Centre Broadcasters, Inc., applied for a construction permit from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to build a new 250-watt radio station in State College on April 18, 1944.
[2] Broadcasting of Centre County's first radio station began on October 29 of that year from studios in State College's Glennland Building and a transmitter site north of town in Ferguson Township.
[3] The WMAJ call sign was submitted out of desperation; after various call signs to allude to Centre County and State College were rejected, Centre Broadcasters submitted scrambled versions of the initials of its various employees, including Alethea J. Mattern, the first program director,[4] and the other founding owner, Richard J. Kennard (the FCC originally assigned WKRJ).
[2] In the 1960s, WMAJ programmed a Top 40 format aimed at the large student audience at Penn State University.
[6] Ulerich owned WMAJ and its FM spinoff, WMAJ-FM/WXLR 103.1, until 1988, when he opted to retire and sold the pair to Burbach Broadcasting of Pittsburgh.