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WHMJ
WHMJ (99.3 FM) and WXMJ (104.5 FM) are classic hits music formatted radio stations broadcasting in northwest Pennsylvania, United States. The station is owned by Seven Mountains Media, through licensee Southern Belle Media Family, LLC, and broadcasts from the Downtown Mall in Meadville.
This station debuted on 99.3 as WVEN-FM on March 5, 1971, as a partial simulcast of AM parent WFRA, with occasional break-aways for its own original programming that closely mirrored WFRA, usually during periods of the broadcast day when WFRA offered talk and news-intensive programming. As more and more cars became equipped with FM radios, the two radio stations broke away from each other and became completely separate programming operations, though WVEN would recapture the call sign of its sister AM station in 1989.
For many years, WVEN was known as "Mix 99.3", boasting an Adult CHR format with full-service local elements.
WXMJ 104.5 made its debut on November 21, 1996 as WAQM. This station was sold in July 2000 by MacBeth Communications to Forever Broadcasting. Macbeth Communications was a company owned by Thom Sauber, the son of Robert H. Sauber, WFRA's founder.
Also in July 2000, Bob Sauber, whose son Tom managed WFRA-AM-FM in addition to his own WAQM, wanted to retire and put his stations up for sale. All three (Sauber also owned WTIV in Titusville, the first of the group) were purchased by Altoona-based Forever Broadcasting, LLC for an undisclosed sum. Sauber died in October 2004 at the age of 72.
After being acquired by Forever Broadcasting, the stations became "Today's Best Music: 99.3 and 104.5 The All-New Kiss FM" in November 2000. Kiss FM aired a Hot Adult Contemporary format from 5am-6pm, and a cross between CHR and Hot AC in the evening hours. In typical Forever Broadcasting fashion, it took many years for the "all new" imaging to be dropped. It finally was dropped in January 2006, only 21 months before the station would flip formats to the jockless "Majic."
The call letters used during the Kiss FM era were WOXX for the 99.3 signal and WXXO for the 104.5 signal.
Throughout its run as Kiss FM, the station was known in the community for the Kiss FM Sunday Night Dance Parties held in Conneaut Lake held during the summer months. With studios originally in Franklin, later moving to Meadville, the sense of community the station fostered was second to none. Weekly live broadcasts brought station personalities and community members together. The station had a very large staff of on air personalities with names such as "Ted Bear" (who was legendary Northwest Pennsylvania broadcaster Todd Adkins in disguise),"Billy Valentine","Drew Love" and "Cupid." All airshifts were live and local, and many radio personalities got their start at this once legendary station. Callers dedicated "Goodnight Kisses" each evening at 10pm, and overnight host "Jason Valentine" connected with many listeners with outrageous radio games and stunts. It was local small market radio at is absolute best, and was a textbook training ground for new talent. Program Director Todd Adkins took pride in his station and was always a caring man to his staff, encouraging them to grow and develop their on air talent. Mascot Tookie the Toucan greeted Northwest Pennsylvanians at numerous public and community events and appearances. The 24-hour live, local airstaff provided great local radio and content from 2000-2006. The final year and a half of the station brought the loss of 24/7 live disc jockeys, automation, and what would eventually be the beginning of the end of the golden era of Kiss FM. This coincided with the move of the studio from Franklin to Meadville, where it joined the other stations in the Forever cluster. General Manager Jim Shields did not see a need to staff the station as much, as he saw more money being spent on a staff who cared deeply for local radio an unnecessary burden. In late 2006, legendary Program Director Todd Adkins was let go after more than 20 years with the station, and the writing was then on the wall. Personalities such as Tyrel and Brett Hart took on air positions in a different market and were replaced by voicetracking and glitchy automation that rarely worked. From March 2006 to October 2007, the station went from a 24/7 live and local airstaff made up of 8 local on air personalities (including the then program director) and one off-air board operator to one off-air program director who had other duties within the company. A true sign of the sad state of corporate radio and a sad reminder of the once great station that Northwest Pennsylvanians no longer have in their community.
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WHMJ
WHMJ (99.3 FM) and WXMJ (104.5 FM) are classic hits music formatted radio stations broadcasting in northwest Pennsylvania, United States. The station is owned by Seven Mountains Media, through licensee Southern Belle Media Family, LLC, and broadcasts from the Downtown Mall in Meadville.
This station debuted on 99.3 as WVEN-FM on March 5, 1971, as a partial simulcast of AM parent WFRA, with occasional break-aways for its own original programming that closely mirrored WFRA, usually during periods of the broadcast day when WFRA offered talk and news-intensive programming. As more and more cars became equipped with FM radios, the two radio stations broke away from each other and became completely separate programming operations, though WVEN would recapture the call sign of its sister AM station in 1989.
For many years, WVEN was known as "Mix 99.3", boasting an Adult CHR format with full-service local elements.
WXMJ 104.5 made its debut on November 21, 1996 as WAQM. This station was sold in July 2000 by MacBeth Communications to Forever Broadcasting. Macbeth Communications was a company owned by Thom Sauber, the son of Robert H. Sauber, WFRA's founder.
Also in July 2000, Bob Sauber, whose son Tom managed WFRA-AM-FM in addition to his own WAQM, wanted to retire and put his stations up for sale. All three (Sauber also owned WTIV in Titusville, the first of the group) were purchased by Altoona-based Forever Broadcasting, LLC for an undisclosed sum. Sauber died in October 2004 at the age of 72.
After being acquired by Forever Broadcasting, the stations became "Today's Best Music: 99.3 and 104.5 The All-New Kiss FM" in November 2000. Kiss FM aired a Hot Adult Contemporary format from 5am-6pm, and a cross between CHR and Hot AC in the evening hours. In typical Forever Broadcasting fashion, it took many years for the "all new" imaging to be dropped. It finally was dropped in January 2006, only 21 months before the station would flip formats to the jockless "Majic."
The call letters used during the Kiss FM era were WOXX for the 99.3 signal and WXXO for the 104.5 signal.
Throughout its run as Kiss FM, the station was known in the community for the Kiss FM Sunday Night Dance Parties held in Conneaut Lake held during the summer months. With studios originally in Franklin, later moving to Meadville, the sense of community the station fostered was second to none. Weekly live broadcasts brought station personalities and community members together. The station had a very large staff of on air personalities with names such as "Ted Bear" (who was legendary Northwest Pennsylvania broadcaster Todd Adkins in disguise),"Billy Valentine","Drew Love" and "Cupid." All airshifts were live and local, and many radio personalities got their start at this once legendary station. Callers dedicated "Goodnight Kisses" each evening at 10pm, and overnight host "Jason Valentine" connected with many listeners with outrageous radio games and stunts. It was local small market radio at is absolute best, and was a textbook training ground for new talent. Program Director Todd Adkins took pride in his station and was always a caring man to his staff, encouraging them to grow and develop their on air talent. Mascot Tookie the Toucan greeted Northwest Pennsylvanians at numerous public and community events and appearances. The 24-hour live, local airstaff provided great local radio and content from 2000-2006. The final year and a half of the station brought the loss of 24/7 live disc jockeys, automation, and what would eventually be the beginning of the end of the golden era of Kiss FM. This coincided with the move of the studio from Franklin to Meadville, where it joined the other stations in the Forever cluster. General Manager Jim Shields did not see a need to staff the station as much, as he saw more money being spent on a staff who cared deeply for local radio an unnecessary burden. In late 2006, legendary Program Director Todd Adkins was let go after more than 20 years with the station, and the writing was then on the wall. Personalities such as Tyrel and Brett Hart took on air positions in a different market and were replaced by voicetracking and glitchy automation that rarely worked. From March 2006 to October 2007, the station went from a 24/7 live and local airstaff made up of 8 local on air personalities (including the then program director) and one off-air board operator to one off-air program director who had other duties within the company. A true sign of the sad state of corporate radio and a sad reminder of the once great station that Northwest Pennsylvanians no longer have in their community.