WJBZ-FM (96.3 FM, "Praise 96.3") is a

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 A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

to serve

Seymour, Tennessee Seymour is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community in Blount and Sevier counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The CDP population was 14,705 at the 2020 U.S. census. It is included in the Knoxville, Tennessee Metropolitan S ...

. The station is owned by M & M Broadcasting, Ron Meredith. It airs a

Southern Gospel Southern gospel music is a genre of Christian music. Its name comes from its origins in the southeastern United States. Its lyrics are written to express either personal or a communal faith regarding biblical teachings and Christian life, as ...

music format. WJBZ-FM was started by the late

J. Bazzel Mull Jacob Bazzel Mull ( in Valdese, North Carolina – ) was a Christian minister and religious broadcaster in East Tennessee. Biography Mull was the grandson of Wallace B. Mull, a circuit riding preacher in the 1800s. His parents and siblings ...

, a longtime preacher and the founder of the ''Mull Singing Convention'' program. The station was assigned the WJBZ-FM call letters by 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 ...

on August 28,

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

. In 2015 Ron Meredith and M & M broadcasting bought the station. WJBZ’s format is Southern Gospel and was in jeopardy of changing formats. M & M Broadcasting’s Ron Meredith and Jack Ryan (Eric Hammond) decided to dedicate one year to try to revive the station and the format. In March or 2015 the station celebrated its 25th anniversary with an overwhelming community display during a station open house. That year the station was named Southern Gospel radio station of the year in the United States. The station repeated the accomplishment in 2016,2017,2018,2019,2020. A feat never before accomplished by another radio station.

References

External links

WJBZ official website
* Southern Gospel radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1991 Sevier County, Tennessee JBZ-FM {{Tennessee-radio-station-stub