WDCJ (92.7
FM), known on air as "Majic 102.3 & 92.7," is an
urban adult contemporary
Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music on ...
formatted
radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
licensed to
Prince Frederick, Maryland
Prince Frederick is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Calvert County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Prince Frederick was 3,226, up from 2,538 in 2010. It is the county seat of Cal ...
, and serving the southeastern
Washington metropolitan area
The Washington metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the National Capital Region, is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C. The metropolitan area includes all of Washington, D.C. and parts of the states of Maryland, Virgin ...
. The station's programming is a relay of
WMMJ
WMMJ (102.3 FM), known on air as "Majic 102.3 & 92.7," is a jammin' oldies-leaning urban adult contemporary radio station owned by Radio One in the Washington, D.C. market. It is co-owned with WKYS, WOL, WPRS-FM, WTEM and WYCB and has studios ...
(102.3 FM) in
Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...
History
92.7 FM signed on August 1, 1971 as WESM, a local station serving
Calvert County, Maryland
Calvert County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 92,783. Its county seat is Prince Frederick. The county's name is derived from the family name of the Barons of Baltimore, the proprietors of t ...
with
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
. Original owners George Gautney and Carl Jones sold the station to Mel Gollub's MJS Communications in 1973. As WMJS, the station continued as country at first, but later flipped to
adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
in 1985 and again to
easy listening
Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...
in 1987.
In 2000, Mega Communications bought the station. Under the new callsign WBZS-FM, it joined a simulcast with
WBPS (94.3 FM,
Warrenton, Virginia
Warrenton is a town in Fauquier County, Virginia, of which it is the seat of government. The population was 9,611 at the 2010 census, up from 6,670 at the 2000 census. The estimated population in 2019 was 10,027. It is at the junction of U.S. R ...
) to create a metro-wide network for its "La Nueva Mega" Spanish-language
adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
format. In 2005, the network flipped to Spanish oldies branded as "Mega Clasica".
Immediately after the sale, efforts began to build a low-powered station to return local service to Calvert County.
WMJS-LP
WMJS-LP is a Full Service formatted low-power broadcast radio station licensed to and serving Prince Frederick, Maryland. WMJS-LP is owned and operated by St. Paul's Episcopal Church.
Programming/Call Sign
While WMJS-LP is licensed to an Episco ...
, taking the now-unused callsign, signed on in 2003.
Red Zebra Broadcasting
Red Zebra Broadcasting was a sports marketing company headquartered in Rockville, Maryland. The company owned and operated four radio stations in the greater Washington, D.C. radio market, one in Hampton Roads, VA, and two stations in Richmond, ...
, headed by
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
owner
Daniel Snyder
Daniel Marc Snyder (born November 23, 1964) is an American businessman and owner of the Washington Commanders, an American football team belonging to the National Football League (NFL). He bought the team, then known as the Washington Redskins, ...
, purchased the two stations along with
WKDL (730 AM,
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...
) in January 2006. Snyder's goal was a
sports talk radio
Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...
competitor to
WTEM
WTEM (980 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Washington metropolitan area as the flagship station of the Washington Wizards. WTEM is also the co-flagship st ...
(980 AM). The three-station network was known as "Triple X ESPN Radio", with 92.7 FM gaining the WWXT callsign to match. Snyder bought WTEM itself in 2008, after which the network was simply known as "ESPN 980".
Snyder began selling his radio properties in 2017. WWXT was sold to
Urban One
Urban One, Inc. (formerly Radio One) is a Silver Spring, Maryland-based American media conglomerate. Founded in 1980 by Cathy Hughes, the company primarily operates media properties targeting African Americans. It is the largest African-American-o ...
on April 20; the station was flipped to a simulcast of WMMJ's urban adult contemporary format on May 1, with the new WDCJ callsign taking effect on the 19th.
References
External links
Official Website of ''Majic 102.3''*
{{Urban One
Urban One stations
Radio stations established in 1971
DCJ
Urban adult contemporary radio stations in the United States
1971 establishments in Washington, D.C.
1971 establishments in Maryland
Prince Frederick, Maryland