WMJJ
Encyclopedia
WMJJ "Magic 96.5") is a Clear Channel
-owned Adult contemporary radio station
that broadcasts
from Birmingham, Alabama
. Other stations in the Birmingham market owned by Clear Channel include WDXB
-FM (102.5), WQEN
-FM (103.7), WERC-FM
(105.5), and WERC (960 AM). It is consistently one of the highest rated stations in the Birmingham
market.
s of effective radiated power
on the 96.5 MHz frequency on June 1, 1961, as WCRT-FM. Under the joint ownership of Chapman Radio & Television Company, WCRT-FM was the sister station of WCRT (1260 AM, now known as WYDE
).
In 1973, the station was sold to Magic City Broadcasting, moved to a taller antenna, increased power to an even 50,000 watts, and changed callsigns to WQEZ to reflect the station's shift to beautiful music
. In the late 1970s, the station increased its broadcast power to the present 100,000 watts. Throughout the 1970s, there was very little choice in FM programming in Birmingham; most stations were either easy listening or album rock stations. 96.5 FM was the home of WQEZ "your 'Q' to E-Z listening
". The format consisted of instrumental music and soft vocals.
The station was sold in 1982 to Capitol Broadcasting, a company owned primarily by radio group owner Ken Johnson. Ray Quinn, who had been Johnson's General Manager at his property in Louisville. Kentucky (WRKA
) moved to Birmingham and built a new management team and changed its format to adult contemporary on December 26 of that year. Until this time there were no FM stations in the market with this format. The stations that came closest to filling this niche were WSGN-AM
, WAPI-AM and Top-40 station WKXX
. The new name of the station was Magic 96, and it has retained that name and format since then.
Quinn's original team included program director Bill Thomas and original sales manager Chris Gallu. Later, the sales team leadership included Steve Streiker who was General Sales Manager from 1983 until 1985. Burt and Kurt hosted the morning show during the station's early years, Charlie Walker did middays, and Jeff Tyson handled evenings, both crossing the street from top-ranked (at the time) WKXX
to join the station. When Bill Thomas left the programming chair to become VP/Programming for Capitol Broadcasting in the mid-80's, Smokey Rivers became program director and broadened WMJJ's playlist to even dabble in classic rock at night for several years. John Jenkins became PD in the early 90's and returned the station's focus to mainstream adult contemporary music. Thomas began a promotion in the early 1980s that remained a fixture on the station for nearly a decade, the "Magic Alabama Lottery". The promotion involved the mailing of numbered tickets to hundreds of thousands of Birmingham residents each Spring and Fall. One listener won $96,000, one of the largest cash prizes ever given away by a Birmingham radio station.
Magic 96 was one of the seminal "A/C" (Adult Contemporary) radio stations of the 1980s. Innovations in programming, audience promotion, advertising sales management, advertising inventory management and pricing, were pioneered at WMJJ and were widely emulated by stations in other radio markets.
approach, with a heavy reliance on music of the 1970s and 1980s with occasional songs from the 1990s and 2000s. Very few current songs are played.
WMJJ features an all-disco
show from 6 PM to Midnight Saturday.
WMJJ also switches its programming to all-Christmas music
each year, usually starting around Thanksgiving Day
and returning to regular programming on December 26, however in 2011 WMJJ switched to all Christmas Music on October 31.
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...
-owned Adult contemporary radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
that broadcasts
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
from Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
. Other stations in the Birmingham market owned by Clear Channel include WDXB
WDXB
WDXB is a Clear Channel Communications-owned country music formatted radio station licensed to Pelham, Alabama, that serves Birmingham and north-central Alabama.-Programming:...
-FM (102.5), WQEN
WQEN
WQEN is a radio station licensed to serve Trussville, Alabama, USA. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications...
-FM (103.7), WERC-FM
WERC-FM
WERC-FM — branded News Radio 105.5 WERC — is an news/talk radio station licensed to Hoover, Alabama and serving the Birmingham market. It operates at an effective radiated power of 29.5 kilowatts...
(105.5), and WERC (960 AM). It is consistently one of the highest rated stations in the Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
market.
History
This station began licensed broadcasting with 49,000 wattWatt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
s of effective radiated power
Effective radiated power
In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...
on the 96.5 MHz frequency on June 1, 1961, as WCRT-FM. Under the joint ownership of Chapman Radio & Television Company, WCRT-FM was the sister station of WCRT (1260 AM, now known as WYDE
WYDE (AM)
WYDE is a radio station currently acting as a simulcast partner of WYDE-FM. It was formerly known as WLGD, an adult standards/oldies radio station that served Birmingham, Alabama, and nearly all of Jefferson County. The station was previously known on the air as "Legends 1260". The station is...
).
In 1973, the station was sold to Magic City Broadcasting, moved to a taller antenna, increased power to an even 50,000 watts, and changed callsigns to WQEZ to reflect the station's shift to beautiful music
Beautiful music
Beautiful music is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in American radio from the 1960s through the 1980s...
. In the late 1970s, the station increased its broadcast power to the present 100,000 watts. Throughout the 1970s, there was very little choice in FM programming in Birmingham; most stations were either easy listening or album rock stations. 96.5 FM was the home of WQEZ "your 'Q' to E-Z listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
". The format consisted of instrumental music and soft vocals.
The station was sold in 1982 to Capitol Broadcasting, a company owned primarily by radio group owner Ken Johnson. Ray Quinn, who had been Johnson's General Manager at his property in Louisville. Kentucky (WRKA
WQNU
WQNU is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Lyndon, Kentucky, USA, the station serves the Louisville, Kentucky, area. The station is currently owned by Cox Radio, Inc.-History:...
) moved to Birmingham and built a new management team and changed its format to adult contemporary on December 26 of that year. Until this time there were no FM stations in the market with this format. The stations that came closest to filling this niche were WSGN-AM
WAGG
WAGG is a radio station licensed to Birmingham, Alabama. It broadcasts at a daytime power 5,000 watts, and at nighttime, it broadcasts at 1,000 watts. WAGG is a gospel music station that targets Birmingham's African-American population. It is owned by Cox Radio, which also owns six other...
, WAPI-AM and Top-40 station WKXX
WBPT
WBPT is a classic hits music-formatted radio station licensed to Homewood, Alabama, that serves the Birmingham and central Alabama area. The station was assigned the WBPT call letters by the Federal Communications Commission on October 17, 2001. Since October 2005, it has used the branding "106.9...
. The new name of the station was Magic 96, and it has retained that name and format since then.
Quinn's original team included program director Bill Thomas and original sales manager Chris Gallu. Later, the sales team leadership included Steve Streiker who was General Sales Manager from 1983 until 1985. Burt and Kurt hosted the morning show during the station's early years, Charlie Walker did middays, and Jeff Tyson handled evenings, both crossing the street from top-ranked (at the time) WKXX
WBPT
WBPT is a classic hits music-formatted radio station licensed to Homewood, Alabama, that serves the Birmingham and central Alabama area. The station was assigned the WBPT call letters by the Federal Communications Commission on October 17, 2001. Since October 2005, it has used the branding "106.9...
to join the station. When Bill Thomas left the programming chair to become VP/Programming for Capitol Broadcasting in the mid-80's, Smokey Rivers became program director and broadened WMJJ's playlist to even dabble in classic rock at night for several years. John Jenkins became PD in the early 90's and returned the station's focus to mainstream adult contemporary music. Thomas began a promotion in the early 1980s that remained a fixture on the station for nearly a decade, the "Magic Alabama Lottery". The promotion involved the mailing of numbered tickets to hundreds of thousands of Birmingham residents each Spring and Fall. One listener won $96,000, one of the largest cash prizes ever given away by a Birmingham radio station.
Magic 96 was one of the seminal "A/C" (Adult Contemporary) radio stations of the 1980s. Innovations in programming, audience promotion, advertising sales management, advertising inventory management and pricing, were pioneered at WMJJ and were widely emulated by stations in other radio markets.
Current programming
From 2000 until 2002, the station had a harder edged format, leaning towards hot adult contemporary. After that, the playlist of Magic 96.5 relied heavily on oldies from the 1960s and 1970s, as well as 1980s music, with very few current soft rock hits. After Christmas of 2008, Magic 96.5 returned to a more Mainstream Adult Contemporary approach. After Christmas of 2010, the station once again went to a classic hitsClassic hits
Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes rock and pop music from 1964 to 1989. The term is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for the adult hits format, but is more accurately characterized as a contemporary style of the oldies format...
approach, with a heavy reliance on music of the 1970s and 1980s with occasional songs from the 1990s and 2000s. Very few current songs are played.
WMJJ features an all-disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
show from 6 PM to Midnight Saturday.
WMJJ also switches its programming to all-Christmas music
Christmas music
Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music normally performed or heard around the Christmas season, which tends to begin in the months leading up the actual holiday and end in the weeks shortly thereafter.-Early:...
each year, usually starting around Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving (United States)
Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. It has officially been an annual tradition since 1863, when, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday,...
and returning to regular programming on December 26, however in 2011 WMJJ switched to all Christmas Music on October 31.