View source for WJCW

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name             = WJCW
| logo             =
| logo_size        = 
| city             = [[Johnson City, Tennessee]]
| area             = [[Tri-Cities, Tennessee|Tri-Cites]]–[[Bristol, Tennessee|Bristol]]–[[Kingsport, Tennessee|Kingsport]]
| branding         = ''WJCW AM 910''
| frequency        = 910 [[kHz]]
| repeater         = 101.5 [[WQUT|WQUT-HD3]] (Johnson City)
| airdate          = {{Start date and age|1938|12|13}} (as WJHL)
| format           = [[Talk radio|News/talk]]
| power            = {{ubl|5,000 watts day|1,000 watts night}}
| class            = B
| licensing_authority = [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]
| facility_id      = 67672
| callsign_meaning = James C. Wilson, former owner
| former_callsigns = WJHL (1938–1960)
| network          = [[ABC News Radio]]
| affiliations     = {{ubl|[[Genesis Communications Network]]|[[Radio America (United States)|Radio America]]|[[Westwood One]]}}
| owner            = [[Cumulus Media]]
| licensee         = Radio License Holding CBC, LLC
| sister_stations  = [[WGOC]], [[WKOS]], [[WQUT]], [[WXSM]]
| webcast          = {{listenlive|https://player.listenlive.co/26401}}
| website          = {{URL|https://www.wjcw.com}}
}}

'''WJCW''' (910 [[AM broadcasting|AM]]) is a [[commercial radio|commercial]] [[radio station]] [[city of license|licensed]] to [[Johnson City, Tennessee]], and serving the [[Tri-Cities, Tennessee|Tri-Cities]] [[media market|radio market]] (Johnson City-[[Bristol, Tennessee|Bristol]]-[[Kingsport, Tennessee|Kingsport]]).  It is owned by [[Cumulus Media]] and airs a [[talk radio|news/talk]] [[radio format|format]].

WJCW's [[transmitter]], offices and studios are on Free Hill Road in [[Gray, Tennessee]].<ref>[https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/patg?id=WJCW-AM&h=N Radio-Locator.com/WJCW]</ref>  The complex also houses the studios for Cumulus' other Tri-Cities radio stations.  WJCW broadcasts with a 5,000-[[watt]] [[omni-directional antenna|non-directional]] signal in the daytime. At night, to protect other stations on [[AM 910]], the station reduces power to 1,000 watts and uses a [[directional antenna]].  The station is East Tennessee's AM primary entry point station for the [[Emergency Alert System]], with [[WJXB-FM]] in [[Knoxville, Tennessee|Knoxville]] performing the PEP function on FM in east Tennessee.

==History==
The station first [[sign-on|signed on]] the air on {{Start date and age|1938|12|13}}.  The original [[call sign]] was WJHL, jointly owned by Hanes Lancaster, Sr. and J. W. Birdwell, both from [[Chattanooga]].<ref>[http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1940/Radio-by-State-BC-YB-1940-All.pdf Broadcasting Yearbook 1940 page 154]</ref>  It was the second radio station in the Tri-Cities and the first in Johnson City.  It began broadcasting at only 250 watts.  During 1940, Birdwell was no longer a partner in the new station.

The station's original frequency was 1200{{nbsp}}kHz. In December 1940, WJHL moved to 880{{nbsp}}kHz with 1,000 watts, utilizing a directional three-tower pattern at night. With the [[North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement]] coming into force on March 29, 1941, the station was required to move to 910{{nbsp}}kHz due to the adoption of the new international radio treaty.

In 1942, WJHL got a power boost to its current 5,000 watts by day, 1,000 watts at night.  It became an [[network affiliate|affiliate]] of the [[NBC Blue Network]], later [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]].  By 1956, WJHL joined [[CBS]], an affiliation that lasted five decades. Under Hanes Lancaster, Sr and son Hanes Jr., WJHL added 100.7 WJHL-FM in 1948 (now 101.5 [[WQUT]]) and in 1953 added [[WJHL-TV]] Channel 11.  Because the AM station carried CBS programming, WJHL-TV became a CBS-TV affiliate.

In 1960, the radio stations were sold to Tri-Cities Broadcasting,<ref>[http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1961-62/Section%20B%202%20Radio%20%20Broadcasting%20Yearbook%201961-1962-10.pdf Broadcasting Yearbook 1961-62 page B-156]</ref> owned by James C. Wilson (son of the founder of the area's first radio station, [[WOPI (AM)|WOPI]] in Bristol)<ref>[http://www.wopi.com/history.html WOPI History]</ref>  Channel 11 kept the WJHL-TV callsign, while AM 910 was renamed WJCW after Wilson's initials and continued to program an [[middle of the road (music)|middle of the road]], [[Full-service radio|full service]] format. In the early 1970s, the station switched to a [[country music]] format.

Notable announcers included:

* Eddie Cowell
* Dr. Herb Howard: Announcer, who went on to be Dean/Professor at the University of Tennessee College of Communication & Information after a stint as staff announcer at [[WJHL-TV]].
* Professor Kingfish (Bill Marrs) and Little Richard (Dick Ellis), weekdays 6:30-7AM.  During the 60s and 70s the show had a large listenership due to the light-hearted banter between the two.  Due to health challenges, Bill Marrs would do the show from home, while Dick Ellis was at the studios.
* Dick Ellis (Little Richard): Morning Drive, News Director, Sports Director, and sports play-by-play. Dick originally served as news and sports anchor for both WJHL radio and television.  In 1960 when the station was purchased and changed to WJCW, he chose to stay with radio.  In 1973, Dick (Richard F. Ellis) became the General Manager of WETS-FM, the public/NPR station owned by East Tennessee State University.  Dick retired from WETS in 1991. In 1993, a few weeks before his death, the new WETS studios were dedicated in his honor.
* Charlie B (Philip Beale): Program Director, Middays, and Afternoon Drive
* Bill Cramer: Nighttime announcer. In the 60s and 70s, WJCW's music would shift from MOR to Rock at 7PM.  After WJCW changed to a country format, Cramer was also a well-known talent on sister-station WQUT
* Larry Hinkle
* Dave Hogan: Morning Drive
* Bill Williams
* Yankee Dave: Middays
* Tom Phillips: Afternoon Drive
* Art Countiss: News Director
* Red Pitcher: News/Sports Director

Jim Wilson/Tri-Cities Broadcasting sold WJCW and WQUT to Bloomington Broadcasting in 1981.

The original studios were located in downtown Johnson City.  The transmitter site was on Princeton Road in North Johnson City.  In 1977, new studios and transmitter site were built in [[Gray, Tennessee]]. The new location allowed the station's signal to cover a larger area, especially north of Johnson City, plus delivering a better signal to Kingsport.

In the 1980s, listeners began shifting to FM radio for music, so in 1990, WJCW became the Tri-Cities' first news/talk station.

[[File:WJCW logo.png|thumb|Previous logo]]

In 2000, the station was sold to [[Citadel Broadcasting]], a forerunner of Cumulus.<ref>[http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/2010/D3-2010-BC-YB-7.pdf Broadcasting Yearbook 2010 page D-502]</ref>

==Programming== 
Most of WJCW's weekday schedule is made up of [[radio syndication|nationally syndicated]] talk shows.  At dawn, ''[[America in the Morning]]'' is heard, followed by ''[[This Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal]], [[Chris Plante|The Chris Plante Show]], The Vince Coglianese Show, [[Charlie Kirk|The Charlie Kirk Show]], [[The Mark Levin Show]], [[Chad Benson|The Chad Benson Show]], America at Night with Rick Valdes'' and ''[[Red Eye Radio]]''.  One hour of local talk is heard each morning at 8, ''In Touch with Don Helman''. 

Weekend programming includes shows on money, health, cars and other topics, some of which are paid [[brokered programming]].  [[NASCAR]] races are also broadcast. Most hours begin with world and national news from [[ABC News Radio]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.wjcw.com/ WJCW official website]
{{AM station data|67672|WJCW}}

{{Tri-Cities TN / VA Radio}}
{{News/Talk Radio Stations in Tennessee}}
{{Cumulus Media}}

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[[Category:Radio stations in Tennessee|JCW]]
[[Category:News and talk radio stations in the United States]]
[[Category:Cumulus Media radio stations]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1938]]
[[Category:1938 establishments in Tennessee]]