WJEK (95.3

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 ...

) 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 ...

broadcasting a

Contemporary Christian Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

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, ...

, known as "Christian FM 95.3."

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Rantoul, Illinois Rantoul is a village in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 12,371 at the 2020 census. History The community was named after Robert Rantoul, Jr., a U.S. representative from Massachusetts, and a director of the Illino ...

, United States, the station serves the Champaign-Urbana metropolitan area. The station is currently owned by SJ Broadcasting, LLC.

History

The station went on the air as WRTL-FM on 1979-07-30. on 1984-11-21, the station changed its call sign to WRBZ-FM, on 1988-07-01 to WZNF, on 2000-01-03 to WBNB, on 2002-03-01 to WEVX, on 2006-09-18 to WMYE, on 2007-09-14 to WLFH, and on 2010-11-08 to the current WJEK. WRTL-FM was originally owned by Bob Brown and Dick Williams. Its musical format was Easy Listening. John Truscelli was eventually the morning drive personality, Mark Williams the morning news personality. Other on-air personalities were Bob Boice, Kevin Scott, Ann Bailey, Dan Jones. WRTL-FM was sold in the early 80's and became WRBZ-FM. When the station was WZNF, it was a rock/classic rock station owned by Rollings Communications. At its height in the early 1990s, WZNF's signal was simulcasted into three additional markets. Those were WWDZ-FM (94.9 FM, Danville, IL), WZZP-FM (95.1, Kankakee, IL), and WZNX-FM (107.9, Charleston-Mattoon, IL). During this time, it employed the moniker "Z95" and then later "The Fox". The WLFH callsign was previously used by an AM station in Little Falls, New York (currently WIXT). On May 21, 2010 it was announced that RadioStar, Inc. was in the process of selling WLFH to SJ Broadcasting LLC. SJ Broadcasting is operated by Steve "Stevie Jay" Khachaturian and Clint Atkins (until Atkins' death in March 2011). On November 8, 2010 WLFH changed their call letters to WJEK. On November 29, 2010 WJEK changed their format to talk, branded as "Connect FM". WSJK and WJEK broadcast a variety of programs, with owner Stevie Jay (formerly of

WDWS WDWS (1400 AM) is a commercial radio station in Champaign, Illinois, calling itself "Newstalk Radio 1400 & 93.9FM DWS." It airs a News/Talk radio format and is owned by ''The News-Gazette'', the primary daily newspaper in the Champaign-Urbana M ...

) providing his show weekday mornings. Both stations offer

Wall Street Journal This Morning ''This Morning: America's First News'' (formerly ''The Wall Street Journal This Morning'') is a two-hour radio news/talk program hosted by Gordon Deal and Jennifer Kushinka, who replaced long-serving co-host Gina Cervetti on January 2, 2015. In a ...

Fox News Radio Fox News Radio is an American radio network owned by Fox News. It is syndicated to over 500 AM and FM radio stations across the United States. It also supplies programming for three channels on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. History In 2003, ...

, as well as

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...

on nights and weekends. Connect FM became the new Champaign home of the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

in 2011, replacing

after almost 70 years. Before the switch, 93.5 was known as ''93.5 The Beat'', while 95.3 was ''95.3 The Wolf''. In April 2012, WSJK/WJEK cancelled its late-morning and midday talk programs and replaced them with ESPN Radio programs. In September 2012, Connect FM was officially rebranded as ''93.5/95.3 ESPN''. Although the switch is to sports, two talk programs,

and the Stevie Jay Show remain from the former Connect FM. The afternoon-drive sports show, the Tay and J Show, focuses heavily on University of Illinois athletics and is co-hosted by former WAND sportscaster Lon Tay and former News-Gazette and DeKalb Daily Chronicle reporter Jeremy Werner, who also writes for Rivals.com. On February 18, 2013 WJEK split from its simulcast with WSJK and changed their format to adult contemporary, branded as "Sunny 95.3". On November 1, 2016 WJEK changed their format from adult contemporary to contemporary Christian, branded as "Christian FM 95.3".WJEK Flips From AC to Christian AC
Radioinsight - November 1, 2016

References

External links

* {{Champaign Radio JEK Champaign County, Illinois Rantoul, Illinois