WSFZ

WSFZ (930 AM) is a radio station licensed to serve Jackson, Mississippi. The station is owned by New South Radio, Inc. Until June 15, 2016, it aired a sports format.[2]

WSFZ
CityJackson, Mississippi
Broadcast areaJackson, Mississippi
Frequency930 kHz
BrandingB93
Programming
Formatoldies
Ownership
OwnerNew South Radio, Inc. (since 2016)
(sale to SSR Communications is pending)
Sister stationsW296DD, WHJT, WIIN, WJKK, WUSJ, WYOY
History
First air date1938
June 1, 1997 (as WSLI)
Former call signsWSLI (1997-2003)[1]
Technical information
Facility ID62049
ClassB
Power3,800 watts day
60 watts night
Transmitter coordinates32°23′42″N 90°09′14″W
Translator(s)107.1 W296DD (Jackson)

Previous to 1997 the station operated as WSLI, becoming Jackson's second radio station when it went on the air in September, 1938. It was owned by the Standard Life Insurance Company and the call letters "WSLI" represented the name of the licensee. It began broadcasting from studios located in the Robert E. Lee Hotel. The transmitter was located on High Street, near the Pearl River. WSLI was affiliated with NBC's Blue Network. L.M. Sepaugh was named the first Manager. WSLI had the distinction of employing Mississippi's first female announcers, Nancy Chambers and Virginia Metz.

The station was originally located at 1420 kHz, then moved to 930 kHz. In the 1990s, the station was sold to Mississippi College. In 1998 Russ Robinson secured a deal to buy the station and moved WSLI off-campus. Finding office space in Clinton, Robinson said a large majority of the equipment was obsolete and the station pretty much started from scratch.

The call sign WSLI was also used for a television station which started broadcasting in January 1953 on analog channel 12. WSLI-TV Ch. 12 signed on by Jackson Daily News as a CBS affiliate. WSLI-TV was acquired in 1954 when the Hederman family, owners of The Clarion-Ledger, purchased the Daily News. At the time the Clarion-Ledger owned rival television station WJTV (broadcasting on UHF Channel 25), and the two stations were merged into in 1955. WSLI-TV then went silent and WJTV took over the VHF channel 12 allocation.

Thereafter the callsign WSLI solely identified the radio station until the early 2000s. In this time the studios of the radio station were located next door to WJTV-TV station off Robinson Road in southwest Jackson, The transmitter was relocated to a site north of the Jackson city limits accessible from North State Street (also known as US Hwy 51). The four-tower array and transmitter building remained in that location up until 1995 when the site was developed into a shopping center facing Interstate 55.

For most of its history, WSLI featured the morning show of "Farmer" Jim Neal and the Feist Dog, which was the top rated radio program in Jackson for over 40 years. Hank Williams performed live on WSLI's Farm Jim Show on February 21, 1950. Bob Rall was credited for founding one of the first "talk shows" in Jackson in 1953. In most of the 1970s and early 1980s, WSLI was the home of the duo of Rall and Alan Simmons in the highest-radio program in the afternoons. Simmons' son Scott is now an anchor/reporter for Jackson TV station WAPT.

WSFZ programs previously broadcast included The Rick and Bubba Show, The Dan Patrick Show, The Young Guns, and programming from NBC Sports Radio. WSFZ also broadcast Jackson Academy athletics.

The station has been assigned these call letters by the Federal Communications Commission since November 26, 2003.[1]

On October 10, 2016, WSFZ returned to the air with a simulcast of classic country-formatted WJXN-FM 100.9, branded as "100.9 The Legend".

On July 31, 2017, WSFZ switched its simulcast from WJXN-FM 100.9 Utica to WHJT 93.5 FM Kearney Park.[3]

In late December, 2017, WSFZ dropped its simulcast with WHJT and began stunting with Neil Diamond's "Cherry, Cherry" played over and over.[4] In January, 2018, the station dropped "Cherry, Cherry" replacing it with an loop of Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines."

On July 24, 2020, New South Radio announced plans to sell WSFZ to SSR Communications.[5]

In August, 2020, WSFZ flipped to oldies, but that may be a just a stunt. Eventually, WSFZ will generally simulcast WYAB[6].

Previous Logos

References
  1. "Call Sign History". FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database.
  2. "Winter 2008 Station Information Profile". Arbitron.
  3. Legend on the Move in Jackson, MS Radio Insight - July 25, 2017
  4. Blues and Cherries in Jackson MS Radioinsight - January 10, 2018
  5. https://radioinsight.com/headlines/192619/station-sales-week-of-7-24-emf-expands-in-central-kentucky/
  6. https://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?727744-New-South-Radio-sells-WSFZ&p=6333040&viewfull=1#post6333040
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