WJJZ Rebranding as Pope Info Radio Station
Image via WJJZ’s website
All Pope, all the time? Sort of.
Philadelphia’s 1480 AM — which currently broadcasts as WJJZ, the smooth jazz station that first began on 106.1 in 1993 — is becoming Pope Info Radio.
The flip will take place on September 19th, and last until the night of the 27th. But don’t worry too much, listeners: You’ll still get your Kenny G. The switch is being described as a mix of pope news and smooth jazz — with each song being followed by updates and information. The pope news is expected to be a combination of local reports by veteran Philly radio reporter Loraine Ballard Morrill and national news service coverage.
In addition to 1480 AM, Pope Info Radio will also stream live online, air on 106.1 HD2 and stream on the IHeartRadio app.
“Our internal team was kicking around concepts on what we could do that would serve as a real use to the market,” iHeartMedia Philadelphia market president Richard Lewis said. “We felt that many, if not all media, would post pictures, share stories, etc. But how could we really provide useful info as well as the stories people cared about? Well, that could only happen if we dedicated one of our brands fully to the visit.”
Pope Info Radio will broadcast short interviews with members of the organizing team, frequent updates on event schedules and weather. The channel will also broadcast live speeches from all the pope’s addresses in New York, D.C. and Philadelphia. The station will still play smooth jazz while in its brief existence as Pope Info Radio.
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