WJCL-FM (96.5

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

, "Kix 96") is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

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 ...

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...

. It is owned by

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is a broadcasting company of the United States and is the second largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States ahead of Audacy and behind iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdi ...

and it airs a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

format. It carries the syndicated ''Kincaid & Dallas'' morning

drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...

show from WKHX

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. The studios are on Television Circle in Savannah. WJCL-FM is a Class C FM station. The

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) is 100,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), 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 quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s, the maximum for most FM stations. 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 on Fort Argyle Road amid other FM and TV

towers A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

, west of the city in unincorporated Chatham County. WJCL-FM serves as the secondary

Emergency Alert System The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a Emergency population warning, national warning system in the United States designed to allow authorized officials to broadcast emergency alerts and warning messages to the public via Cable television, cable ...

radio station for the region.

History

Easy listening

The station

signed on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...

the air on . It has always had the WJCL-FM

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 as ...

.''Broadcasting Yearbook 1977'' page C-65. Retrieved Dec. 31, 2024.
/REF> The station was founded by J. Curtis Lewis, Jr., who operated the radio station in conjunction with

WJCL-TV WJCL (channel 22) is a television station in Savannah, Georgia, United States, affiliated with ABC. Owned by Hearst Television, the station maintains a transmitter in unincorporated western Chatham County, near Bloomingdale. Its studios are ...

on the south side of Savannah, adjacent to his car dealership. The call letters are the founder's initials. Lewis, a former mayor of Savannah, sold the TV station in 1999 to Grapevine Communications. It carried an

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 ...

music format, a mix of instrumentals and soft vocals. Savannah broadcasting pioneer Al Jennings not only managed the station, he was a frequent on-air presence, voicing numerous commercials, sports reports, and programs featuring

big band music A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

and

adult standards Adult standards (also sometimes known as the nostalgia or Big Band format) is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations. Adult standards started in the 1950s and is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly tho ...

. A personal friend of Savannah native son

Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Wallichs Music Cit ...

, Jennings often paid tribute to the legendary songwriter with radio shows featuring unique insights and trivia. WJCL-FM was one of the first radio stations in the area to use an automation system to play music and commercials, following WEAS-FM's earlier attempts in the late 1960s, which did not succeed. During morning and afternoon drive times, live announcers were used. Over time, the easy listening format was expanded to include

soft 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 ...

music. Other notable personalities on the station in its early years included Ben Mayo, host of an afternoon program called "Music with Mayo", Joe Cox, known to a generation of Savannahians as weatherman "Cap'n Sandy", Charlie Solomons, who played drums in a local big band and featured big band music on his morning show, and Pete Preston, who was also a weathercaster on WJCL-TV. Morning and afternoon news updates were read by veteran local newscaster Richard Lantz.

Country music

In the late 1980s, many easy listening stations saw their audiences aging, while most advertisers seek a younger audience. The station flipped to

in the early 1990s. It began calling itself "KIX 96". Notable DJs in the country format included Big Mac, Bill West, Tyler Morgan, Jay Scott, Boomer Lee, Mike Miller and Laura Anderson. The station was a powerhouse, becoming the top country station in the market. The main country competitor in Savannah, WCHY, saw its ratings decline. It changed to an

urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contemporary r ...

format as WQBT. WJCL-FM began using the "

Nash FM Nash is a media brand owned by Cumulus Media. It covers country music-related properties owned by Cumulus, including radio stations, digital properties and publications ('' Nash Country Daily''), Nash TV (a video on-demand service operated in pa ...

" branding in 2013. On December 4, 2015, WJCL-FM stopped calling itself "Nash FM" and reverted to its former "Kix 96" branding.WJCL Savannah Drops Nash Branding to Return to Kix
/ref>

References

External links

WJCL official website
* {{coord, 32.058, N, 81.338, W, type:landmark_region:US-GA_source:FCC, display=title Country radio stations in the United States JCL-FM Radio stations established in 1972 1972 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Cumulus Media radio stations