WPMJ
| City | Chillicothe, Illinois |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Peoria, Illinois |
| Branding | WPMJ Catholic Radio |
| Slogan | With Prayer Meet Jesus |
| Frequency | 94.3 MHz |
| First air date | 1977 |
| Format | Catholic Radio |
| ERP | 6,000 watts |
| HAAT | 91 meters (299 ft) |
| Class | A |
| Facility ID | 33882 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 40°49′48″N 89°29′54″W / 40.83000°N 89.49833°WCoordinates: 40°49′48″N 89°29′54″W / 40.83000°N 89.49833°W |
| Callsign meaning |
Peoria's Magic (original WPMJ station branding) With Prayer Meet Jesus (2009 backronym) |
| Former callsigns | WCNL (2000–2003) WKSO (1999–2000) WFXF (1997–1999) WKZW (1994–1997) WRED (1994) WQEZ (1991–1994) WBZM (1986–1991) WTXR (1984–1986) WCLL (1977–1984?) |
| Affiliations | EWTN Radio |
| Owner | Allen C. Drake (CRCI, L.L.C.) |
| Sister stations | WOAM (1994–2009) |
| Website | wpmjradio |
WPMJ (94.3 MHz FM) is a radio station licensed for Chillicothe, Illinois in the Peoria, Illinois, area. The station has been owned by CRCI, L.L.C. since January 2010 and has broadcast a Catholic radio format since September 2009.
Although the station is in the Peoria radio market, it has relatively low power and is required to put a decent signal across Chillicothe, its city of license, with that power. It struggled over the years to find a programming niche, having no less than 10 callsigns in its 31 years, and going off the air from October 2008 to September 2009.
Official studios for the station are at 108 N. Main St. Suite J on Illinois Route 117 in Eureka, Illinois.
94.3 signed on the air in 1977, as WCLL, owned by Bill Bro, with studios in Chillicothe.
Throughout the 1980s, 94.3 was a minor player in Peoria radio under many different formats, names, and call letters. While owned by Bro, it was country station WTXR "94X" from 1984 to 1986; followed by adult contemporary "Magic 94"; then satellite driven oldies as WBZM with Jim Zippo in the morning; easy listening WQEZ "EZ94FM"; and finally an audio simulcast of CNN Headline News under the WRED callsign (for "well read") with studios in the old Pabst Building in Peoria Heights.
By the early 1990s, rival station 93.3 (now WPBG), which had been CHR powerhouse WKZW "KZ-93", had lost its standing in Peoria radio. After trying to hold on to its heritage as "the new KZ-93", the owners of 93.3 finally discarded the name and callsign that had defined the station for over 25 years, and switched to adult contemporary with the nickname "Mix 93.3" and the callsign WMXP. In 1994, owners of then-number-one WXCL-FM, Kelly Communications in Peoria, bought 94.3 from Bro. Kelly immediately picked up the CHR format abandoned by 93.3, and in a controversial move unprecedented in Peoria radio, changed 94.3's callsign to WKZW to make it "KZ94.3", playing and advertising "today's hit music" just like before on the rival station.
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