WJMI (99.7 FM) is a radio station licensed to Jackson, Mississippi, United States, with a mainstream urban musical format. The station is owned by Alpha Media through licensee Alpha Media Licensee LLC. Along with five other sister stations, its studios are located in Ridgeland, a suburb of Jackson, while the transmitter tower is south of Raymond.
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| Broadcast area | Jackson, Mississippi |
| Frequency | 99.7 MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | 99 Jams |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Format | Mainstream urban |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| WJNT, WJQS, WKXI-FM, WOAD, WRKS | |
| History | |
First air date | July 31, 1967[1] |
Call sign meaning | We're Jackson, MIssissippi! |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 50408 |
| Class | C0 |
| ERP | 100,000 watts |
| HAAT | 323 meters |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | wjmi.com |
Station history
editThe station began in 1967 as an FM sister to station WRBC and was owned by the Rebel Broadcasting Company. Most of the disc jockeys who were on WRBC took shifts on the FM station, and hosting a shift on the FM station was used to test new talent for WRBC.
Among the more famous voices to be heard on WJMI were Bob Pittman (founder of MTV), Walt Grayson (later a television weatherperson for two Jackson television stations), and Mary Lewis.
The station then broadcast from 7a.m. until midnight. It was affiliated with the ABC-FM news network and broadcast the news each hour at fifteen minutes past the hour with local news following.
The station began as an easy listening station with some of the talent later recalling that every version of "Spanish Eyes" was played on the station. By the 1970s, the station had evolved into an adult contemporary station which played album-cuts from such singer-songwriters as Carole King, Carly Simon, Paul Simon, and Helen Reddy, bubblegum music (such as David Cassidy, Bobby Sherman, and the Partridge Family, and middle-of-the-road artists such as Johnny Mathis, Vikki Carr, and Andy Williams. Instrumental music and soft easy-listening music was played on the station, especially preceding the news.
WJMI was one of the first stations to employ female disc jockeys.[citation needed]
There were occasionally contests for concerts (such as the 1971 State Fair appearance of actor-singer Bobby Sherman).
On April 1, 1973, WJMI was sold to new owners, who then flipped into a CHR/Urban Contemporary format (also known as "CHUrban", which was the forerunner to what could become the rhythmic contemporary format) as "Jackson's JMI 100 FM". Over time, WJMI would evolve into its current Mainstream Urban format as "99 Jams".
References
edit- ^ "WJMI FM Stereo". Clarion-Ledger. July 29, 1967. p. 11. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WJMI". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
External links
edit- WJMI official website
- Facility details for Facility ID 50408 (WJMI) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
- WJMI in Nielsen Audio's FM station database