| City of license | Reidsville, North Carolina |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greensboro / Winston-Salem / High Point / Burlington, North Carolina, with signal coverage west to Boone, east to South Boston, VA, north to Roanoke, VA and south to Albemarle |
| Branding | "102 JAMZ" |
| Slogan | *The* Hip Hop Station |
| Frequency | 102.1 (MHz) |
| First air date | 1989 |
| Format | Mainstream Urban |
| ERP | 100,000 watts |
| HAAT | 367 meters |
| Class | C0 |
| Facility ID | 40754 |
| Callsign meaning | none... an approximation of JAMZ |
| Owner | Entercom |
| Sister stations | WPAW, WQMG-FM, WSMW |
| Webcast | 102jamz webstream |
| Website | 102jamz.com |
WJMH is an Entercom-owned mainstream urban FM radio station serving the Piedmont Triad region. It broadcasts at 102.1 MHz with 100,000 watts of power and is licensed to serve Reidsville, North Carolina.
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The radio station now known as 102 JAMZ was originally located in Reidsville, North Carolina, a simulcast of sister station WREV (1220 AM). In 1947, William Manton Oliver, Sr., at that time owner of the local newspaper (The Reidsville Review), applied to the FCC for a permit to construct an FM radio station under the AM's corporate name, Reidsville Broadcasting Company, Inc. After operating for a time under a Construction Permit, the station's license was granted September 6, 1948. At that time, FM was still new and somewhat experimental. Almost all radio listening was shared among the AM radio stations. Mr. Oliver's primary purpose for constructing the station was a desire to provide high school football coverage to Reidsville listeners, as WREV (AM) was not allowed to remain on the air after sunset. For almost twenty years, the same programming was carried on both WREV-AM and WREV-FM. The simulcast ended in 1966, when Oliver's son, William Manton Oliver, Jr. began to handle day to day operations and WREV-FM became a Christian radio station and assumed new call letters WWMO. On September 10, 1977, by chance the day of William Manton Oliver Sr.'s funeral, WREV-FM was sold to new owner George Beasley, a former high school principal.
Late in 1986, Beasley began construction of a new taller tower, near the Guilford/Rockingham county line and moved the facility to new studios in Greensboro, NC. The new "BIG 102" took the WBIG call letters, recently abandoned by Greensboro's oldest radio station, (an AM facility that "went dark" [voluntarily turning in its broadcasting license to the FCC and leaving the air permanently]). The new FM hired some of WBIG-AM's personalities and debuted as a country music station, late in March, 1987. It was at this point that the former Reidsville-only station first actively attempted to reach the Greensboro-Winston Salem-High Point metropolitan area.
The debut of "BIG 102" was preceded by a computerized countdown created by Dan Robins, who in 1994 was corporate product manager of Smart Computers and Software in Fayetteville, North Carolina[1].
WBIG's initial Arbitron ratings were fairly strong, but settled back over time. Through the four ratings "books" in 1988, the 12+ "shares" (a measure of the percentage of listeners aged 12 and older) 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. Billy Buck, a former WTQR DJ who later moved to WLVK and then WFMX, was nominated for Country Music Association Broadcast Personality of the Year in 1988[2].
On January 1, 1989, Beasley abandoned the Country battle, flipping the format to "Churban" and changing the station's call letters and name. WJMH "102 JAMZ" was consulted by Jerry Clifton, who specialized in multi-ethnic programming (in Miami, Detroit, Orlando, Dallas, Philadelphia and other markets). Under original Program Director Chris Bailey, 102 JAMZ showed a 12+ Arbitron share of 7.7 in their first ratings book, as compared to rival Power 97's 4.1.
Under Bailey, and 102 JAMZ' second PD, Brian Douglas, 102 JAMZ continued to outrank Power 97 in the 12+ ratings, but especially with Men and Women aged 18 to 34 and with teenaged listeners (Douglas joined 102 JAMZ in September, 1990 and remains Program Director to the present time). 102 JAMZ and Power 97 continued to compete head-on until September, 1996. At that time, new owner Max Media moved WQMG in a much more adult direction, as Black-targeted Urban Adult Contemporary 97.1 QMG and 102 JAMZ began working with Steve Smith Radio and Ratings Consultants (Smith had guided Hot 97 WQHT New York's transition from dance to a more Hip Hop and R&B mix as Hot 97's Program Director in 1993 and 1994).
From its inception, 102 JAMZ featured a strong percentage of Rap and, by 1992, was perhaps the first radio station to be targeted toward 18-24 year old African-Americans. "Urban", or Black-targeted stations of the time, typically attempted to reach a broader demographic, concentrating focus on the lucrative 25 to 54 year old market. Therefore, rap music was typically relegated to weekend mix shows, limited to airplay during the evenings only or, in many cases, not played at all.
The station achieved success with younger listeners across the spectrum (White, Hispanic, etc.), building on music for college-aged listeners, foreground "personalities", regular hip hop-oriented Mix Shows, interactive cash contests and activity "on the streets". Breaking lifestyle news and events in hip hop music are mentioned regularly, as well.
By 2009, after several years as a rhythmic contemporary (per Mediabase reports), the station finally moved to urban contemporary, while WMKS at the time moved to rhythmic-leaning contemporary hit radio.
102 JAMZ' annual summer concert happens each year in late June, featuring primarily hip hop artists. The station's debut summer show, SuperJam I, took place Friday night, June 20, 1997, at Greensboro Coliseum with an audience of 20,000 and featured Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Junior M.A.F.I.A., Lil' Kim, OutKast, Lost Boyz, SWV, Freak Nasty and others. Successive annual SuperJams have included artists such as Jay-Z, Ludacris, Diddy, T.I., T-Pain, Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz, Fat Joe, Young Jeezy, Ja Rule, Three 6 Mafia, Busta Rhymes, Bow Wow, Ying Yang Twins, LL Cool J, Nas, Crime Mob, Big Pun, Cam'Ron, Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh, Yung Joc, Dru Hill, Trick Daddy, Jermaine Dupree, Dem Franchize Boyz, Redman, Petey Pablo, 112, DJ Unk, Elephant Man, Trina, Lloyd, DJ Kool, Trillville, N.O.R.E., Chingy, Jagged Edge, Rich Boy, Da Brat, Ashanti, J-Kwon, Remy Ma and Omarion. SuperJam and the 102 JAMZ Birthday Bash, held each Jam-Uary, are hosted by the 102 JAMZ airstaff, with music provided by the 102 JAMZ Mix Squad.
Personalities over the years have included Busta Brown and Shilynne Cole, now with 97.1 QMG (WQMG). The Bushman, afternoons at FM 98 (WJLB) in Detroit. George "Apollo" Fetherbay, Owner - Apollo Productions. The Late,Tre Black. Sammy Mack, Mornings, WBHJ in Birmingham. Kendall B, morning co-host at Denver's KS 107.5 (KQKS). Mary K, Program Director and Mid Days of 95.7 JAMZ (WBHJ) in Birmingham. Big Lip Bandit, mornings at 99 JAMZ (WEDR), Miami. Other alumni have included The Jammer, Mic Foxx, Dr. Michael Lynn and former morning show co-host Amos Quick, now a Guilford County school board member, and host of 102 JAMZ' Sunday morning talk show.
Today, 102 JAMZ features the Wild Out Wakeup Show, starring Kyle Santillian, Tosha Makia, and B-Daht in the mornings, 6 to 10 a.m., followed by Delyte from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (featuring the 20 Minute Workout), Big Tap Money from 3 to 7 p.m. (with the 5:00 ReMix), Waleed Coyote from 7 p.m. to midnight (featuring the 10:00 Banger), and Big Mo, midnight to 6 a.m. Weekends include Showdown, Roxie, Sho Smoove, Do It All Willis, Big Bull, and Brian B.
102 JAMZ does regular Mix Squad Weekends (with all music mixed), Throwback Weekends (featuring older hip hop), Twin Spin Weekends (with sets of music from particular artists), etc. The station also does tributes to major artists on their birthdays, presents occasional retrospectives on fallen artists such as Notorious B.I.G. and 2Pac, etc.
The 102 JAMZ Mix Squad is regularly out in front. J-Flex is on the turntables for the 5:00 ReMix, weekdays at 5 p.m. and on Hip Hop 102, Saturday nights from 10 to 2. DJ Deluxe does the 10:00 Banger, weekday evenings at 10, DJ Polo handles the 20 Minute Workout, featuring Old School Hip Hop, weekdays at noon, DJ MC does the Breakfast Mix, Friday mornings at 8 while DJ SoundMachine is on Smash City, Friday Nights from 10 to 2. DJ Cease Fire mixes on the Sunday Night Heat at 10:00, and DJ Swift fills in on all shows. Amos Quick, former co-host of the 102 JAMZ morning show, hosts a live, interactive two-hour community affairs show, called Straight Talk, Sunday mornings at 6. Sunday nights at 11:00, Reggae Jamz features Geronimo and mixer Statixx.
WJMH has been operated by five different owners through the years, originally (1947) by Reidsville Broadcasting Company, Inc., in 1977 as the first station in the company now known as Beasley Broadcasting, in 1996 by Max Media, in 1998 by Sinclair Broadcasting and, from late 1999 to the present, by Entercom Communications Corp.
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