WJKV (90.9 MHz) is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

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 ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which th ...

. It is owned by the

Educational Media Foundation Educational Media Foundation (formerly EMF Broadcasting, abbreviated EMF) is an American nonprofit Christian media ministry based in Franklin, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. EMF is the parent company of K-LOVE and Air1—the world's largest ...

(EMF) and airs the national " K-Love"

Christian contemporary music Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...

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 was compelle ...

. WJKV broadcasts from a tower off Hogan Road in Jacksonville. In addition, programming on the station is also heard on two translator stations: W208AV 89.5 MHz, San Jose (a neighborhood in Jacksonville), and W281AM 104.1 MHz, Macclenny. WJKV has been observed with HD1, HD2 ("Air 1") and HD3 services in December 2018.

History

On February 8, 1973, the station signed on as WFAM, at 91.1 MHz. It was owned by Jones College. WFAM had a different radio format for each part of the day. In the morning it played

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" al ...

, afternoons it was

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 "cont ...

and in the evening it was Jacksonville's only

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

station. The students staffed the station as part of their classes in broadcasting. In the 1980s, the station moved its frequency to 90.9, and also got a boost in power and coverage area. In 1986, after

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, ...

station 96.1 WKTZ-FM switched to

soft 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, quiet sto ...

WLSC (now

WEJZ WEJZ (96.1 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Jacksonville, Florida. It is owned by Renda Broadcasting and airs a mainstream adult contemporary radio format. WEJZ is the Jacksonville affiliate for the syndicated Delilah and J ...

), Jones College decided to acquire the intellectual property of WKTZ-FM and 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 ass ...

. The new 90.9 WKTZ-FM would continue playing its soft, instrumental music, but as a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station. As one of the last remaining beautiful music stations, WKTZ-FM had a loyal and devoted audience, which grew nationally after the advent of streaming via the internet on its website. Its AM counterpart, 1220 WKTZ, was also acquired by Jones College. It carried a syndicated adult standards format. Facing declining broadcast ratings and the aging of its audience (83 percent of their listeners were over age 55), the stations' licenses were sold to religious broadcaster EMF for $3.375 million. EMF announced plans to re-launch the stations with Christian formats. At 3:30 PM on November 6, 2014, both 90.9 FM and 1220 AM went dark, however the online stream of 90.9's former programming continued under the branding "Jones College Radio". A week later, WKTZ-FM and WKTZ returned to air as members of EMF's K-Love network. On July 21, 2015, WKTZ-FM changed its call letters to WJKV. In response to the sale, public radio station

WJCT-FM WJCT-FM (89.9 MHz) is a public radio station in Jacksonville, Florida. Owned by WJCT, Inc., it is an NPR member station. It shares studios with its sister PBS station WJCT (channel 7) on Festival Park Avenue, near TIAA Bank Field in Downtown Jac ...

added an easy listening format to one of its

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...

subchannels, in an effort to placate WKTZ's former audience.Edgier easy listening returns to the air on Jacksonville's WJCT-FM's HD3 station
''

The Florida Times-Union ''The Florida Times-Union'' is a daily newspaper in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Widely known as the oldest newspaper in the state, it began publication as the ''Florida Union'' in 1864. Its current incarnation started in 1883, when th ...

'', April 1, 2015. EMF does not usually operate AM stations; as such, AM 1220 WKTZ was spun off to the

American Family Association The American Family Association (AFA) is a Christian fundamentalist 501(c)(3) organization based in the United States.

which airs its national

Christian 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 program ...

format on the station.

Translators

References

External links

* {{Religious Radio Stations in Florida JKV K-Love radio stations Educational Media Foundation radio stations 1973 establishments in Florida Radio stations established in 1973 JKV