WZMJ (93.1

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 ...

) 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 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 ...

Batesburg, South Carolina Batesburg-Leesville is a town located in Lexington and Saluda counties, South Carolina, United States. The town's population was 5,362 as of the 2010 census and an estimated 5,415 in 2019. History The town of Batesburg-Leesville was formed in ...

and serving the Columbia metropolitan area. It broadcasts a classic hits

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, ...

and is owned by the Midlands Media Group, LLC. WZMJ calls itself "93.1 The Lake" and features soft to mid-tempo hits of the 1970s, 80s and 90s. The

radio studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for recording and mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enough to record a single sin ...

s and offices are on Gervais Street in Columbia. WZMJ 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 2,100

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 on Perry Taylor Road off Two Notch Road in

Gilbert, South Carolina Gilbert is a town in Lexington County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 569 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Columbia, South Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The David Jefferson Griffith House and Music Ha ...

History

WBLR-FM and WKWQ-FM

On August 5, 1965, 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 as WBLR-FM, the sister station to WBLR

1430 AM The following radio broadcasting, radio stations broadcast on AM broadcasting, AM frequency 1430 kHz: 1430 AM is a regional broadcast frequency, as classified by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and the Canadian Radio-television and ...

. At the time, WBLR-FM was located on 92.1 FM. The two stations

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of 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, simultaneously) ...

a middle of the road (MOR) format of adult music with local news and information. In 1979, in order to accommodate a class/power increase for WTWE—

Manning Manning (a.k.a. Mannion, Manning) is a family name. Origin and meaning Manning is from an old Norse word — manningi — meaning a brave or valiant man; and one of the first forms of the name was Mannin; another cartography was Mannyg ...

, WWBD—

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main (river), Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in ...

was moved from 92.7 to 92.1, which required WBLR-FM to move from 92.1 to 95.3. WBLR-FM switched its

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 ...

to WKWQ-FM when it moved, playing

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 ...

. It flipped to

album rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM broadcasting, FM radio format created in the United States in the late 1960s that focuses on the full repertoire of Rock music, rock albums and is currently associated ...

as "K-95 Rock" in 1986 and started to target nearby Columbia. In 1988, the station changed again to

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 ...

as "Hot 95" in an attempt to compete with urban powerhouse 101.3

WWDM WWDM (101.3 FM) is an urban adult contemporary radio station licensed to Sumter, South Carolina and serves the Columbia, South Carolina market. The Alpha Media outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to broadcast with a ...

. But WWDM was more powerful and Hot 95 failed to attract many listeners. During this period, the broadcasting tower was moved closer to Columbia.

Move to 93.1

WKWQ moved its frequency from 95.3 to 93.1 in early 1991. The station was re-launched as K-93, but was handicapped by underfunded ownership. The station eventually went to satellite programming using

Satellite Music Network Satellite Music Network was the first satellite delivered Radio network, network to provide complete live 24-hour-a-day music programming to radio stations, local stations, under several different formats. History Affiliate stations, mostly i ...

's "The Touch" Adult Urban Contemporary format and was paired with

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

103.9 WKSO (now known as

WHXT WHXT (103.9 FM) is a mainstream urban radio station licensed to Orangeburg, South Carolina and serves the Columbia, South Carolina market. The Alpha Media outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to broadcast with an eff ...

) located in Orangeburg. This arrangement lasted until 1999 when WKWQ broke off from the simulcast with WKSO and flipped to

Urban Oldies 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 ...

as "Majik 93.1." It switched its call letters to WZMJ to echo the "Majik" moniker. Unfortunately, Majic 93.1 never took off due to strong competition from

Jammin' Oldies Rhythmic oldies is a radio format that concentrates on the rhythmic, R&B, disco, or dance genres of music. The playlists spans from the 1960s through the 2000s. They depend on market conditions and may be designed for African-American or Hispani ...

outlet WSCQ (now known as

WXBT WXBT (100.1 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to West Columbia, South Carolina and serving the Columbia metropolitan area (South Carolina), Columbia metropolitan area. It airs an urban ...

), which launched a few months later. In 2000, the format was changed to

Beach Music Beach music, also known as Carolina beach music, and to a lesser extent, beach pop, is a regional genre of music in the United States which developed from rock/ R&B and pop music of the 1950s and 1960s. Beach music is most closely associate ...

. WZMJ and co-owned urban contemporary outlet WHXT were sold in 2003 to

Inner City Broadcasting The Inner City Broadcasting Corporation ("ICBC") was an American media company based in New York City. It was one of the first broadcasting companies wholly owned by African-Americans. History Inner City was founded in 1970 by a group of prominen ...

, a large black-owned company with stations in several large and medium sized markets, primarily broadcasting to the local

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

community. Inner City already owned the market's #1 urban station, 101.3 WWDM.

93.1 The Hound

Shortly after the sale, the station changed format to Young Country as "93.1 The Hound." It was unusual for Inner City to own a country station. But 93.1 The Hound was designed as a flanker to help sister station WWDM stay #1, ahead of

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 ...

's country outlet

WCOS-FM WCOS-FM (97.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Columbia, South Carolina. It airs a country music radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The station goes by the name 97-5 WCOS and its current slogan is "#1 For New Country". Its st ...

. Never the less, 93.1 The Hound managed to gain a small audience. However, in 2005, after the sign-on of

Double O Radio Double O Radio was a privately held media corporation with corporate headquarters in Charleston, South Carolina. At its peak, Double O Radio owned 28 radio stations in the United States. On August 8, 2011, Double O announced it would merge with ...

's New Country outlet WWNU, sister AM's WOIC

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternatively branded platform-agnostically as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the banner "SportsRadio ESPN". The netw ...

format moved to WZMJ, while WOIC was re-launched as an

Air America Radio Air America (formerly Air America Radio and Air America Media) was an American radio network specializing in progressive talk radio. It was on the air from March 2004 to January 2010. The network was founded as a left–wing alternative to coun ...

progressive talk Progressive talk radio is a talk radio format devoted to expressing left-leaning viewpoints of news and issues as opposed to conservative talk radio. In the United States, the format has included syndicated and independent personalities such as ...

outlet.

The Lake

On July 27, 2012, Lake Murray Communications, LLC took ownership of the station from bankrupted ICBC Broadcast Holdings and changed it to its current format, branded as "Z93 The Lake". The music format was created by Mike Willis, a 40-year radio veteran, station owner & President/CEO of Lake Murray Communications, LLC. According to Willis, "The format is a product of my early broadcasting and radio station influences, such as WBBQ Augusta, Georgia;

WKZQ WKZQ-FM (96.1 Hertz, MHz, "96.1 KZQ") is an alternative rock radio station licensed to Forestbrook, South Carolina and serves the Grand Strand area. The station is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to broadcast with an effe ...

Myrtle Beach; WLS Chicago; WABC &

WNBC WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey� ...

NYC;

WLAC WLAC (1510 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station in Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America. Owned by iHeartMedia, it broadcasts a talk radio radio format, format. The radio studio, studios are in Nashvill ...

Nashville; and

WOWO WOWO (1190 AM) – branded News/Talk WOWO 92.3 FM 1190 AM – is a commercial talk radio station licensed to Fort Wayne, Indiana, serving primarily the Fort Wayne metropolitan area. Currently owned by Federated Media via licensee Pathfinder ...

Ft. Wayne, Indiana." 93.1 WZMJ airs local

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

and basketball from schools around

Lexington County Lexington County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 293,991. Its county seat and largest community is Lexington. The county was chartered in 1785 and was named in commemoration o ...

and Lake Murray. Effective November 1, 2018, Midlands Media Group acquired WZMJ from Lake Murray Communications for $450,000. The station later modified its moniker to "93.1 The Lake."

References

External links

93.1 The Lake Facebook
* {{coord, 33.901, N, 81.407, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title ZMJ Radio stations established in 1965 1965 establishments in South Carolina Classic hits radio stations in the United States