WENJ

For the Atlantic City, New Jersey radio station that held the call sign WENJ at 1450 AM from 2006 to 2012, see WPGG.
WENJ
City Millville, New Jersey
Broadcast area Atlantic City, New Jersey
Branding 97.3 ESPN
Frequency 97.3 MHz
First air date February 2, 1962 (as WMVB-FM)
Format Sports
ERP 50,000 watts
HAAT 142 meters
Class B
Facility ID 72981
Transmitter coordinates 39°19′15″N 74°46′17″W / 39.32083°N 74.77139°W / 39.32083; -74.77139
Callsign meaning W ESPN New Jersey
Former callsigns WMVB-FM (1962-1988)
WBSS-FM (1988-2002)
WIXM (2002-2006)
WXKW (2006-2009)
WENJ-FM (2009-2012)
Affiliations ESPN Radio
Fútbol de Primera
Westwood One
Owner Townsquare Media
(Townsquare Media Atlantic City II License, LLC)
Sister stations WPGG, WFPG, WPUR, WSJO
Webcast Listen Live
Website 973espn.com

WENJ (97.3 FM) is a radio station that airs a sports radio format for the Atlantic City, New Jersey area, licensed to Millville. Its transmitter is located in Corbin City, New Jersey, where it shares a tower with WRTQ. The station is affiliated with ESPN Radio. Its studios are in Northfield, New Jersey.

History

WENJ first signed on February 2, 1962 as WMVB-FM, an FM sister station to WMVB (1440), airing an easy listening format; through the 1970s, the station began to evolve to an adult contemporary format.[1] The station became WBSS-FM a.k.a. "The New Boss 97 FM 97.3 WBSS, Stopless Music...For Shore!", in 1988, following a shift to contemporary hit radio.[1] In 1995, WBSS was sold to the owners of WKXW (101.5),[1] which switched the station to a simulcast of WKXW's news/talk and oldies format, with a small amount of local news.[2]

On March 15, 2002, WBSS dropped the simulcast of WKXW in favor of a modern adult contemporary format,[3] with a call change to WIXM (referring to the station's branding of "Mix 97.3") following a few weeks later.[4]

In November 2004, in the wake of sister station WSJO debuting a hot adult contemporary format, WIXM reverted to the WKXW simulcast;[5] two years later, the station was renamed to WXKW.[6]

In May 2009, WKXW began to remove references to having a simulcast partner for South Jersey from its promotions, indicating a planned format change for WXKW;[7] on June 1, the station switched to ESPN Radio as WENJ-FM.[8] The sports format had previously been heard in the market on WENJ, which switched to ESPN Deportes Radio after a brief period of simulcasting. The station simulcast again on that station from January 2, 2011 to October 15, 2012.

On October 31, 2012, the station changed its call sign to the current WENJ

Programming

Currently, Mike Gill hosts the Sports Bash from 2:00-6:00pm weekdays.

Play-by-play sports

As of 2015, the station carries Philadelphia Eagles, Philadelphia Flyers and Philadelphia 76ers games, ESPN Radio's MLB and NBA coverage as well as Westwood One's NFL coverage. From 2005-2010, it carried Sports USA's NFL coverage on Sunday afternoons.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "New Jersey FM Radio History". Radio-History.com. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
  2. ↑ Fybush, Scott (August 25, 2000). "NERW On The Road!". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
  3. ↑ Fybush, Scott (March 18, 2002). "Millennium Spins it at the Shore". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
  4. ↑ Fybush, Scott (April 17, 2002). "Saga Buys WXOD/WKBK". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
  5. ↑ Fybush, Scott (November 8, 2004). "Salty Brine, 1918-2004". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
  6. ↑ Fybush, Scott (July 3, 2006). "WCRB Move Nears Completion". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
  7. ↑ Fybush, Scott (May 25, 2009). "On Memorial Day, No On-Air "Rewound"". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
  8. ↑ "ESPN-FM 97.3 to cover Cape May to Toms River, Atlantc City to Philadelphia". Gloucester County Times. NJ.com. May 29, 2009. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
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