The station went on the air as WBDX on October 31, 1989 as a Top 40/CHR station known as "B103, The Outrageous FM!" owned by local car dealer Herb Adcox. The studio was located in a glass box in the middle of Eastgate Mall. Throughout its early years the station was also known as "Magic 102.7, The New WBDX" when it aired an Adult Contemporary format in the early 1990s. In January 1994 the station became "The New Talk 102.7" and took on a locally driven talk radio format, featuring local personalities, and the majorly popular afternoon drivetime show "Sport Talk". They kept this format until mid 1994, when Talk 102.7 moved to 102.3. In mid-1994, WBDX flipped to classic rock known as "The New Fox 103", a format which had previously aired on 102.3. In early 1995 Partners For Christian Media bought WBDX. On March 4, 1995 WBDX started playing Contemporary Christian Music first under the name "102.7 The Light", but eventually they changed the name to "J103". The original J103 studio was located in a small 10x10 room within Eastgate. In 1998 J103 moved into what was actually the former home of the now defunct WJRX , with studios and offices in East Ridge. In October 2015, the station moved out near Hamilton Place Mall to a building on Hickory Valley Rd.; this move enabled J103 to begin broadcasting with state of the art digital equipment. On February 4, 1998 the station changed its call sign to WJLL, and on February 5, 1998, it changed back to WBDX. The station was originally affiliated with Salem Communications to provide a large part of their on-air broadcasting. This included music programming from 7 p.m. – 6 a.m. and news. In 2005, the station dropped all Salem Communications programming and went fully local.
History of WJLJ
The station went on the air as WVKS on December 29, 1986. On August 4, 1989 the station changed its call sign to WDRZ, and its format to Contemporary Christian Music. The station was known as "SuperPower 103". In the 1990s the station was owned by a man named Dr. Grey. In mid 1994 he fired the then station managers Bob and Debbie Lubell,, and installed a new staff and format. The station did not do well with its new country music format and soon flipped to modern rock. This format was also short lived, and in 1997 the station started simulcasting "97 Kicks FM" out of Chattanooga. On January 20, 1998, the callsign was changed to WLLJ, and then to the current WJLJ on August 13, 2015. WJLJ operates with an effective radiated power of 50,000 watts, enabling the station's signal to reach into the Knoxville market and the upper East Tennessee and Western North Carolina areas. In 1997, "Kicks FM" was adult contemporary and simulcasting on 97.3 FM and 103.1 FM. The station was co-purchased by Partners For Christian Media, with the help of Friendship Broadcasting in late 1997 and began simulcasting WBDX in February 1998.
