Longtime DJ turned station owner Joseph Noyes ‘JJ’ Jeffrey passed away after brief cancer battle at the age of 84.
A native of Portland ME, Jeffrey began his career in his home state in the 1950s. Early career stops included WMEX Boston as ‘Melvin X Melvin’ and Operations Manager at WNVY Pensacola FL. He would then join WRKO Boston as afternoon host followed by time in the same daypart at fellow Top 40 powerhouses WFIL Philadelphia and WLS Chicago.
Jeffrey would partner with Bob Fuller to launch Fuller-Jeffrey Broadcasting in 1975 with the purchase of 102.9 WBLM Lewiston/Portland ME. The company would expand across the country eventually holding clusters in Modesto, Sacramento, Santa Cruz, and Santa Rosa CA and Des Moines IA before completing their sell-off in the late 90s of what is mostly now Townsquare Media’s clusters in Portland and Portsmouth NH to Citadel in 1999. The duo would immediately form Atlantic Coast Radio, which built up a new Portland cluster of Sports “WEEI” 95.5 WPPI Topsham/95.9 WPEI Saco, Sports “The Big Jab” 96.3 WJJB-FM Gray/1440 WRED Westbrook/92.5 W223BH Portland, and Conservative Talk 1310 WLOB/100.5 W263BZ Portland and 98.3 W252EI Brunswick.
It’s with heavy heart we say RIP to our fearless leader J.J. Jeffrey. A true pioneer of the radio industry he was instrumental in shaping the landscape of Maine radio and beyond. J.J. was a true legend. https://t.co/G9gg6RykmS
— 96.3 WJJB The Big Jab (@WJJBTheBigJab) October 10, 2024
It's safe to say we lost an industry GIANT today. JJ Jeffrey made my love of music and sports possible. WBLM is the soundtrack of my youth. Not a day went by without trying to tune in 107.5 before they moved to 102.9. In my later years, he brought back The Big Jab, but this time…
— Jeff Schools (@DigitalSchoolzy) October 10, 2024
