WJZ-FM

Last updated

WJZ-FM
WJZ-FM.png
Broadcast area Baltimore metropolitan area
Frequency 105.7 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding105.7 The Fan
Programming
Language(s) English
Format Sports radio
Subchannels
Affiliations Infinity Sports Network
Ownership
Owner
  • Audacy, Inc.
  • (Audacy License, LLC, as Debtor-in-Possession)
History
First air date
November 22, 1963;60 years ago (1963-11-22)
Former call signs
  • WCBC (1963–1968)
  • WBMD-FM (1968–1971)
  • WKTK (1971–1982)
  • WQSR (1982–2001)
  • WXYV (2001–2005)
  • WHFS (2005–2008)
Call sign meaning
Taken from former sister station WJZ-TV
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 1916
Class B
ERP
  • 50,000 watts (analog)
  • 2,390 watts (digital) [2]
HAAT 150 meters (490 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
 39°19′26.4″N76°32′54.9″W / 39.324000°N 76.548583°W / 39.324000; -76.548583
Translator(s) HD3: 104.9 W285EJ (White Marsh)
Links
Public license information
Webcast Listen live (via  Audacy)
Website www.audacy.com/1057thefan

WJZ-FM (105.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Catonsville, Maryland, and serving the Baltimore metropolitan area. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. through licensee Audacy License, LLC, and it broadcasts a sports radio format. Local shows are heard on weekdays, with programming from the Infinity Sports Network airing nights and weekends. The station's studios and offices are located in Towson.

Contents

WJZ-FM has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 50,000 watts. The transmitter is located off Moravia Road in Baltimore's Frankford neighborhood at ( 39°19′26.4″N76°32′54.8″W / 39.324000°N 76.548556°W / 39.324000; -76.548556 ). [3] WJZ-FM broadcasts using HD Radio technology. The HD2 digital subchannel carries the Bloomberg Radio business news format heard on WDCH-FM, while the HD3 subchannel rebroadcasts co-owned WJZ (1300 AM), which primarily carries BetQL Network programming.

History

History of the WJZ-FM call sign

The call letters WJZ-FM were originally used on what is now WPLJ in New York City from its founding in 1948 to 1953 when the station became WABC-FM, alongside WABC-TV and WABC (AM).

The call letters "WJZ" were originally created by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation, the direct predecessor to the current CBS Corporation. Westinghouse was the owner of WJZ radio in Newark, New Jersey from 1921 to 1923, before it moved to New York. Apocryphal stories claimed the "JZ" in the call sign referred to New Jersey, but call letters in 1921 were assigned by the Department of Commerce, often in sequential alphabetical order, and few of them stood for anything. [4] Often, years later, owners retroactively created a slogan to fit their call letters. Meanwhile, the WJZ call letters have been used in Baltimore since 1957, when WAAM (channel 13) was renamed to WJZ-TV, an ABC Network affiliate that was changed to CBS in 1995.

WCBC, WBMD-FM, WKTK, WQSR

The station signed on the air on November 22, 1963. [5] The original call letters were WCBC, owned by Christian Broadcasting Company and it aired a Christian radio format.

The station was purchased on March 6, 1968, by Key Broadcasting, which continued the Christian radio format, changing its call sign to WBMD-FM in late 1969. [6] [7] The new call sign referred to Baltimore, Maryland. The FM station simulcast a country music AM station, WBMD, already owned by Key.

In 1970, the FM's format became progressive rock at night, with country during the day. On July 5, 1971, the station's call sign was changed to WKTK and the format shifted to all progressive rock music. From 1977 to 1979, WKTK played disco music. It later changed to oldies with the decline of disco. In 1982, the call letters became WQSR as the station planned to join "Super Radio", a new national adult contemporary music network to be operated by ABC, using noted disc jockeys such as Dan Ingram, Ron Lundy and Jay Thomas. Shortly before Super Radio's scheduled launch, ABC decided not to go forward with the network. WQSR kept its new call letters but aired local programming.

WQSR was then sold to Sconnix Broadcasting in 1988 and continued playing oldies music. The station, along with WBMD, was sold to American Radio Systems (ARS) for $39 million in 1994; [8] ARS would merge with CBS Radio in 1998.

WXYV

On September 8, 2001, at 6 am, WQSR moved to WXYV's 102.7 FM frequency to broadcast on a better signal. After two days of simulcasting, at 3 p.m. on September 10, 105.7 FM became the new home for WXYV, and flipped to urban contemporary format, branded as "X105.7". (X105.7 marked WXYV's second stint as an urban station; the first incarnation was known as "V103", which flipped to CHR/Top-40 and became "102.7XYV" in 1997, and was then re-branded as "B102.7" in 1998, with the same CHR/Top-40 format.) The call letter swap between the two stations became official four days later. [9]

Both stations were owned by Infinity Broadcasting (forerunner to CBS Radio). The morning show was a simulcast of former V103 and 92Q personality Frank Ski's wake up program, originating from WVEE, "V103" in Atlanta.

Revival of WHFS

"X105.7" would fail to compete for urban listeners against WERQ-FM; as a result, CBS Radio flipped WXYV to hot talk on March 10, 2003. [10] The station carried the nationally syndicated Howard Stern Show and the Don and Mike Show. The station adopted the name "Live 105.7", which would later change to "105.7 Free FM" in 2006, and then "Baltimore's FM Talk 105.7" in 2007 after CBS phased out the Free FM branding nationwide.

This logo was used during WHFS's talk radio incarnation. WHFS logo.jpg
This logo was used during WHFS's talk radio incarnation.

Meanwhile, Infinity Broadcasting saw an unexpected public reaction to the company's decision to change the format of 99.1 FM, located halfway between Washington and Baltimore. The story was covered by local TV stations for many days afterwards, and mentioned nationally by The Washington Post , Howard Stern and The Today Show . The corporate offices of Infinity Broadcasting in New York City were flooded with phone calls and e-mails from irate listeners.

An online petition protesting the format change gathered tens of thousands of signatures in only a few days. Media attention was attracted by a public protest in downtown Washington, outside a skate shop where WHFS maintained a remote storefront studio in its last few months. [11] WHFS' main competitor, DC101, paid tribute to the station, airing many memories of WHFS from its DJs and listeners.

Infinity Broadcasting responded by resurrecting the WHFS format on nights and weekends at 105.7, beginning at 7 p.m. on January 21, 2005, with former WHFS afternoon DJ Tim Virgin. The station rebranded itself as "The Legendary HFS, Live on 105.7"; Infinity Broadcasting moved the WHFS call letters to the station days later. 'HFS was pulled from the airwaves again on February 1, 2007, immediately before KMS on HFS premiered, yet retained the WHFS call letters traditionally associated with the music the station used to broadcast. Currently, HFS2 and Locals Only with Neci remain WHFS's only ties to its original format.

HFS2

In 2006, WHFS began to broadcast a digital subchannel signal for radios using the new HD Radio technology, and launched an all-music station named "HFS2". The station focuses primarily on new alternative rock and indie rock, and currently has no DJs or commercials. On January 19, 2007, the online stream of "HFS2" was launched with the slogan "What You've Been Missing" hinting at the death of HFS music on the regular 105.7 frequency.

On Thursday, November 1, 2007, Neci Crowder began broadcasting a midday program on HFS2. This marked the first time a live DJ had been heard on HFS2.

105.7 the Fan

On November 3, 2008, WHFS flipped to all-sports, branded as "105.7 The Fan". [12] Along with the format change came a new call sign: WJZ-FM. The station put Ed Norris and Rob Long in morning drive time with "The Norris & Long Show". Mark Viviano and Damon "Bulldog" Yoffe had a late morning program, and Bruce Cunningham and Mark Zinno hosted in early afternoons. Scott Garceau and Anita Marks were named to host "The Scott Garceau Show" in afternoon drive.

WJZ-FM retained WHFS' status as the flagship radio station for Baltimore Orioles baseball and Maryland Terrapins football and men's basketball. The WHFS call sign landed on 1580 AM (formerly WPGC) one week later. Orioles broadcasts moved from WJZ-FM back to WBAL (which WHFS had replaced as flagship in 2007) in 2011. [13] In 2015, WJZ-FM reacquired the broadcast rights to Orioles games from WBAL for the second time. [14]

Entercom ownership

On February 2, 2017, CBS agreed to merge CBS Radio with Entercom, at the time the fourth-largest radio broadcaster in the United States; the sale was conducted using a Reverse Morris Trust so that it would be tax-free. While CBS shareholders retain a 72% ownership stake in the combined company, Entercom was surviving entity, separating WJZ radio (both 105.7 FM and AM 1300) from WJZ-TV. [15] [16] The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on the 17th. [17] [18]

Despite no longer sharing common ownership with WJZ-TV, the deal grants the station the right to use the call letters in perpetuity. [19]

Short-spaced signal

WJZ-FM is short-spaced to WQXA-FM 105.7 The X (licensed to serve York, Pennsylvania) as they operate on the same channel and the distance between the stations' transmitters is 47 miles (76 km) as determined by FCC rules. [20] The minimum distance between two Class B stations operating on the same channel according to current FCC rules is 150 miles (240 km). [21] Both stations use directional antennas to reduce their signals toward each other. [22] [23]

Related Research Articles

CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadcasting since the 1970s. The broadcasting company was sold to Entercom on November 17, 2017.

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WVEE – branded as V-103 – is a commercial radio station in Atlanta, Georgia. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs an urban contemporary radio format. WVEE is one of the highest-rated stations in the Atlanta radio market according to Nielsen Audio, reaching number one on many reports. Its studios and offices are located in Colony Square on Peachtree Street in Midtown Atlanta, along with its sister stations WAOK, WSTR and WZGC.

WHFS was the call sign for three FM stations in the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore markets on various frequencies for nearly 50 years. The first and longest run was a progressive rock station, usually referred to as HFS. The primary progressive rock station in the nation's capital, it was the first station in the city to play R.E.M., The Specials, Pixies, The Smiths, The Monochrome Set, The Cure, Echo & the Bunnymen, Stereolab, New Order, 311, and Sublime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WJFK-FM</span> Sports radio station in Manassas, Virginia, serving Washington, D.C.

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WJZ-TV is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, serving as the market's CBS outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, and maintains studios and offices on Television Hill in the Woodberry section of Baltimore, adjacent to the transmission tower it shares with several other Baltimore broadcast outlets.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">WLIF</span> Radio station in Baltimore, Maryland

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">KXNT (AM)</span> Radio station in North Las Vegas, Nevada

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">WIAD</span> FM radio station in Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">WBAL (AM)</span> Radio station in Maryland, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">KDKA-FM</span> Radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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WOMX-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Orlando, Florida. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs a hot adult contemporary radio format known as Mix 105.1. WOMX-FM's studios and offices are located on Pembrook Drive in Maitland and its transmitter tower is off Fort Christmas Road in Bithlo.

WDCH-FM – branded Bloomberg 99.1 – is a commercial business news radio station licensed to Bowie, Maryland, and serving the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station is operated by Bloomberg L.P. as the market network affiliate for Bloomberg Radio. WDCH-FM often airs D.C. United soccer and Washington Wizards NBA basketball games whenever sports radio sister station WJFK-FM is carrying a different game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WBZ-FM</span> Sports radio station in Boston

WBZ-FM is a commercial sports radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts, serving Greater Boston and much of surrounding New England. Owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group, WBZ-FM is the Boston affiliate for Fox Sports Radio; the flagship station for the New England Patriots, Boston Bruins, Boston Celtics, and New England Revolution radio networks; and the radio home of Fred Toettcher, Scott Zolak, Mike Felger, Tony Massarotti, and Bob Socci. The WBZ-FM studios are located in Waltham, while the station transmitter resides in the Boston suburb of Newton. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WBZ-FM broadcasts over two HD Radio channels, and is available online.

References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WJZ-FM". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ↑ "FCC 335-FM Digital Notification [WJZ-FM]". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. September 28, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  3. ↑ "FM Query Results for WJZ-FM". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission . Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  4. ↑ Thomas H. White. "Mystique of the Three-Letter Callsigns." United States Early Radio History, January 1, 2021.
  5. ↑ Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2010 (PDF). 2010. p. D-267. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Radio Highlights". Baltimore Evening Sun . August 9, 1969. p. 5.
  7. ↑ "WKTK (WJZ-FM) history cards" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission . Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  8. ↑ Chen, Howard Henry (July 8, 1994). "Boston group purchases oldies WQSR and AM sister". The Baltimore Sun . Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  9. ↑ "RR-2001-09-21" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  10. ↑ "RR-2003-03-14" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  11. ↑ "YouTube" – via YouTube.
  12. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 18, 2016. Retrieved July 7, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. ↑ "Orioles headed back to WBAL". The Baltimore Sun . February 8, 2011. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
  14. ↑ "Orioles Return to CBS Radio". WJZ-TV. January 13, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
  15. ↑ "CBS Sets Radio Division Merger With Entercom". Variety. February 2, 2017. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
  16. ↑ "CBS and Entercom Are Merging Their Radio Stations". Fortune. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Entercom Receives FCC Approval for Merger with CBS Radio". Entercom. November 9, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  18. ↑ Venta, Lance (November 17, 2017). "Entercom Completes CBS Radio Merger". Radio Insight. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  19. ↑ "EX-2.2". Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  20. ↑ "Reference points and distance computations. 47 CFR § 73.208" . Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  21. ↑ "Minimum distance separation between stations. 47 CFR § 73.207 (b)(1)" (PDF). Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  22. ↑ "FM Query Results for WJZ-FM". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission . Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  23. ↑ "FM Query Results for WQXA". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission . Retrieved January 15, 2022.
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