WLEJ (1450

kHz 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 on ...

) is a

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 ...

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 in

State College, Pennsylvania State College is a home rule municipality in Centre County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is a college town, dominated economically, culturally and demographically by the presence of the University Park campus of the Pennsylvania Sta ...

, United States. It is owned by Kristin Cantrell's Seven Mountains Media, through licensee Southern Belle Media Family, LLC. Programming is also heard over FM translator W279DK (103.7 FM), offering a signal on the FM band in the immediate State College area.

History

Centre Broadcasters, Inc., applied for a construction permit 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) to build a new 250-watt radio station in State College on April 18, 1944. The application was approved on July 10, 1945. Broadcasting of

Centre County Centre County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,172. Its county seat is Bellefonte. Centre County comprises the State College, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The lands ...

's first radio station began on October 29 of that year from studios in State College's Glennland Building and a transmitter site north of town in Ferguson Township. The WMAJ call sign was submitted out of desperation; after various call signs to allude to Centre County and State College were rejected, Centre Broadcasters submitted scrambled versions of the initials of its various employees, including Alethea J. Mattern, the first program director, and the other founding owner, Richard J. Kennard (the FCC originally assigned WKRJ). The station was approved to upgrade from 250 to 1,000 watts in 1962 after having filed in late 1958 for the change. In the 1960s, WMAJ programmed a

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 ...

format aimed at the large student audience at

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

. The main owner of WMAJ was William K. Ulerich, who had previously transformed the weekly newspaper in State College into a daily publication, the ''

Centre Daily Times The ''Centre Daily Times'' is a daily newspaper located in State College, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is the hometown newspaper for State College and the Pennsylvania State University, one of the best-known and largest universities in ...

''; in the 1970s, he also served as a trustee of Penn State University. Ulerich owned WMAJ and its FM spinoff, WMAJ-FM/WXLR 103.1, until 1988, when he opted to retire and sold the pair to Burbach Broadcasting of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. The new ownership converted WMAJ to primarily automated programming focusing on adult standards music. This was changed to a full news/talk format in 1990. Forever Broadcasting acquired the Burbach stations in 1998; by that time, WMAJ's talk format included such offerings as ''

The Rush Limbaugh Show ''The Rush Limbaugh Show'' is an American conservative talk radio show hosted by Rush Limbaugh. Since its nationally syndicated premiere in 1988, ''The Rush Limbaugh Show'' became the highest-rated talk radio show in the United States. At its ...

'' and the talk programs of

Joy Brown Joi Lansing (born Joy Rae Brown, April 6, 1929 – August 7, 1972) was an American model, film and television actress, and nightclub singer. She was noted for her pin-up photos and roles in B-movies, as well as a prominent role in the famous o ...

and

G. Gordon Liddy George Gordon Battle Liddy (November 30, 1930 – March 30, 2021) was an American lawyer, FBI agent, talk show host, actor, and convicted felon in the Watergate scandal as the chief operative in the White House Plumbers unit during the Nixon admi ...

. In 2002, Forever installed a sports format on the frequency. The call letters were changed to WQWK in 2009 after the previous WQWK, 103.1 FM, was flipped to conservative talk. It was announced on October 12, 2022, that Forever Media was selling 34 stations and 12 translators, including WQWK and five of its sister stations, to

State College State College is a city in central Pennsylvania, United States. State College may also refer to: Related to State College, Pennsylvania * State College Area School District, a school district serving State College * State College Area High School ...

-based Seven Mountains Media for $17.375 million. The deal closed on January 1, 2023. On December 30, 2022, it was announced that the station would flip to classic country as "Bigfoot Legends" within days. On January 3, 2023, WQWK changed their format from sports to classic country, branded as "Bigfoot Country Legends". The station changed its call sign to WLEJ on February 5, 2023.

Programming

The station is one of four stations in State College that are local flagships of the

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The interco ...

radio network. It also is part of the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

radio network.

References

External links

* * {{Country Radio Stations in Pennsylvania LEJ Classic country radio stations in the United States 1946 establishments in Pennsylvania Radio stations established in 1946