AM Technical Profile: WJTW

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Frequency:
1480

Format:
Variety Hits

Transmitter Location:
[map] [street view] Located at Bleeker Street and Giles Avenue in Bridgeport, along with the studio.

Power (ERP):
Day: 1 kW
Night: 39 watts

Antenna:
1 tower

Other Information:
0.5 mV/m Daytime Groundwave Service Contour from the FCC's Public Files
[FCC]
[FCCData.org]
[Radio-Locator]

[Wikipedia]

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[Twitter]

Owned by Bridgeport, Inc.

// W239CO Chattanooga, TN
// W291CF Bridgeport, GA (actually Bridgeport, AL)

History:
Although there's a license to cover on file at the FCC for this station as far back as 1956, it appears it did not really get on the air until 1961, when it debuted as a 1 kW daytimer known as WBTS.  The station was put on by Roy C. McCloud of Bridgeport Broadcasting Company.  The format in the early days is currently unknown but it was mostly likely country music and gospel, a format the station was known to have from at least the mid-70's through to McCloud's death in the late 90's. 

In the fall of 1998, after Mr. McCloud's passing, Scottsboro's KEA, Inc. bought the station and changed the calls to WKEA, to match their Scottsboro-area WKEA-FM.  The format stayed country and gospel, but added some talk programming as well.  In 2001, the station was to Dade County Broadcasting, who changed the calls to WYMR in February of that year.  The format changed to adult standards at that time according to the station's Wikipedia article.  The station was sold to MG Media, Inc. (Marvin Glass) in 2005.  They changed the calls to WGNQ in November of 2007.  Under their ownership, the station began airing a format of Christian teaching, gospel music and the Dave Ramsey program.  They also acquired an FM translator which was located in South Pittsburg, Tennessee, just across the state line. 

Partners Media Investments LLC acquired the station in 2003, along with its FM translator.  They flipped the format to sports talk and changed calls to WVOV ("Voice of the Valley").  At some point in 2014 they yanked the translator from rebroadcasting WVOV and changed it to one of their other properties in the area (WKWN Trenton).

In May 2017 the station filed a Silent STA, citing lack of "a competent sales person" and "high ambient noise" in their listening area.  Yes, really.  The Silent STA was extended in November 2017, with the hopes that acquiring a new translator would allow the station to resume broadcasting. While silent, the call sign changed to WDXW.

The station resumed operations in the Spring of 2018.

The call sign changed from WDXW to WJTW in September 2019.  As of October 2019, the station is reported to be simulcasting with Chattanooga's oldies station 1070 WFLI.  It later launched a unique format that is possibly an Urban Oldies type format as "Jet 95.7", paired with a translator in Chattanooga.  In late February 2020, the station ownership was transferred from Partners Media Investments, LLC to Bridgeport, Inc.  Bridgeport, Inc. is owned by Marshall Bandy, who owns 50% of WFLI in Chattanooga.  It's unclear if the branding "Jet 95.7" was part of a unique format for the station, or if it kept relaying WFLI. 

In January 2021, the station flipped formats after doing Christmas music to a mix of Classic Country, Southern Gospel and Conservative Talk as "Mix 106.1 & 95.7".  In addition to the translator in Chattanooga, the station also began being heard on a translator licensed to "Bridgeport, Georgia", which does not exist. Instead, a translator that had been licensed to Wildwood, Georgia was moved to Bridgeport, Alabama but the application had the wrong state listed.

In January 2022, the station again flipped format after doing Christmas music.  This time, it's doing Classic Hits as "Eagle 106.1".

As of May 2024 it appears the station has moved up in time to a Variety Hits format, with a recent report of the station being "The Valley's Hit Station", playing a mix of hits from the 70s through the 90s. Despite this reported change, the station's website and Facebook pages still show the old Eagle moniker.