WHIJ-FM 88.1
Ocala

Original call Letters: WHIJ
Originally Licensed: 1991
Original Power: 1,200 Watts

Owner(s): 1991-Marion Community Radio, Inc. (Brad Dinkins)
                1996-Ocala Word of Faith Church
                2000-The Joy FM, Inc.

History of Call Letters and Formats: WHIJ-1991-Contemporary Christian  "The Lite"

History Of WHIJ-FM
Thanks to Marc Tyll for this history of WHIJ.
WHIJ-FM began operations in 1991 with 1,200 watts operating on the non-commercial, educational band at  88.1 mhz as "The Lite". The station was conceived by Kwik King Food Store chain executive Brad Dinkins who saw a void in the market and felt Ocala needed a Christian formatted radio station to bring Biblical teachings and spiritual music to the residents of Ocala and Marion County. Dinkins had inquired with several station owners over the years about the possibility of buying an existing station and converting it to Christian programming, however all of the existing station owners wanted "...too much money..." for their stations. Dinkins, instead, did the next best thing and decided to apply for a frequency and 88.1 mHz was chosen. When WHIJ first signed on the air, the station management received numerous complaints from area residents who lived near the broadcasting tower, stating WHIJ was interfering with channel 6 reception. Dinkins offered to install "filters" on the TV sets in question, and this appeared to solve the interference problem. Five years after WHIJ-FM signed on the air, Dinkins and Marion Community Radio, Inc. sold WHIJ-FM to the Ocala Word of Faith Church in Ocala. Ocala Word of Faith modified the format to a more Contemporary Christian format and later sold the station to New Port Richey based Radio Training Network, Inc, aka The Joy FM, which operates WLPJ-FM 91.5 in New Port Richey. Today WHIJ-FM is known as "The Joy FM" and its programming consist of re-broadcasting WLPJ programming with little or no local Ocala programming.

Names In WHIJ-FM History
Brad Dinkins-1991-1996-Founder, Executive Director
Mark Okus-General Manager
Fred Mullin-Consultant

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