WBMJ

WBMJ

City	San Juan, Puerto Rico
Broadcast area	Puerto Rico
Branding	The Rock Radio Network
Frequency	1190 kHz
First air date	1968
Format	Religious
Power	10,000 watts day 5,000 watts night
Class	B
Facility ID	8440
Transmitter coordinates	18°21′0″N 66°6′50″W / 18.35000°N 66.11389°W / 18.35000; -66.11389Coordinates: 18°21′0″N 66°6′50″W / 18.35000°N 66.11389°W / 18.35000; -66.11389
Callsign meaning	We Broadcast the Message of Jesus
Former callsigns	WXTO (1984-1985)
Affiliations	Salem Radio Network
Owner	Calvary Evangelistic Mission, Inc.
Sister stations	WIVV WCGB
Website	therockradio.org

WBMJ (1190 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Religious format. Licensed to San Juan, Puerto Rico, it serves the Puerto Rico area. The station is currently owned by Calvary Evangelistic Mission, Inc. and features programming from Salem Communications.

WBMJ is one of three AM stations that comprise The Rock Radio Network. The station's studio facilities are in Santurce, Puerto Rico. The facilities serve as the hub of the Network, and most of the Networks's programming originates from there. The transmitter is in Barrio Camarones, in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.^[1] It is operated with a 10,000-watt Nautel transmitter and broadcasts in a directional pattern. For more information on WBMJ, see The Rock Radio Network.

WBMJ broadcasts in a Religious format. Its programming is bilingual and consists largely of biblical teaching in English and in Spanish. WBMJ also broadcasts a limited amount of Christian music. It serves as the Puerto Rico affiliate of the Salem Radio Network News agency. WBMJ is also the site of the Bible Correspondence School of the Caribbean.

Early history

WBMJ was owned by Bob Hope’s Mid-Ocean Broadcasting Company, and set up by its excellent General Manager, the late Bob Bennett in 1967-1968. With its distinctive sound and top modulation, the station was frequently picked up as far away as Norway. WBMJ signed on in 1968, under Bob Bennett, who continued to manage the station through 1980, when Bob Hope's Mid Ocean sold to record impresario Jerry Masucci.

Bob Bennett was a veteran of US Top 40 radio when he moved to Puerto Rico and started building WBMJ. The station was simply another iteration of the proven Top 40 format from the mainland. Since the Island of Puerto Rico is a US territory, it was natural to use mainland announcers and jingles and, of course, follow religiously the Billboard record charts. The original deejays who signed the station on the air in 1968 were Charlie Brown, Ric Roberts, and Bobby West. Program director Bill Thompson and station manager Bob Bennett would do a stint on the air from time to time as well. Commercials were in English, primarily, though a few were in Spanish. Often, a mixture of English and Spanish ("Spanglish") was used by the announcers for broad appeal to the station's culturally divergent audience.

From 1968 to roughly 1975, WBMJ was an American hits Top 40 station. The reasoning for the format was simple: all through Latin America, American music was popular. A really tightly done Top 40 with US hits would be an attractive proposition. The station became instantly popular with its young target demographic, as it was the first broadcasting outlet to bring mainland Top 40 hits to the island. The programming was divided between standard shifts, or day parts. and each shift was helmed by one DJ who was expected to create his own brand and find sponsors to support it, in effect paying their own salary. The March 17, 1973 Billboard Magazine reports that "WBMJ, [a] Top 40 station in Puerto Rico, now has Bob Bennett 6-9 a.m., Charlie Brown until 1 p.m., Phil Baker 1-4 p.m., Marty Mald 4-7 p.m., and Moonshadow 7-signoff, with Karl (Scott Brady) Phillips doing weekends." ^[2] Phillips is notable because he was an active-duty U.S. Navy member at the time and did the work more for amusement than for pay.^[3] Others, such as popular WBMJ DJ Harry Sherwood, leveraged their visibility to augment their income. Sherwood became recognized all over the Caribbean as the voice for Eastern Airlines.^[4]

In 1975, WBMJ switched to Spanish jocks ^[5] and a mix of 90% English music with some Spanish pop hits, under the name of Radio Rock. Radio Rock became the number one radio station in San Juan very quickly, staying there through much of the rest of the '70s, challenged seriously only by WKAQ with its Spanish Top 40. WBMJ became a salsa oldies station around 1981 as Exitos 1190 and then, eventually, became religious under the ownership of the operators of WIVV from Puerto Rico's Vieques Island.

References

↑ https://publicfiles.fcc.gov/api/service/am/authorization/309046.pdf
↑ "Radio-TV Programming". Billboard Magazine. March 17, 1973: 30.
↑ Interview with former WBMJ announcer/manager Harry Sherwood
↑ Interview with Harry Sherwood, September 2016
↑ Phillips, Karl (May 13, 2013). "Karl Phillips, 1530 WRAI San Juan | Undated". Airchexx. Retrieved 10/7/2016. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)

External links

Query the FCC's AM station database for WBMJ

Radio-Locator Information on WBMJ

Radio broadcasting in the Puerto Rico market

by AM frequency	540 550 580 600 610 630 680 710 740 760 810 840 850 870 880 890 910 930 940 960 970 990 1000 1020 1030 1040 1060 1070 1080 1090 1110 1120 1130 1140 1160 1170 1190 1200 1210 1230 1240 1250 1260 1280 1300 1320 1330 1340 1350 1370 1380 1390 1400 1410 1420 1430 1450 1460 1460¹ 1470 1480 1490 1500 1510 1520 1530 1540 1550 1560 1570 1580 1590 1600 1620 1660

by FM frequency	88.1 88.3 88.5 88.9 89.1 89.3¹ 89.5 89.7 89.9 90.1 90.1 90.3 90.5 90.5 90.9 90.9 91.1 91.3 91.7 91.7 92.1 92.1 92.5 92.9 92.9 93.1 93.3 93.3 93.7 93.7 94.1 94.5 94.7 95.1 95.5 95.7 96.1 96.5 96.9 97.3 97.5 97.7 97.9 97.9 98.1 98.1 98.1 98.3 98.7 98.7 99.1 99.5 99.9 100.3 100.7 101.1 101.1 101.5 101.5 101.7 101.9 102.3 102.5 102.9 103.1 103.3 103.7 103.7 104.1 104.3 104.7 104.9 105.1 105.5 105.7 106.1 106.1 106.5 106.9 106.9 107.3 107.7 107.9 107.9

Digital Radio	940 88.3-1 89.7-1 91.3-1 91.3-2 91.3-3 95.7-1 97.7-1 97.7-2 97.7-3 98.1-1 98.1-2 99.1-1 100.3-1 100.7-1 100.7-2 101.1-1 101.9-1 101.5-1 101.5-2 103.3-1 103.7-1 103.7-2 105.5-1

NOAA Weather Radio frequency	162.4 162.45 162.55

by callsign	W206AF W208AE W227CV W238CR W250CF W266CF W268BK W276AI W279BU W285DL W295BU WABA WAEL-FM WALO WAPA WBMJ WBQN WBSG WBYM WCAD WCGB WCMA WCMN WCMN-FM WCPR WCRP WCXQ-LP WDEP WDHP WDIN WDNO WDPP WEGA WEGM WELX WENA WERR WEXS WFAB WFDT WFID WGIT WGDL WGYA WGZA-LP WHOY WIAC WIBS WIDA WIDA-FM WIDI WIOA WIOB WIOC WIPR WIPR-FM WISA WISO WIVA-FM WIVV WJDZ WJED-LP WJIT WJVP¹ WKAQ WKAQ-FM WKFE WKJB WKUM WKVM WLEO WLEY WLRP WLUZ WMAA-LP WMDD WMEG WMIA WMIO WMNT WMSW WNEL WNIK WNIK-FM WNNV WNOD WNRT WNVE WNVI WNVM WODA WODB-LP WOIZ WOLA WOQI WORA WORO WOSO WOYE WPAB WPPC WPRA WPRM WPRP WPUC-FM WQBS WQBS-FM WQII WQML WRIO WRRE¹ WRRH WRSJ WRSS WRTU WRUO WRXD WSKN WSOL WSTX WTIL WTOK-FM WTPM WUKQ WUKQ-FM WUNO WUPR WVID WVIS WVJP WVJP-FM WVOZ WVPJ-LP WVQR WVWI WWNA WWOY-LP WXEW WXHD WXLX WXYX WYAC WYAS WYEL WYKO WYQE WZAR WZCA WZCL-LP WZET WZFE-LP WZIN WZMT WZNT WZOL

Defunct	WEMB (860 AM) WPBP (1400 AM) WECW (1490 AM) WCHQ (1360 AM) W291AC (106.1 FM) W293CE (106.3 FM) ¹ = Station is silent.

U.S. Territories radio markets Puerto Rico Other U.S. Territories radio American Samoa Guam Northern Mariana Islands US Virgin Islands See also List of radio stations in U.S. Territories

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