WJXR (92.1 FM) 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 ...

licensed to

Macclenny, Florida Macclenny is a city and the county seat of Baker County, Florida. Located just west of Jacksonville, it is part of the Jacksonville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,304 at the 2020 census, up from 6,374 in 2010. Hi ...

, and serving the

Jacksonville metropolitan area The Jacksonville Metropolitan Area, also called the First Coast, Metro Jacksonville, or Northeast Florida, is the metropolitan area centered on the principal city of Jacksonville, Florida and including the First Coast of North Florida. As of th ...

. The station is owned by Norberto Sanchez, through licensee Norsan WJXR, LLC. It airs a

Spanish language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

tropical music

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 broadcasting, ...

. WJXR is a Class C3 station. It 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 25,000

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

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 in southwest Jacksonville, off U.S. Route 90.

History

WBKF Shark Country

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 in . Its 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 as ...

was WBKF. It was owned by Woodrow W. Rhoden and it had studios at 336 West Macclenny Avenue in Macclenny. It aired 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 and used the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

for its news coverage. The station was Class A, powered at 3,000 watts, a fraction of its current output. In 1984, it switched its call letters to WJXR to represent "Jacksonville Radio". The station's moniker was "Shark Country." The station

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...

was a

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

dressed as a

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...

. WBKF had a

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...

, a chihuahua named Delia Diamonique, which would appear at remote broadcasts. In 1985, the station was bought by Sarah and Gregory Perch, calling their company WJXR, Incorporated. At first, it continued its country format, adding the ABC Directions Network for its news coverage. Perch was its general manager and program director. But then it began a new programming concept.

WJXR The Bargain Channel

The bulk of the station's airtime was devoted to "The Bargain Channel" program, which consisted of broadcasting cut-rate prices on a wide variety of items. The show was similar to the "

Trading Post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory in European and colonial contexts, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically a trading post allows people from one geogr ...

"-type programs that was the genesis of cable shopping channels like the

Home Shopping Network HSN, Inc. an initialism of its former name Home Shopping Network, is an American free-to-air television network owned by the QVC Group (formerly Qurate Retail Group), which also owns Catalog merchant, catalog company Cornerstone Brands. It is ...

. As The Bargain Channel its popularity rested, in part, on the personalities of the hosts and the matchless scope of the items being sold. For example, the Bargain Channel marketed large quantities of batteries, "miscellaneous" meats,

tiger's eye Tiger's eye (also called tiger eye) is a chatoyant gemstone that is usually a metamorphic rock with a golden to red-brown colour and a silky lustre. As members of the quartz group, tiger's eye and the related blue-coloured mineral hawk's e ...

men's rings, and

burlap Hessian (, ), burlap in North America, or crocus in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, is a woven fabric made of vegetable fibres, usually the skin of the jute plant or sisal leaves. It is generally used (in the crude tow form known as gunny) ...

sacks. Many of the products on WJXR were sold in randomly matched packages, such as four packs of miscellaneous chicken combined with a 2-person vacation to either Disney World or Sea World Orlando for only $109. These packages are known as "deals". Callers will often purchase items by saying "I want two deals of batteries" or "can I get two deals of the pizza pans??" The station's call letters were often used by hosts to greet callers. Due to their often Southern accents, hosts habitually pronounced the letters as the now-signature "Dubjexar?". Another popular caller greeting was "Welcome to the Bargain Channel," with "tothebarginchannel" slurred together in a humorous fashion. On December 31, 2014 at 10:00 pm ET, the station flipped the format to

Spanish tropical Tropical music () is a term in the Latin music industry that refers to music genres deriving from or influenced by the Spanish-speaking areas of the Caribbean. It includes the islands of Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and the Caribbean ...

, simulcasting co-owned

WEWC WEWC (1160 AM) is a radio station in the United States. Licensed to Callahan, Florida, the station serves the First Coast with a regional Mexican music format and is owned by Norsan Consulting and Management, Inc. History of the 1160 frequen ...

1160 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1160 kHz: in the United States and Mexico. Radio station KSL in Salt Lake City is the dominant Class A station on 1160 AM, a United States clear-channel frequency, according to the U.S ...

.''Norsan Media To Acquire WJXR Jacksonville; Flip To Spanish Tropical''
- RadioInsight, December 31, 2014.

References

External links

Official website
*
A clip of WJXR The Bargain Channel store from Jacksonville FloridaA caller requests an out-of-stock item live on air in 1997
{{coord, 30.299, N, 82.015, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title JXR JXR Radio stations established in 1979 1979 establishments in Florida Tropical music radio stations