WQJM (1230 AM) 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 to

Pineville, Kentucky Pineville () is a home rule-class city in Bell County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 1,732 as of the 2010 census. It is located on a small strip of land between the Cumberland River and Pine Mountain ...

, and serving the greater Bell County community. WQJM broadcasts with a full-time signal of 1,000

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 and on translator 98.1 W251CV.

History

WQJM signed on on March 15, 1957 as WMLF, with the mission of serving the Pineville community with local news and information. The station changed its call sign to WANO in 1966. On October 16, 2023, WANO changed its call sign to WQJM to launch a brand new format and branding, “JAMZ 98”. The format is a mixture of today’s hot hits, R&B, and throwbacks from the '70s, '80s and '90s.

Ownership

South Bevins was the original licensee of WQJM, and owned the station until approximately 1995, when the station was purchased by Warren Pursifull's Cumberland Media Group. Warren had begun working at the then-WANO as a teenager, leaving after his acquisition of Countrywide Broadcasters, Inc's WFXY/ Middlesboro in November 1993. In late 2005, both WANO and WFXY were acquired by Joshua Wilkey, a

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

businessman who moved to Bell County to run the stations. WQJM's studios are co-located with WFXY at 2131 Cumberland Avenue in Middlesboro. WQJM's transmission facilities are located on Four Mile Road just outside the corporate limits of Pineville.

2007: fire

Just after celebrating 50 years on the air, arsonists set fire to WANO's broadcasting facilities on the night of March 18, 2007. The result was a complete loss of the station's broadcasting equipment, leaving WANO off the air. Immediately, rebuilding efforts began, as the community rallied around the station. In record time, the station was back on the air, signing back on little more than a month later on April 20. The resulting rebuild made WANO state-of-the-art in every way, for the first time since 1957.

2009: new owner

In March 2009 Cumberland Omnimedia LLC. sold WANO to Penelope, Inc. Heading up the media division of the company will be Frank Smith, VP/GM of Penelope, Inc. The FCC granted new ownership rights or assignment to Penelope, Inc. on October 22, 2009.

2023: call sign

WANO changed to WQJM, switching from a country format to hot AC, R&B, plus throwbacks.

Programming

The station broadcasts a

rhythmic adult contemporary Rhythmic adult contemporary, often abbreviated as rhythmic AC or RAC, is an adult contemporary radio format. The format focuses primarily on rhythmic hits aimed towards an adult audience, often resembling a mixture of the classic hits and hot adult ...

format, featuring hit music and R&B oldies, as well as local newscasts and obituaries three times per day. The station streams audio content 24/7 at jamz981.com

External links

* * Pineville, Kentucky QJM Radio stations established in 1957 1957 establishments in Kentucky Rhythmic adult contemporary radio stations {{Kentucky-radio-station-stub