MetroNews affiliate WJLS-AM celebrates 80th anniversary

BECKLEY, W.Va —  Radio station WJLS-AM is celebrating 80 years of service to southern West Virginia on March 5.

As part of the anniversary celebration, the station will feature interviews and archived recordings throughout the day with many of the voices who have contributed to the legacy of WJLS, over the decades.

“Though times and technology have changed since our broadcasting debut, our mission remains the same,” said General Manager Peggy Snuffer. “We keep our listeners informed and entertained throughout the workday with news, local high schools sports, interviews, and coverage of events and activities in the region.”

WJLS was founded by Joe L. Smith, Jr., and signed on for its initial broadcast on March 5, 1939. Several dates since then have been especially noteworthy for the station; In 1941, downtown merchants had put up a series of loudspeakers for broadcasting Christmas carols but on the evening of Dec. 7, all of those speakers were plugged into a WJLS line to carry the Pearl Harbor bulletins. On Aug. 14, 1945, Beckley Mayor Robert Wriston delivered an address over WJLS to share the announcement of the Japanese surrender, ending World War II. In 1969, the station adopted a country music format (which later would become the format for WJLS-FM.) In 1990, the format changed to religious programming. In 2012, the station was purchased by the West Virginia Radio Corporation.

Among the most notable recent changes is the location of the downtown Beckley offices of WJLS, which moved from the corner of N. Kanawha and Main Streets to the Bickey & Bair Building across the street in 2016. A year later, the format changed again, to the current news-talk-sports programming line-up. The following year, WJLS began simulcasting on FM frequency 104.1. In 2018, the station was re-branded as the WJLS News Network, with additional simulcasting on 95.7 FM in Summersville.