WJBE (AM)

WJBE (1040 kHz) is an American commercial radio station licensed to Powell, Tennessee, an unincorporated community just northeast of Knoxville; the station serves the Knoxville metropolitan area with an urban contemporary format. WJBE is owned by Joe E. Armstrong through broadcast licensee Arm & Rage, LLC. This station is unrelated to the former locally based WJBE (1430 AM) owned by entertainer James Brown from 1968 through 1979, for which it is named.[2]

WJBE
Broadcast areaKnoxville metro
Frequency1040 kHz
BrandingJammin' 99.7
Programming
FormatUrban contemporary
AffiliationsPremiere Networks
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
August 1984[1]
Former call signs
  • WKXT (CP, 1984)
  • WBZW (1984–1988)
  • WQBB (1988–2008)
  • WKTI (2008–2012)
  • WWAM (2012–2013)
Call sign meaning
Tribute to the former WJBE (1430 AM), owned by James Brown[2]
Technical information[3]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID59643
ClassD
Power10,000 watts day
3,000 watts critical hours
Transmitter coordinates
36°2′34″N 84°2′51″W
Translator(s)99.7 W259AV (Knoxville)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live
Websitewjbe.org

WJBE operates on the clear-channel frequency of 1040 AM, but is not considered a clear-channel station because it is a Class D daytime-only station. WHO in Des Moines, Iowa is the dominant Class A station, also known as a clear-channel station.

1040 AM in the Knoxville area began broadcasting in 1984 and primarily aired an adult standards format for its first 25 years. The station then aired classic country music in the late 2000s and early 2010s before being sold to its present ownership in 2013 and being reoriented toward the Black community in Knoxville.

History

WBZW went on the air in August 1984 as a station with a satellite-fed adult standards format.[4] Founding owner Dick Huckaba sold WBZW in 1986 to Holder Communications but remained president and general manager.[5]

When it was sold again to Knoxville-based Southern Diversified Industries in 1988, the new owners changed the call sign to WQBB, for "We're Quality Big Band".[6] Southern had acquired the station as a spinoff when Holder was purchased and the new owners opted not to keep its only AM outlet. In 1989, the station adopted AM stereo and increased power to 10,000 watts.[7] From 1993, it was simulcast on WQBB-FM 104.5.

Journal Communications acquired the WQBB stations in 1998, doubling its holdings from two stations to four in the Knoxville area.[8] Journal split the FM station off and flipped it to country.[9] In 2002, after WTXM-AM-FM "The Team" dropped its sports format, WQBB flipped to sports talk and picked up many of the same Fox Sports Radio hosts that had been heard on that station.[10]

After one last flip back to standards, in November 2008, the station became a classic country outlet under the call sign WKTI. The new call letters had little to do with Knoxville and much to do with Journal's headquarters of Milwaukee; that same month, the station there known as WKTI for 34 years changed its call sign to WLWK-FM in a format flip, and moving the designation to Knoxville allowed Journal to prevent any Milwaukee-area competitor from using it.

On December 3, 2012, the station was sold by Journal to WMCH Radio, Inc., in order to meet regulatory requirements after purchasing WACY-TV in Appleton, Wisconsin.[11] Journal retained the WKTI call letters (moving them to a low-power TV station in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin), and the call sign of the radio station was changed to WWAM. WWAM changed to urban adult contemporary with the sale.[12]

Effective May 7, 2013, WWAM was sold to Arm & Rage, LLC, a company owned by former Tennessee state representative Joe E. Armstrong, at a purchase price of $75,532.50. The station changed its call sign to the current WJBE on June 28, 2013, and added the FM translator to begin nighttime service.[12] Armstrong had worked in sales at the original WJBE, which was owned by James Brown, in the 1970s; he sought to restore a Black radio station to the community.[2] On February 3, 2016, WJBE changed its format to urban contemporary, branded as "Jammin' 99.7".[13]

On March 21, 2022, the FCC designated the license for hearing and proposed its revocation as a result of Armstrong's 2016 felony conviction on a charge of filing false federal income tax statements.[14] The case dealt with a scheme to profit off an increase in cigarette taxes in Tennessee by buying tax stamps and reselling them after the taxes increased.[15] FCC administrative law judge Jane Hinckley Halprin issued an initial decision in September 2023, finding that the FCC's Enforcement Bureau had failed to justify revocation for a series of rule violations and that Armstrong had been rehabilitated by the Knoxville community.[16]

FM translator

In addition to the main station at 1040 AM, WJBE is relayed by an FM translator; this gives the listener the ability to listen on FM. As WJBE AM is a daytime-only station, the FM signal gives the station the ability to broadcast 24 hours a day because FM stations are not restricted to daytime hours only.

Broadcast translator for WJBE
Call signFrequencyCity of licenseFIDERP (W)HAATClassFCC info
W259AV 99.7 FMKnoxville, Tennessee15666999154.8 m (508 ft)DLMS

References
  1. Mink, Ken (July 15, 1984). "Knox To Get New Radio Station; CNN Weatherman Joins Channel 26". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. Knoxville, Tennessee. p. G4. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022. Retrieved March 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. Wilusz, Ryan (February 1, 2021). "Black-owned WJBE stays true to James Brown's community vision". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. Knoxville, Tennessee. p. 1A, 7A. Archived from the original on March 7, 2022. Retrieved March 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Facility Technical Data for WJBE". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  4. Marcum, Ed (January 30, 1985). "High tech brings golden oldies mix". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. Knoxville, Tennessee. p. N4. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "WBZW radio station sold for $240,000". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. Knoxville, Tennessee. November 13, 1986. p. D6. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Knox firm buys radio station". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. Knoxville, Tennessee. July 6, 1988. p. C6. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. Simmons, Laura (February 11, 1989). "Big band AM station ups power". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. Knoxville, Tennessee. p. C6. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Journal Broadcast buys 2 more stations". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. Knoxville, Tennessee. January 8, 1998. p. C6. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Two radio stations announce changes". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. Knoxville, Tennessee. May 7, 1998. p. C8. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. Cavalaris, Chuck (February 5, 2002). "WQBB has good news for national sports radio fanatics". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. Knoxville, Tennessee. p. D2. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Journal Broadcast Group Sells WKTI-AM in Knoxville, Tennessee to WMCH Radio, Inc" (Press release). Business Wire. December 3, 2012. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved March 7, 2013.
  12. Venta, Lance (June 28, 2013). "Urban AC Comes To FM In Knoxville". RadioInsight. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  13. Venta, Lance (February 3, 2016). "WJBE Knoxville Now Jammin with Hip Hop". RadioInsight. Archived from the original on February 24, 2016. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  14. Venta, Lance (March 21, 2022). "FCC To Hold License Revocation Hearing Against Knoxville Area AM". RadioInsight. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  15. Satterfield, Jamie (August 9, 2016). "Armstrong guilty of filing false tax return". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. Knoxville, Tennessee. p. 1A, 12A. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. Hinckley Halprin, Jane (September 14, 2023). "Initial Decision" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission.
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