WWIZ (Lorain, Ohio)

Last updated

WWIZ
Broadcast area
Frequency 1380 kHz
Ownership
OwnerWWIZ, Inc.
History
First air date
October 26, 1958
(65 years ago) (1958-10-26)
Last air date
July 14, 1967
(56 years ago) (1967-07-14)
Technical information
Class D
Power 500  watts (daytime)
Transmitter coordinates
 41°25′48″N82°09′07″W / 41.43000°N 82.15194°W / 41.43000; -82.15194

WWIZ was a commercial radio station at 1380 AM that was licensed to Lorain, Ohio, and broadcast from 1958 to 1967.

Contents

The station shut down when its license was revoked by the Federal Communications Commission after the principal owner failed to notify the agency of an ownership transfer weeks prior to signing on. An unrelated radio station, WLRO, signed on in December 1969 using the same transmitter as WWIZ; it continues on the air today as WDLW.

History

The second AM station in Lorain County, WWIZ signed on October 26, 1958. [1] It was the first radio station to directly serve the city of Lorain, with studios in the city's downtown and a transmitter residing in adjacent Sheffield Township. [2] The station was founded by Sanford A. Schafitz, a native of the Youngstown area; Schafitz also started up WFAR in Farrell, Pennsylvania and WXTV, an independent TV station in Youngstown. [3] [4]

Among the early radio hosts at "W-WIZ" included Bob Lockwood, Alan Mink, Jeff Baxter (who doubled as program director), Bob Lee and Bob "BJ" Sellers, later known as "The Polka King", in the morning slot. [5]

While the station soon promoted itself as "Lorain's Most Listened to Radio Station", behind the scenes, WWIZ's history was troubled right from the start. On September 15, 1958—one month before the station signed on—Schafitz arranged a deal with The Journal in Lorain. [6] The Journal, as it turned out, was a party that actually tried to get the station assigned in the first place via a complicated straw-man transaction designed to circumvent the legal requirements which prevented Journal Publishing from holding a license. The station was incorporated as "WWIZ, Inc.", and while the Journal was not the controlling shareholder of WWIZ (the ratio was 55 percent to 45 percent in favor of Schafitz, who now held the titles of president and director), it ended up controlling the operations nonetheless. (It later emerged that The Journal had avoided 100 percent ownership in order to avoid jeopardizing its chances at buying WCLW of Mansfield; that sale application was later dismissed. [7] ) In return for the authorized nonvoting and voting preferred stock, The Journal paid Schafitz a total of $56,000, a transaction later cited by the FCC as a means to finance WXTV's construction, [8] and also for The Journal to get a competitive edge over the Elyria-Lorain Broadcasting Co., owner of WEOL AM/FM. [9]

Schafitz, however, told the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that he held total control of the station at the time, and the deal was not made public until announced on February 26, 1959. [10] Harry Horvitz, chief owner of Journal Publishing, then bought the station outright on June 20, 1961. [11] Both WEOL and the FCC soon objected to the move, as neither was properly notified of the previous action. WWIZ's license renewal was designated for hearing by the FCC in March 1962 [12] as part of a review of all of Schafitz's holdings; [13] at the Youngstown TV station, it was revealed that Schafitz also failed to disclose to the agency that WXTV's 50 percent owner, Guy W. Gully, was indicted for a felony. [8] Also in question was Schafitz's status of involvement at WWIZ; the FCC found that his time devoted to the operations decreased dramatically after its first six months on the air to the point he spent no time at the station from May 1960 onward. [9] The FCC's Broadcast Bureau's findings stated that Schafitz was willing to sell a share in WWIZ to The Journal and Horvitz "upon such conditions as Horvitz would dictate" and concluded that neither Schafitz, Horvitz nor The Journal had the character qualifications to hold a broadcast license. [8] Hearing examiner Chester F. Naumowicz, Jr., initially recommended renewal of the WWIZ license. [14]

On March 25, 1964, the FCC issued the decision to deny the license renewals of WWIZ and WXTV and ordered them off the air by June 1. [9] [15] However, the FCC allowed the license for WFAR to be renewed, finding that its programming was satisfactory; it continues operations to this day as WLOA. [16] (In 1965, in a first-of-its-kind decision, a federal appeals court ruled that the FCC was in its right to allow WFAR to continue even while denying the WWIZ renewal, saying that the FCC's investigation had generally found "favorable" findings regarding the Farrell operation. [7] ) WXTV's channel allocation was reassigned to Alliance as an educational frequency and was eventually occupied by WNEO. The license denial for WWIZ was appealed before the Supreme Court and ultimately was upheld in late 1966. The station was allowed to remain on the air on a temporary basis until being ordered silent on July 14, 1967; a WWIZ staff announcer arrived at the studios the next day and found it was no longer broadcasting. [17] [18]

Schafitz died of heart failure on May 30, 1979, at the age of 53. [19]

1380 after WWIZ

Even while WWIZ remained on the air, applications reached the FCC to operate a new station on the frequency it was about to vacate. The first of these, filed in May 1966, came from Lorain Community Broadcasting, with Allied Broadcasting following closely thereafter. [20] They were soon joined by Midwest Broadcasting; all three applications were placed in comparative hearing. All three applicants sought to operate the 1380 facility on an interim basis until the FCC selected a permanent licensee, but since the Lorain Community and Midwest applicants did not want to associate with Allied, which had alleged connections with principals of The Journal, the FCC denied their applications. [21]

The FCC initially ruled in favor of Midwest Broadcasting in August 1967, [22] but in June 1968, it reversed its decision and granted the Lorain Community Broadcasting application instead. [23] Lorain selected new WLRO call letters for its station (for LoRain, Ohio). 1380 returned to the air December 4, 1969, [24] when WLRO received program authority to begin broadcasts; it would receive its full license in 1970. [25]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knight Ridder</span> American media company

Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. Until it was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, it was the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States, with 32 daily newspaper brands sold. Its headquarters were located in San Jose, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WUAB</span> CW affiliate in Lorain, Ohio

WUAB is a television station licensed to Lorain, Ohio, United States, serving the Cleveland area as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power Telemundo affiliate WTCL-LD and Shaker Heights–licensed CBS affiliate WOIO, the latter station whose full-power spectrum WUAB transmits over via a channel sharing agreement. WUAB, WOIO and WTCL-LD share studios on the ground floor of the Reserve Square building in Downtown Cleveland, with WUAB and WOIO sharing transmitter facilities at the West Creek Reservation in Parma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WXTV-DT</span> Univision TV station in Paterson, New Jersey

WXTV-DT is a television station licensed to Paterson, New Jersey, United States, serving as the Univision outlet for the New York City area. It is one of two flagship stations of the Spanish-language network. WXTV-DT is owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision alongside Newark-licensed UniMás outlet WFUT-DT and Smithtown, New York–licensed True Crime Network affiliate WFTY-DT. The stations share studios on Frank W. Burr Boulevard in Teaneck, New Jersey; WXTV-DT and WFUT-DT share transmitter facilities at the Empire State Building in Midtown Manhattan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WKBF-TV</span> TV station in Cleveland (1968–1975)

WKBF-TV was a television station that broadcast on channel 61 in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, from January 1968 to April 1975. Owned and operated by Kaiser Broadcasting as one of an eventual group of six stations, it was the first ultra high frequency (UHF) independent station to serve northeast Ohio and the last outlet constructed by the Kaiser chain during the 1960s to begin operations. Despite airing several high-profile local programs, Kaiser's efforts to establish itself in Cleveland never took root because of the establishment of a second independent outlet, WUAB, later that same year, as well as general stagnation in the Cleveland market. In April 1975, Kaiser shut WKBF-TV down and sold its programming inventory to WUAB in exchange for a minority stake in that station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WTAM</span> Clear-channel news/talk radio station in Cleveland

WTAM is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and carries a news/talk and sports radio format commonly known as "Newsradio WTAM 1100". Owned by iHeartMedia, WTAM serves Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio, and is a clear-channel station with extended nighttime range. WTAM is also Northeast Ohio's primary entry point station in the Emergency Alert System.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WKNR</span> Sports radio station in Cleveland, Ohio

WKNR – branded as 850 ESPN Cleveland – is a commercial sports radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland. Owned by Good Karma Brands, WKNR is the Cleveland affiliate for ESPN Radio and the AM flagship station for the Cleveland Browns Radio Network; the Cleveland affiliate for the Ohio State Sports Network, and the radio home of Je'Rod Cherry and Tony Grossi. The WKNR studios are currently located in the East Bank of The Flats in Downtown Cleveland, while the station transmitter resides in the Cleveland suburb of North Royalton, And due to the 4-tower array at the site, WKNR’s daytime signal can be heard as far as Mansfield, and even as far as Newark and Zanesville. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WKNR is available online.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WYTV</span> ABC/MyNetworkTV affiliate in Youngstown, Ohio

WYTV is a television station in Youngstown, Ohio, United States, affiliated with ABC and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Vaughan Media, LLC, which maintains joint sales and shared services agreements (JSA/SSA) with Nexstar Media Group, owner of CBS affiliate WKBN-TV and low-power Fox affiliate WYFX-LD, for the provision of certain services. The three stations share studios on Sunset Boulevard in Youngstown's Pleasant Grove neighborhood, where WYTV's transmitter is also located.

WCPN is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to Lorain, Ohio, featuring a public radio format as a repeater of Kent–licensed WKSU. Owned by Ideastream Public Media, the station serves the western portion of Greater Cleveland and parts of surrounding Northeast Ohio. By virtue of WKSU, studios are located at Playhouse Square in Downtown Cleveland, while WCPN's transmitter resides in the Cleveland suburb of Avon. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WCPN broadcasts over four HD Radio channels and streams online.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WEOL</span> Talk radio station in Elyria, Ohio

WEOL is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Elyria, Ohio, and features a talk and sports radio format. Owned by the Elyria-Lorain Broadcasting Co., WEOL services Lorain and Medina counties and the western parts of Greater Cleveland. The station is the local affiliate for The Ramsey Show, Kim Komando, Fox Sports Radio and ABC News Radio, and the Cleveland Guardians, Cleveland Cavaliers, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Ohio State radio networks.

WDLW is a commercial radio station licensed to Lorain, Ohio, and airs an oldies format. Owned by WDLW Radio, Inc., the station serves Lorain County and western parts of Greater Cleveland, and is relayed over Lorain translator W255CW. WDLW's studios are located in Oberlin, Ohio, while the transmitters for both WDLW and W255CW reside in Sheffield Township. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WDLW is available online.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WNWV</span> Alternative rock radio station in Elyria, Ohio, serving Cleveland

WNWV is a commercial radio station licensed to Elyria, Ohio, carrying an alternative rock format known as "107.3 Alternative Cleveland". Owned by Rubber City Radio Group, Inc., the station serves Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio. WNWV's studios are located in Akron, while the station transmitter resides off of South Island Road in Grafton. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WNWV is available online.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WHKW</span> Christian radio station in Cleveland, Ohio

WHKW is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, and is known as "AM 1220 The Word" featuring a Christian format. Owned by Salem Media Group, the station serves both Greater Cleveland and the Northeast Ohio region. WHKW's studios are located in the Cleveland suburb of Independence while the transmitter site is in neighboring Broadview Heights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WLOA</span> Radio station in Farrell, Pennsylvania

WLOA is a commercial rhythmic contemporary radio station licensed to Farrell, Pennsylvania. Owned by Over/Under, LLC, the station serves both the Sharon, Pennsylvania, and Youngstown, Ohio markets. WLOA also simulcasts over Youngstown translator W272EI. The WLOA studios are located in the city of Meadville, while the transmitter for WLOA resides off of South State Line Road in Masury, Ohio; W272EI's transmitter is located off of Mabel Street in Youngstown's Lansingville neighborhood. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WLOA is available online.

WKFM is a radio station licensed to Huron, Ohio. Its transmitter is in Berlin Heights and its studios are in Milan, along with sister stations WLKR-FM and WLKR (AM). The station is locally owned by Elyria-Lorain Broadcasting Co., and features a country music format positioned on-air as "K-96". Programming is a combination of local hosts and Westwood One's Mainstream Country satellite format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WLKR-FM</span> Radio station in Norwalk, Ohio

WLKR-FM – branded 95-3 WLKR – is a commercial adult album alternative radio station licensed to Norwalk, Ohio, serving the Norwalk/Sandusky/Port Clinton area, including Erie and Huron counties. Owned by the Elyria-Lorain Broadcasting Co., WLKR-FM serves as the local affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians Radio Network, the Ohio State Sports Network and Cavaliers AudioVerse. The station also airs coverage of local high school sports, including football, volleyball, basketball, wrestling, softball and baseball. The WLKR-FM studios are located in Milan, while the station transmitter resides near the intersection of Huber Road and Lamereaux Road just outside of Norwalk. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WLKR-FM is also available online.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midway Mall</span> Shopping mall in Elyria, Ohio

Midway Mall was a 940,174 sq ft (87,345 m2) square foot regional shopping mall in Elyria, Ohio. Lorain County's only enclosed regional mall, it sits on Ohio State Route 57, about 1/8 mile from Interstate 80 and Interstate 90. As of 2023, with former anchor Dunham's Sports closing its branch there, it is a dead mall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KNML</span> Sports radio station in Albuquerque, New Mexico

KNML is a sports talk formatted radio station owned by Cumulus Media and licensed to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Its studios are located in Downtown Albuquerque and it utilizes daytime and nighttime transmitters that are located within yards of each other in the southwest quadrant of the city, between the Rio Grande and the Albuquerque International Sunport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cleveland Browns Radio Network</span> Regional play-by-play radio network

The University Hospitals Cleveland Browns Radio Network is an American radio network composed of 24 radio stations which carry English-language coverage of the Cleveland Browns, a professional football team in the National Football League (NFL). Jim Donovan has been the lead announcer since the team's return in 1999, but went on medical leave to undergo treatment for leukemia following the 2023 season opener; various broadcasters, including Chris Rose, Andrew Siciliano and Paul Keels have served as interim play-by-play announcers in his absence. Nathan Zegura serves as commentator and Je'Rod Cherry is the sideline analyst/reporter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WXTV (Ohio)</span> TV station in Youngstown, Ohio (1960–1962)

WXTV, UHF analog channel 45, was an independent television station licensed to Youngstown, Ohio, United States, from November 15, 1960, to February 27, 1962. The station was owned and operated by Sanford Schafitz. Mounting issues with the license renewal of a co-owned radio station in Lorain, WWIZ, in which Schafitz had sold a stake to obtain capital to start WXTV, led to the station's closure.

WMJX was a commercial radio station licensed to Miami, Florida, United States, that broadcast at 96.3FM from 1948 to 1981. The station was last owned by The Charter Company. WMJX's broadcast license was revoked by the Federal Communications Commission due to the use of fake news stories to promote a 1975 contest and an error in which advertisers were billed for commercials that did not air.

References

  1. ↑ "Studio In Lorain: New Radio Station Will Open On Sunday". The Chronicle-Telegram. Elyria, Ohio. October 24, 1958. p. 17. Archived from the original on November 13, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2019– via NewspaperArchive.
  2. ↑ "In Sheffield Township: Radio Station Site Bought Near Lorain". The Chronicle-Telegram. Elyria, Ohio. March 14, 1956. p. 16. Archived from the original on November 13, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2019– via NewspaperArchive.
  3. ↑ "Cleveland Classic Media: WXTV-Channel 45-A valiant effort". November 9, 2007. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Cleveland Classic Media: Update-WXTV channel 45 Youngstown". November 14, 2007. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Bob Sellers". Obituary. The Chronicle-Telegram. Elyria, Ohio. August 15, 2005. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  6. ↑ Miller, Don (October 11, 1966). "WWIZ may go into trusteeship". The Chronicle-Telegram. Elyria, Ohio. pp. 1, 4. Archived from the original on November 13, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2019– via NewspaperArchive.
  7. 1 2 "Losing one doesn't mean all" (PDF). Broadcasting. Vol. 69, no. 11. September 13, 1965. pp. 52, 54. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 14, 2022. Retrieved November 12, 2019– via World Radio History.
  8. 1 2 3 "FCC told to deny WWIZ & WLOA license renewal" (PDF). Broadcasting. Vol. 64, no. 4. January 28, 1963. pp. 58, 60. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 14, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2019– via World Radio History.
  9. 1 2 3 "FCC kills WWIZ, WXTV (TV)" (PDF). Broadcasting. Vol. 66, no. 14. April 6, 1964. p. 92. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 14, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2019– via World Radio History.
  10. ↑ "Journal Purchases Radio Station Stock". The Chronicle-Telegram. Elyria, Ohio. February 27, 1959. p. 17. Archived from the original on November 13, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2019– via NewspaperArchive.
  11. ↑ "Newspaper Asks Radio Purchase OK". The Chronicle-Telegram. Elyria, Ohio. June 20, 1961. p. 13. Archived from the original on November 13, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2019– via NewspaperArchive.
  12. ↑ "Radio Stockholder to Face ICC (sic) Quiz". The Chronicle-Telegram. Elyria, Ohio. March 3, 1962. p. 15. Archived from the original on November 13, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2019– via NewspaperArchive.
  13. ↑ "Two FCC hearings set on misrepresentation" (PDF). Broadcasting. Vol. 62, no. 9. February 26, 1962. p. 9. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 14, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2019– via World Radio History.
  14. ↑ "Recommend renewal for Schafitz stations" (PDF). Broadcasting. Vol. 64, no. 10. March 11, 1963. pp. 76, 78. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 14, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2018– via World Radio History.
  15. ↑ "WWIZ, WXTV(TV) ordered off air" (PDF). Broadcasting. Vol. 66, no. 17. April 27, 1964. p. 64. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 14, 2022. Retrieved September 19, 2011– via World Radio History.
  16. ↑ "Date of WWIZ, WXTV(TV) & WFAR renewal decision" (PDF). Broadcasting. Vol. 66, no. 14. April 6, 1964. p. 174. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 14, 2022. Retrieved September 19, 2011– via World Radio History.
  17. ↑ "WWIZ has 30 days to leave air". The Chronicle-Telegram. Elyria, Ohio. June 15, 1967. p. 29. Archived from the original on November 13, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2019– via NewspaperArchive.
  18. ↑ "Station WWIZ leaves air". The Chronicle-Telegram. Elyria, Ohio. Associated Press. July 15, 1967. p. 12. Archived from the original on November 13, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2019– via NewspaperArchive.
  19. ↑ "Schafitz dies" (PDF). Broadcasting. Vol. 96, no. 26. June 25, 1979. p. 95. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 14, 2022. Retrieved September 19, 2011– via World Radio History.
  20. ↑ "2 firms seek radio permit". The Chronicle-Telegram. Elyria, Ohio. May 26, 1966. p. 12. Archived from the original on November 13, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2019– via NewspaperArchive.
  21. ↑ "FCC orders Lorain station to go silent" (PDF). Broadcasting. Vol. 72, no. 25. June 19, 1967. p. 63. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 14, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2019– via World Radio History.
  22. ↑ "Initial Decision" (PDF). Broadcasting. Vol. 73, no. 9. August 28, 1967. p. 81. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 14, 2022. Retrieved November 12, 2019– via World Radio History.
  23. ↑ "FCC gives Lorain group WWIZ OK". The Chronicle-Telegram. Elyria, Ohio. June 4, 1968. p. 25. Archived from the original on November 13, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2019– via NewspaperArchive.
  24. ↑ "New AM stations" (PDF). Broadcasting. Vol. 77, no. 25. December 22, 1969. p. 60. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 14, 2022. Retrieved November 12, 2019– via World Radio History.
  25. ↑ FCC History Cards for WDLW (WLRO)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.