WSTJ
{{short description|Radio station in St. Johnsbury, Vermont}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name = WSTJ
| logo =
| logo_size = 200px
| city = St. Johnsbury, Vermont
| country = US
| area = Caledonia County, Vermont
| branding = The Trail 104.1
| airdate = {{start date and age|1949|7|10}}{{cite book|title=Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1999|year=1999|page=D-458|url=http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1999/D-Radio-NE-Ter-BC-YB-1999..pdf|accessdate=April 24, 2017}}
| frequency = 1340 kHz
| translator = {{Radio Relay|104.1 MHz|W281CC|St. Johnsbury}}
| format = Adult album alternative
| power = 1,000 watts unlimited
| class = C
| facility_id = 49403
| coordinates = {{coord|44|25|6.21|N|71|59|43.34|W|region:US-VT_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| callsign_meaning = St. Johnsbury
| former_callsigns = WTWN (1949–1979)
| operator = Green Mountain Broadcasters LLC
| owner = Vermont Broadcast Associates, Inc.
| licensee =
| sister_stations = WKXH, WMTK, WGMT
| webcast =
| website = {{URL|http://www.wstj1340.com/}}
| affiliations = Boston Red Sox Radio Network
| licensing_authority= FCC
}}
WSTJ (1340 AM, "The Trail 104.1") is a radio station broadcasting an adult album alternative format. Licensed to St. Johnsbury, Vermont, United States, the station is owned by Vermont Broadcast Associates, Inc. Under a local marketing agreement, Russ Ingalls' Green Mountain Broadcasters LLC operates WSTJ pending a full acquisition. WSTJ is an affiliate of the Boston Red Sox Radio Network. Its programming is also heard on FM translator W281CC (104.1).
The station went on the air in 1949 as WTWN. It was renamed WSTJ in 1979, after Twin State Broadcasters sold the station to Northeast Kingdom Broadcasting. Vermont Broadcast Associates purchased WSTJ in 1998; after launching its FM translator in 2020, it replaced oldies and adult standards with adult album alternative in 2021.
History
File:St Johnsbury Academy - Fuller Hall.jpg was the location of WTWN's first broadcast{{r|new}}]]
Twin State Broadcasters, Inc., obtained a construction permit for a new 250-watt radio station to serve St. Johnsbury on 1340 kHz on May 25, 1949.{{Cite web|url= https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=67152 |title= History Cards for WSTJ|publisher=Federal Communications Commission}} (Guide to reading History Cards) WTWN had its formal opening on July 10, 1949;{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77609655/|accessdate=May 12, 2021|date=July 9, 1949|title=New Station To Open|work=Rutland Daily Herald|page=6}} the original studios were built atop what had been a manure pit on a farm.{{r|nixon}} Two years later, it lived up to its Twin States moniker when it established a satellite studio in Littleton, New Hampshire.{{cite news|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1951/BC-1951-10-22.pdf|accessdate=May 12, 2021|date=October 22, 1951|work=Broadcasting|page=86|title=WTWN Branch Studio}} Three years after the station began broadcasting, Don Mullally joined and eventually took over the morning shift: he would remain at the station for most of the next 64 years (with the exception of a short stint in Glens Falls, New York, and a brief retirement to serve as the director of the Caledonia County fair{{cite news|first=Amy|last=Ash Nixon|title=Don Mullally: A Northeast Kingdom Radio Legend|accessdate=May 12, 2021|date=November 18, 2016|work=Northland Journal|url=https://www.northlandjournal.com/don-mullally-a-northeast-kingdom-radio-legend/}}), leaving the air for good only two weeks before his death in 2016;{{cite news|url=https://www.vpr.org/post/craven-remembering-don-mullally#stream/0|accessdate=May 12, 2021|work=Vermont Public Radio|date=December 26, 2016|title= Craven: Remembering Don Mullally |first=Jay|last=Craven}} he was the last station employee still playing music off of vinyl records.{{r|nixon}} In 1960, WTWN was approved to upgrade from 250 to 1,000 watts.{{r|hc}}
E. Dean Finney, who had been a manager and owner of the station since the outset, sold WTWN in 1979 to Northeast Kingdom Broadcasting, Inc.;{{r|hc}} the sale was part of a two-station transaction that also included Finney's only other broadcast holding, WIKE in Newport, as Finney said it was "time for a change" in his life.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77611907/|date=July 3, 1979|accessdate=May 12, 2021|title=Boston Firm Seeks WIKE, WTWN|page=12A|work=Burlington Free Press}} The new ownership was jointly held by Brent Lambert and Eric H. Johnson, two Boston optometrists who owned stations in California and Wyoming.{{cite news|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1979/BC-1979-09-17.pdf|work=Broadcasting|date=September 17, 1979|title=Changing Hands|page=69|accessdate=May 12, 2021}} The new owners changed the call letters to WSTJ on October 1.{{r|hc}} After Johnson bought out Lambert's stake in the company—which had been transferred to a bank—in 1993,{{cite news|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1993/RR-1993-12-03.pdf|accessdate=May 12, 2021|date=December 3, 1993|work=Radio & Records|title=Transactions|page=6}} Vermont Broadcast Associates bought WSTJ and the FM station it had started in 1985—WNKV (105.5 FM)—in 1998 for $630,000.{{cite news|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1998/RR-1998-02-27.pdf|accessdate=May 12, 2021|date=February 27, 1998|work=Radio & Records|title=Transactions|page=8}}
In December 2020, WSTJ launched an FM translator, W281CC (104.1 FM); while the station was still featuring an oldies/adult standards format at the time, it announced its intention to review the format after the Christmas holiday.{{cite news|url=https://www.caledonianrecord.com/features/business/business-watch-column---dec-26-2020/article_e14236f6-d9c4-5b92-b5b5-55eb1a7c1f6f.html|first=Barbara|last=Hatch|work=The Caledonian-Record|date=December 26, 2020|title=Business Watch|accessdate=May 12, 2021}} The new format launched in February 2021 as adult album alternative "The Trail", so named for the region's ski and bike trails.{{Cite news|url=https://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/204015/wstj-st-johnsbury-vt-launches-as-triple-a-the-trai|work=All Access|date=February 2, 2021|accessdate=May 12, 2021|title=WSTJ/St. Johnsbury, VT, Launches As Triple A 'The Trail 104.1'}}
In February 2025, Bruce James agreed to sell the seven Vermont Broadcast Associates stations to Green Mountain Broadcasters, owned by Vermont state senator Russ Ingalls, for $996,000. Green Mountain then began managing the stations under a local marketing agreement.{{cite news |last1=Venta |first1=Lance |title=Vermont State Senator Acquires Vermont Broadcast Associates |url=https://radioinsight.com/headlines/294467/vermont-state-senator-acquires-vermont-broadcast-associates/ |access-date=February 8, 2025 |work=RadioInsight |date=February 7, 2025}}
Translator
{{RadioTranslators
| call1 = W281CC
| freq1 = 104.1
| watts1 = 250
| class1 = D
| fid1 = 200719
| city1 = St. Johnsbury, Vermont
| coord1 = {{coord|44|24|38.2|N|71|58|11.3|W|region:US-VT_type:landmark|name=W281CC}}
}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{AM station data|49403|WSTJ}}
{{clear}}
{{Northeast Kingdom and Northern New Hampshire Radio}}
Category:Adult album alternative radio stations in the United States
Category:Radio stations established in 1949