I was a student at Jones College in the early 70's, majoring in broadcast management. Even then, I was interested in the stories of radio stations - their histories.
Dr. Jack Jones told me part of the Jones College Radio story, while other folks added this and that. A while back, I read the history of the stations on the Jones College Radio website, and realized that it didn't jive with what I'd been told. I may be a bit off on some my dates, but here's what I remember and have tried to verify:
The history of the AM facility at 1220 (now WJAX) goes back to late '56/early '57, when a CP was granted to Tom Carr for WGCS, 250w on 1220, at Green Cove Springs. At about the same time, another CP for Green Cove Springs was granted to Ben Akerman of Atlanta. The permit was for 500w on 1580. Carr decided to get the CP moved to Arlington, and WPEG went on the air in November of '57. WGRC/Green Cove Springs eventually signed on in mid-'59.
WPEG was sold to Harold King in mid-'58, again to Ted Weber in mid-'59 (and became WTTT), and finally to the Rahall family from Beckley, WV in mid-'60 (becoming WQTY). The Rahalls increased the power to 1kw in 1961.
As best I can recall, the Rahalls wanted to apply for a TV permit (don’t know if they ever did). They felt they would stand a better chance in a competitive process if they had no broadcast holdings in Jacksonville. Nick Rahall was a West Virginia congressman, and their stations at Beckley (WWNR) and St. Petersburg (WLCY) were doing very well. To make themselves look good (and for a nice tax write-off), they offered to donate the station to Jacksonville University. After being turned down, they then approached Jones College. Officially on October 20, 1963, control of WQTY was handed over to Dr. Jones. Shortly thereafter, WQTY became WDCJ, the call letters standing for Dr. Jones then-wife, Delores C. Jones.
WMBR-FM (96.1) went on the air in 1949, a sister to WMBR (1460). Charles Smith from Charleston (he owned WTMA there) bought WMBR in 1963. He only bought the AM, and the FM was sold to Bob Whitehead, who owned WKTX (1600) at Atlantic Beach. Whitehead changed the calls to WKTZ (KTX-KTZ). I’m not sure what happened next, but WKTZ-FM was transferred to Jones College on November 1, 1964. I’m not sure if it was donated to the college, or if Dr. Jones bought the station.
From then ‘till sometime in ’71, WDCJ and WKTZ were only a partial simulcast, and I’m not sure what differences there were in the programming. The AM became an ABC/I affiliate, the FM an ABC/FM affiliate in 1968. Even after the AM calls were changed to WKTZ in ‘71, I think were still some periods of separate programming. Both stations changed to ABC/E news in 1972.
The Atlantic Beach station on 1600 remained WKTX until 1970, when its calls were changed to WJNJ by then-owner Bill Bivens, then back to WKTX in 1971. The WJNJ calls were moved to what had been WAQB (104.9 FM). To say the least, it was always confusing that you had a WKTX and a WKTZ in the same market. By the way, WJNJ-FM eventually moved to 104.5 and became WFYV.
As far as I know, the rest of the story told on the Jones College Radio web-site is accurate. Dr. Jones did make certain album cuts unplayable, and the calls, library, format and AM station were again donated to the college after Kravitz purchased the stations and changed the format on 96.1 to soft A/C.
The WKTZ-FM calls were placed on what had been WFAM (91.1 FM), a non-com station I helped put on the air when I was a student (I was one of the few that already a 3rd Class license).
Another licensed student was a guy from New Jersey named Joe Piscopo. Wonder whatever happened to him?
Dr. Jack Jones told me part of the Jones College Radio story, while other folks added this and that. A while back, I read the history of the stations on the Jones College Radio website, and realized that it didn't jive with what I'd been told. I may be a bit off on some my dates, but here's what I remember and have tried to verify:
The history of the AM facility at 1220 (now WJAX) goes back to late '56/early '57, when a CP was granted to Tom Carr for WGCS, 250w on 1220, at Green Cove Springs. At about the same time, another CP for Green Cove Springs was granted to Ben Akerman of Atlanta. The permit was for 500w on 1580. Carr decided to get the CP moved to Arlington, and WPEG went on the air in November of '57. WGRC/Green Cove Springs eventually signed on in mid-'59.
WPEG was sold to Harold King in mid-'58, again to Ted Weber in mid-'59 (and became WTTT), and finally to the Rahall family from Beckley, WV in mid-'60 (becoming WQTY). The Rahalls increased the power to 1kw in 1961.
As best I can recall, the Rahalls wanted to apply for a TV permit (don’t know if they ever did). They felt they would stand a better chance in a competitive process if they had no broadcast holdings in Jacksonville. Nick Rahall was a West Virginia congressman, and their stations at Beckley (WWNR) and St. Petersburg (WLCY) were doing very well. To make themselves look good (and for a nice tax write-off), they offered to donate the station to Jacksonville University. After being turned down, they then approached Jones College. Officially on October 20, 1963, control of WQTY was handed over to Dr. Jones. Shortly thereafter, WQTY became WDCJ, the call letters standing for Dr. Jones then-wife, Delores C. Jones.
WMBR-FM (96.1) went on the air in 1949, a sister to WMBR (1460). Charles Smith from Charleston (he owned WTMA there) bought WMBR in 1963. He only bought the AM, and the FM was sold to Bob Whitehead, who owned WKTX (1600) at Atlantic Beach. Whitehead changed the calls to WKTZ (KTX-KTZ). I’m not sure what happened next, but WKTZ-FM was transferred to Jones College on November 1, 1964. I’m not sure if it was donated to the college, or if Dr. Jones bought the station.
From then ‘till sometime in ’71, WDCJ and WKTZ were only a partial simulcast, and I’m not sure what differences there were in the programming. The AM became an ABC/I affiliate, the FM an ABC/FM affiliate in 1968. Even after the AM calls were changed to WKTZ in ‘71, I think were still some periods of separate programming. Both stations changed to ABC/E news in 1972.
The Atlantic Beach station on 1600 remained WKTX until 1970, when its calls were changed to WJNJ by then-owner Bill Bivens, then back to WKTX in 1971. The WJNJ calls were moved to what had been WAQB (104.9 FM). To say the least, it was always confusing that you had a WKTX and a WKTZ in the same market. By the way, WJNJ-FM eventually moved to 104.5 and became WFYV.
As far as I know, the rest of the story told on the Jones College Radio web-site is accurate. Dr. Jones did make certain album cuts unplayable, and the calls, library, format and AM station were again donated to the college after Kravitz purchased the stations and changed the format on 96.1 to soft A/C.
The WKTZ-FM calls were placed on what had been WFAM (91.1 FM), a non-com station I helped put on the air when I was a student (I was one of the few that already a 3rd Class license).
Another licensed student was a guy from New Jersey named Joe Piscopo. Wonder whatever happened to him?
