View source for WJMI

{{short description|Radio station in Jackson, Mississippi}}
{{Infobox radio station
| logo = WJMI FM.png
| name = WJMI
| city = [[Ridgeland, Mississippi]]
| country = US
| area = [[Jackson, Mississippi]]
| branding = ''99 Jams''
| airdate = {{Start date and age|1967|7|31}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53533149/|title=WJMI FM Stereo|date=July 29, 1967|work=Clarion-Ledger|page=11|access-date=June 15, 2020}}</ref>
| frequency = 99.7 [[Megahertz|MHz]] {{HD Radio}}
| languages           = [[American English|English]]
| format = [[Mainstream urban]]
| erp = 100,000 [[watt]]s
| haat = 323 meters
| class = C0
| facility_id = 50408
| callsign_meaning = '''W'''e're '''J'''ackson, '''MI'''ssissippi!
| former_callsigns = 
| owner = [[Alpha Media]]
| licensee = Alpha Media Licensee LLC
| sister_stations = [[WJNT]], [[WJQS]], [[WKXI-FM]], [[WOAD (AM)|WOAD]], [[WRKS]]
| webcast = [https://www.alphamediaplayer.com/99jams Listen Live]
| website = [https://www.wjmi.com/ wjmi.com]
| licensing_authority = [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]
}}

'''WJMI''' (99.7 [[FM broadcasting|FM]]) is a [[radio station]] [[city of license|licensed]] to [[Jackson, Mississippi]], United States, with a [[mainstream urban]] [[radio format|musical format]]. The station is owned by [[Alpha Media]] through licensee Alpha Media Licensee LLC.  Along with five other sister stations, its studios are located in [[Ridgeland, Mississippi|Ridgeland]], a suburb of Jackson, while the transmitter tower is south of [[Raymond, Mississippi|Raymond]].

==Station history==
The station began in 1967 as an FM sister to station WRBC and was owned by the Rebel Broadcasting Company. Most of the disc jockeys who were on WRBC took shifts on the FM station, and hosting a shift on the FM station was used to test new talent for WRBC.

Among the more famous voices to be heard on WJMI were [[Robert W. Pittman|Bob Pittman]] (founder of [[MTV]]), Walt Grayson (later a television weatherperson for two Jackson television stations), and Mary Lewis.

The station then broadcast from 7a.m. until midnight. It was affiliated with the ABC-FM news network and broadcast the news each hour at fifteen minutes past the hour with local news following.

The station began as an [[easy listening]] station with some of the talent later recalling that every version of "[[Moon Over Naples|Spanish Eyes]]" was played on the station. By the 1970s, the station had evolved into an [[adult contemporary]] station which played album-cuts from such singer-songwriters as [[Carole King]], [[Carly Simon]], [[Paul Simon]], and [[Helen Reddy]], bubblegum music (such as [[David Cassidy]], [[Bobby Sherman]], and the [[Partridge Family]], and middle-of-the-road artists such as [[Johnny Mathis]], [[Vikki Carr]], and [[Andy Williams]]. Instrumental music and soft easy-listening music was played on the station, especially preceding the news.

WJMI was one of the first stations to employ female disc jockeys.{{Citation needed|date=August 2018}}

There were occasionally contests for concerts (such as the 1971 State Fair appearance of actor-singer [[Bobby Sherman]]).

On April 1, 1973, WJMI was sold to new owners, who then flipped into a [[Contemporary Hit Radio|CHR]]/[[Urban Contemporary]] format (also known as "CHUrban", which was the forerunner to what could become the [[rhythmic contemporary hit radio|rhythmic contemporary]] format) as "Jackson's JMI 100 FM". Over time, WJMI would evolve into its current [[Mainstream Urban]] format as "99 Jams".

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[https://www.wjmi.com/ WJMI official website]
*{{FM station data|50408|WJMI}}

{{Jackson MS Radio}}
{{Alpha Media}}
{{Urban Radio Stations in Mississippi}}

{{coord|32.208|N|90.414|W|type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC|display=title}}

[[Category:Radio stations in Mississippi|JMI]]
[[Category:Mainstream urban radio stations in the United States]]
[[Category:Alpha Media radio stations]]