WJLS-FM

WJLS-FM (99.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Beckley, West Virginia, serving Southeastern West Virginia and Southwestern Virginia with a country music format. The station, which utilized the call letters WBKW from 1957 to 1990, was the second FM radio station to go on the air in West Virginia, and is the oldest to still exist. Since February 2013, it and its sister AM station have been owned by WVRC Media, which purchased them from First Media Radio, LLC.

WJLS-FM
Broadcast area
  • Southeastern West Virginia
  • Southwestern Virginia
Frequency99.5 MHz
Branding99-5 WJLS: The Big Dawg
Programming
Language(s)English
FormatCountry music
AffiliationsWest Virginia MetroNews
Ownership
Owner
  • WVRC Media
  • (West Virginia Radio Company of Raleigh, LLC)
WJLS
History
First air date
February 1947 (1947-02)
Call sign meaning
Taken from WJLS (AM)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID52336
ClassB
ERP34,000 watts
HAAT320 meters (1,050 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
37°35′23.0″N 81°6′51.0″W
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen Live
Websitewjls.com

History

The AM station was founded in Beckley in 1939 by Joe L. Smith Jr. During World War II it became the smallest CBS affiliate in the country.[2] The FM station launched as WBKW, a 4:00 pm–midnight music station, in late 1957.[3] Both were purchased in the mid-2010s by the West Virginia Radio Corporation.[2] In 2016, WJLS moved from its original building in Beckley to occupy a floor in a building across the street.[4]

References
  1. "Facility Technical Data for WJLS-FM". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. Josephine Mendez (March 9, 2019). "Celebrating eight decades on the airwaves". The Register-Herald. Beckley, West Virginia. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  3. "WBKW (FM) on Air With Music" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 11, 1957. p. 87.
  4. Cody Neff (January 22, 2016). "WJLS Radio moves across the street to Bickey and Bair Building". The Register-Herald. Retrieved March 2, 2022.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.