WJLX

The station began broadcasting on {{Start date and age|March 1, 1957}}. The original call sign was WARF. It was owned by Hudson C. Millar Jr. with the license held by the Walker County Broadcasting Company and it was a 250-watt station. Millar also owned WKPL in Cullman.{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/daily-mountain-eagle-new-station-warf-go/140627787/|date=February 28, 1957|page=1|title=New Station WARF goes on air Friday|newspaper=Daily Mountain Eagle|location=Jasper, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=February 10, 2024}}{{Cite web|url=https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=49184|title=History Cards for WJLX|publisher=Federal Communications Commission}} The station was sold to Radio South, a consortium of four men, in 1965 for $102,500.{{Cite news|work=Broadcasting|title=For the Record|page=96|date=May 24, 1965|id={{ProQuest|1014491518}} }} By 1993, Houston Pearce was the full owner of Radio South; that year, WARF and WFFN, then located in Jasper, were sold to a new firm led by Houston Pearce, Voncile Pearce, and Vachel Posey Jr., the latter two senior managers of Radio South. At that time, WARF had a country music format with news and talk features.{{Cite news|work=Radio & Records|page=6|title=Transactions|date=October 1, 1993|id={{ProQuest|1017269244}} }}

In September 1993, Radio South, Inc., reached an agreement to sell country music-formatted WARF to New Century Radio, Inc.{{cite web |work=Alabama Broadcast Media Page |title=AM History Profile: WJLX |url=http://bellsouthpwp2.net/c/r/crackedlcd/almediapage/profiles/wjlx.html |access-date=December 20, 2008 |archive-date=June 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607155552/http://bellsouthpwp2.net/c/r/crackedlcd/almediapage/profiles/wjlx.html |url-status=usurped }} The deal was approved by the FCC on September 27, 1993.{{cite web |publisher=FCC Media Bureau |title=Application Search Details (BAL-19930903GN) |url=http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/app_det.pl?Application_id=189613 |date=September 27, 1993 |access-date=December 20, 2008}}

The station was assigned the call letters WTID by the FCC on January 9, 2003. In May 2004, New Century Radio, Inc. (Vachel L. Posey Jr., president) reached an agreement to sell WTID to Joy Christian Communications Inc. (Ed L. Smith, president) for a reported sale price of $200,000.{{cite news |url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA421942.html |work=Broadcasting & Cable |title=Changing Hands - 5/31/2004 |date=May 31, 2004 |access-date=December 7, 2008 |archive-date=October 13, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013214839/http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/153553-Changing_Hands.php |url-status=usurped }} The deal was approved by the FCC on June 28, 2004, and the transaction was consummated on July 9, 2004.{{cite web |url=http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/app_det.pl?Application_id=994920 |publisher=FCC Media Bureau |title=Application Search Details (BAL-20040517ADQ) |date=July 9, 2004}} At the time of the sale, the station broadcast an oldies music format. The new owners had the FCC change this station's call letters to WLYJ on September 8, 2004.

The station was assigned the call letters WZTQ by the FCC on September 17, 2007, when it swapped with then-sister station WLYJ. Just before the station was put up for sale, on January 29, 2008, the owners had the station's call sign changed again, this time to WJLX.

In February 2008, Joy Christian Communications Inc. reached an agreement to sell WJLX to Walker County Broadcasting through their subsidiary, Wal Win LLC, headed by shareholder Brett Elmore.{{cite news |date=March 2, 2008 |url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6537172.html |work=Broadcasting & Cable |title=Deals - 3/3/2008 |access-date=December 7, 2008 |archive-date=December 2, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202003401/http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6537172.html |url-status=usurped }} Wal Win LLC agreed to pay in full the mortgage held against real property (with the pay-off being $300,000) in exchange for the station.{{cite news |work=Radio and Records |title=Transactions for Feb 25, 2008 |url=http://www.radioandrecords.com/RRWebSite/NewsStoryPage.aspx?ContentID=87p2KgNsAF8%3d&Version=0' |date=February 25, 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080305023659/http://www.radioandrecords.com:80/RRWebSite/NewsStoryPage.aspx?ContentID=87p2KgNsAF8%3D&Version=0 |archive-date=2008-03-05 |url-status=dead}} The deal was approved by the FCC on March 27, 2008, and the transaction was consummated on April 11, 2008.{{cite web |publisher=FCC Media Bureau |title=Application Search Details (BAL-20080215AED) |url=http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/app_det.pl?Application_id=1234224 |date=April 11, 2008 |access-date=December 20, 2008}} Elmore, who simultaneously started noncommercial WJBE-FM, initially retained the Southern gospel format instituted by Joy Christian.{{Cite news|title=Now broadcasting|date=April 17, 2008|work=Daily Mountain Eagle}}

The station was assigned the WJLX call letters by the Federal Communications Commission since January 29, 2008, when the call sign was swapped with then-sister station WLYJ.{{cite web |url=http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=54798&Callsign=WJLX |title=Call Sign History |work=FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database |access-date=February 28, 2008 |archive-date=June 6, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150606094107/http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=54798&Callsign=WJLX |url-status=live }}

On September 14, 2009, WJLX changed its format to oldies, branded as "Oldies 101.5", in conjunction with the launch of FM translator W268BM (101.5 MHz). At the time, the area had no station playing oldies music.{{Cite news|title=AM radio station to broadcast on FM dial|date=September 13, 2009|first=James|last=Phillips|work=Daily Mountain Eagle}} Unable to pay debts and financially insolvent, Wal Win sold WJLX to the Hattie Reese Trust effective January 19, 2017, for $150,000. The trust acquired W268BM, which was owned separately, at the same time.{{cite news|url=https://radioinsight.com/headlines/107376/station-sales-week-of-722/|work=RadioInsight|first=Lance|last=Venta|date=July 22, 2016|title=Station Sales Week Of 7/22}} The station's license was subsequently assigned to John Burdette upon the dissolution of the trust effective November 20, 2017. Effective May 1, 2018, the station was sold to Don Earley, who owns the Alabama Cable Network. In 2022, the station was honored by the Alabama Broadcasters Association for its continuous airing of Words of Truth, a religious program on the air in morning drive for 75 years and presented live every day of the year; that same year, the station relocated its studios to a site on U.S. 78.{{Cite news|first=Jennifer|last=Cohron|title=WJLX receives two public service awards|date=February 11, 2022|work=Daily Mountain Eagle}}

The station has gone silent several times throughout the last few years due to deferred maintenance involving the 1240 AM tower southeast of Jasper. In February 2024, the station's entire antenna, including the {{convert|200|ft|m|abbr=on}} mast, and most of its transmission equipment within a building, was reported to have been stolen, rendering it unable to broadcast at all over the AM band.{{cite news|url=https://www.insideradio.com/free/an-entire-200-foot-tower-stolen-from-wjlx-am-jasper/article_2d4a5234-c470-11ee-8d1e-5fff768fd725.html|title=An Entire 200-Foot Tower Stolen From WJLX-AM Jasper|date=February 5, 2024|publisher=Inside Radio|access-date=February 8, 2024|archive-date=February 7, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240207024722/https://www.insideradio.com/free/an-entire-200-foot-tower-stolen-from-wjlx-am-jasper/article_2d4a5234-c470-11ee-8d1e-5fff768fd725.html|url-status=live}} The station's request to continue broadcasting on the FM translator alone was denied by the FCC, a decision which was the subject of condemnation by a Wall Street Journal opinion piece. The incident attracted skepticism from some within the broadcasting industry, who questioned how the tower could possibly have been stolen unnoticed. Station management claimed that remote monitoring and control equipment was too expensive, and that staff only monitored the FM transmission since they would typically receive phone calls if there were a problem with the AM transmission.{{cite web | last=Stine | first=Randy J. | title=Skeptics Question Disappearance of Alabama Radio Tower | website=Radio World | date=15 February 2024 | url=https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/headlines/skeptics-question-disappearance-of-alabama-radio-tower | access-date=17 February 2024}}{{cite web | last=Itoh | first=Katherine | title=Alabama station in disbelief after 200-foot radio tower stolen | website=NBC News | date=February 8, 2024 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/alabama-station-disbelief-200-foot-radio-tower-stolen-rcna137877 | access-date=February 8, 2024 | archive-date=February 8, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240208172356/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/alabama-station-disbelief-200-foot-radio-tower-stolen-rcna137877 | url-status=live }} The condition of the tower site was documented on YouTube in the following days.{{YouTube|bqIysr3o_vY|"WJLX A.M. tower site, February 10, 2024"}} Within a week, WDXB lent the station HD Radio subchannel space to provide a legal way to feed the translator, allowing normal programming to resume on FM.{{cite news |last1=Stine |first1=Randy J. |title=WJLX Returns to FM Band Thanks to iHeartMedia |url=https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/headlines/wjlx-returns-to-fm-band-thanks-to-iheartmedia |work=Radio World |date=19 February 2024}}

WJLX raised funds for a new transmitter and resumed broadcasting on February 1, 2025, with power limited to 100 watts, by way of a quarter-wavelength random wire antenna strung up at its transmitter site. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 set a statutory deadline of one year after silence is reported to the FCC – which was February 7, 2024 – for the station to resume broadcasting or face forfeiture of its license.{{cite news |last1=Langan |first1=Nick |title=WJLX Returns to 1240 AM After Tower Theft |url=https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/wjlx-returns-to-1240-am-after-tower-theft |work=Radio World |date=10 February 2025}}{{cite web |title=Resumption of Operations of an AM Station Application (LMS File No. 266025) |url=https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/views/public/amDraftCopy?displayType=html&appKey=25076ff394938b97019498fe599e0560&id=25076ff394938b97019498fe599e0560&goBack=N |website=FCC LMS}} Subsequently, Don Earley sold the station to interim general manager Jonathan Timmons for $100,000.{{cite news |last1=Venta |first1=Lance |title=Station Sales Week Of 2/28: New Controlling Partner For Zelus Media Phoenix |url=https://radioinsight.com/headlines/295574/station-sales-week-of-2-28-new-controlling-partner-for-zelus-media-phoenix/ |work=RadioInsight |date=28 February 2025}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217054509/http://bellsouthpwp2.net/c/r/crackedlcd/almediapage/profiles/wjlx.html |archive-date=2012-02-17 |url-status=usurped |url=https://bellsouthpwp2.net/c/r/crackedlcd/almediapage/profiles/wjlx.html |title=AM History Profile: WJLX |work=Alabama Broadcast Media Page}}

{{AM station data|54798|WJLX}}

{{Birmingham Radio}}

{{Oldies Radio Stations in Alabama}}

JLX

Category:Oldies radio stations in the United States

Category:Walker County, Alabama

Category:Radio stations established in 1957

Category:1957 establishments in Alabama