WJDM
WJDM (1530 AM "Radio Cantico Nuevo") was a radio station licensed to Elizabeth, New Jersey (the seat of Union County, New Jersey), which last broadcast a Spanish language Christian radio format. The station's transmitter was located in nearby Union Township, Union County, New Jersey. The original calls of WELA were changed in January 1971 to avoid any confusion with now defunct WERA Plainfield, New Jersey (1590 kHz) which left the air in 1997 after being acquired by WWRL 1600 kHz New York, New York and shut down to extend that station's coverage area to the west.
| City | Elizabeth, New Jersey |
|---|---|
| Branding | Radio Cantico Nuevo |
| Frequency | 1530 kHz |
| Translator(s) | 97.5 W248CG (Jersey City) |
| First air date | March 11, 1970 (as WELA) |
| Last air date | January 30, 2019 |
| Format | Defunct |
| Power | 1,000 watts (Daytime) 670 watts (critical hours) |
| Class | D |
| Facility ID | 54563 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 40°41′25″N 74°15′40″W |
| Call sign meaning | John Quinn, Dominick Mirabelli, Michael Quinn, the first names of the station's original owners |
| Owner | Multicultural Broadcasting (Multicultural Radio Broadcasting Licensee, LLC) |
History
The station signed on the air on March 11, 1970 as WELA with the following jingle: (Drumroll) - Announcer: "You've listened to the rest, now listen to the best!" (Chorus - "W-E-L-A, You never heard it so good!") The original format consisted of music, mainly middle-of-the-road (MOR), adult contemporary and rock 'n roll oldies selections, with local news and information. The station made a name for itself with its coverage of an explosion at the Linden, New Jersey Bayway Refinery just after 11 PM Saturday December 5, 1970, which had area residents fearing for their lives much of the next day.
In January 1971, the station changed its call letters to WJDM, with the letters J, D and M standing for the first names of the original owners (see infobox above for detailed information on this topic).
Later the station adopted an ethnic format, reflecting the city's changing demographics, expanding from Sundays to full-time in the 1990s. On December 8, 1995, the station became first in the United States to acquire a license to operate in the AM expanded band on 1660 kHz, carrying the Radio AAHS network children's format until 1997. Initially, the station carried the same WJDM call letters as its parent station, but later adopted WWRU and changed its city of license to Jersey City, New Jersey.
WJDM was taken silent on January 30, 2019, and its license was cancelled April 10, 2020.[1][2]
References
- McCauley, Victoria. "Request for Extension of Special Temporary Authority to Remain Silent", fcc.gov. October 10, 2019. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
- Lipp, Mark N. "Request for Cancellation of License", Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth. fcc.gov. April 10, 2020. Retrieved April 14, 2020.