Jim Ellis
Published: January 21 2004
Jon Arthur, PJC alum, has worked in radio for the past 13 years as a DJ in Pensacola before striking out on his own to establish the first and only low power FM (LPFM) radio station in Crestview.
According to Arthur, his station, WXEI 95.3 FM, is “conservative talk radio.”
His station broadcasts “The First Amendment Radio Network,” a company that syndicates conservative talk show hosts and offers 24 hour programming to LPFM radio stations throughout the U.S.
Arthur has a one-hour talk show called “Jon Arthur Live!,” that is syndicated on this same network.
His show airs from 2 to 3 p.m. five days a week and can be heard locally on 103.7 FM and on line at www.firstamendmentradio.com.
Arthur entered the radio industry as a disc jockey when his rock band, The X-Statics, which he fronted in the late ’80s and early ’90s, disbanded.
“We opened for some pretty big acts like Foghat and Lynyrd Skynyrd, but I knew I needed another career and becoming a DJ was an easy transition,” said Arthur.
The radio entrepreneur has worked for several local radio stations covering formats from R&B to country to classic rock. <i>(continued below picture)</i><b><cp_showmedia position=”2″ align=”left” border=”0″></b>
It was while at WWRO 100.7 FM, a classic rock station, that Arthur began integrating “conservative talk” with the “drive at five” shift.
“Every song I played would go with that particular day’s theme. For example, I might talk about big government and big brother and then play ‘All Along The Watchtower’ by Jimi Hendrix while people were driving home from work,” he said.
According to Arthur, the station manager was pleased with the highly rated afternoon show until it was discovered that Arthur’s show wasn’t an “act” and that Arthur really felt “that way.”
The controversial DJ was asked to keep national politics out of his radio show and Arthur says he submitted a letter of resignation the next day.
He realized then that talk radio “was where his heart was.”
When the FCC made LPFM stations legal on Jan. 20, 2000, Arthur immediately began the long process of establishing a station.
He decided to file for a station in Crestview because he realized that there were no talk radio stations in that area and the market was “wide open.”
After two years of FCC “red tape” Arthur is now one of the first LPFM owners in the nation.
Arthur says he may write a book on how to start an LPFM station.
For more information Arthur can be reached at (309)218-7778.