History
KMJ first began broadcasting in March 1922, and was originally owned by the San Joaquin Light and Power Corporation, acquired by the McClatchy Company in 1925, KMJ is the 38th oldest licensed and continuously operating radio station in the United States. Until 1936, and the arrival of KARM, it was the only radio station in Fresno. At the outset of World War II, the Department of War selected KMJ as the primary medium for alerting Central California residents. It is still used for this purpose today as a primary entry point for the Emergency Alert System. The station was an affiliate of the Don Lee Network, and also carried CBS Radio Network broadcasts until 1936, when KMJ partnered with NBC Radio. It remained a NBC affiliate until NBC ceased hourly newscasts in the 1990s. KMJ rejoined CBS when Westinghouse Electric Corporation acquired the station from American Radio Systems in 1998. In March 2009 Peak Broadcasting replaced the Jack FM format on 105.9 FM with Talk programming as KMJ-FM. Today all programming is simulcast on 580-AM & 105.9-FM. (Courtesy Wikipedia.org)
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Who Are You?
Philip Teresi
Radio was not the plan. But showing up at a radio station at 4 o’clock on a Thursday morning to ask for a job seemed like a good idea (at the time) and being a professional goof-off won out over math and effort. More than 25 years later coffee, loud music, and not taking myself too seriously still get me through the day.
Local Groups I Support
E. Curtis Johnson
The youngest of 8 children, born and raised in northwestern Montana, E. became interested in radio by listening to far-off radio stations at night.
Johnson started his radio career at the age of 16 in his hometown. In his senior year of high school, he did the morning show on his hometown radio station before starting classes.
Before coming to Fresno in 1989, he worked at radio stations in San Francisco’s east bay suburbs, Ventura-Santa Barbara, San Diego, and Salt Lake City.
Though out his career he’s also worked as consultant and brand manager for radio stations in Columbia South Carolina, Anchorage and Fairbanks Alaska, San Luis Obispo, Modesto, and Bakersfield California. Additionally, Johnson has been the group program director for two radio groups in Fresno.
In 2011, Johnson earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from The University of Phoenix. He used that degree to leave radio and became a licensed nursing home administrator from 2015 to 2019.
He returned to radio in 2019 after his mentor made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. E. Curtis joined KMJ in March of 2023 to reunite with Philip Teresi. The two have known each other since 1997 and have worked together twice in the past. E. Curtis is a devout Christian and has served as a Bishop in three different occasions from 2000 to 2020.
He and his wife have been happily married since 1985 and have three sons and eight grandchildren.