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|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Washington metropolitan area |
| Frequency | 106.7MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | 106-7 The Fan |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | Sports radio |
| Subchannels | |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | April 4, 1961; 64 years ago (1961-04-04) |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | John Fitzgerald Kennedy |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 28625 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 22,500 watts |
| HAAT | 223 meters (732 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 38°52′28.0″N77°13′24.0″W / 38.874444°N 77.223333°W /38.874444; -77.223333 |
| Repeater | 95.5 WPGC-FM HD2 (Morningside) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (via Audacy) |
| Website | www |
WJFK-FM (106.7MHz "106.7 The Fan") is acommercialradio station licensed toManassas, Virginia, and serving theWashington metropolitan area. WJFK-FM airs asportsradio format and is owned and operated byAudacy, Inc.
WJFK-FM's studios are located on Half Street SE near theNavy Yard inSoutheast Washington.[3] Thetransmitter is located inFalls Church, Virginia, near the intersection ofLee Highway (U.S. Route 29) and theCapital Beltway.[4]
WJFK-FM broadcasts in theHD Radio format. It carries two co-owned local sports stations on its subchannels,WTEM andWJFK (AM). WTEM simulcasts WJFK-FM part-time on weekends.
On weekdays, WJFK-FM has local personalities hosting sports shows in morningdrive time, middays and afternoons. Late nights and weekends,Infinity Sports Network programming is heard.
WJFK-FM is theflagship radio station for local broadcasts of theWashington Capitals,Washington Wizards andWashington Nationals. WJFK-FM also clearsWestwood One andSports Radio USA's coverage of theNational Football League. For local college sports coverage, WJFK-FM carriesVirginia Tech Hokies football andmen's basketball as well asGeorgetown Hoyas men's basketball.
On April 4, 1961, the station firstsigned on as WPRW-FM.[5] It was owned by the Prince William Broadcasting Company and was thesister station toAM 1460 WPRW (nowWKDV). The two stationssimulcast their programming, directed mostly to listeners in and around Manassas andPrince William County. WPRW-FM broadcast with aneffective radiated power of 30,000watts, but only using a 160-foot tower, so it was unable to cover the larger Washingtonradio market. In 1966, the transmitter was moved to the AM site west of Manassas.[6]
In 1967, WPRW-FM was sold to Radio Fairfax-Prince William, aFairfax-based firm that ownedWEEL radio in that city. The transmitter was moved to Fairfax and the callsign changed to WEZR, airing 15-minute sweeps ofbeautiful music, mostly instrumentalcovers of popular songs, includingHollywood andBroadway showtunes. Ultimately, the entire company renamed itselfEZ Communications later in 1968, later going on to buy other stations nationwide and apply the format there. A further power boost to 50,000 watts, improving coverage in the Washington market, was approved in 1973.[6]
While WEZR and its sister stations remained successful into the 1980s, the easy format was seen as attracting older listeners, while most advertisers were seeking a youngerdemographic. In 1982, EZ tweaked the format used by its three remaining music outlets—WEZR,WEZS inRichmond andWEZC inCharlotte—to add more vocals.[7]
In the early 1980s, WEZR was a simulcast partner ofSuperTV and aired the audio of its concerts in stereo.
On January 1, 1985, the station flipped toTop 40 as WBMW "B106.7".[8] It was positioned against two other Washington-area Top 40 stations:WRQX, owned byABC, andWAVA-FM, owned byDoubleday Broadcasting. WBMW was acquired byNew York City-basedInfinity Broadcasting in April 1987.[9]
Infinity, at first, flipped WBMW to anadult rock format, but it only lasted a few weeks. On May 8, 1987, WBMW switched tonew-age music, a forerunner of thesmooth jazz format.[10][11][12] The station simply called itself "106.7 WBMW". Theplaylist included jazz-influenced instrumentals and somesoft rock titles, with limited chatter from theDJs. This format lasted about a year and a half.
On October 3, 1988, the station flipped to analbum-oriented rock format as WJFK, with the new call sign named afterJohn F. Kennedy. The station became the Washingtonaffiliate for thesyndicatedHoward Stern Show.[13] This marked Stern's return to the market for the first time since he was let go from rival rock stationWWDC-FM in 1982.[14][15]
Over time, WJFK began adding other talk shows targeted at young men, similar to Stern. Eventually, WJFK had switched over to a full-timehot talk format.[16] Programs on the station during this era include Stern,Don and Mike,[17]Opie & Anthony,G. Gordon Liddy,[18]The Greaseman,Bill O'Reilly,Ron & Fez and theSports Junkies.[19] In 1991, Infinity began tosimulcast WJFK programming on co-ownedAM 1300 inBaltimore.[20] That station switched its callsign toWJFK, so 106.7 added an FMsuffix and became WJFK-FM. From 1995 to 2005 WJFK-FM was the flagship radio station for the then-Washington Redskins (now Washington Commanders).[21]
Howard Stern departed his terrestrial network of stations in 2005, including WJFK-FM, when he left forSirius Satellite Radio. WJFK-FM rebranded as "Free FM" in October 2005, as part of Infinity's plans for a nationwide hot talk network. (Two months later, Infinity was renamedCBS Radio.) The Sports Junkies would move from the midday slot to replace Stern as WJFK-FM's morning hosts.[22] However, the Free FM format did not attract enough listeners, and many of those stations switched to other formats. The "Free FM" branding was dropped by WJFK-FM in 2007, even though it continued a while longer as a hot talk outlet under the slogan "Washington's Talk Superstation".
On July 20, 2009, WJFK-FM became "106.7 The Fan".[23][24][25] With WJFK-FM's changeover to "The Fan", The Junkies (who would later change their name back to "The Sports Junkies") were retained, whileThe Big O and Dukes Show andTheMike O'Meara Show were dropped.
WJFK-FM acquired the rights toWashington Wizards basketball andWashington Nationals baseball.[26] It also began simulcastingWashington Capitals playoff games withWFED starting with the2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs, later becoming the team's flagship before the2012-13 NHL season.[27] For college sports, WJFK-FM became the Washington area home ofVirginia Tech Hokies football andmen's basketball.
On March 8, 2009, WJFK-FM signed on the nation's firstHD4 subchannel, carrying co-owned sports stationWIP-FM fromPhiladelphia.[28] This fourth HD subchannel was later dropped, leavingWFAN inNew York City on the HD2 subchannel andWJZ-FM fromBaltimore on the HD3 subchannel. On June 21, 2021,WJFK (AM) flipped to a sports gambling format, branded as "The Bet Washington", with programming from the co-ownedBetQL Network and CBS Sports Radio (now Infinity Sports Network). With the flip, WJFK AM shifted its HD simulcast to WJFK-FM-HD3.[29]
On September 9, 2015, WJFK announced that the station would become the new flagship station forGeorgetown Hoyas men's basketball games.[30][31]
Immediately prior to the2016-17 NHL season, WJFK controversially declined to renew its deal with the Capitals, with program director Chris Kinard stating he desired a more consistent sports-talk schedule in the evenings. The Capitals were relegated to existing radio affiliate WFED. Since the Nationals andWashington Wizards took precedence on that station, any conflicting Capitals games were left with no home radio coverage at all, leading to complaints from fans and the media. After the Capitals struck a stopgap deal to place its games onWWDC-HD2 and anFM translator midway through that season, the team and WJFK reached a new deal in time for the following season.[32]
On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge withEntercom.[33] The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on the 17th.[34][35] On December 30, 2020, it was announced thatSteve Czaban would be working a Saturday morning show, replacing his weekday afternoon show on WJFK's Entercom sister station,WTEM.
On October 13, 2025, it was announced that WJFK would once again be the flagship station for the Washington Wizards, with any games overlaping with the Capitals airing on former flagship WTEM andWDCH. In addition, it was announced the station would be among those airing tv audio ofWashington Mystics games along with WTEM, WDCH andWJFK (AM).[36]