WJEN

WJEN (105.3 FM) is a 1,250 watt Country formatted station located in Rutland, Vermont. The transmitter is located on Pico Mountain in Killington, Vermont.

WJEN
CityKillington, Vermont
Broadcast areaRutland, Vermont
Branding105.3 Cat Country
Frequency105.3 MHz
First air dateAugust 4, 1993[1]
FormatCountry
ERP1,250 watts
HAAT683 meters
ClassC2
Facility ID34609
Transmitter coordinates43°38′22.00″N 72°50′12.00″W
Former call signsWEBK (1993-2008)
AffiliationsToday's Best Country (ABC Radio)
OwnerPamal Broadcasting
(6 Johnson Road Licenses, Inc.)
Sister stationsWDVT, WJJR, WSYB, WZRT
WebcastListen Live
Websitecatcountryvermont.com

History

The station took its callsign WEBK on December 17, 1992 and officially launched on August 4, 1993 as "K105" and was essentially a Mainstream Rock format. By 1998, "K105" had been largely dropped in favor of "The Mountain," but the format stayed the same. In January 2001, Pamal Broadcasting agreed to pay Killington Broadcasting $1.65 million for the station.

"The Peak"

The format was kept the same until October 31, 2003, when the station flipped to "105.3 The Peak; World Class Rock" a more structured Adult Album Alternative/Triple A format, although the music did lean more alternative than most standard Triple A's. Spider Glenn, Kerry Chambers and all but one DJ were fired due to the format change. Mitch was the only one to survive the house-cleaning. He moved to afternoons and Joan Holliday was brought aboard to fill the mid-day position. Eventually, Poptart Dave was hired to helm the morning show.

In April 2005, Poptart Dave left the station and Mitch was moved to mornings. James was hired and took over afternoons in May 2005.

Mitch left for other opportunities in June 2006 and James shifted to mornings. Tim Taylor, featured on weekends, handled the afternoon slot. In November 2006, Uncle Dave was hired as morning show host and James went back to afternoons.

WEBK featured a wide variety of music. Its core artists included The Grateful Dead, Phish, U2, Dave Matthews Band, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, R.E.M., Bob Marley, Nirvana, The Allman Brothers Band, Led Zeppelin, Pearl Jam and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. It also took pride in local artists, frequently spinning tracks from The Samples, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Rick Redington and The Chad Hollister Band, among others.

"Cat Country"

At 3:00 PM on Friday, February 8, 2008, the Triple A format and call letters WEBK were dropped. Pamal Broadcasting decided to replace WEBK with WJEN's Country format and call letters, formerly on 94.5 FM (which would take the call letters WDVT and become a classic hits format called "The Drive" after two weeks of simulcasting the new "Cat Country"). The last song WEBK played was The Rolling Stones' "When The Whip Comes Down."[2]

References
  1. "Info" (PDF). www.americanradiohistory.com. 2010.
  2. "Rutland Herald". Rutland Herald.
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