WJMH
| Broadcast area | Reidsville/Winston-Salem/Greensboro, North Carolina |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 102.1 (MHz) |
| Branding | "102 JAMZ" |
| Programming | |
| Format | Urban Contemporary |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Entercom Communications |
| History | |
First air date | 1989 |
Call sign meaning | none... an approximation of JAMZ |
| Technical information | |
| ERP | 100,000 watts |
| Links | |
| Website | http://www.102jamz.com/ |
WJMH is an Entercom-owned Urban outlet serving the Piedmont Triad region. It broadcasts at 102.1 MHz and is licensed to Reidsville, North Carolina.
History
The radio station now known as 102 JAMZ was originally located in Reidsville, North Carolina, a simulcast of sister station WREV (1220 AM). Owner George Beasley, a former high school principal, applied for the FM license primarily to be able to provide high school football coverage to Reidsville listeners, as WREV (AM) was not allowed to remain on the air after sunset. Later, the simulcast ended and 102.1 became a Christian radio station, known as WWMO.
Late in 1986, the Beasleys began construction of a new taller tower, near the Guilford/Rockingham county line and moved the facility to new studios in Greensboro. The new "BIG 102" took the WBIG call letters, recently abandoned by Greensboro's oldest radio station, (an AM facility that "went dark" [turning in its license to the FCC]). The new FM hired some of WBIG-AM's personalities and debuted as a Country music station in February, 1987. At first, the ratings appeared promising, but settled back over time. Through the four ratings periods in 1988, the 12+ Arbitron "shares" (a measure of the percentage of listeners aged 12 and older) for WBIG were 4.9, 5.0, 4.4 and 3.8. Through that same time, competitor WTQR achieved shares of 18.6, 17.5, 18.1 and 16.8.
On January 1, 1989, 102.1 abandoned the Country battle and switched to a new format, becoming WJMH "102 JAMZ" and targeting the Greensboro-High Point-Winston Salem area as a Rhythmic station. 102 JAMZ immediately achieved a 12+ Arbitron share of 7.7, easily besting rival Power 97 (WQMG)'s 4.1. Although 102 JAMZ consistently outranked Power 97 in the ratings, the battle continued until September, 1996, when WQMG switched to a more adult Black-targeted format, Urban AC.
102 JAMZ was one of the first radio stations to include Rap as a major part of its musical composition and to be targeted to 18-24 year old African-Americans ("Urban", (Black-targeted) stations of the time typically attempted to reach the broad population, and generally concentrated their efforts on 25-54 year old listeners). As a result of this youth focus, 102 JAMZ was also successful with younger listeners across the spectrum (White, Hispanic, etc.). The radio station built its efforts around playing the most popular music with college-aged listeners, hiring "personalities" who involved themselves with the listeners' lifestyles, regularly conducting interactive, "big money" contests and being "on the streets", among the listeners on a daily basis.
Some of the more popular personalities over the years have included Busta Brown, now with 97.1 QMG (WQMG), The Bushman, now with FM 98 (WJLB) in Detroit, Mad Hatta, morning personality at Houston's 97.9 The Box (KBXX), Kendall B, morning co-host at Denver's KS 107.5 (KQKS), Mary K, Assistant Program Director of 95.7 JAMZ (WBHJ) in Birmingham and Big Lip Bandit, now in mornings at 99 JAMZ (WEDR), Miami. Other popular names have included The Jammer, Mic Foxx and Dr. Michael Lynn.
Today, the 102 JAMZ starting lineup includes Kyle Santillian, Afrika, Capital J and B-Daht in the mornings (from 6 to 10 AM), Delyte from 10 AM to 3 PM, Big Tap Money from 3 to 7 PM, Waleed Coyote from 7 PM to midnight and Big Mo, midnight to 6 AM. The station still dominates the ratings, with a musical mix heavily focused on Hip-Hop and R&B, and is viewed by the broadcasting industry as an Urban Contemporary station.
102 JAMZ has been operated by four different owners through its years of operation, originally by Beasley Broadcasting, in 1996 by Max Media, in 1998 by Sinclair Broadcasting and, since late 1999, by present owner Entercom.
External link