WZMJ

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WZMJ
City of license Batesburg, South Carolina
Broadcast area South Carolina
Branding "ESPN Radio 93.1"
First air date 1991
Frequency 93.1 (MHz)
Format ESPN Radio
ERP 3,000 watts
Class A
Callsign meaning "Majic" (a previous station's moniker)
Owner Inner City Broadcasting
Website http://www.espncolumbia.com

WZMJ is known as "ESPN Radio 93.1" and is a affiliate of ESPN Radio. The station is owned by Inner City Broadcasting and transmits on 93.1 FM with a ERP of 3kw.


[edit] Station History

The station originally signed on in the early 80's on 95.3 FM as WKWQ and was licensed to the towns of Batesburg-Leesville, South Carolina. In the beginning it had a Country format, but changed to Album Rock as "K-95 Rock" in 1986 and started to target nearby Columbia. However, it did not have an adequate signal to compete with the others stations in town. In 1988, the station changed again to Urban Contemporary as "Hot 95" in an attempt to compete with Urban powerhouse WWDM, but failed. During this period, the tower was moved closer to Columbia, but the signal problems remained.

WKWQ moved from 95.3 to 93.1 in early 1991. The station was re-launched as K-93, but was still handicapped by a smaller signal as well as underfunded ownership. The station eventually went to satellite programing using SMN's The Touch" Adult Urban Contemporary format and was paired with sister station WKSO (now known as WHXT) located in Orangeburg, South Carolina.

This arrangement lasted until 1999 when WKWQ broke off from the simulcast with WKSO and flipped to Urban Oldies as Majik 93.1, taking the new call letters of WZMJ. Unfortunately, Majic 93.1 never took off due to strong competition from Jammin' Oldies outlet WSCQ (now known as WXBT), which launched a month after Majic 93.1 sign on. The station, as well as sister Urban Contemporary outlet, WHXT was sold in 2003 to Inner City Broadcasting.

Shortly after the sale, the station changed format to a Young Country music as 93.1 The Hound. Although it was designed as a flanker to protect sister station WWDM from Clear Channel Communications's Country outlet WCOS-FM from being #1 in the ratings, 93.1 The Hound managed to gain a small audience. However, in 2005, after the sign-on of Double O Radio's New Country outlet WWNU, the station moved sister AM's WOIC ESPN Radio format to WZMJ, while WOIC was re-launched as a Air America Radio outlet.

[edit] External Links

Radio stations in the Columbia, South Carolina market (Arbitron #91)

(FM) WRJA 88.1 | WYFV 88.5 | WMHK 89.7 | WUSC 90.5 | WLTR 91.3 | WWNU 92.1 | WZMJ 93.1 | WARQ 93.5 | WIGL 93.9 | WWNQ 94.3 | WFMV 95.3 | WLTY 96.7 | WCOS-FM 97.5 | WLXC 98.5 | WXRY-LP 99.3 | WXBT 100.1 | WWDM 101.3 | WMFX 102.3 | WOMG 103.1 | WHXT 103.9 | WNOK 104.7 | WTCB 106.7

(AM) WVOC 560 | WGCV 620 | WCEO 840 | WBAJ 890 | WQVA 1170 | WOIC 1230 | WISW 1320 | WCOS 1400

South Carolina Radio Markets

Charleston (FM) (AM) | Columbia | Florence | Greenville-Spartanburg (FM) (AM) | Hilton Head | Myrtle Beach | Rock Hill (FM) (AM)

See also: List of radio stations in South Carolina and List of United States radio markets