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|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Knoxville metro |
| Frequency | 1040kHz |
| Branding | Jammin' 99.7 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Urban contemporary |
| Affiliations | Premiere Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | August1984[1] |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | Tribute to the formerWJBE (1430 AM), owned byJames Brown[2] |
| Technical information[3] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 59643 |
| Class | D |
| Power | 10,000watts day 3,000 wattscritical hours |
Transmitter coordinates | 36°2′34″N84°2′51″W / 36.04278°N 84.04750°W /36.04278; -84.04750 |
| Translator(s) | 99.7 W259AV (Knoxville) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | wjbe |
WJBE (1040kHz) is an American commercialradio station licensed toPowell, Tennessee, an unincorporated community just northeast ofKnoxville; the station serves theKnoxville metropolitan area with anurban contemporary format. WJBE is owned byJoe E. Armstrong throughbroadcast licensee Arm & Rage, LLC. This station is unrelated to the former locally basedWJBE (1430 AM) owned by entertainerJames Brown from 1968 through 1979, for which it is named.[2]
WJBE operates on theclear-channel frequency of1040 AM, but is not considered a clear-channel station because it is aClass Ddaytime-only station.WHO inDes 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 anadult 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.
WBZW went on the air in August 1984 as a station with a satellite-fedadult 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 QualityBig 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 adoptedAM stereo and increased power to 10,000 watts.[7] From 1993, it was simulcast onWQBB-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, afterWTXM-AM-FM "The Team" dropped its sports format, WQBB flipped to sports talk and picked up many of the sameFox Sports Radio hosts that had been heard on that station.[10]
After one last flip back to standards, in November 2008, the station became aclassic 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 ofMilwaukee; that same month, the station there known asWKTI 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 purchasingWACY-TV inAppleton, Wisconsin.[11] Journal retained the WKTI call letters (moving them to a low-power TV station inSturgeon Bay, Wisconsin), and the call sign of the radio station was changed to WWAM. WWAM changed tourban adult contemporary with the sale.[12]
Effective May 7, 2013, WWAM was sold to Arm & Rage, LLC, a company owned by former Tennessee state representativeJoe 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 atthe original WJBE, which was owned byJames 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]
In addition to the main station at1040 AM, WJBE is relayed by anFM translator; this gives the listener the ability to listen onFM. As WJBE AM is adaytime-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.
| Call sign | Frequency | City of license | FID | ERP (W) | HAAT | Class | FCC info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W259AV | 99.7 FM | Knoxville, Tennessee | 156669 | 99 | 154.8 m (508 ft) | D | LMS |