A heritage AM radio station in Chautauqua County is joining the hundreds of AM stations across the nation adding a FM translator to expand its listening base.

The new channel, 101.3 FM, will simulcast the existing station, WJTN, currently found on 1240 AM, according to James T. Embrescia, Media One Group founder, president and chief executive officer.

“The new signal will enhance our coverage of WJTN throughout the southern Chautauqua County area and provide more opportunity for listeners to hear our great local programming in better sound quality,” Embrescia said.

The Federal Communications Commission approved the station’s expansion recently. WJTN took to the airwaves in December 1924 and continues to be one of the longest continuously running broadcast stations in the United States.

Both frequencies will broadcast WJTN’s current programming line-up which includes local personalities Dennis Webster, Dan Warren and Lee John each weekday and syndicated programs from John Tesh, Jim Bohanon and George Noorey. Additionally, the Saturday Breakfast Party, Times of Your Life, High School Bowl and the Farm Bureau Radio Show will be featured on the weekends. Local high school sports play-by-play will also continue on the station. Since 1974 WJTN features interviews, daily, with the guest lecturers that appear at the world famous Chautauqua Institution.

“We want to thank our listeners in Jamestown for supporting our station for the past 94 years and hope they continue to find value in our radio product on WJTN as well as our other heritage stations in the marketplace,” adds Andrew Hill, Media One Group’s director of operations and programming. “We are excited that this additional FM frequency will let new listeners discover the local programs we work hard to present each week.”

In addition to the new frequency Hill said the programming staff has been working hard to put together a lineup of music that is absent in the marketplace.

“Our FM station, SE93, has refined its music over the past few years to lineup with music that today’s adult listeners enjoy, therefore, we felt the great artists such as Celine Dion, Billy Joel, Phil Collins and Whitney Houston were absent from the local market. It seemed obvious to us that this popular mix of music that was successful on SE93 over the past 20 years deserves a new place to thrive. It just makes sense to bring this great music to WJTN’s listeners,” Hill said. “As long as the weather cooperates and our new state of the art equipment arrives on time we plan to have WJTN-FM operating this spring.”

Embrescia adds, “We are pleased with the hard work that has been done in the Chautauqua market for stations and we strongly believe we have invested into some of the best minds of radio working for the people of Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Warren counties.”

WJTN will continue to stream its local programming on its website, www.WJTN.com, and invites listeners to contact them on that website with any feedback they may have on any of their five stations in the market.