since moved to R&R's Urban Contemporary Airplay panel though in recent months there has been a sudden increase in Rhythmic-oriented songs to its playlist. Its signal can be picked up as far north as St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
, south as Sebastian, Florida
Sebastian, Florida
Sebastian is a city in Indian River County, in the Treasure Coast region of Florida, United States. The population was 16,181 at the 2000 census. In 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 18,671. As of 2010, the population recorded by the U.S...
, as far west as Spring Hill, Florida
Spring Hill, Florida
Spring Hill is a census-designated place in Hernando County, Florida, United States. The estimated population was 92,144 in 2007 by the United States Census. Spring Hill belongs to Florida's Nature Coast and is in the Tampa-St...
(which is north of Tampa
Tâmpa
Tâmpa may refer to several villages in Romania:* Tâmpa, a village in Băcia Commune, Hunedoara County* Tâmpa, a village in Miercurea Nirajului, Mureş County* Tâmpa, a mountain in Braşov city...
) as well as in the Lakeland
Lakeland, Florida
Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States, located approximately midway between Tampa and Orlando along Interstate 4. According to the 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimate, the city had a population of 94,406...
area.
History
101.9 began as WMFJ-FM on November 1, 19671967 in radio
The year 1967 saw a number of significant happenings in radio broadcasting history.-Events:*Fall: St. Louis radio station KSHE flips from female-oriented rock to progressive rock, becoming the first progressive rock radio station in the US....
. Sister to AM 1450 in Daytona Beach, WMFJ-FM was an automated Beautiful Music
Beautiful music
Beautiful music is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in American radio from the 1960s through the 1980s...
station known as Stereo 102. The station's calls were changed to WQXQ in 1973 and the format became automated Album Oriented Rock as Q102. Despite the rock format's success, management felt that a Top 40 hit station would have more mass appeal, and so Q102 changed from rock to Top 40 in 1976; initially the station remained automated, but by the end of the 1970s it employed a staff of live and local announcers. The station changed its calls to WDOQ in 1980, but the format remained Top 40, the moniker remained Q102, and the ratings remained high. Due to new competition in the Daytona market from WNFI-FM in 1982, Q102 began to more aggressively target the Orlando market as opposed to only Daytona Beach. Although plans for a big 100,000-watt signal that would have extended to St. Augustine, Gainesville and Ocala were scrapped, WDOQ's listenership continued to grow.
In 1984, WDOQ was sold and adopted the new calls WCFI, with a satellite-fed adult contemporary format from Transtar (now Dial Global
Dial Global
Dial Global is a radio syndication company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Triton Media Group and is a sister company to Townsquare Media, both of which are owned by Oaktree Capital Management....
), using the "I-4
Interstate 4
Interstate 4 is a intrastate Highway located entirely within the state of Florida, United States. It goes from Interstate 275 in Tampa, Florida to Interstate 95 at Daytona Beach, Florida . It also has the Florida Department of Transportation designation of State Road 400, but only a small...
" (a tribute to Miami's WINZ-FM) and later Sunny 102 monikers. In 1985 the station was purchased by Duffy Broadcasting for $7.7 million. By 1986, the format and calls changed again to WORZ, "Z-102FM", a classic rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
station. In 1987, it was sold to Beasley-Reed Broadcasting for $9.2 million. In early 1988, the call letters were changed to WJHM and the station adopted an Urban contemporary
Urban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...
format as "102 Jamz" under the direction of Program Director Duff Lindsey and consultant Jerry Clifton. The station was an immediate success with listeners and within two years ascended to the top of the 12+ Arbitron Ratings. Some of the DJs included Joe Nasty doing mornings and Cedric Hollywood as mid-day jock (also Music Director). WJHM was purchased by Chancellor Media
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
in 1997. In late 1998, longtime music director Cedric Hollywood, who had been with the station since its inception in 1988, left "102 Jamz" to go to WEDR
WEDR
WEDR is an urban-formatted radio station serving the South Florida region and licensed to Miami, Florida. WEDR has an unusually wide music selection for a mainstream urban-formatted radio station that ranges from typical hip-hop and R&B to reggaeton. This is because South Florida is a very...
in Miami. Soon after, it started adding urban based songs to its playlist. The station was labeled as "Rhythmic", although it remained an urban
Mainstream Urban
Mainstream Urban is a term used to describe a radio format similar to an Urban Contemporary format. The format differentiates itself due to two factors: playlist composition and target demographic...
station at its core. It has since dropped rhythmic-based songs when it got competition when WCFB
WCFB
WCFB is an Urban Adult Contemporary radio station that is licensed to Daytona Beach, Florida that serves the Greater Orlando area. Its signal can be heard as...
acquired an urban AC format, being relabeled urban
Mainstream Urban
Mainstream Urban is a term used to describe a radio format similar to an Urban Contemporary format. The format differentiates itself due to two factors: playlist composition and target demographic...
.
The late 1990s brought a time of mergers with Chancellor merging with Evergreen and forming AMFM, Inc., who hold ownership of WJHM until it merged with Clear Channel
Clear channel
A clear-channel station is an AM band Radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. Usually known as class A stations since 1982, they are occasionally still referred to by their former...
in 2000. In 2001, Clear Channel sold WJHM to Infinity Broadcasting (now CBS Radio), and they have held ownership since. It briefly reverted to rhythmic by 2005
2005 in radio
The year 2005 in radio involved some significant events.-Events:*April 29 - KFRC 610 AM in San Francisco, switches formats as a result of ownership change. KFRC becomes KEAR, the "Sound of the New Life", a listener-supported, gospel/religious only station. It had been previously KFRC from...
to go up against rhythmic station WPYO
WPYO
WPYO is a Rhythmic Top 40 station serving the Orlando area. The Cox Radio outlet broadcasts at 95.3 MHz with an ERP of 12 kW and is licensed to Maitland, Florida. Its transmitter is located in Ocoee, Florida...
, although this was unsuccessful due to WCFB
WCFB
WCFB is an Urban Adult Contemporary radio station that is licensed to Daytona Beach, Florida that serves the Greater Orlando area. Its signal can be heard as...
having almost no competitor during the rhythmic experiment. WJHM shortly reverted to urban to challenge WCFB
WCFB
WCFB is an Urban Adult Contemporary radio station that is licensed to Daytona Beach, Florida that serves the Greater Orlando area. Its signal can be heard as...
.
Given WJHM's Urban heritage status in Orlando, it is in current competition with Urban AC rival WCFB
WCFB
WCFB is an Urban Adult Contemporary radio station that is licensed to Daytona Beach, Florida that serves the Greater Orlando area. Its signal can be heard as...
and Rhythmic rival WPYO
WPYO
WPYO is a Rhythmic Top 40 station serving the Orlando area. The Cox Radio outlet broadcasts at 95.3 MHz with an ERP of 12 kW and is licensed to Maitland, Florida. Its transmitter is located in Ocoee, Florida...
(both owned by Cox Radio
Cox Radio
Cox Radio, Inc. is a division of Cox Enterprises that holds a number of radio stations. Cox Radio is headquartered at 6205 Peachtree Dunwoody Road in Sandy Springs, Georgia....
). Although it is still one of the top ranking radio stations in the market, in recent months WJHM has suffered the rare setback of ranking behind WPYO in the Arbitron ratings - rare to have an Urban format rank behind a Rhythmic. As of fall 2011
2011 in radio
The following events occurred in radio broadcasting in 2011.-Events:*January 1: 2 Knoxville stations change formats as WDLF and WYLV flip to K-LOVE and Air 1 , and a few Pittsburgh station change formats, as ESPN Radio moves from WEAE to WBGG, and Radio Disney moves from WWCS to the renamed WDDZ,...
, WJHM began adding Rhythmic product again. It's still on Mediabase
Mediabase
Mediabase is a music industry service that monitors radio station airplay in 180 US and Canadian markets. Mediabase publishes music charts and data based on the most played songs on terrestrial and satellite radio, and provides in-depth analytical tools for radio and record industry professionals...
's rhythmic panel despite still being urban contemporary
Urban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...
(per Nielsen BDS reports) rather than rhythmic.
Today, it is one of CBS Radio's only mainstream urban
Mainstream Urban
Mainstream Urban is a term used to describe a radio format similar to an Urban Contemporary format. The format differentiates itself due to two factors: playlist composition and target demographic...
stations along with Atlanta's WVEE-FM and Charlotte's
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
WPEG
WPEG
WPEG is a Mainstream Urban-formatted radio station in the Charlotte, North Carolina area. It broadcasts at 97.9 FM, and is owned by CBS Radio.-History:...
, although all of them are in the southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
.