WJAM (1340 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 A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

to serve

Selma, Alabama Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, in the Black Belt region of south central Alabama and extending to the west. Located on the banks of the Alabama River, the city has a population of 17,971 as of the 2020 census. Abo ...

, United States. Originally launched in 1946, the station is currently owned by Scott Communications, Inc., and the WJAM

broadcast license A broadcast license is a type of spectrum license granting the licensee permission to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses generally include restrictions, which vary f ...

is held by Scott Communications, Inc.

Programming

WJAM broadcasts an

urban adult 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 ...

music format. Notable syndicated weeknight talk programming once included ''

Larry King Live ''Larry King Live'' was an American television talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was the channel's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Mainly aired from CNN's Los Angeles ...

'' and ''

The Jim Bohannon Show James Everett Bohannon (January 7, 1944 – November 12, 2022) was an American broadcaster who worked in both television and radio. He is best known for hosting the nationally syndicated late night radio talk show ''The Jim Bohannon Show'' or ...

''. WJAM has broadcast Sunday morning services of the First Presbyterian Church of Selma for more than 40 years.

History

This station first began regular broadcast operations on December 19, 1946, as a full-time 250

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 ...

station licensed to serve

. Original owner G.W. Covington Jr. had the station assigned the

call letters 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 ...

WGWC after his own initials. Covington died in 1949 and his estate transferred the license for WGWC to Dallas Broadcasters Inc., owned by Oscar Covington. Judge W.E. Farrar acquired Dallas Broadcasters Inc. on October 10, 1958. This ownership change would prove short-lived as on August 1, 1961, WGWC was acquired by Robert J. Martin. In 1964 the station increased the strength of its daytime signal to 1,000 watts while maintaining a 250 watt nighttime signal. The station took on a new

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 ass ...

in 1968 with a change to WAMA. The newly renamed WAMA changed hands again on February 1, 1969, when it was acquired by the Vogel-Hendrix Corporation. In 1976 WAMA hit on hard times due to bad management and went off the air. The license was deleted. In 1977, a new station at 1340 was applied for by Thomas E. Alexander's Alexander Broadcasting Co., Inc. Now a

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 ...

to WALX, the station was assigned new call letters WMRK by 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 jurisdicti ...

. WMRK went on the air in the spring of 1978 from the transmitter site and tower which had been used by WAMA. All new transmission equipment was used to put the station back on the air. At the same time a new studio/control room was built for WALX, WMRK inherited the old WALX studio/control room. After the death of Thomas E. Alexander in April 1989, control of Alexander Broadcasting Co., Inc., was passed by his estate to his widow, Betty Hunt Alexander. The transfer was approved by the FCC on June 9, 1989, and the transaction was completed on June 20, 1989. Betty Alexander hosted the morning show on WMRK from the time her husband acquired the station in 1975 until her death in November 2004. In March 2005, the estate of Betty Alexander filed with the FCC to take control of Alexander Broadcasting Co., Inc. The transfer of control was approved by the FCC on April 20, 2005, and completed on April 26, 2005. In November 2005, the estate applied to transfer control of the company to Paul Scott Alexander, a son of Betty Alexander. The transfer was approved by the FCC on December 30, 2005, and completed on January 3, 2006. In January 2006, Alexander Broadcasting Co., Inc., agreed to transfer the broadcast license for WMRK to Scott Communications, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on January 27, 2006, and the transaction was consummated on January 28, 2006. On March 23, 2009, WMRK swapped callsigns with FM

WJAM-FM to become WJAM and WMRK-FM, respectively. On March 27, 2009 WJAM changed their format from talk to urban adult contemporary.

References

External links

WJAM 96.3 & 1340 Facebook
{{Montgomery Radio JAM Radio stations established in 1946 Urban adult contemporary radio stations in the United States Dallas County, Alabama 1946 establishments in Alabama