- WJOI
Infobox Radio station
name = WJOI
city =Norfolk, Virginia
area = Hampton Roads
branding =
slogan = "Hampton Roads New Joy"
airdate = 1949
frequency = 1230kHz
HD Radio
format =Adult Standards
power = 627Watt s
erp =
haat =
class = C
facility_id =
coordinates = coord|36|50|04|N|76|16|10|W
callsign_meaning =
former_callsigns = WNOR-AM
owner =Saga Communications
licensee =
sister_stations =WNOR ,WAFX
webcast =
website =
affiliations =WJOI (1230 AM) is a
radio station broadcasting anAdult Standards format. Licensed toNorfolk, Virginia , USA, it serves the Hampton Roads area. The station is currently owned bySaga Communications and airs theAmerica's Best Music format distributed byDial Global .Signing on in 1949 on what was then known as a "local channel", it was a class IV station which employed a maximum power of 1,000 watts in the day time and 250 watts at night. This station had originally been known as WNOR thru the 1950s , 1960s , and early 1970s, some time in the 1980s becoming WNOR-AM because of it's sister station, WNOR-FM, becomming the important station in the group.
During the 1960s & early and mid 1970s, this was a major Top 40 station in the Tidewater market. Broadcasting from a circular (or round) building with glass floor to ceiling windows facing the street. WNOR was very successful in the city of Norfolk (their city of license) going head to head with crosstown rival WGH which had "regional" license and was allowed to operate with 5,000 watts of power. WNOR almost always lead WGH in ratings for the city of Norfolk, but lost out in the overall "Tidewater" ratings book. Many in Tidewater remember the late 60s and early 1970s live Saturday night broadcasts from a fully equipped studio in Ocean View Amusement Park near the Roller Coaster. It's been said the park built the studio for WNOR.
Around 1975, in what was probably a budget cutting move, the station simulcasted overnights with sister station, Rock formatted WNOR-FM "FM-99" , but a short time later broke off the simulcast and went back to its own programming 24/7.
In the mid 1978 the station flipped to R&B as "The Big O-R". In 1984, the station switched to a classic rock format.But by the late 80s it was simulcasting WNOR-FM 24 hours a day. The simulcast lasted thru the late 80s and most of the 90s .
On April 30th 1999, the simulcast was finally broken off, and the station flipped to an Adult Standards format with new call letters , WJOI.
The WJOI call sign has previously been in use at several FM stations which formerly broadcast
easy listening music, including the stations now known asWKQX inChicago, Illinois ,WXYT-FM inDetroit, Michigan , andWBZW inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania .External links
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