| Frequency | 1450kHz |
|---|---|
| Branding | Bigfoot Country Legends 103.7 104.3 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Classic country |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WBHV,WBUS,WFGE,WHUN,WOWY,WZWW | |
| History | |
First air date | October 29, 1945 (1945-10-29) (as WMAJ) |
Former call signs |
|
Call sign meaning | "Legends" |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 48923 |
| Class | C |
| Power | 1,000watts unlimited |
Transmitter coordinates | 40°48′32″N77°50′28″W / 40.80889°N 77.84111°W /40.80889; -77.84111 |
| Translator(s) | 103.7 W279DK (State College) |
| Repeater(s) | 1260WLGJ (Philipsburg) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | bigfootcountrylegends.com |
WLEJ (1450kHz) is aclassic countryAMradio station broadcasting inState College, Pennsylvania, United States. It is owned by Kristin Cantrell's Seven Mountains Media, through licensee Southern Belle Media Family, LLC. Programming is also heard over FM translator W279DK (103.7 FM), offering a signal on the FM band in the immediate State College area.
Centre Broadcasters, Inc., applied for a construction permit from theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) to build a new 250-watt radio station in State College on April 18, 1944. The application was approved on July 10, 1945.[2] Broadcasting ofCentre County's first radio station began on October 29 of that year from studios in State College's Glennland Building and a transmitter site north of town inFerguson Township.[3] The WMAJ call sign was submitted out of desperation; after various call signs to allude to Centre County and State College were rejected, Centre Broadcasters submitted scrambled versions of the initials of its various employees, including Alethea J. Mattern, the first program director,[4] and the other founding owner, Richard J. Kennard (the FCC originally assigned WKRJ).[2] The station was approved to upgrade from 250 to 1,000 watts in 1962 after having filed in late 1958 for the change.[2] In the 1960s, WMAJ programmed aTop 40 format aimed at the large student audience atPenn State University.[5]
The main owner of WMAJ was William K. Ulerich, who had previously transformed the weekly newspaper in State College into a daily publication, theCentre Daily Times; in the 1970s, he also served as a trustee of Penn State University.[6] Ulerich owned WMAJ and its FM spinoff,WMAJ-FM/WXLR 103.1, until 1988, when he opted to retire and sold the pair to Burbach Broadcasting ofPittsburgh.[7] The new ownership converted WMAJ to primarily automated programming focusing onadult standards music.[8] This was changed to a full news/talk format in 1990.[9]
Forever Broadcasting acquired the Burbach stations in 1998; by that time, WMAJ's talk format included such offerings asThe Rush Limbaugh Show and the talk programs ofJoy Brown andG. Gordon Liddy.[10] In 2002, Forever installed a sports format on the frequency.[11] The call letters were changed to WQWK in 2009 after the previous WQWK, 103.1 FM, was flipped to conservative talk.[12]
It was announced on October 12, 2022, that Forever Media was selling 34 stations and 12 translators, including WQWK and five of its sister stations, toState College-based Seven Mountains Media for $17.375 million.[13] The deal closed on January 1, 2023.[14]
On December 30, 2022, it was announced that the station would flip to classic country as "Bigfoot Legends" within days.[15]
On January 3, 2023, WQWK changed their format from sports to classic country, branded as "Bigfoot Country Legends".[16] The station changed its call sign to WLEJ on February 5, 2023.
The station is one of four stations in State College that are local flagships of thePenn State Nittany Lions radio network.[17] It also is part of thePittsburgh Steelers radio network.[18]