WDJX (99.7 FM) is a top 40 (CHR)-formatted

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting 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 rad ...

located in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. The station has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ha ...

(ERP) of 24 kW. The station's studios are located in East Louisville and the transmitter site is in

New Albany, Indiana New Albany is a city in New Albany Township, Floyd County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River, opposite Louisville, Kentucky. The population was 37,841 as of the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Floyd County. It ...

. WDJX is owned by

Alpha Media Alpha Media LLC is a radio broadcasting company based in Portland, Oregon, and led by Bob Proffitt. The group does business under the Alpha Media name. It was formed from the merger of Alpha Broadcasting, L&L Broadcasting, and Main Line Broadc ...

Station history

WKLO-FM signed on in August 1962 as the FM sister to WKLO AM 1080. Initially, the station simulcasted much of WKLO's

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

format, breaking off after 6 p.m. to air

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

and

showtunes A show tune is a popular song, song originally written as part of the score of a work of musical theatre or musical film, especially if the piece in question has become a Standard (music), standard, more or less detached in most people's minds ...

, but eventually segued into a full-time simulcast by the end of the 1960s. When the FCC banned full-time AM-FM simulcasts in the late 1960s, WKLO-FM switched to an automated Top 40 format. In the early 1970s, WKLO-FM became WCSN with an automated Beautiful/Easy Listening format. In 1979, WCSN ("Sunshine Melodies") abruptly dropped its automated beautiful music/easy listening format for a Rock-leaning Top 40 format as WKJJ, with the first song in the new format as "Renegade" by

Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; ; lit. "Shuddering"), also called the River Styx, is a goddess and one of the rivers of the Greek Underworld. Her parents were the Titans Oceanus and Tethys, and she was the wife of the Titan Pallas and the moth ...

. Initially, the station was known as "JJ-100", but was quickly changed to "KJ-100" days after signing-on. Several months later, sister AM WKLO was changed to WKJJ as both stations pioneered a then-unique concept of "lateral replays" where a song would air on the FM and the same song would air several minutes later on the AM. This concept was done in order to get around FCC rules that were still in place at the time. In 1981, sister WKJJ dropped the lateral replay concept as the format was changed to

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

as WCII. One year later, WKJJ-FM changed 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 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

as "Magic 100." This move left parts of the Louisville market without a Top 40/CHR station for roughly a year (in the meantime,

WAKY (AM) WAKY (620 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Louisville, Kentucky, that simulcasts a classic hits format with sister station WAKY-FM (103.5 MHz). It is owned by William Walters, through licensee W & B Broadcasting Co., In ...

continued their successful Top 40 format, while WSAC (along with its sister FM station) in nearby

Fort Knox Fort Knox is a United States Army installation in Kentucky, south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Elizabethtown. It is adjacent to the United States Bullion Depository (also known as Fort Knox), which is used to house a larg ...

had aired a Top 40 and Adult Contemporary mix for parts of the Louisville market). In addition, legendary AOR leader WLRS and Adult Contemporary turned Top 40/CHR WJYL would attempt to fill the hole for CHR in the Louisville market, and

WRKA WRKA (103.9 FM) is a commercial radio station in Louisville, Kentucky, owned by SummitMedia, It airs an urban adult contemporary format. WRKA carries two nationally syndicated programs on weekdays: '' The Rickey Smiley Morning Show'' in ...

in nearby

Lyndon Lyndon may refer to: Places * Lyndon, Alberta, Canada * Lyndon, Rutland, East Midlands, England * Lyndon, Solihull, West Midlands, England United States * Lyndon, Illinois * Lyndon, Kansas * Lyndon, Kentucky * Lyndon, New York * Lyndon, Ohio * L ...

took its short-lived Top 40 format for the Louisville market throughout 1982 and 1983 before returning to its fully operated Adult Contemporary format by 1984. On August 29, 1985, "Magic 100" stunted by playing

Christmas carols Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A liturgical feast central to Christianity, Chri ...

for about an hour. When the stunt ended, WDJX signed on as a CHR station as ''99 DJX''. The first song WDJX played was " Money for Nothing" by

Dire Straits Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals, lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Pick Withers (drums, percussion). Th ...

. In 1994, Regent Communications (now

Townsquare Media Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...

), owner of both WDJX-FM and WDJX, changed its relationship with

WHKW WHKW (1220 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, featuring a Christian radio format known as "AM 1220 The Word". Owned by Salem Media Group, the station serves both Greater Cleveland and the Northeast Ohio region. WHKW ...

from a LMA to a sales marketing agreement.

References

External links

Station website

* {{coord, 38, 21, 53, N, 85, 50, 18, W, source:enwiki-plaintext-parser, display=title DJX Contemporary hit radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1962 Alpha Media radio stations 1962 establishments in Kentucky