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WJZ-FM

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the radio station in Baltimore, Maryland. For the former WJZ-FM located in New York City, seeWPLJ.
This article is about WJZ-FM. For the former callsign on 105.7, seeWHFS (historic).
"HFS2" redirects here. For HfS2,seehafnium disulfide.

WJZ-FM
Broadcast areaBaltimore metropolitan area
Frequency105.7MHz(HD Radio)
Branding105.7 The Fan
Programming
Language(s)English
FormatSports radio
Subchannels
AffiliationsInfinity Sports Network
Ownership
Owner
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 signmeaning
Taken from former sister stationWJZ-TV
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID1916
ClassB
ERP
  • 50,000 watts (analog)
  • 2,390 watts (digital)[2]
HAAT150 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)HD3:104.9W285EJ (White Marsh)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live(viaAudacy)
Websitewww.audacy.com/1057thefan

WJZ-FM(105.7MHz) is acommercial radiostationlicensedtoCatonsville, Maryland,and serving theBaltimore metropolitan area.The station is owned byAudacy, Inc.through licensee Audacy License, LLC, and it broadcasts asports radioformat.Local shows are heard on weekdays, with programming from theInfinity Sports Networkairing nights and weekends. The station's studios and offices are located inTowson.

WJZ-FM has aneffective radiated power(ERP) of 50,000 watts. Thetransmitteris located off Moravia Road in Baltimore'sFrankfordneighborhood at (39°19′26.4″N76°32′54.8″W/ 39.324000°N 76.548556°W/39.324000; -76.548556).[3]WJZ-FM broadcasts usingHD Radiotechnology. The HD2digital subchannelcarries theBloomberg Radiobusiness newsformat heard onWDCH-FM,while the HD3 subchannel rebroadcasts co-ownedWJZ(1300 AM), which primarily carriesBetQL Networkprogramming.

History

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History of the WJZ-FM call sign

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Further information:WPLJandAmerican Broadcasting Company

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

The call letters "WJZ" were originally created by theWestinghouse Electric Corporation,the direct predecessor to the currentCBS Corporation.Westinghouse was the owner of WJZ radio inNewark, New Jerseyfrom 1921 to 1923, before it moved to New York. Apocryphal stories claimed the "JZ" in thecall signreferred toNew 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 toWJZ-TV,anABCNetwork affiliatethat was changed toCBSin 1995.

WCBC, WBMD-FM, WKTK, WQSR

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The stationsigned onthe air on November 22, 1963.[5]The original call letters were WCBC, owned by Christian Broadcasting Company and it aired aChristian radioformat.

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 stationsimulcastacountry musicAM station,WBMD,already owned by Key.

In 1970, the FM's format becameprogressive rockat 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 playeddisco music.It later changed tooldieswith the decline of disco. In 1982, the call letters becameWQSRas the station planned to join "Super Radio", a new nationaladult contemporary musicnetwork to be operated by ABC, using noted disc jockeys such asDan Ingram,Ron LundyandJay 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 toAmerican Radio Systems(ARS) for $39 million in 1994;[8]ARS would merge withCBS Radioin 1998.

WXYV

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Main article:WHFS (historic)

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 tourban contemporaryformat, branded as "X105.7". (X105.7 marked WXYV's second stint as an urban station; the first incarnation was known as "V103", which flipped toCHR/Top-40and 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 byInfinity Broadcasting(forerunner to CBS Radio). The morning show was a simulcast of former V103 and 92Q personality Frank Ski's wake up program, originating fromWVEE,"V103" inAtlanta.

Revival of WHFS

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"X105.7" would fail to compete for urban listeners againstWERQ-FM;as a result, CBS Radio flipped WXYV tohot talkon March 10, 2003.[10]The station carried thenationally syndicatedHoward Stern Showand theDon and Mike Show.The station adopted the name "Live 105.7", which would later change to "105.7Free 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.

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 byThe Washington Post,Howard Stern andThe 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 beforeKMS on HFSpremiered, yet retained the WHFS call letters traditionally associated with the music the station used to broadcast. Currently,HFS2andLocals Only with Neciremain WHFS's only ties to its original format.

HFS2

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In 2006, WHFS began to broadcast adigital subchannelsignal for radios using the newHD Radiotechnology, and launched an all-music station named "HFS2". The station focuses primarily on newalternative rockandindie 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

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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 putEd Norrisand Rob Long in morningdrive timewith "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 theflagship radio stationforBaltimore Oriolesbaseball andMaryland Terrapinsfootball and men's basketball. The WHFS call sign landed on 1580 AM (formerlyWPGC) one week later. Orioles broadcasts moved from WJZ-FM back toWBAL(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

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On February 2, 2017, CBS agreed to merge CBS Radio withEntercom,at the time the fourth-largest radio broadcaster in the United States; the sale was conducted using aReverse Morris Trustso 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 andAM 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

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WJZ-FM is short-spaced toWQXA-FM105.7 The X(licensed to serveYork, 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 twoClass Bstations operating on the same channel according to currentFCCrules is 150 miles (240 km).[21]Both stations usedirectional antennasto reduce their signals toward each other.[22][23]

References

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