No cool call letters in Jax

[vadar]

A recent look at the Jacksonville radio listing shows 13 stations with a "J" in their call letters. Not only is this boring but also confusing. The obvious clash is Eagle (WJGL) and Magic (WJGH). Both sound the same anyways. Then you have the other heavyweights like WEJZ, WJBT and WXXJ. Then you get the smaller guys like WJNJ, WJSJ, WJCT, WJXR, WFXJ, WJXL, WHJX and don't forget WJRR from Orlando.

Of these 13 stations, only 4 have decent signals that cover the 4-6 county area. The next time someone changes calls can we dump the "J"? We know your low powered FM is probably not even licensed to the city of Jax.

 

[jackandcoke]

C'mon. The WAPE calls have been considered cool by thousands of radio people for 50 years--and they're still cool (whether today's CHR is listenable to many of us, or not). Still the Big Ape. One of radio's great call-letter-based brands.

And on sort of a related note, the WJAX calls--formerly on WAPE(FM)'s 95.1 frequency--are cool and presumably valuable. With due respect to the good folks at Jones College, they probably should shop them around to the commercial operators and see if any of them have the brains to snap them up in consideration for a nice "donation." The college can slap any old calls on 1220 and it's not gonna make a damn bit of difference.

 

[younglee981]

Don't forget about WJGM 105.7 and WFJO 92.5..both are religous stations

 

[vadar]

I thought 105.7 was WHJX? Good point about WAPE, some of the coolest calls around.....

 

[TommyR]

The college can slap any old calls on 1220 and it's not gonna make a damn bit of difference.

They should shop the whole station around. Just once could they come out of a local break on time, or match the liners with the jock on the air?

 

[901Rocks]

I miss one that had cool call letters and no "J"... WPLA :'(

 

[vadar]

Ah yes, WPLA, cool calls there. Great run they had.....

 

[RickSchmidt]

And prior to Planet's WPLA, there was WAIA...for A1A

 

[John FL]

And prior to Planet's WPLA, there was WAIA...for A1A

Now, that's interesting. South Florida had those calls prior to Cox's The Coast. It was WAIA /97A1A Your Music Way. It was an Adult Top 40/AC ish kind of format. What was the format of A1A here in Jax?

I always liked the WPLA calls too. Does anyone know if CC is holding on to these calls? I don't think anyone else is using them now. As far as Planet Radio goes, I don't think I remember seeing that brand anywhere else. When I first got to Jax, I think there were studios around Phillips/Baymeadows. Did a previous owner establish the Planet brand or was the station always CC? I believe the brand should come back ....somewhere...it's a great one IMHO.

 

[TommyR]

And prior to Planet's WPLA, there was WAIA...for A1A

What was the format of A1A here in Jax?

I always liked the WPLA calls too. Does anyone know if CC is holding on to these calls?

93 A1A was classic rock, and their logo featured the "Party Pig," not to be confused with the "Power Pig" in Tampa.

CC has WPLA calls on an AM in Macon.

 

[cd637299]

"A1A" is the slogan for the top-40 in Melbourne, FL. Funny because the actual calls are WAOA (A-One-A?)

The Melbourne station ought to snap up the calls WAIA if available---however---

Call letters mean so little nowadays anyway, as compared to 30-40 years ago. It's always B-103, the Wolf, the Sports Animal, "Jack", etc. now.

cd

 

[vadar]

Party Pig vs Power Pig? Now that's confusing, what was the whole deal around "Party Pig?" Still had a bad signal as I recall....

 

[nfladxer]

The current FCC rules allow for the same call letters on AM and FM in different markets - so WPLA-AM can be in Macon while WPLA-FM can be in Palatka - as an example. Also, I know there is an over abundance of the letter "J" in Jacksonville area call letters, but it's almost puzzling that the WVOJ call letters are parked in Fernandina on a Spanish AM station. Seems like WVOJ "The Voice of Jacksonville" would be perfect for a good talk station - just sayin'....

 

[TommyR]

WVOJ call letters are parked in Fernandina on a Spanish AM station. Seems like WVOJ "The Voice of Jacksonville" would be perfect for a good talk station - just sayin'....

It was: "Talk Radio 970 WVOJ" lasted from the mid-90's until spring 2003. It was Jacksonville AM radio at its best and worst, depending on when you happened to stumble on us! We had the infamous Greg Larson, and the Watch Hound, and a few other local talk radio standbys. Syndicated hosts through my years there included Mike Gallagher, Ken Hamblin, Dave Ramsey, Bruce Williams, and Joey Reynolds. We also had more than our fair share of brokered programs, including (toward the end) multiple forms of non-English language music.

Amazing to look back and recall that in 1996-97, there were FIVE news/talk stations in Jacksonville:
970 WVOJ,
690 WOKV, which needs no introduction;
1320 WJGR, similar to 970 but more established, higher profile programs, and better signal;
1460 WZNZ, which was largely CNN Headline News, a few syndicated and brokered shows, and sports bumped from 930;
and the newest but shortest lived, Real Radio 106.5 (WTLK) with Greaseman, Don & Mike, Tom Leykis, etc. and Westwood One Adult Rock in the off hours.

Anyway, as for the call letters...The owners of 1570 The Winner (WNNR) purchased 970 as a signal upgrade(!) to their rather new sports station, and flip-flopped the calls in January 2004. In its final year, the 970 version of WVOJ was leased entirely by Victor Cora, and programmed as "Latin Beat."

 

[younglee981]

I thought 105.7 was WHJX? Good point about WAPE, some of the coolest calls around.....

105.7 Changed calls when West Jacksonville Baptist took over the signal.