WFJS (1260 AM) is a

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 radi ...

broadcasting a

religious Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...

, focusing on the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and carrying EWTN Radio Network programs. The station is owned by the Domestic Church Media Foundation, a Catholic-based organization in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city, capital city (New Jersey), city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.

. Programming is

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simult ...

on WFJS-FM (89.3) in Freehold, New Jersey, as well as

WGYM WGYM (1580 kHz) is a non-commercial AM radio station broadcasting a religious format aimed at Catholic listeners. The station is licensed to Hammonton, New Jersey, and serves parts of Atlantic County and Camden County. The station is owned b ...

(1580 AM) in the Atlantic City area and WSMJ (91.9 FM) in North Wildwood. By day, WFJS is powered at 5,900

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s. To protect other stations on 1260 AM from interference, at night it reduces power to 2,500 watts. It uses a directional antenna with a four-

tower array A tower array is an arrangement of multiple radio towers which are mast radiators in a phased array. They were originally developed as ground-based tracking radars. Tower arrays can consist of free-standing or guyed towers or a mix of them. Tower ...

. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to ...

is on Ewingville Road in Ewing Township, New Jersey.

History

Early years

The station

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature, placing one's name on a document * Signature (disambiguation) * Manual communication, signing as a form of communication using the hands in place of the voice * Digital signature A dig ...

the air on . The original

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assig ...

was WBUD. It was licensed to Morrisville, Pennsylvania, broadcasting at 1490 kilocycles. In 1952, WBUD moved to its current frequency of 1260 kHz as a Trenton-licensed station. During a period in the late 1970s, the station held the call letters WTRT. On May 29, 1980, the station adopted the call letters WKXW. It reverted to the original call sign WBUD on September 1, 1981, and kept those call letters until 2008. In the early 1970s, WBUD broadcast a Top 40 format. In 1975, the station became an all-news outlet, carrying the NBC News and Information Service. When that service was discontinued in 1977, WBUD returned to music programming. By the late 1990s, WBUD was airing

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as wel ...

music as "Great Gold Radio".

Standards and sports

In February 2006, WBUD switched to ABC Radio's " Unforgettable Favorites" satellite feed, airing a soft

/ adult standards format. Despite Unforgettable merging with the "

Timeless Timeless (or atemporal) or timelessness (or atemporality) may refer to: * Agelessness, the condition of being unaffected by the passage of time * Akal (Sikh term), timelessness in Sikhism * Eternity, timeless existence or infinite duration * Immo ...

" Radio Network, WBUD maintained its nostalgia playlist for two years. On March 31, 2008, the station switched to a

sports 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 ...

format, becoming a

network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...

of Fox Sports Radio. The station aired Fox Sports all day except in afternoons, when it aired Premiere's

Jim Rome Show ''The Jim Rome Show'' is a sports radio talk show hosted by Jim Rome. It airs live for three hours each weekday from 9 a.m. to noon Pacific Time. The show is produced in Los Angeles, syndicated by CBS Sports Radio, and can be heard on affilia ...

and local programming.

Catholic radio

The Millennium Radio Group, then WBUD's owner, announced on July 25, 2008, that the station would be sold. The buyer was th
Domestic Church Media Foundation
founded by New Jersey native
Jim Manfredonia
The station would drop Fox Sports Radio, switching to Catholic religious programming, mainly from EWTN. The sale was completed on September 10, 2008. On September 14, 2008, WBUD had its final day of broadcasting, featuring the station's automated "Great Gold" oldies format, as well as Jack Pinto's ''Sunday Sinatra'' program, live in the studio. The station returned to Fox Sports at 2PM after playing its final song, "Yesterday's Gone", by Chad and Jeremy. On September 15, 2008, WBUD officially flipped to a Catholic-based religious format, as "Domestic Church Catholic Radio". On September 22, 2008, the station changed its call letters to WFJS, named after Fulton J. Sheen, an archbishop who had used broadcasting (particularly

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

) to deliver the message about the Catholic faith. The station's studios will also be renamed as "The Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Center for Media Evangelization".

Power increase

In August 2012, WFJS was granted a

construction permit Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building per ...

by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisd ...

to increase its daytime power to 5,900 watts. It also added a fourth tower to its array to modify its daytime directional pattern. The sign-off of station WNWK in Newark, Delaware, which also broadcast on 1260 AM, freed WFJS from an obligation to minimize interference to that station. The new directional pattern improves WFJS's daytime signal to the south and southwest. No change was made to the station's nighttime power or pattern.

WFJS-FM

In May 2011, the Domestic Church Media Foundation was granted a license for WFJS-FM on 89.3 FM in Freehold, New Jersey.Application Search Details
fcc.gov. Accessed February 7, 2015 The station simulcasts 1260 WFJS.

References

External links

WFJS official website
{{Trenton Radio Radio stations established in 1947 Catholic radio stations 1947 establishments in New Jersey FJS