WJYD (106.3 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to

London, Ohio London is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Ohio, United States. Located about southwest of the Ohio capital of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, London was established in 1811 to serve as the county seat. The population was 10,279 at t ...

, United States, and featuring an

urban gospel Urban/contemporary gospel, also known as urban gospel music, urban gospel pop, or just simply urban gospel, is a modern subgenre of gospel music. Although the style developed gradually, early forms are generally dated to the 1970s, and the genr ...

format known on air as "Joy 106.3". Owned by

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

, the station serves the Columbus metropolitan area. The studios and offices are on East First Avenue, just north of

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

is off London-Lockbourne Road in London.

History

The station was first licensed on May 26, 1993, as WCKX. When WCKX moved from 106.3 in London to 107.5 in Columbus on December 26, 1997, the call letters were changed to WMXG. The station became WCZZ on October 2, 1998. When 106.3 was known as WCKX, it was the Columbus area's only R&B and Hip Hop station, yet suffered from poor ratings because of its tower location in London, since the primary signal coverage reached only the western fringes of Franklin County and put secondary coverage into the remainder of the Columbus metropolitan area. The former WJZA at 107.5 became huge competition for "Power 106.3" in the late 90s and was eventually bought by Radio One and transferred to the 107.5 signal. In July 2000, the station flipped to

, branded as "Joy 106.3," with the WJYD calls adopted on July 31 of that year. On September 16, 2011, the station became the new home of WXMG's

Urban AC 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 on ...

format, and rebranded as "Magic 106.3." On September 23, WJYD changed its call letters to WXMG. On November 13, 2015, WXMG began simulcasting on WZOH-FM after Radio One purchased it and WHOK-FM from Wilks Broadcasting, as Radio One announced they would be moving the "Magic" format to the new frequency. After simulcasting for three days, WXMG flipped to

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 ...

, branded as "Boom 106.3", on November 16 at noon. The station changed its call sign to WBMO on November 23, 2015. On November 28, 2017, at 10 a.m., WBMO dropped classic hip hop for a simulcast with WCKX. The station adopted new call letters WHTD on February 1, 2022. On November 1, 2024, WHTD dropped its simulcast with WCKX and changed its format to urban gospel, branded as "Joy 106.3"; the "Joy" programming moved from WJYD (107.1 FM).Joy on the Move in Columbus
Radioinsight - October 25, 2024

References

External links

* {{Radio One Radio stations established in 1993 JYD Urban One stations 1993 establishments in Ohio Urban gospel radio stations in the United States JYD London, Ohio