WJSR (100.9 FM) is a

broadcast Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began ...

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

Lakeside, Virginia Lakeside is a census-designated place (CDP) in Henrico County, Virginia, United States. It is an inner suburb of Richmond, Virginia. The population was 11,849 at the 2010 census. Geography Lakeside is located at (37.610695, −77.475747). A ...

, serving

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

and Petersburg in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. WJSR is owned and operated by SummitMedia, and broadcasts a

classic hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980s ...

format Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informatio ...

. The station's studios are located west of Richmond proper in unincorporated Chesterfield County, and its transmitter is located in

Mechanicsville, Virginia Mechanicsville is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in Hanover County, Virginia, United States. The population was 36,348 during the 2010 census, up from 30,464 at the 2000 census. History The area was settled by Englis ...

. WJSR is licensed by the

FCC 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 jurisdictio ...

to broadcast in the

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...

(hybrid) format.

Programming and corporate history

101.1 FM

When WRFK-FM (106.5) was planning to sign off as an

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

station in March 1988, it was clear that a new NPR station must be found.

Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corporation The VPM Media Corporation, formerly known as the Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corporation and Central Virginia Educational Television Corporation, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that is the group owner of Public Broadcasting Service ( ...

, owners of

WCVE-TV WCVE-TV, virtual channel 23 (Ultra high frequency, UHF Digital terrestrial television, digital channel 22), is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) network affiliate#Member stations, member television station city of license, licensed to Richmon ...

and WCVW-TV, applied for and received, a license to temporarily broadcast at 101.1 until a suitable permanent frequency could be found. From March 1988 to October 1989, 101.1 was the home of WCVE-FM and NPR. After WCVE-FM moved to a permanent home at 88.9, the 101.1 frequency went dark.

WDYL

In December 1968, WDYL signed on first as a country station, then later as a religious station, where it operated on 92.1 FM until 1995. Throughout its first stage of operation, WDYL-FM was a Christian music and ministry station, focusing on

Contemporary Christian music Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...

. WDYL also was home to several sports teams, such as VCU basketball, VMI football, Virginia Tech football and basketball, and the Richmond Renegades pro hockey team. In a complicated series of events, on November 8, 1995, WDYL moved to 105.7 to allow

WCDX WCDX (92.1 FM) is a mainstream urban formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Mechanicsville, Virginia, serving the Richmond/ Petersburg area. WCDX is owned and operated by Urban One. The station's studios and offices are located just no ...

(which was on 92.7 FM at the time) to move closer to the city with more power on 92.1. The 101.1 frequency was allotted to Chester (the former city of license of 92.1). In September 1998, Sinclair Telecable sold the 101.1 frequency to Hoffman, who moved the WDYL

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 ...

and format to 101.1 and traded the 105.7 frequency to Sinclair. Sinclair then signed off WSMJ, which had been on 101.1 and airing a

smooth jazz Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s. History Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 19 ...

format, and debuted the country-formatted WJRV on their newly purchased 105.7 frequency. WDYL then continued on 101.1 with

Christian music Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely around ...

. On July 16, 1999, Hoffman signed off the original Christian station, and sold the dark 101.1 frequency to Radio One, who brought it back as

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. Radio format Mod ...

-formatted "Y101" on October 13, 1999, to fill the void after WBZU flipped to

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...

. In 2001, Radio One sold WDYL to Cox Radio. On September 1, 2009, WDYL moved to 100.9 FM, and kept the "Y101" moniker. On April 23, 2010, WDYL began redirecting listeners to WMXB, which flipped to

adult album alternative Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. See pages 9 and 10Mills, Joshua. "A New Radio Music Format: Rock for Prosperous Adults" New York Times, Feb 28 1994, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. Accessed September 4, 2 ...

"103.7 The River" the previous day. This led to rumors of a possible format change. Six days later on April 29, WDYL flipped to

rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip hop and upbeat R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary never uses ...

''Hot 100.9'', with new call letters WHTI. On January 6, 2012, WHTI relaunched the ''Hot'' branding and segued to

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

, with a launch campaign attacking its competitor

WRVQ WRVQ (94.5 FM "Q94") is a commercial radio station licensed to Richmond, Virginia, and serving Central Virginia. WRVQ is owned and operated by Audacy, Inc. It airs a Top 40 (CHR) radio format. The syndicated Elvis Duran show from former sis ...

. On July 20, 2012, Cox Radio announced the sale of WHTI and 22 other stations to SummitMedia for $66.25 million. The sale was consummated on May 3, 2013. On May 7, 2014, WHTI began redirecting listeners to new translator

W291CL W291CL is a broadcast translator radio station licensed to Richmond, Virginia, serving Metro Richmond. W291CL is owned by Radio by Grace, Inc. and operated by SummitMedia under an LMA. History The FCC authorized W291CL in April 2013. The stat ...

, which began simulcasting WHTI via WURV-HD2. After a 15-day simulcasting period, "Hot" officially moved to W291CL on May 22, and 100.9 FM began stunting with nature sounds. On May 23, 2014, WHTI flipped to

soft 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, quiet sto ...

as "Easy 100.9". On January 27, 2016, WHTI flipped to

as ''Star 100.9''. Bill Bevins and Shelly Perkins continued to host the morning show. The station's call letters changed to WJSR on February 9, 2016. On October 24, 2018, WJSR flipped to adult hits using the

Jack FM Jack FM is a radio network brand, licensed by Sparknet Communications, with the exception of the European Union where it is licensed by Oxis Media. It plays an adult hits radio format, format, in most cases not using disc jockey, DJs. Format c ...

branding. On October 1, 2020, WJSR dropped the adult hits format and began stunting with snippets of songs as "Short Attention Span Radio". On October 13, WJSR shifted their stunting to

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...

as ''Santa 100.9''. The stunt continued well beyond the holiday season, until March 4, 2021 as WJSR returned to

as ''Awesome 100.9''.

References

External links

Awesome 100.9 Online
* {{Classic Hits Radio Stations in Virginia 1968 establishments in Virginia Radio stations established in 1968 JSR Classic hits radio stations in the United States