WPMJ (94.3 MHz
FM) 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 for
Chillicothe, Illinois
Chillicothe is a city on the Illinois River in Peoria County, Illinois, United States. The population was 6,097 at the 2010 census. Chillicothe is just north of the city of Peoria, Illinois, Peoria and is part of the Peoria metropolitan area, Peor ...
in the
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...
, area. The station has been owned by CRCI, L.L.C. since January 2010 and has broadcast a
Catholic radio
Christian radio is a Christian media radio format that focus on programming with a Christian message. Many such broadcasters play contemporary Christian music, though many programs include sermons, radio dramas, as well as news and talk programm ...
format since September 2009.
Although the station is in the Peoria radio market, it has relatively low power and is required to put a decent signal across Chillicothe, its
city of license
In American, Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator.
In North American broa ...
, with that power. It struggled over the years to find a programming niche, having no less than 10
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 ...
s in its 31 years and going off the air from October 2008 to September 2009.
Official studios for the station are at 108 N. Main St. Suite J on
Illinois Route 117
Illinois Route 117 is a rural north–south state route in north central Illinois. It travels from Interstate 74 in the small community of Goodfield to Illinois Route 17 in Toluca. Illinois 117 covers a distance of about .
Route descriptio ...
in
Eureka, Illinois
Eureka is a city in Olio Township, Woodford County, Illinois, United States. The population was 5,295 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Woodford County. Eureka is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Eureka is ...
.
History
94.3 signed on the air in 1977, as WCLL, owned by
Bill Bro,
with studios in
Chillicothe.
Throughout the 1980s, 94.3 was a minor player in Peoria radio under many different formats, names, and call letters. While owned by Bro, it was country station WTXR "94X" from 1984 to 1986; followed by
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, quie ...
"Magic 94"; then satellite driven
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 ...
as WBZM with
Jim Zippo
Jim or JIM may refer to:
* Jim (given name), a given name
* Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James
* Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy
* OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism
* ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring
* ''Jim' ...
in the morning;
easy listening
Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...
WQEZ "EZ94FM"; and finally an audio simulcast of
CNN Headline News
HLN is an American basic cable network. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, the network primarily carries true crime programming.
The channel was originally launched on January 1, 1982 by Turner Broadcasting as CNN2 (later renamed Headline News ...
under the WRED callsign (for "well read") with studios in the old Pabst Building in
Peoria Heights.
KZ94.3
By the early 1990s, longtime
CHR powerhouse WKZW "KZ-93" had lost its standing in Peoria radio. After trying to hold on to its heritage as "the new KZ-93", the owners of 93.3 finally discarded the name and callsign that had defined the station since late 1977, and switched to adult contemporary with the nickname "Mix 93.3" and the callsign WMXP in April 1994. That same year, owners of then-number-one
WXCL
WXCL (104.9 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pekin, Illinois and serving the Peoria metropolitan area. It broadcasts a country radio format and is owned by Midwest Communications, Inc. WXCL is one of two outlets in Peoria playing ...
-FM,
Kelly Communications
Kelly may refer to:
Art and entertainment
* Kelly (Kelly Price album)
* Kelly (Andrea Faustini album)
* ''Kelly'' (musical), a 1965 musical by Mark Charlap
* "Kelly" (song), a 2018 single by Kelly Rowland
* ''Kelly'' (film), a 1981 Canadi ...
in Peoria, bought 94.3 from Bro. On August 8, 1994, Kelly picked up the
CHR format abandoned by 93.3, and in a controversial move unprecedented in Peoria radio, changed 94.3's callsign to WKZW to make it "KZ94.3", playing and advertising "today's hit music" just like before on 93.3 FM.
KZ94.3 evolved into an
adult CHR
The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...
format that lived in the shadow of its 93.3 predecessor throughout its tenure in the format. Former KZ-93 personality
Andy Masur
Andy Masur (born May 10, 1967) is an American sportscaster who was formerly the radio play-by-play announcer for the Chicago White Sox Chicago White Sox Radio Network, Radio Network for WGN (AM), WGN (720).
Masur is a native of Glenview, Illinois ...
was the first program director and morning host. By the end of the format's tenure on 94.3, the airstaff included Jesse James in the morning; local comedian Brett Erickson, Keith Berry, and Denyse Haynak in middays; Kevin Ross, Jack Shell in afternoons; and Jeff Williams at night.
A decade of change
In September 1997, the station changed call letters to WFXF as "94-3 The Fox", a classic rock station with
Howard Stern
Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American radio and television personality, comedian, and author. He is best known for his radio show, ''The Howard Stern Show'', which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terre ...
in the morning. In June 1999, WFXF moved to
102.3 FM; the format was replaced on 94.3 with a short-lived
ABC Radio satellite-driven
Hot AC
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 s ...
format called "Kiss 94 FM" under the WKSO call sign with veteran Peoria broadcaster/programmer (former
WIRL
WIRL (1290 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a conservative talk format. Licensed to Peoria, Illinois, United States, the station serves the Peoria area and broadcasts in AM stereo. The station is currently owned by Midwest Communication ...
/
WKZW
WKZW (94.3 FM broadcasting, FM, "KZ-94.3") is a radio station city of license, licensed to serve the community of Sandersville, Mississippi, and serving the Laurel-Hattiesburg area. The station is owned by Blakeney Communications, Inc. It airs ...
/
WXCL
WXCL (104.9 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pekin, Illinois and serving the Peoria metropolitan area. It broadcasts a country radio format and is owned by Midwest Communications, Inc. WXCL is one of two outlets in Peoria playing ...
)
Lee Malcolm at the helm. Since "Kiss", 94.3 had changed ownership from Kelly to
AAA Entertainment
AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to:
Airports
* Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA)
* Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA)
Arts, entertainment, and me ...
in 2000, and in October of that year, and flipped to all-1980s music as "Channel 94-3" under the WCNL call sign. In August 2001, the station flipped to a simulcast with 96.5 FM as "The Point", a Hot AC station with Bob and Sheri in the morning. AAA sold the station in early 2003 back to Kelly, and in January 2003, the station became WPMJ, 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 ...
station as, once again, "Magic 94.3". In September 2006, WPMJ became "94-3: Peoria's True Oldies Channel", joining
ABC Radio Networks ABC Radio may refer to:
Australia
* History of ABC Radio (Australia), the division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) responsible for:
** ABC Classic, a classical music radio station
** ABC Classic 2, an un-presented streaming-only cl ...
as an affiliate of
Scott Shannon
Michael Scott Shannon (born July 25, 1947) is an American radio disc jockey who hosted the morning show for WCBS-FM in New York City from 2014 to 2022 as well as ''Scott Shannon Presents America's Greatest Hits'' which is syndicated nationally wi ...
's
True Oldies Channel
Scott Shannon's True Oldies Channel (also known more recently as ''The True Oldies Channel: Greatest Hits'') is a radio network begun in the spring of 2004. Originally distributed by ABC Radio Networks via satellite, the service plays a hybrid ol ...
, after
WPBG
WPBG (93.3 FM) is a radio station with a classic hits format, and is licensed for Peoria, Illinois. The station was formerly known as 93.3 WMBD-FM, as well as KZ-93 (WKZW) through 1994, "Mix 93.3" prior to its conversion to oldies/classic ...
shifted to
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 ...
.
Sign-off and restart
On October 2, 2008, WPMJ, along with
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 ...
1350
WOAM
WOAM (1350 AM) is a Peoria, Illinois radio station that broadcasts an adult standards/MOR format.
History
The station signed on as WEEK April 27, 1947. Peoria's TV channel 25 was started by the owners of 1350, and to this day channel 25 retain ...
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...
, went
dark
Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown.
Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low lum ...
after owner Kelly Communications could not find a buyer or investor for the stations. Company owner Bob Kelly said he was still seeking funding and expected the stations to be off the air for "probably" 6 to 12 months.
The stations returned to the air just short of a year later, in September 2009.
A month later, Kelly sold WPMJ for $620,000 and applied to assign the WPMJ license by itself to CRCI, L.L.C., controlled by Allen C. Drake of
El Paso, Illinois
El Paso is a city in Woodford and McLean counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 2,810 at the 2010 census. The Woodford County portion of El Paso is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.
El Paso is a smal ...
,
a project coordinator for Catholic radio station
WSOG
WSOG is an FM broadcasting station on 88.1 MHz at Spring Valley, Illinois. It broadcasts Catholic radio programs, primarily EWTN Radio supplemented with local programs. It is licensed to Spirit Education Association, Inc. and has studios at St ...
in
Spring Valley, Illinois
Spring Valley is a city situated on the Illinois River in Bureau County, Illinois, United States. The population was 5,582 at the 2020 census, up from 5,558 in 2010. It is part of the Ottawa Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Geography
Spring Vall ...
, that itself controls numerous other stations in Central Illinois. 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 jurisdiction ...
approved the assignment on November 12, 2009 and the transfer was completed on 4 January 2011.
The station's
Spring Bay tower collapsed on February 13, 2011, during a blizzard; the station went
silent and received
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 operate from an existing tower near the former
Illinois Route 174
Illinois Route 174 (IL 174) was a state highway in Illinois from 1924 to 1983. The route connected IL 88 (now IL 40) and IL 91 through the community of Alta. IL 174 was established in 1924 as part of the later series of Sta ...
in northwest
Peoria.
Covenant Network
On March 3, 2021, CRCI, L.L.C., filed to donate WPMJ to the
Covenant Network
The Covenant Network is a network of Catholic radio stations in the Midwestern United States. Covenant maintains 15 full-power radio stations and a further 25 dependent translators in Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma. ...
of
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, which operates a network of Catholic radio stations.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wpmj
Catholic radio stations
Chillicothe, Illinois
PMJ
PMJ
Radio stations established in 1977
Woodford County, Illinois