WHJA (890 AM, "Power 101") is a

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 ...

licensed A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...

to the community of

Laurel, Mississippi Laurel is a city in and the second county seat of Jones County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 17,161. Laurel is northeast of Ellisville, the first county seat, which contains the first county ...

, and serving the

Hattiesburg, Mississippi Hattiesburg is a city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, located primarily in Forrest County, Mississippi, Forrest County (where it is the county seat and most populous city) and extending west into Lamar County, Mississippi, Lamar County. The ci ...

, area. The station is owned by Donald Pugh, Sr., through licensee Eternity Media Group LLC. It airs a

classic hip hop Classic hip hop is a music radio format focusing primarily on hip hop music from the 1980s, 1990s, and the early to mid-2000s. Although stations with such a format date back as far as 2004, the format was first popularized in October 2014, after ...

format Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informatio ...

. The station was assigned the WHJA call letters by the

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

on August 1,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

. The station has been silent since August 25, 2008. According to the station's application to the FCC for authority to remain silent, the station suffered a "massive transmitter failure" and they claim that "repair of the facility may not be economically feasible." The application notes that the financial performance of the station is being assessed "in light of the needed technical expenditures." Station returned to the air in June 2013.

History

The station began as WQIS "Q-89" in 1985 when WQIS moved from 1260 kHz to occupy the present transmitter tower, in Moselle, Mississippi; once occupied by sister station WNSL-FM. Q-89 was a daytime only R&B station serving Laurel and Hattiesburg; the station changed the format to

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

and became "Kiss 890" in the 1990s. After

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...

acquired WQIS, the call letters were changed. The original WEEZ call letters were assigned to FM 99.3 as an easy listening/soft rock station operated by WAML in the 1980s. In the 1990s, WEEZ changed to

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compo ...

and became known as "Gospel 99". The call letters at 99.3 MHz changed to WHER "Eagle 99" playing

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

following the acquisition by Clear Channel. The station's license has been through a series of changes since 2010. On April 6, 2011, Clear Channel donated WHJA to the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (MMTC). On May 1, 2013, MMTC sold the station to Donald H. Pugh, Jr. for $5,000. Pugh, Jr. subsequently assigned the station's license to Donald Pugh, Sr. on January 22, 2014. On January 23, 2017, WHJA changed their format from urban gospel to classic hip hop, branded as "Power 101" (simulcast on Fm translator W266CT 101.1 FM Laurel. Effective March 2, 2018, Donald Pugh, Sr. transferred the station's license to his wholly owned Eternity Media Group LLC.

References

External links

* * HJA Jones County, Mississippi 1957 establishments in Mississippi Radio stations established in 1957 Classic hip-hop radio stations in the United States HJA {{Mississippi-radio-station-stub