KJAY

Station history

The station was originally put on the air by the Gamble family of Stockton, CA. The highly engineered, multiple tower facility operated with 500 watts. The station was purchased by Jack Powell in the 1960s. At one point the main office was located in the Sacramento Inn. Early broadcasters include Ron Reynolds, Rick Cimino, Mike Cleary, and Rich Dixon.

For much of the station's history, it has broadcast religious programs (such as Voice of Prophecy), local community news, Hollywood gossip from Jimmie Fidler, and for a period during the '70s and '80s, R & B music during the latter hours of KJAY's broadcast day. It used to broadcast race results from Cal Expo during the State Fair meets. Today the format is international programming Monday through Saturday, and religious programs/gospel music in English on Sunday. Many of the current religious programs on KJAY have been on 1430AM for literally decades, such as "From the Throne of God" with Pastor Elsie Horton; St. Paul's Missionary Baptist Church with Dr. Ephraim Williams; St. John's Missionary Baptist Church with Pastor Darryl B. Heath; Shiloh Baptist Church with Pastor Anthony Sadler, Sr.; and many others. For the past 15 years KJAY has proudly hosted Russian and Hmong programs Monday through Saturday. Among recent program changes include playing World/International music during the 20-watt nighttime period. The night audio signal may be heard in the City of West Sacramento, downtown Sacramento, and across the river in the so-called pocket area. During the day, however, the audio signal covers the City of Sacramento and beyond. KJAY is Northern California's #1 Hmong radio station, and Sacramento's #1 Russian radio station, with lively and spiritually-uplifting gospel programs and music on Sunday.