WDCJ (92.7 FM), known on air as "Majic 102.3 & 92.7," is an

urban adult contemporary Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music ...

formatted

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

licensed to Prince Frederick, Maryland, and serving the southeastern

Washington metropolitan area The Washington metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the National Capital Region, is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C. The metropolitan area includes all of Washington, D.C. and parts of the states of Maryland, Virgi ...

. The station's programming is a relay of WMMJ (102.3 FM) in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which ...

History

92.7 FM signed on August 1, 1971 as WESM, a local station serving

Calvert County, Maryland Calvert County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 92,783. Its county seat is Prince Frederick. The county's name is derived from the family name of the Barons of Baltimore, the proprietors of ...

with

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

. Original owners George Gautney and Carl Jones sold the station to Mel Gollub's MJS Communications in 1973. As WMJS, the station continued as country at first, but later flipped to

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

in 1985 and again to

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, ...

in 1987. In 2000, Mega Communications bought the station. Under the new callsign WBZS-FM, it joined a simulcast with WBPS (94.3 FM,

Warrenton, Virginia Warrenton is a town in Fauquier County, Virginia, of which it is the seat of government. The population was 9,611 at the 2010 census, up from 6,670 at the 2000 census. The estimated population in 2019 was 10,027. It is at the junction of U.S. R ...

) to create a metro-wide network for its "La Nueva Mega" Spanish-language

format. In 2005, the network flipped to Spanish oldies branded as "Mega Clasica". Immediately after the sale, efforts began to build a low-powered station to return local service to Calvert County.

WMJS-LP WMJS-LP is a Full Service formatted low-power broadcast radio station licensed to and serving Prince Frederick, Maryland. WMJS-LP is owned and operated by St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Programming/Call Sign While WMJS-LP is licensed to an Episc ...

, taking the now-unused callsign, signed on in 2003.

Red Zebra Broadcasting Red Zebra Broadcasting was a sports marketing company headquartered in Rockville, Maryland. The company owned and operated four radio stations in the greater Washington, D.C. radio market, one in Hampton Roads, VA, and two stations in Richmond, ...

, headed by

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

owner

Daniel Snyder Daniel Marc Snyder (born November 23, 1964) is an American businessman and owner of the Washington Commanders, an American football team belonging to the National Football League (NFL). He bought the team, then known as the Washington Redskins, ...

, purchased the two stations along with WKDL (730 AM,

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C. In 2020, the population was 159,467. ...

) in January 2006. Snyder's goal was a

sports talk radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sport, sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often-low comedy ...

competitor to

WTEM WTEM (980 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Washington metropolitan area as the flagship station of the Washington Wizards. WTEM is also the co-flagship ...

(980 AM). The three-station network was known as "Triple X ESPN Radio", with 92.7 FM gaining the WWXT callsign to match. Snyder bought WTEM itself in 2008, after which the network was simply known as "ESPN 980". Snyder began selling his radio properties in 2017. WWXT was sold to

Urban One Urban One, Inc. (formerly Radio One) is a Silver Spring, Maryland-based American media conglomerate. Founded in 1980 by Cathy Hughes, the company primarily operates media properties targeting African Americans. It is the largest African-American- ...

on April 20; the station was flipped to a simulcast of WMMJ's urban adult contemporary format on May 1, with the new WDCJ callsign taking effect on the 19th.

References

External links

Official Website of ''Majic 102.3''
* {{Urban One Urban One stations Radio stations established in 1971 DCJ Urban adult contemporary radio stations in the United States 1971 establishments in Washington, D.C. 1971 establishments in Maryland Prince Frederick, Maryland