WZMJ (93.1

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 ...

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to Batesburg, South Carolina and serving the Columbia metropolitan area. It 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 ...

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, ...

and is owned by the Midlands Media Group, LLC. WZMJ calls itself "93.1 The Lake" and features soft to mid-tempo hits of the 1970s, 80s and 90s. The

radio studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...

s and offices are on Gervais Street in Columbia. WZMJ has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would hav ...

(ERP) of 2,100

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s. The

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is on Perry Taylor Road off Two Notch Road in

Gilbert, South Carolina Gilbert is a town in Lexington County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 569 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Columbia, South Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The David Jefferson Griffith House and Music Hall ...

History

WBLR-FM and WKWQ-FM

On August 5, 1965, the station

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the air as WBLR-FM, the sister station to

WBLR BLR may refer to: * Base Lending Rate, in banking * Bad Lip Reading, a YouTube comedy channel * Bala Lake Railway, in North Wales * Belarus, whose ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code is BLR * BLR, IATA code for Kempegowda International Airport in Bangalore, I ...

1430 AM. At the time, WBLR-FM was located on 92.1 FM. The two stations

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...

a middle of the road (MOR) format of adult music with local news and information. In 1979, in order to accommodate a class/power increase for WTWE—

Manning Manning (a.k.a. Mannion, Manning) is a family name. Origin and meaning Manning is from an old Norse word — manningi — meaning a brave or valiant man; and one of the first forms of the name was Mannin; another cartography was Mannyg ...

, WWBD—

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castle. C ...

was moved from 92.7 to 92.1, which required WBLR-FM to move from 92.1 to 95.3. WBLR-FM switched its

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 ...

to WKWQ-FM when it moved, playing

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

. It flipped to

album rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. Album-orient ...

as "K-95 Rock" in 1986 and started to target nearby Columbia. In 1988, the station changed again to

urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...

as "Hot 95" in an attempt to compete with urban powerhouse 101.3

WWDM WWDM (101.3 FM) is an urban adult contemporary radio station licensed to Sumter, South Carolina and serves the Columbia, South Carolina market. The Alpha Media outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to broadcast with a ...

. But WWDM was more powerful and Hot 95 failed to attract many listeners. During this period, the

broadcasting tower Broadcasting Tower is a university building in Broadcasting Place in Woodhouse Lane, Leeds, England. Adjacent to other university buildings, it forms part of Leeds Beckett University; it houses the Faculty of Arts, Environment and Technology, wh ...

was moved closer to Columbia.

Move to 93.1

WKWQ moved its frequency from 95.3 to 93.1 in early 1991. The station was re-launched as K-93, but was handicapped by underfunded ownership. The station eventually went to satellite programming using

Satellite Music Network Satellite Music Network was the first satellite delivered network to provide complete live 24-hour-a-day music programming to local stations, under several different formats. History Affiliate stations, mostly in small and medium markets, co ...

's "The Touch"

Adult Urban Contemporary Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music on ...

format and was paired 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 ...

103.9 WKSO (now known as

WHXT WHXT (103.9 FM broadcasting, FM) is a mainstream urban radio station licensed to Orangeburg, South Carolina and serves the Columbia, South Carolina market. The Alpha Media outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to broadc ...

) located in Orangeburg. This arrangement lasted until 1999 when WKWQ broke off from the simulcast with WKSO and flipped to

Urban Oldies Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music on ...

as "Majik 93.1." It switched its call letters to WZMJ to echo the "Majik" moniker. Unfortunately, Majic 93.1 never took off due to strong competition from

Jammin' Oldies Rhythmic oldies is a radio format that concentrates on the rhythmic, R&B, disco, or dance genres of music. Playlists can span from the 1960s through the 2000s and, depending on market conditions, may be designed for African-American or Hispanic ...

outlet WSCQ (now known as

WXBT WXBT (100.1 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to West Columbia, South Carolina and serving the Columbia metropolitan area. It airs an urban contemporary radio format, branded as "100.1 The Beat", and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. WXBT ...

), which launched a few months later. In 2000, the format was changed to

Beach Music Beach music, also known as Carolina beach music, and to a lesser extent, Beach pop, is a regional genre of music in the United States which developed from rock/ R&B and pop music of the 1950s and 1960s. Beach music is most closely associate ...

. WZMJ and co-owned urban contemporary outlet WHXT were sold in 2003 to

Inner City Broadcasting The Inner City Broadcasting Corporation ("ICBC") was an American media company based in New York City. It was one of the first broadcasting companies wholly owned by African-Americans. History Inner City was founded in 1970 by a group of prominen ...

, a large black-owned company with stations in several large and medium sized markets, primarily broadcasting to the local

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

community. Inner City already owned the market's #1 urban station, 101.3 WWDM.

93.1 The Hound

Shortly after the sale, the station changed format to Young Country as "93.1 The Hound." It was unusual for Inner City to own a country station. But 93.1 The Hound was designed as a flanker to help sister station WWDM stay #1, ahead of

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

's country outlet

WCOS-FM WCOS-FM (97.5 FM) is a commercial radio station in Columbia, South Carolina. It airs a country music radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The station goes by the name 97-5 WCOS and its current slogan is "Today's Best Country and Your ...

. Never the less, 93.1 The Hound managed to gain a small audience. However, in 2005, after the sign-on of

Double O Radio Double O Radio was a privately held media corporation with corporate headquarters in Charleston, South Carolina. At its peak, Double O Radio owned 28 radio stations in the United States. On August 8, 2011, Double O announced it would merge with T ...

's New Country outlet WWNU, sister AM's WOIC

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". ...

format moved to WZMJ, while WOIC was re-launched as an

Air America Radio Air America (formerly Air America Radio and Air America Media) was an radio in the United States, American radio network specializing in progressive talk radio. It was on the air from March 2004 to January 2010. The network was founded as a left ...

progressive talk Progressive talk radio is a talk radio format devoted to expressing left-leaning, liberal or progressive viewpoints of news and issues as opposed to conservative talk radio. In the United States, the format has included syndicated and independe ...

outlet.

The Lake

On July 27, 2012, Lake Murray Communications, LLC took ownership of the station from bankrupted ICBC Broadcast Holdings and changed it to its current format, branded as "Z93 The Lake". The music format was created by Mike Willis, a 40-year radio veteran, station owner & President/CEO of Lake Murray Communications, LLC. According to Willis, "The format is a product of my early broadcasting and radio station influences, such as

WBBQ WBBQ-FM (104.3 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station in Augusta, Georgia. It carries an adult contemporary radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. For much of November and December, WBBQ-FM switches to Christmas music. The radio stu ...

Augusta, Georgia;

WKZQ WKZQ-FM (96.1 FM broadcasting, FM, "96-1 KZQ") is an Alternative Rock radio station licensed to Forestbrook, South Carolina and serves the Grand Strand area. The station is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to broadcast at 9 ...

Myrtle Beach; WLS Chicago; WABC &

WNBC WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey–licensed Telemundo station WN ...

NYC;

WLAC WLAC (1510 AM) – branded ''Talkradio 98.3 & 1510'' – is a commercial talk radio radio station licensed to serve Nashville, Tennessee. Owned by iHeartMedia, the station covers the Nashville metropolitan area. The WLAC studios are located i ...

Nashville; and

WOWO WOWO (1190 AM) – branded News/Talk WOWO 1190 AM 107.5 FM – is a commercial talk radio station licensed to Fort Wayne, Indiana, serving primarily the Fort Wayne metropolitan area. Currently owned by Federated Media via licensee Pathfinder ...

Ft. Wayne, Indiana." 93.1 WZMJ airs local

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

and basketball from schools around

Lexington County Lexington County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 293,991, and the 2021 population estimate was 300,137. Its county seat and largest town is Lexington. The county was chartered ...

and Lake Murray. Effective November 1, 2018, Midlands Media Group acquired WZMJ from Lake Murray Communications for $450,000. The station later modified its moniker to "93.1 The Lake."

References

External links

93.1 The Lake Facebook
* {{coord, 33.901, N, 81.407, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title ZMJ Radio stations established in 1965 1965 establishments in South Carolina Classic hits radio stations in the United States