WJPJ (1190 AM, "Fox Sports Jackson") is an American

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

Humboldt, Tennessee Humboldt is a city in Gibson and Madison counties, Tennessee. The population was 8,452 at the 2010 census, a decline of 1,015 from 2000. It is the principal city of and is included in the Humboldt, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area, which i ...

. The station's

broadcast license A broadcast license is a type of spectrum license granting the licensee permission to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses generally include restrictions, which vary ...

is held by Palmer Johnson, Inc. Studios are located on Main Street in Humboldt.

History

WHMT

On March 30, 1972 Communications Associates, Inc., obtained a construction permit to build a new radio station in Humboldt on 1190 kHz. WHMT began with a country music format on July 6, 1972. Donald Stephenson became the sole owner at the end of 1975, retaining the country format. After the umbrella company for Stephenson's interests, Crestline Financial, entered into difficulties in 1982, it sold WHMT to RB Management Corporation, owned by the Boyd family. In October 1988, station management filed a petition with the FCC to reduce their broadcast power from 500 to 420 watts and increase the height of their broadcast antenna. This move would allow the station to cover the same geographic area with lower electricity costs. The FCC granted the station a

construction permit Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...

for these changes on January 10, 1989 with a scheduled expiration date of July 10, 1990. However, construction was completed before the end of January 1989, and WHMT applied for a new broadcast license to cover these changes. The FCC granted the station the revised license on August 22, 1989. Under Boyd, WHMT shifted to oldies before returning to

Christian country music Christian country music (sometimes marketed as country gospel, gospel country, positive country or inspirational country) is music that is written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christianity, Christian life, as well as ...

in 1993. This was replaced with sports talk in 1997.

WLLI

In April 2006, Boyd Enterprises, Inc., reached an agreement to sell WHMT and

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 WLSZ and WLSQ-FM to Forever Communications, Inc.,

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

Forever South Licenses, LLC, for a combined sale price of $1.3 million. In addition, Boyd Enterprises would receive $80,000 per year for 10 years in return for agreeing to a

non-compete clause In contract law, a non-compete clause (often NCC), restrictive covenant, or covenant not to compete (CNC), is a clause under which one party (usually an employee) agrees not to enter into or start a similar profession or trade in competition agains ...

. The FCC approved the sale on June 7, 2006, and the deal was formally consummated on July 31, 2006. The new owners had the FCC assign the station

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

"WLLI" on November 1, 2006, to match the "Willie 1190" branding of the station's new

classic country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on innov ...

music format. On November 16, 2009 WLLI's signal went dark for financial reasons, with the license holder asserting that the station's expenses "far out weigh the very little revenue it generates". Predicting a lengthy shutdown, the station applied to the FCC for

special temporary authority Special Temporary Authority (STA) in U.S. broadcast law is a type of broadcast license which temporarily allows a broadcast station to operate outside of its normal technical or legal parameters. In the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) stat ...

to remain silent. This authority was granted on November 20, 2009, with a scheduled expiration of May 19, 2010. The local programming aired on WLLI was moved to co-owned WTJJ (94.3 FM).

WHUN

The station swapped call signs with Forever Communications-owned WHUN in

Huntingdon, Pennsylvania Huntingdon is a borough in (and the county seat of) Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located along the Juniata River, approximately east of Altoona, Pennsylvania, Altoona and west of Harris ...

, on February 8, 2010. The Pennsylvania station began carrying its own "Willie" format, while the Tennessee station sat silent and seeking new ownership. Citing the financial effects of the

late-2000s recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At t ...

, in July 2010, Forever South Licenses, LLC, contracted to

donate A donation is a gift for charity, humanitarian aid, or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including money, alms, services, or goods such as clothing, toys, food, or vehicles. A donation may satisfy medical needs such as blo ...

the WHUN broadcast license to the

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

Joy Christian Communications, Inc. The FCC approved the transfer on September 3, 2010, and the deal was formally consummated on September 13, 2010. The station resumed normal broadcast operations on August 26, 2010, with new owners, a new call sign, and a new gospel music format. However, Joy Christian Communications' tenure as owner of WHUN was short-lived as in June 2011 they agreed to sell the station to Palmer Johnson, Inc., a company "100% owned" by Emry Palmer "P.J." Johnson, for a total price of $10,000. The sale was approved by the FCC on December 1, 2011, and , is awaiting formal consummation. Johnson also owns WTRB (1570 AM) in

Ripley, Tennessee Ripley is a city in Lauderdale County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 8,445 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Lauderdale County. Geography Ripley is located at (35.743115, −89.533872). According to the United States ...

. With the sale nearing completion, WHUN management notified the FCC on November 8, 2011, that the station would be signing off temporarily for financial reasons starting December 1, 2011, and sought special temporary authority to remain silent. The FCC granted this authority on November 30, 2011, with a scheduled expiration of May 28, 2012.

WJPJ

After being sold to Palmer Johnson, Inc. on June 1, 2012, the station changed call signs once again, taking on the identifier "WJPJ". The WHMT call sign had been sought, but it was already in use at

a station , known professionally as , is a Japanese actor, creative director, and writer. He appeared in a number of Japanese TV dramas, including ''Mei-chan no Shitsuji'', ''Hanazakari no Kimitachi e'' and ''Zettai Kareshi''. Additionally, he was well kn ...

in Tullahoma. In August 2012 WJPJ returned to the air under the new ownership with a classic hits format. An FM translator, W260BA (99.9 FM), was added in 2016. On April 20, 2018 WJPJ changed formats from classic hits to Christian radio, branded as "Good News Radio". On November 1, 2020, WJPJ flipped to country. This came after an earlier attempt to join a regional news-talk network based at WTJS (93.1 FM). On September 14, 2022 WJPJ changed their format from country to sports, branded as "Fox Sports Jackson".La Poderosa Launches in Jackson TN
Radioinsight - September 15, 2022

References

External links

* * {{Fox Sports Radio stations JPJ Radio stations established in 1972 Gibson County, Tennessee 1972 establishments in Tennessee JPJ