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WTJS (Jackson, TN) Drops News/Talk For Classic Country

A

AMFMKYTN

Forever Communications has flipped WTJS 1390 AM (and translator W231BU at 94.1 FM) from News/Talk to Classic Country, branded as Willie 94 FM. The station is also simulcasting the format on WLLI-FM 94.3 in Dyer, TN.

I don't know how long WTJS 1390 AM was News/Talk, but remember it being that way for at least 15 years.
 
AMFMKYTN said:
Forever Communications has flipped WTJS 1390 AM (and translator W231BU at 94.1 FM) from News/Talk to Classic Country, branded as Willie 94 FM. The station is also simulcasting the format on WLLI-FM 94.3 in Dyer, TN.
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I take it that the Dyer station is the (former?) "Dyer County Country"?
I don't know how long WTJS 1390 AM was News/Talk, but remember it being that way for at least 15 years.
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Aren't they the sister station to 104.1, which has been country for at least 35 years now? So now they (apparently) have modern country on the FM, and classic country on the AM. But let's be real here. Most AM stations now only exist to "feed" FM translators anymore. This one appears to be no exception.
 
firepoint525 said:
I take it that the Dyer station is the (former?) "Dyer County Country"?
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Yes, that would be it. As usual trying to market that station to the Dyersburg area apparently hasn't worked.


Aren't they the sister station to 104.1, which has been country for at least 35 years now? So now they (apparently) have modern country on the FM, and classic country on the AM. But let's be real here. Most AM stations now only exist to "feed" FM translators anymore. This one appears to be no exception.
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Although I'm not a big country fan, this sounds like a definite improvement over the TJ Network of news/talk stations that had been on. There was an overkill of news talk on FM in Jackson, and there is still also 101.5. They were gradually changed to other formats on 94.3 and 105.3, and now finally on 94.1. 1390 was all they ever needed to be news/talk, but I won't miss it either.
 
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Hey, AG, do you know if DCC was programmed live? If they were, this change might represent a net loss of jobs. If it was voice-tracked, then probably no net change. At any rate, I seriously doubt that they were programmed out of Dyer, TN. (Probably remote-controlled out of Jackson.) The cost of living is probably very low there (Dyer), but even so, I sort of doubt that a station there could pay anyone enough to be able to afford to live there. (That's just the cynic in me coming out!)
 
The times I heard it it sounded automated, so I don't think they had any live staff, and it won't surprise me for the new Willie format to be the same way. 94.3 has always been a satellite station to something out of the Jackson area except for this past year as Dyer County Country, which apparently didn't work.
 
Thanks for the reply. I seem to recall you telling me on Insight that DCC carried Dyersburg or Dyer County sports, so I would definitely look for them to continue that, even if it mains breaking the simulcast for a few hours every Friday night. High school football is one of the biggest money-makers for small-town stations; some of them would do high school football 24/7 if they could figure out a way to program it, afford to program it, and make money from it!
 
94.3 had Dyersburg High School football and basketball during the time they were a satellite of Froggy 104, but when they were switched to the TJ Network it was dropped. I believe DHS sports are now on WTNV 97.3, Burks's country FM.
 
Judging by their map on Radio-Locator, it looks like their transmitter site is near Yorkville. And judging by (only!) the red-shaded area on the map, it looks like they would be perfectly suited for carrying Dyer County sports, if they chose to. I have a cousin who teaches at DCHS and lives in Newbern with her husband.
 
It's interesting to note that Forever Communications has actually had "Willie" in the market before. Back in 2006, Forever put "Willie" on 1190 AM in nearby Humboldt, which they bought along with WSLZ 105.3 FM and WLSQ 94.3 from Boyd Enterprises. That was back in the Z-105 days. 1190 AM was WHMT at the time, and became WLLI for several years along with 94.3 FM. They kept the AM for a few years before getting rid of it.
 
firepoint525 said:
Judging by their map on Radio-Locator, it looks like their transmitter site is near Yorkville. And judging by (only!) the red-shaded area on the map, it looks like they would be perfectly suited for carrying Dyer County sports, if they chose to. I have a cousin who teaches at DCHS and lives in Newbern with her husband.
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Dyer County High School sports has been on WASL 100.1 for years.
 
AMFMKYTN said:
It's interesting to note that Forever Communications has actually had "Willie" in the market before. Back in 2006, Forever put "Willie" on 1190 AM in nearby Humboldt, which they bought along with WSLZ 105.3 FM and WLSQ 94.3 from Boyd Enterprises. That was back in the Z-105 days. 1190 AM was WHMT at the time, and became WLLI for several years along with 94.3 FM. They kept the AM for a few years before getting rid of it.
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So by this, you mean that they have had the "Willie" format in the past? When I looked it up on Radio-Locator, I saw that the Humboldt station indeed had the WLLI call letters, but sometimes they are slow to update, and usually rely on people in the know in the area to submit updates to them. We have had a "Hank" in rural middle TN for years, but not sure if it is still there or not.

anotherguy said:
Dyer County High School sports has been on WASL 100.1 for years.
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Okay, cool. They might still be in good position to (also) carry Gibson Co. sports, if those aren't already spoken for.
 
In the office at UPS in Jackson where I work they've had Willie 94 on and I've also heard ads for it on Froggy 104 as well. They're still pushing 94.3 as a Dyersburg area station.
 
104.1 first went on the air as country in January of 1981...I know, because I was one of the original staff that had to hear of the threats of lawsuits because WKIR had committed the sin of straying from its AOR format...four months I will never forget...
 
The station actually went country in February of 1981 as WKIR-FM...I was there for the start up. It was a good station even back then although it did have problems getting away from the Album Rock roots. Would you believe that we even had threats of lawsuits for changing formats?
 
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