WZMJ
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| WZMJ | |
| City of license | Batesburg, South Carolina |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | South Carolina |
| Branding | "ESPN Radio 93.1" |
| Frequency | 93.1 (MHz) |
| First air date | August 5th, 1965 |
| Format | ESPN Radio |
| ERP | 3,000 watts |
| Class | A |
| Callsign meaning | "Majic" (the station's previous moniker) |
| Owner | Inner City Broadcasting |
| Sister stations | WARQ, WHXT, WZMJ, WMFX, WOIC, WWDM |
| Website | http://www.espncolumbia.com |
WZMJ is known as "ESPN Radio 93.1" and is an 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
WBLR-FM signed on August 5th, 1965 as the sister station to WBLR 1430 AM, located in Batesburg-Leesville. At the time, WBLR-FM was located on 92.1 FM and had featured a Middle of the road (MOR) format.
In the early 80's, in order to accommodate a class/power increase for WTWE/Manning, WWBD/Bamberg was moved from 92.7 to 92.1, which required WBLR-FM to move from 92.1 to 95.3. As a result, WBLR-FM became WKWQ when it moved.
In the beginning WKWQ had featured 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 programming using SMN's "The Touch" Adult Urban Contemporary format and was paired with sister station WKSO (now known as WHXT) located in Orangeburg.
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 a weak signal as well as strong competition from Jammin' Oldies outlet WSCQ (now known as WXBT), which launched a few months later. In 2000, the format was changed to Beach Music.
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 Young Country 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
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