 | |
| Broadcast area | Western New York |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 1140kHz |
| Branding | WNY's CJ Country |
| Programming | |
| Format | Classic Country |
| Affiliations | Fox News Radio Motor Racing Network Performance Racing Network |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Lloyd Lane, Inc. |
| History | |
First air date | May 16, 1973 (52 years ago) (1973-05-16) |
Call sign meaning | WCatherine &JohnWeeks (station founders) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 37858 |
| Class | D |
| Power | 8,000wattsdays only 2,300 watts (critical hours) |
| Translator | See below |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | [1] |
| Website | wcjw.com |
WCJW (1140kHz) is acommercialAMradio stationlicensed toWarsaw, New York and servingWestern New York. It is owned by WCJW LLC, and calls itself "CJ Country." Theradio studios andtransmitter are on Merchant Road in Warsaw.
WCJWbroadcasts at 8,000watts duringdaytime hours using adirectional antenna with a two-tower array. Duringcritical hours, the power is reduced to 2,300 watts.
It is required by theFCC tosign off at sunset, though effectively the AM station now merely serves as ade facto relay to a network of six co-ownedFM translators to provide full-time service, which are all promoted over the AM signal, which is only mentioned during the hourlystation identification.
The station'sformat is centered oncountry music, using the positioning statement "Today's Favorites and the Legends", playingclassic country hits with more recent releases included in theplaylist. WCJW also airslocal news,weather, high school sports, andagriculture reports. Other popular features include WCJW's dailyTradio program and weekend coverage ofNASCAR races. National news service is provided byFox News Radio.
In contrast to many small-market radio stations, WCJW maintains a local programming staff.[2] Weekend shows heard on WCJW includeRetro Country USA andRise Up Country.
WCJW is the only AM station inWyoming County and the only broadcast station in the county with a local studio (WLKK is licensed toWethersfield in Wyoming County, but has its main studios in the Buffalo suburb of Amherst).
In addition to the county seat ofWarsaw, targeted communities includePerry,Silver Springs,Castile,Gainesville,Arcade, andAttica, along with theLivingston County villages ofGeneseo,Mount Morris,Nunda,Avon andCaledonia, and theGenesee County municipalities ofBatavia andLe Roy.[3]
In June 2008, WCJW begansimulcasting its programming onFM translator W279BO inWarsaw, a 250-watt facility collocated with the studio and AM transmitter. In November 2008, W288BZ began operating on 105.5 MHz from the Genesee County public safety tower inBatavia. In January 2009, W265BX began serving southern Wyoming County and Livingston County from the hilltop east of Nunda, and in November 2011, WCJW's fourth translator W282BQ commenced service toLe Roy, northern Livingston County, and southwestern Monroe County, including theInterstate 390 corridor from Mount Morris to Henrietta. In April 2015, W285EZ began operation at the WLKK tower site in Wethersfield, employing a directional pattern that serves Arcade, Yorkshire, Delevan and Bliss. All six translators transmit in stereo and employ theRadio Data System.
| Call sign | Frequency | City of license | FID | ERP (W) | Class | FCC info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W265DQ | 100.9 FM | Alden, New York | 200641 | 230 | D | LMS |
| W285EZ | 104.9 FM | Arcade, New York | 151698 | 250 | D | LMS |
| W282BQ | 104.3 FM | Avon, New York | 156153 | 110 | D | LMS |
| W288BZ | 105.5 FM | Batavia, New York | 151763 | 250 | D | LMS |
| W265BX | 100.9 FM | Geneseo, New York | 148909 | 250 | D | LMS |
| W279BO | 103.7 FM | Warsaw, New York | 151653 | 250 | D | LMS |
WCJW began its test broadcasts on May 16, 1973, officially broadcasting on May 21.[4] It was adaytimer under the ownership of broadcast engineer John Weeks, who had spent much of his career on the engineering staff ofWJR inDetroit. Weeks envisioned a family-oriented operation, with his wife Catherine and daughters Carolyn and Jill filling early staff positions at the station. WCJW's original music format took aneasy listening /MOR approach, later dubbed "The Heart ofWestern New York".
Upon Weeks' retirement in September 1984, the station was purchased by Warsaw resident Lloyd Lane and a group of local investors. A format change to country music in 1986 brought increased support from listeners in this rural region ofupstate New York with a local economy based primarily ondairy farming. In 1996, The station was awarded a New York State Broadcasters Association award for best small market play-by-play for high school football by Seth Fenton and Tom LaDelfa. At the time, due to its daytime only status, WCJW pre-recorded Friday night games to air on Saturday morning, and broadcast live daylight games in the afternoon. In 1999, the station's nominal power was raised to 2,500 watts, and in 2014 the power was increased again to 8,000 watts.
Prior to adding the FM translators in 2008, WCJW was a daytime-only station. The AM station remains on the air only during the daytime, as it occupies aclear channel and must vacate the channel at night to allowWRVA inRichmond, Virginia to use the frequency.
As part of a longstandinglegal fiction, WCJW officially "shared" its studios withWLKK inWethersfield. In reality WLKK never used WCJW's studios, which were leased byBuffalo-based broadcasters to comply with the FCC's main studio rule, which has since been rescinded.[5]
In September 2025, longtime station owner Lloyd Lane sold WCJW to Tom and Desire (sic) Hoyt.[6]
In an interesting historical footnote, the call letters WCJW had previously been assigned to an FM station in Cleveland, OH on the frequency of 104.1 from 1968 to 1971. That station had also switched to a country music format during the use of these call letters. In 1971 the station was sold and became WQAL.[citation needed]
In 2007, WCJW was recognized byNew Music Weekly magazine as the Country Radio Station of the Year at theNew Music Awards.[7]In 2019, 2020, 2022 & 2023 Program Director Jimi Jamm was nominated for Small Market Music Director of the Year by Country Aircheck, a country radio trade publication. In 2021, Jamm won the Randy Jones Memorial Award, which is given for charitable work in the community and for the promotion and preservation of country music through the station.\
42°43′34″N78°06′43″W / 42.72611°N 78.11194°W /42.72611; -78.11194