WJFK-FM

Last updated
WJFK-FM
WJFK-FM 2015.PNG
Broadcast area Washington metropolitan area
Frequency 106.7 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding106-7 The Fan
Programming
Language(s) English
Format Sports radio
Subchannels
  • HD2: Sports radio (WTEM)
  • HD3: Sports gambling (WJFK) [1]
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
April 4, 1961;63 years ago (1961-04-04)
Former call signs
  • WPRW-FM (1961–1968)
  • WEZR (1968–1985)
  • WBMW (1985–1988)
Call sign meaning
 John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Technical information [2]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 28625
Class B
Power 22,500  watts
HAAT 223 meters (732 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
 38°52′28.0″N77°13′24.0″W / 38.874444°N 77.223333°W / 38.874444; -77.223333
Repeater(s) 95.5  WPGC-FM HD2 (Morningside)
Links
Public license information
Webcast Listen live (via  Audacy)
Website www.audacy.com/thefandc

WJFK-FM (106.7 MHz "106.7 The Fan") is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Manassas, Virginia, and serving the Washington metropolitan area. WJFK-FM airs a sports radio format and is owned and operated by Audacy, Inc.

Contents

WJFK-FM's studios are located on Half Street SE near the Navy Yard in Southeast Washington. [3] The transmitter is located in Falls Church, Virginia, near the intersection of Lee Highway (U.S. Route 29) and the Capital Beltway. [4]

WJFK-FM broadcasts in the HD Radio format. It carries two co-owned local sports stations on its subchannels, WTEM and WJFK (AM). WTEM simulcasts WJFK-FM part-time on weekends.

Programming

On weekdays, WJFK-FM has local personalities hosting sports shows in morning drive time, middays and afternoons. Late nights and weekends, Infinity Sports Network programming is heard.

WJFK-FM is the flagship radio station for local broadcasts of the Washington Capitals and Washington Nationals. WJFK-FM also clears Westwood One and Sports Radio USA's coverage of the National Football League. For local college sports coverage, WJFK-FM carries Virginia Tech Hokies football and men's basketball as well as Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball.

History

WPRW-FM and WEZR

On April 4, 1961, the station first signed on as WPRW-FM. [5] It was owned by the Prince William Broadcasting Company and was the sister station to AM 1460 WPRW (now WKDV). The two stations simulcast their programming, directed mostly to listeners in and around Manassas and Prince William County. WPRW-FM broadcast with an effective radiated power of 30,000 watts, but only using a 160-foot tower, so it was unable to cover the larger Washington radio market. In 1966, the transmitter was moved to the AM site west of Manassas. [6]

In 1967, WPRW-FM was sold to Radio Fairfax-Prince William, a Fairfax-based firm that owned WEEL radio in that city. The transmitter was moved to Fairfax and the call letters changed to WEZR, airing 15-minute sweeps of beautiful music, mostly instrumental covers of popular songs, including Hollywood and Broadway showtunes. Ultimately, the entire company renamed itself EZ Communications later in 1968, later going on to buy other stations nationwide and apply the format there. A further power boost to 50,000 watts, improving coverage in the Washington market, was approved in 1973. [6]

While WEZR and its sister stations remained successful into the 1980s, the easy format was seen as attracting older listeners, while most advertisers were seeking a younger demographic. In 1982, EZ tweaked the format used by its three remaining music outlets—WEZR, WEZS in Richmond and WEZC in Charlotte—to add more vocals. [7]

Top 40 and new age

On January 1, 1985, the station flipped to Top 40 as WBMW "B106". [8] It was positioned against two other Washington-area Top 40 stations: WRQX, owned by ABC, and WAVA-FM, owned by Doubleday Broadcasting. WBMW was acquired by New York City-based Infinity Broadcasting in April 1987. [9]

Infinity, at first, flipped WBMW to an adult rock format, but it only lasted a few weeks. On May 8, 1987, WBMW switched to new-age music, a forerunner of the smooth jazz format. [10] [11] [12] The station simply called itself "106.7 WBMW". The playlist included jazz-influenced instrumentals and some soft rock titles, with limited chatter from the DJs. This format lasted about a year and a half.

Rock and hot talk

On October 3, 1988, the station flipped to an album-oriented rock format as WJFK, with the new call sign named after John F. Kennedy. The station became the Washington affiliate for the syndicated Howard Stern Show. [13] This marked Stern's return to the market for the first time since he was let go from rival rock station WWDC in 1982. [14] [15]

Over time, WJFK began adding other talk shows targeted at young men, similar to Stern. Eventually, WJFK had switched over to a full-time hot talk format. [16] Programs on the station during this era include Stern, Don and Mike, [17] Opie & Anthony, G. Gordon Liddy, [18] The Greaseman, Bill O'Reilly, Ron & Fez and the Sports Junkies. [19] In 1991, Infinity began to simulcast WJFK programming on co-owned AM 1300 in Baltimore. [20] That station switched its call letters to WJFK, so 106.7 added an FM suffix and became WJFK-FM. From 1995 to 2005 WJFK-FM was the flagship radio station for the then-Washington Redskins (now Washington Commanders). [21]

Howard Stern departed his terrestrial network of stations in 2005, including WJFK-FM, when he left for Sirius Satellite Radio. WJFK-FM rebranded as "Free FM" in October 2005, as part of Infinity's plans for a nationwide hot talk network. (Two months later, Infinity was renamed CBS Radio.) The Sports Junkies would move from the midday slot to replace Stern as WJFK-FM's morning hosts. [22] However, the Free FM format did not attract enough listeners, and many of those stations switched to other formats. The "Free FM" branding was dropped by WJFK-FM in 2007, even though it continued a while longer as a hot talk outlet under the slogan "Washington's Talk Superstation".

Sports radio

On July 20, 2009, WJFK-FM became "106.7 The Fan". [23] [24] [25] With WJFK-FM's changeover to "The Fan", The Junkies (who would later change their name back to "The Sports Junkies") were retained, while The Big O and Dukes Show and The Mike O'Meara Show were dropped.

WJFK-FM acquired the rights to Washington Wizards basketball and Washington Nationals baseball. [26] It also began simulcasting Washington Capitals playoff games with WFED starting with the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs, later becoming the team's flagship before the 2012-13 NHL season. [27] For college sports, WJFK-FM became the Washington area home of Virginia Tech Hokies football and men's basketball.

On March 8, 2009, WJFK-FM signed on the nation's first HD4 subchannel, carrying co-owned sports station WIP-FM from Philadelphia. [28] This fourth HD subchannel was later dropped, leaving WFAN in New York City on the HD2 subchannel and WJZ-FM from Baltimore on the HD3 subchannel. On June 21, 2021, WJFK (AM) flipped to a sports gambling format, branded as "The Bet Washington", with programming from the co-owned BetQL Network and CBS Sports Radio (now Infinity Sports Network). With the flip, WJFK AM shifted its HD simulcast to WJFK-FM-HD3. [29]

On September 9, 2015, WJFK announced that the station would become the new flagship station for Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball games. [30] [31]

Immediately prior to the 2016-17 NHL season, WJFK controversially declined to renew its deal with the Capitals, with program director Chris Kinard stating he desired a more consistent sports-talk schedule in the evenings. The Capitals were relegated to existing radio affiliate WFED. Since the Nationals and Washington Wizards took precedence on that station, any conflicting Capitals games were left with no home radio coverage at all, leading to complaints from fans and the media. After the Capitals struck a stopgap deal to place its games on WWDC-HD2 and an FM translator midway through that season, the team and WJFK reached a new deal in time for the following season. [32]

On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge with Entercom. [33] The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on the 17th. [34] [35] On December 30, 2020, it was announced that Steve Czaban would be working a Saturday morning show, replacing his weekday afternoon show on WJFK's Entercom sister station, WTEM.

Related Research Articles

CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadcasting since the 1970s. The broadcasting company was sold to Entercom on November 17, 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WPGC-FM</span> Mainstream urban radio station in Morningside, Maryland, serving Washington, DC

WPGC-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Morningside, Maryland, and serving the Washington metropolitan area. It is owned by Audacy, Inc., and airs an urban contemporary format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WWDC (FM)</span> Alternative rock radio station in Washington, D.C.

WWDC is a commercial FM radio station in Rockville, Maryland, near Washington, D.C. The station is owned by iHeartMedia through licensee iHM Licenses, LLC, and broadcasts an alternative rock radio format. WWDC serves as the flagship station for the syndicated radio show Elliot in the Morning and as the local affiliate for Skratch 'N Sniff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WZLX</span> Classic rock radio station in Boston

WZLX is a classic rock radio station in Boston, Massachusetts. This station is owned and operated by iHeartMedia. WZLX was one of America's first classic rock FM stations. Its studios are in Medford, and its transmitter is atop the Prudential Tower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KNX-FM</span> Radio station in Los Angeles, California

KNX-FM is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California, United States. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs an all-news radio format in a full-time simulcast with KNX. The station has studios at the intersection of Wilshire and Hauser Boulevards in the Miracle Mile district of Los Angeles, and the transmitter on Mount Wilson.

WJFK is a commercial AM radio station broadcasting a sports gambling radio format. Licensed to Morningside, Maryland, and serving the Washington metropolitan area, the station is owned by Audacy, Inc. The radio studios are in Southeast DC in the Navy Yard neighborhood. Programming is supplied by the co-owned BetQL Network and Infinity Sports Network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WJZ (AM)</span> Radio station in Maryland, United States

WJZ is a commercial AM radio station in Baltimore, Maryland. It is owned by Audacy, Inc., and broadcasts a sports betting radio format, carrying the BetQL Network during the day and evening, with Infinity Sports Network heard nights and weekends. Its studios are on Clarkview Road in Baltimore, off Jones Falls Expressway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WCFS-FM</span> All-news radio station in Elmwood Park–Chicago, Illinois

WCFS-FM – branded Newsradio 105.9 WBBM – is a commercial all-news radio station licensed to the Chicago suburb of Elmwood Park, Illinois. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Chicago metropolitan area, operating as a full-time simulcast of WBBM.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free FM</span> Short-lived talk radio brand

Free FM was a short-lived, mostly-talk-radio format and brand name for eleven FM CBS Radio stations in the United States, and was created because of Howard Stern's departure to Sirius Satellite Radio in January 2006. Free FM was given its name to highlight that its stations broadcast free-to-air, instead of requiring a subscription fee like satellite radio services. Launched on October 25, 2005, Free FM was phased out over the course of 2007, with the final station using it, KLSX, dropping the brand in November 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KFRG</span> Radio station in San Bernardino, California

KFRG is a commercial radio station licensed to San Bernardino, California, and broadcasting to the Riverside-San Bernardino-Inland Empire radio market. KFRG airs a country music radio format calling itself "K-FROG" and is believed to be the original "Frog" station under previous owner Keymarket. The brand name has been subsequently licensed by Keymarket to dozens of American radio stations.

KRLD-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Dallas, Texas, and serving the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. KRLD-FM is owned by Audacy, Inc., and airs a sports radio format. The station's studios and offices are located along North Central Expressway in Uptown Dallas, and the transmitter site is in Cedar Hill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KPTR (AM)</span> Talk radio station in Seattle

KPTR is a commercial AM radio station in Seattle, Washington. It airs a Conservative talk format and is owned by iHeartMedia. The studios and offices are in the Belltown neighborhood northwest of Downtown Seattle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KJAQ</span> Adult hits radio station in Seattle

KJAQ is a commercial radio station in Seattle, Washington. KJAQ airs an adult hits music format branded as "Jack FM". It is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are in the Belltown neighborhood northwest of Downtown Seattle. The station's transmitter is on Tiger Mountain in Issaquah. KJAQ broadcasts in the HD Radio format. The HD-2 subchannel carries an alternative rock format and HD-3 simulcasts conservative talk KPTR, also owned by iHeart.

KMEE is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Palm Desert, California, United States, and serves the Palm Springs—Coachella Valley radio market. The station is owned by Brad Fuhr, through licensee KGAY PSP, with studios on South Belardo Road in Palm Springs. KMEE broadcasts a soft oldies format, provided by MeTV's radio network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KIKK</span> Radio station in Pasadena, Texas, United States

KIKK is a daytime-only station, licensed to Pasadena, Texas, which broadcasts a sports gambling format under ownership of Audacy, Inc. Its studios are located in the Greenway Plaza district of Houston, and its transmitter is located in Pasadena. While it only broadcasts during daytime hours at 250 watts, KIKK's low frequency gives the station a large coverage area, stretching from Flatonia, Texas to the west, and past Lake Charles, Louisiana to the east.

KSWD is an FM radio station in Seattle, Washington. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts a hot adult contemporary format. KSWD's studios are located on Fifth Avenue in Downtown Seattle; the station broadcasts from two transmitters located near Issaquah on Tiger Mountain, with its main transmitter operating at 73 kW effective radiated power (ERP) and its auxiliary transmitter operating at an ERP of 53 kW.

WFNZ, known on air as "102.5 The Block", is a commercial AM radio station in Charlotte, North Carolina. Owned by Urban One, the station airs an urban contemporary radio format. Its studios and offices are at 1 Julian Price Place.

WDCH-FM – branded Bloomberg 99.1 – is a commercial business news radio station licensed to Bowie, Maryland, and serving the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station is operated by Bloomberg L.P. as the market network affiliate for Bloomberg Radio. WDCH-FM often airs D.C. United soccer and Washington Wizards NBA basketball games whenever sports radio sister station WJFK-FM is carrying a different game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WJZ-FM</span> Radio station in Maryland, United States

WJZ-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Catonsville, Maryland, and serving the Baltimore metropolitan area. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. through licensee Audacy License, LLC, and it broadcasts a sports radio format. Local shows are heard on weekdays, with programming from the Infinity Sports Network airing nights and weekends. The station's studios and offices are located in Towson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Infinity Sports Network</span> Sports radio network

Infinity Sports Network is an American sports radio network. It debuted as CBS Sports Radio with hourly sports news updates on September 4, 2012, and with 24/7 programming on January 2, 2013.

References

  1. ↑ http://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=100 HD Radio Guide for Washington D.C.
  2. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WJFK-FM". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ↑ "106.7 The Fan". CBS DC . Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  4. ↑ "WJFK-FM". FCC data. REC Networks. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Broadcasting Yearbook 1963" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  6. 1 2 FCC History Cards for WJFK-FM
  7. ↑ "Vallie Promoted To VP At EZ" (PDF). Radio & Records. July 23, 1982. pp. 1, 22. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  8. ↑ Trescott, Jacqueline (December 31, 1984). "WEZR becomes WBMW". The Washington Post . Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  9. ↑ Yorke, Jeffrey (April 3, 1987). "WGMS sale hits snag". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  10. ↑ "WBMW Drops CHR For 'Adult Rock'" (PDF). R&R The Industry's Newspaper. No. 686. May 15, 1987. p. 1. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
  11. ↑ "Sebastian To Drive 'BMW" (PDF). R&R The Industry's Newspaper. No. 692. June 26, 1987. p. 2. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
  12. ↑ Brown, Joe (October 2, 1987). "Nine to herald the 'New Age'". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  13. ↑ Yorke, Jeffrey (September 30, 1988). "He's Baaaaaaack!; Howard Stern's return threatens a ravings war". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 9, 2016.
  14. ↑ Yorke, Jeffrey (October 4, 1988). "Behind the Stern return". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  15. ↑ "WBMW Drops NAC, Adds Stern" (PDF). R&R The Industry's Newspaper. No. 758. October 7, 1988. p. 1. Retrieved 2017-06-03.
  16. ↑ "RR-1992-12-18" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  17. ↑ Yorke, Jeffrey (October 1, 1991). "Don Mike: They're back". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  18. ↑ Yorke, Jeffrey (March 30, 1993). "Liddy goes national". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  19. ↑ Fischer, Mark (June 3, 1997). "Four men and a Mike; On WJFK, the twenty-something sports junkies talk trash". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 11, 2018.
  20. ↑ Siegel, Eric (September 30, 1991). "Good morning, Baltimore is your radio ready for Howard Stern?". The Baltimore Sun . Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  21. ↑ Shapiro, Leonard (March 11, 1995). "WJFK-FM Lands Redskins". The Washington Post . Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  22. ↑ "The Accidental Shock Jocks Does FM's future depend on four guys who got their start on cable access? - The Washington Post". The Washington Post .
  23. ↑ Venta, Lance (July 14, 2009). "'106.7 The Fan' WJFK Washington debuts Monday 7/20". Radio Insight. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  24. ↑ "CBS Radio steps up to the plate and launches FM sports stations in Boston & Washington D.C." (Press release). CBS Broadcasting. July 14, 2009. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  25. ↑ Lemke, Tim (July 15, 2009). "WJFK adopts sports talk". The Washington Times . Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  26. ↑ "Radio Affiliates". Washington Nationals. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  27. ↑ Williams, Jim (5 April 2011). "Caps radio has the region Rockin the Red - Washington Examiner". Washington Examiner.
  28. ↑ "CBS Radio's WJFK Launches an HD4 Channel". Radio World . NewBay Media. March 8, 2010. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  29. ↑ "AUDACY FLIPS SEVEN STATIONS TO BETQL NETWORK". radioinsight.com. June 21, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  30. ↑ "106.7 The Fan to Carry Georgetown Men's Basketball Radio Broadcasts". CBS DC. September 8, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  31. ↑ Ourand, John (September 7, 2015). "Georgetown basketball moves to FM, CBS Radio". SportsBusiness Daily/Global/Journal. Street & Smith . Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  32. ↑ Steinberg, Dan (27 November 2021). "Capitals radio broadcasts will return to 106.7 The Fan this season". Washington Post.
  33. ↑ "CBS RADIO TO MERGE WITH ENTERCOM". radioinsight.com. February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  34. ↑ "Entercom Receives FCC Approval for Merger with CBS Radio". Entercom. November 9, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  35. ↑ Venta, Lance (November 17, 2017). "Entercom Completes CBS Radio Merger". Radio Insight. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.