
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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