WJMK-FM

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WJMK
Broadcast area	Chicago, Illinois
Branding	104.3 Jack FM
Slogan	playing what we want
First air date	1961
Frequency	104.3 (MHz)
Format	WJMK: Adult Hits WJMK-HD2: Oldies
ERP	4,100 watts
Class	B
Owner	CBS Radio
Website	www.iknowjack.com

WJMK (104.3 FM) is a rock-leaning adult hits radio station in Chicago, Illinois. The station is known as Jack FM. The station adopted this format on June 3, 2005 after spending 21 years as an oldies station. WJMK is a CBS radio station with CBS and Viacom as parent companies.

[edit] History

The station signed on in 1961 as WJJD-FM, co-owned with WJJD by Plough Broadcasting. Originally it simulcast WJJD during the AM station's operating hours, but changes in FCC rules eventually led to a separate format for the FM. By 1977 the station was known as WJEZ and had a "beautiful country" format, playing instrumental background music with country overtones. This was not a ratings success and by 1980 WJEZ had a more conventional country format. In the early 1980s 99.5 FM took a country format. At that point WJJD 1160 adopted a pop standards format and became known as "Music Of Your Life". WJEZ remained country. In 1983 Infinity would buy WJJD and WJEZ 104.3.

In 1984 WJEZ became "Magic 104.3" WJMK and began playing an oldies format. Initially it was similar to what RKO's WFYR was playing except WJMK played more '50s and early '60s music. WJMK initially also played '70s and '80s music along with a new song every hour. By 1986 though the current product was dropped and the '80s songs were gone by 1987 as well as '70s songs past 1972.

The station focused heavily on 1964-1969 with a good amount of '50s music as well. Into the 1990s they only played a '70s song every 90 minutes and it was an early '70s song with a couple exceptions. In 1992 Infinity would buy 99.5 WUSN the country station. In 1996 Infinity was sold to CBS and then CBS/Infinity owned several AM stations in addition to WJMK 104.3 and WUSN 99.5. CBS also had WCKG 105.9, then a classic rock station, WYSY 107.9, a '70s oldies station, WBBM, a rhythmic/CHR station on 96.3, and AAA WXRT 93.1. As a result Infinity/CBS had to sell '70s oldies station 107.9 to Spanish Broadcasting and that station became WLEY with a Mexican music format.

This left CBS/Infinity with its limit of 8 stations; 5 FM and 3 AM stations. WJMK dropped the "Magic 104.3" by 1998. At that point they began to mix in more '70s music to the format cutting off at about 1975 and playing 2 or 3 '70s oldies per hour while still playing 2 or 3 '50s an hour as well as a total of 4 or 5 pre-1964 oldies an hour.

In 1999 with the competition of WUBT, Jammin 103.5, WJMK added a few disco songs and played 3 or 4 '70s songs per hour and playing songs throughout the decade from 1970-1979 in the mix. They also added several dozen 80s songs playing about one every 2 hours. They cut the pre-1964 songs to about 4 an hour with one to two '50s songs per hour still being played. They also began a '70s and '80s rock show on Saturday evenings replacing a more traditional '50s and '60s oldies show.

Other than that the station stayed the course with oldies well past the demise of Jammin 103.5. In 2001 they further cut back on the pre-1964 oldies playing down to one to two per hour and very few 50s songs. By 2003 the pre-1964 oldies were just about eliminated and WJMK now focused on 1964 to 1979 oldies playing just under 50% '60s and just under 50% '70s oldies with 2 or 3% of the music pre-1964 or post-1979. Ratings stayed decent but nothing great. The amount of songs was also trimmed over the years since 1999.

Finally Infinity opted to put an adult hits format on stations in many markets. They dropped oldies on WQSR Baltimore and classic rock from KCBS FM Los Angeles. The format was known as "Jack FM". On June 3, 2005 at 5 PM an hour after flipping long-time oldies station WCBS FM New York, WJMK Oldies 104.3 became Jack FM.

Jack FM has does not have any local personalitites in Chicago. Jack FM is a format featuring mostly rock songs that appeal to adults. Jack plays about 2,000 songs. They play about an equal balance of '70s, '80s, and '90s rock songs with some upbeat rhythmic, dance and R&B songs mixed in. They also play some recent hits from the past few years and a couple current hits. They also mix a handful of uptempo late '60s songs. Jack has elements of classic rock, Hot AC, modern rock, and '70s and '80s gold making up the format. The variety of the music makes it quite unique, though rock is the main force driving the format. However, the format has not yet paid off in Arbitron ratings, as the station's ratings dropped significantly since the switch from oldies.

While "Jack FM" is on the analog FM station on 104.3, the old format of '60s and '70s hits airs on a digital subchannel in which can only be received with an HD FM radio which is just becoming available now.

The former WJMK airstaff has been taken off air as of July 13, 2006 as a result of CBS radio cutting costs at their stations across the country, as many as 115 positions. The oldies format will continue streaming online and on HD2 DJ-less along with Jack FM also, DJ-less. Oldies also returned to analog FM radio on 94.7 WZZN owned by ABC.

[edit] WJMK and Dick Biondi

For the years as Oldies 104.3 and Magic 104.3, Radio Hall of Famer Dick Biondi aired his music show 6 nights a week on the station.

In 2006, Dick Biondi was released from WJMK-HD2 (The station's HD Oldies channel) by CBS Radio.

Biondi was the first DJ to play The Beatles.

In late 2006, Biondi returned to Chicago airwaves. This time on WZZN.

[edit] External links

• 104.3 Jack FM Website
• Website for the HD2 oldies format
• Variety Hits Station Page