WHJJ (920 kHz, "News Radio 920 & 104.7 FM") is a
commercial
Commercial may refer to:
* a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television)
** Radio advertisement
** Television advertisement
* (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...
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 ...
in
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...
. It carries a
talk
Talk may refer to:
Communication
* Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people
* Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people
* Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct
...
radio format
A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...
and is owned by
iHeartMedia, Inc.
iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
The
studio
A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...
s and offices are on Oxford Street in Providence.
WHJJ operates at 5,000
watt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...
s. The
transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...
site is off Wampanoag Trail (
Rhode Island Route 114
Route 114 is a numbered state highway in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It connects the city of Newport to the city of Woonsocket. Route 114 was a major north–south artery for its entire length until the arrival of the Interstate H ...
) in
East Providence. A single non-directional tower is used during the day, providing at least secondary coverage to all of
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...
and the
Massachusetts South Coast. At night, WHJJ switches to a
directional antenna
A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna which radiates or receives greater power in specific directions allowing increased performance and reduced interference from unwanted sources. Directional antennas provide increased performance ...
using a two
tower array
A tower array is an arrangement of multiple radio towers which are mast radiators in a phased array. They were originally developed as ground-based tracking radars. Tower arrays can consist of free-standing or guyed towers or a mix of them. Tower a ...
to protect other stations on
920 AM
The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 920 kHz: 920 AM is a Regional
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geogr ...
and adjacent frequencies.
Programming is also relayed by
FM translator
A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...
W284BA at 104.7
MHz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...
, as well as 93.3
WSNE-FM
WSNE-FM (93.3 MHz) is a commercial radio station, licensed to Taunton, Massachusetts, and serving Southeastern Massachusetts and the Providence, Rhode Island, area. It broadcasts a hot adult contemporary radio format branded as ''Now 93.3'', and ...
HD2.
History
![Advertisement for radio station WJAR in Providence, Rhode Island (1922)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Advertisement_for_radio_station_WJAR_in_Providence%2C_Rhode_Island_%281922%29.gif)
On December 1, 1921, the U.S. Department of Commerce, in charge of radio at the time, adopted a regulation formally establishing a broadcasting station category, which set aside the wavelength of 360 meters (833 kHz) for entertainment broadcasts, and 485 meters (619 kHz) for farm market and weather reports.
On August 2, 1922, "The Outlet Company (J. Samuels & Bro.)", a Providence department store, was issued a license for new station. The original callsign, WJAR, was randomly assigned from a sequential roster of available call signs. This station made its formal debut broadcast beginning at 8 p.m. on September 6, 1922, transmitting on the shared 360-meter "entertainment" wavelength. WJAR was the second Providence broadcasting station, and the second operated by a department store, following the June 5, 1922 licensing of
WEAN
Weaning is the process of gradually introducing an infant human or another mammal to what will be its adult diet while withdrawing the supply of its mother's milk.
The process takes place only in mammals, as only mammals produce milk. The infan ...
to the Shepard Company. A third local department store radio station was later established, by Cherry & Webb's
WPRO.
In May 1923, a group of "Class B" frequencies was made available, reserved for higher-powered stations with superior programming. In early 1925, WJAR was assigned to a "Class B" frequency of 980 kHz. As of the end of 1926 the station was reported to be broadcasting on 620 kHz.
In the fall of 1927, WJAR was briefly assigned to 800 kHz, although it was quickly returned to 620 kHz. On November 11, 1928, as a result of a major national reallocation implemented under the
Federal Radio Commission
The Federal Radio Commission (FRC) was a government agency that regulated United States radio communication from its creation in 1927 until 1934, when it was succeeded by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FRC was established by t ...
's
General Order 40
The Federal Radio Commission's (FRC) General Order 40, dated August 30, 1928, described the standards for a sweeping reorganization of radio broadcasting in the United States. This order grouped the AM radio band transmitting frequencies into thre ...
, the station moved to 890 kHz. On March 29, 1941, under the provisions of the
North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement
The North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA, es, Convenio Regional Norteamericano de Radiodifusión) refers to a series of international treaties that defined technical standards for AM band (mediumwave) radio stations. These agreem ...
, stations on 890 kHz, including WJAR, moved to 920 kHz, which has been the station's assignment ever since.
WJAR was a charter member of the
NBC Red Network
The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the NBC Blue Network it was one of the first t ...
upon its launch on November 15, 1926. (It previously was a member of the Red Network's predecessor operated by
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...
and its station in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
,
WEAF, as early as 1922). In the 1950s, as NBC Radio cut back its programming hours, WJAR began more local programming, playing
middle of the road (MOR) music with live personality
disc jockey
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...
s. By the 1970s, WJAR's format had switched to
Top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...
music, where it briefly gave longtime format leader 630 WPRO some competition. Later, WJAR's format eased over 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 1980, under a "grandfathered" exemption,
The Outlet Company
The Outlet Company was a corporation based in Providence, Rhode Island, which owned holdings in both retail and broadcasting. The centerpieces of the group was its flagship Providence store (''The Outlet'') and WJAR radio and television, also in P ...
owned both WJAR and a television station,
WJAR-TV, in Providence. The company now sought permission to purchase a local FM station,
WRLM, which required receiving a waiver from the
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
(FCC), because new co-owned radio-TV holdings were normally prohibited. Outlet proposed that the Franks Broadcasting Company purchase WJAR, and, in order to make the waiver more acceptable, Franks would in turn sell its current AM station, WHIM, to East Providence Broadcasting, which was controlled by Henry Hampton, thus creating the first minority-owned station in the state. By a 3-2 vote, the FCC approved the transfers.
["Radio week: How the license swaps will go" by Alan Rosenberg, ''Providence Journal'', July 13, 1980, page H-15.]
(In later years, due to fewer ownership restrictions, WRLM (now
WSNE-FM
WSNE-FM (93.3 MHz) is a commercial radio station, licensed to Taunton, Massachusetts, and serving Southeastern Massachusetts and the Providence, Rhode Island, area. It broadcasts a hot adult contemporary radio format branded as ''Now 93.3'', and ...
) and WHJJ became
sister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement.
Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...
s.)
As part of the sale, Outlet retained the heritage WJAR call letters for its television station. Therefore, on August 14, 1980 the original AM station became WHJJ,
["Call letters: Grants: Existing AMs", ''Broadcasting'', September 8, 1980, page 60.] with the new call sign selected so it would appear alphabetically next to its sister FM station,
WHJY
WHJY (94.1 MHz) is a commercial mainstream rock iHeartRadio station in Providence, Rhode Island. WHJY has been a rock station since September 4, 1981.
Its broadcast center, also used by its sister stations, is on Oxford Street, just west of Inte ...
, in Arbitron ratings lists.
[ The new owners briefly continued the adult contemporary sound, but eventually went in the direction of ]talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...
. In the mid-1980s, WHJJ attempted to shore up its news image by adopting an "All News, All Morning Till 9" format. From 5-9 every morning (including weekends), WHJJ broadcast a dual-anchor news, weather, sports, and traffic format. The format was similar to all-news radio
All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to the discussion and broadcast of news.
All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried on both major US satellite radio networks. All-news stations can run the ...
stations such as WCBS and WINS in New York.
WHJJ was the Rhode Island affiliate of Air America Radio
Air America (formerly Air America Radio and Air America Media) was an radio in the United States, American radio network specializing in progressive talk radio. It was on the air from March 2004 to January 2010.
The network was founded as a left ...
in 2004 and 2005, airing progressive talk
Progressive talk radio is a talk radio format devoted to expressing left-leaning, liberal or progressive viewpoints of news and issues as opposed to conservative talk radio. In the United States, the format has included syndicated and indepe ...
programs from Rachel Maddow
Rachel Anne Maddow (, ; born April 1, 1973) is an American television news program host and liberal political commentator. Maddow hosts ''The Rachel Maddow Show'', a weekly television show on MSNBC, and serves as the cable network's special eve ...
and Al Franken
Alan Stuart Franken (born May 21, 1951) is an American comedian, politician, media personality, and author who served as a United States senator from Minnesota from 2009 to 2018. He gained fame as a writer and performer on the television comed ...
. In 2005 and 2006, WHJJ won Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
awards for the Massachusetts/Rhode Island area; the 2005 award was for special events coverage of the Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...
, while the 2006 honor was for news station of the year.
In December 2006, WHJJ owner Clear Channel Communications
iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
(now known as iHeartMedia) fired afternoon drive time
Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...
veteran Arlene Violet, after 16 years, as part of a company-wide cost-cutting measure. In 2013, WHJJ was rebranded as "NewsRadio 920", replacing conservative morning talk host Helen Glover with Rhode Island Radio Hall Of Famer Ron St. Pierre, in order to present a more news-centric program. In December 2020, St. Pierre left the station as the station picked up Jim Polito
Jim Polito is a radio talk show host for WTAG in Worcester, Massachusetts (AM 580 and FM 94.9).
Polito graduated from Saint John's High School in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts and Worcester State College where he majored in Urban Studies with a con ...
's morning show, heard already on WHJJ sister stations WTAG in Worcester, Massachusetts and WHYN in Holyoke, Massachusetts.
Former personalities
*Legendary NBC staff announcer Don Pardo
Dominick George "Don" Pardo (February 22, 1918 – August 18, 2014) was an American radio and television announcer whose career spanned more than seven decades.
A member of the Television Hall of Fame, Pardo was noted for his 70-year tenure with ...
received his start at WJAR in 1938.
*Former Rhode Island Attorney General Arlene Violet hosted a talk show on WHJJ (''circa'' 1990-December 2006)
*Former Providence Mayor Buddy Cianci
Vincent Albert "Buddy" Cianci, Jr. (, ; , ; April 30, 1941 – January 28, 2016) was an American politician, attorney, radio talk show host, political commentator, and convicted felon who served as the mayor of Providence, Rhode Island from 1975 ...
hosted a talk show on WHJJ from 1984 to 1991.
References
External links
*
FCC History Cards for WHJJ
(covering 1927-1980 as WJAR / WHJJ)
{{IHeartMedia
HJJ
Radio stations established in 1922
News and talk radio stations in the United States
IHeartMedia radio stations
1922 establishments in Rhode Island
Radio stations licensed before 1923 and still broadcasting