WWJO
Radio station in St. Cloud, Minnesota, United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
WWJO (98.1 FM) is a radio station in St. Cloud, Minnesota airing a country music format. The station is owned by Townsquare Media. The station's studios, along with Townsquare's other St. Cloud stations, are located at 640 Lincoln Avenue SE, on St. Cloud's east side.
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| Broadcast area | Central Minnesota |
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| Frequency | 98.1 MHz |
| RDS | PS/RT: Title Artist 98.1 Minnesota's New Country |
| Branding | 98-1 Minnesota's New Country |
| Programming | |
| Format | Country |
| Affiliations | Compass Media Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| KLZZ, KMXK, KZRV, WJON, KXSS | |
| History | |
First air date | April 19, 1971[1] |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 73145 |
| Class | C |
| ERP | 100,000 watts (with beam tilt) |
| HAAT | 305 m (1,001 ft) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | minnesotasnewcountry |
WWJO-FM began broadcasting on April 19, 1971.[3] The station was established by Andy Hilger, who had previously purchased WJON-AM in 1965. Hilger envisioned the FM signal as a powerful regional voice, and the station initially launched with a 100,000-watt transmitter on a 1,000-foot tower located in northern Benton County.[4] This provides the station with coverage from the Twin Cities to Brainerd.
In its early years, the station adopted a country music format, which would become its long-standing identity under the branding "98 Country." Hilger utilized the station to provide extensive coverage of local events and sports that were previously limited to the lower-power AM dial.[5]
The station remained under the ownership of the WJON Broadcasting Company for nearly three decades. In May 1999, Andy Hilger sold the station along with sister properties WJON-AM and KMXK-FM to Regent Communications (now Townsquare Media) for approximately $5 million.[6]
Ownership transitioned again in 2013 when Townsquare Media acquired a total of 53 stations from Cumulus Media, which included the entire St. Cloud cluster.[7] Following this merger, WWJO moved its operations to the unified Townsquare technical facility at 640 Lincoln Avenue SE in St. Cloud.[8]
