WJNC

Last updated

WJNC
Frequency 1240kHz
Programming
Format Christian music, talk and teaching
Network Go Mix! Radio
Ownership
OwnerPathway Christian Academy, Inc.
History
First air date
November 26, 1945 (1945-11-26)
Call sign meaning
Jacksonville, North Carolina
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 73143
Power 1,000 watts
Transmitter coordinates
 34°44′56.6″N77°24′49.9″W / 34.749056°N 77.413861°W / 34.749056; -77.413861
Translator W225CV (92.9 FM) Jacksonville
Links
Public license information

WJNC (1240 AM) is a radio station in Jacksonville, North Carolina, United States. It is owned by Pathway Christian Academy of Goldsboro and broadcasts Pathway's Go Mix! Radio network, which airs Christian music and talk and teaching programs. WJNC transmits from a site near Lejeune Boulevard and U.S. 17.

Contents

WJNC was a locally programmed station from its debut in 1945 until 2002. In 2002, it converted back to talk and was paired with WTKF, which broadcasts to the Morehead City and New Bern areas. Pathway acquired WJNC and its accompanying FM translator in 2021.

History

Louis N. and Ellis H. Howard, trading as the Jacksonville Broadcasting Company, applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on March 24, 1945, seeking permission to build a 250-watt radio station on 1240 kHz in Jacksonville. The commission granted the permit on July 17 of that year, [2] and WJNC began broadcasting on November 26. [3] It aired programs from the Mutual Broadcasting System and the regional Tobacco Network [4] and was the last of several stations resulting from World War II in North Carolina; its coverage area included Camp Lejeune. [5] : 349  WJNC was sold in 1949 [2] to Lester Gould, the original general manager, and again in 1955 to Robert P. Mendelson, a veteran of radio advertising hailing from New York state. [6] Under Mendelson, WJNC applied for [7] and received a construction permit to build a new FM radio station. [8] Originally WJNC-FM and then WRCM, the FM started with beautiful music before flipping to country. [9] In October 1968, [10] the station debuted a local morning talk show, Ask Your Neighbor. [11] The program was born when its creator, announcer Mike Shadeed, asked people what they thought of the film 2001: A Space Odyssey , which he liked. [10]

Mendelson sold WJNC and the FM station, then WRCM, to Beasley Broadcast Group in 1975, [12] [13] as part of his retirement. [9] Under the new ownership, the station expanded its list of advertisers. With Beasley expanding into larger markets and unable to expand without selling stations, it sold the Jacksonville AM and FM to Winfas, a company that included people associated with radio stations in Raleigh and High Point. By that time, WJNC aired an adult contemporary format. [14]

A Jacksonville-based firm of local business interests, WJNC Inc., acquired WJNC from Winfas in 1987, splitting it from WRCM, whose staff left for another facility. [15] [16] The station shifted its music format in 1989 from adult contemporary to oldies music of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, but the station by then predominantly aired news and talk programming. [17] In 1992, an afternoon drive-time version of Ask Your Neighbor was added to the lineup. [18]

Citing difficulties from increased consolidation in the broadcasting industry and a debt owed to the Associated Press, WJNC Inc. sold the station to Jacksonville-Topsail Radio, a company controlled by Hoyle Broome, in 1997. Broome, a former general manager of television station WBMG in Birmingham, Alabama, also owned WZXS on Topsail Island, [19] which broadcast an adult standards format. [20] Shortly after the sale was announced, in February 1998, Shadeed died after 29 years as host of Ask Your Neighbor. [10] Additionally, WJNC became an all-sports station, airing the Carolina Panthers, North Carolina Tar Heels football, and national and local sporting events. [21] Though the station was now primarily sports, it still aired Ask Your Neighbor and the syndicated The Rush Limbaugh Show . [22] The all-sports format lasted until Eastern Communications acquired control in 2002. This made it sister to WSTK (910 AM), which became the sports station as WJNC reverted to a talk format with a local morning show and syndicated conservative talk programs. [23]

Under Eastern, WJNC simulcasted WTKF, licensed to Atlantic. [24] WTKF began broadcasting in 1992 as the state's first talk radio station on FM. [25] This continued until Pathway Christian Academy, owner of the Go Mix! Radio network, acquired WJNC and FM translator W225CV in April 2021 for $150,000. [24]

References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WJNC". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. 1 2 "History Cards for WJNC". Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ↑ "Dedication Planned for Onslow Station". The News and Observer. November 24, 1945. p. 9. Retrieved January 30, 2026.
  4. ↑ "WJNC Opens This Month With Mutual Affiliation". Broadcasting. November 12, 1945. p. 46. ProQuest   1505598728.
  5. ↑ Wallace, Wesley Herndon (1962). The Development of Broadcasting in North Carolina, 1922–1948 (Thesis). Duke University. ProQuest   302098023.
  6. ↑ "Jacksonville Station Sold". Salisbury Evening Post. Associated Press. July 26, 1955. p. 11. Retrieved January 30, 2026.
  7. ↑ "For the Record". Broadcasting. December 30, 1963. p. 58. ProQuest   1014474916.
  8. ↑ "For the Record". Broadcasting. December 7, 1964. p. 84. ProQuest   1014478175.
  9. 1 2 Lowe, Ken (January 17, 1976). ""I could stand on the street and feel the town growing"". Daily News. p. 3. Retrieved February 1, 2026.
  10. 1 2 3 Alford, Carolyn (February 22, 1998). "Neighbors have lost a friend: Radio icon Shadeed has died at age 59". Daily News. pp. 1A, 5A . Retrieved February 1, 2026.
  11. ↑ "Station missed". Daily News. August 14, 1991. pp. 2B. Retrieved February 1, 2026.
  12. ↑ "WJNC sold". Daily News. July 7, 1975. p. 10. Retrieved February 1, 2026.
  13. ↑ "Buys Broadcasting Corp". Washington Daily News. Associated Press. July 9, 1975. p. 7. Retrieved February 1, 2026.
  14. ↑ Oliver, J. T. Jr. (August 27, 1981). "Burlington investors buy WJNC: Jacksonville's first radio station sold". Daily News. p. 1B. Retrieved February 1, 2026.
  15. ↑ Dart, Mike (February 6, 1987). "WJNC buyers to pay $600,000". Daily News. p. 1C. Retrieved February 1, 2026.
  16. ↑ Dart, Mike (May 1, 1987). "Radio station operation 'changed hands' today". Daily News. p. 1C. Retrieved February 1, 2026.
  17. ↑ Jaggears, M. M. (May 12, 1989). "WJNC radio changes format". Daily News. p. 1C. Retrieved February 1, 2026.
  18. ↑ Fox, Karen (August 21, 1992). "WJNC to begin new drive-time talk radio show". Daily News. p. 5B. Retrieved February 1, 2026.
  19. ↑ Powell, Chris (December 4, 1997). "Owner sells local AM talk station: Buyer just acquired Topsail FM station". Daily News. pp. 1A, 2A . Retrieved February 1, 2026.
  20. ↑ Holmes, William L. (September 12, 1993). "Holly Ridge radio station on the air". Daily News. p. 3B. Retrieved February 1, 2026.
  21. ↑ Whitehead, Bobbie (July 22, 1998). "A towering achievement: WJNC radio works to replace its 30-year-old beacon in the sky". Daily News. pp. 1B, 2B . Retrieved February 1, 2026.
  22. ↑ Kelly, Steve (December 22, 1998). "Citizens have always had a voice on WJNC". Daily News. p. 7A. Retrieved February 1, 2026.
  23. ↑ Gottlieb, Matthew (June 30, 2001). "Local radio stations plan to change sports shows". Daily News. pp. 1C, 3C . Retrieved February 1, 2026.
  24. 1 2 Venta, Lance (April 23, 2021). "Station Sales Week Of 4/23". RadioInsight. Retrieved February 1, 2026.
  25. ↑ Lee, Misti C. (March 31, 1992). "Radio stations share resources: Both based in Carteret". Daily News. p. 5B. Retrieved February 1, 2026.
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