WAZY
Encyclopedia
WAZY-FM, "Z96.5" is an FM radio station
owned by Artistic Media Partners in Lafayette, Indiana
. The station operates on the FM radio frequency of 96.5 MHz, FM channel 243. http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?list=0&facid=68970. The studios are located at 3824 South 18th Street in Lafayette, Indiana
.
WAZY-FM is the oldest top 40 station still in existence.
WAZY is the flagship station for Purdue University Football
.
(Storz Radio) purchased the AM station and built his first FM signal, WAZY-FM. Lafayette was the first city in the United States with a Top 40 FM radio station.
In 1955, Storz sold the combo to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, which intended to move the AM station to a higher frequency so that WOWO
in Fort Wayne, Indiana
could expand its service. In 1956, Westinghouse
sold WAZY-FM to Holmes Radio Inc who also owned present day WFBQ in Indianapolis and present day WTMX Chicago. In 1964, WAZY-FM was reunited with WLAF-AM and they began sharing station call letters.
In 1964, J. Edward "Ed" Willis purchased the combo and moved it to its current location on South 18th Street in Lafayette. Willis sold the radio stations to the Peoria Journal Star newspaper group. It was later purchased in the early 80's by Lightfoot Broadcasting, headquartered out of Connecticut. Rob Ford was hired from the WASK group to run the stations. Hal Youart, the station's GM for many years, was widely regarded as the person who grew WAZY-FM into the successful station it was.
The tide really turned for the station when it flipped its Top Forty by day and AOR by night format to all Top Forty. Jeffrey Jay Weber, who later became one of the first PD's to make the move directly to GM when he left the station to go to an AM-FM in Terre Haute, was instrumental in the station's growth in the late seventies along with jocks like Bobby Day, Chuck Brody, Lou Patrick, Scott Dugan, Bob Leonard, Keith Harris and Steve West.
History making ratings were achieved in the 80's with Jim Stacy as program director, and talent including Steve Louizos and Dr. Dave (Dave Gross) which was featured on the cover of Friday Morning Quarterback.
In the 1970s WAZY-FM began to grow, while the AM station's influence lessened. Some of the talent and programming staff that worked for WAZY in the 1970s moved on to become programmers in New York City
, Philadelphia, and Chicago
.
In 1984, Lightfoot Broadcasting sold the AM signal to First Assembly of God Church of Lafayette. In 1987 Lightfoot Broadcasting's Indiana stations, including WAZY A/F and WXLX A/F Columbus, were purchased by University Broadcasting, which would become Artistic Media Partners of Lafayette. Since that period, WAZY-AM (now WSHY) has been reunited once again with the FM station.
In 1995 under program director John Flint (Harrison), WAZY switched from a Top 40 format to a Hot Adult Contemporary format, positioning themselves as "The Best Of the 80's and 90's." In the fall of 2000, WAZY decided to soften its musical approach and flipped to Adult Contemporary. On March 16, 2001, just 6 months after the switch to AC, WAZY returned to the Contemporary Hits Radio (Top 40) format. It remained 96.5 WAZY until September 28, 2006, when it switched to "Lafayette's #1 Hit Music Station - Z96.5".
In 2004, Artistic Media Partners, as a part of company-wide sports programming realignment initiative, moved Purdue University Football and Men's Basketball off WAZY to their classic rock sister station, WSHP, and the following year to country sister, WLFF. This resulted in two frequency flip-flops between WLFF and WSHP in a less than 18 months. Beginning in the fall of 2007, WAZY once again became the flagship station for Purdue Football.
Since 2006, VP/Programming Karen Rite has overseen the management of WAZY and sister WBPE. Under her direction were Program Directors Dana Marshall, Dan Baisden and currently Jimmy Knight.
format.
Weekend programming includes Open House Party
weekend evenings.
WAZY is a Local Primary Source-2 for the Indiana Emergency Alert System. http://www.indianabroadcasters.org/information/easstatepolicy.pdf
WAZY is currently streaming online at their website
to become the Community Relations Coordinator at the Tippecanoe Community Health Clinic.
Scotty Blades has decided to return to the educational field in Kentucky, Dan "Tyler" Baisden moved to Lima Ohio as PD of WWSR/WDOH and now is Operations Director at Grenax Broadcasting II in Flagstaff/Prescott AZ. Carley O' Kelly is now hosting mid-days in Clear Channel Madison WI. Beau Derek now hosts nights in Detroit, Michigan
. Kim Iverson
now hosts a nationally syndicated night show based in Austin, TX.
Chris Carter now directs promotions for WHHH, Hot 96.3 in Indianapolis, Indiana
. General Manager Rick Prusator is a sales manager for WLFI in Lafayette. Chris Cruise is hosting nights at WJFX Fort Wayne. JJ Davis is now hosting nights in Kokomo, Indiana
. Dana Marshall has left radio to pursue a career in Artist Management for Sally Anthony
.
Sidney Sharp, the production director at Z96 in 1983-84 and an on-air personality until 1990, now works for an NPR affiliate in Richmond, Virginia
. Long-time program director, Jim Stacy, is an independent record promoter working for Tri-State Productions in Cincinnati, Ohio
.
Former OM/PD Jeff "Jeffrey Jay" Weber is Executive Vice-President/part owner of the Business TalkRadio Network and the Lifestyle TalkRadio Network in Greenwich CT, a position he has held since 2002.
Gary Spears http://www.kbig.com/pages/gary.html, aka Michael Ray (real name: Michael Raymond Frosch), who last broadcast from WAZY-FM in 1977 and later went to WBBM-FM
Chicago, was at KYSR
98.7 Los Angeles, then middays at KIIS-FM
102.7 Los Angeles, then the afternoon drive at KBIG-FM
104.3 Los Angeles until 20 April 2007, then a few weeks later began co-hosting St. Jude Hospital weekly podcast "Casting Hope" with Pixie Monroe. Gary Spears began middays 10:00 am - 3:00 pm on WJMK 104.3 FM K-Hits Chicago on 21 March 2011.
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
owned by Artistic Media Partners in Lafayette, Indiana
Lafayette, Indiana
Lafayette is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 67,140. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, which has a large impact on...
. The station operates on the FM radio frequency of 96.5 MHz, FM channel 243. http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?list=0&facid=68970. The studios are located at 3824 South 18th Street in Lafayette, Indiana
Lafayette, Indiana
Lafayette is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 67,140. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, which has a large impact on...
.
Station broadcasting information
The station broadcasts from a 499 foot tower near New Greenhill, Indiana. http://www.artisticradio.com/wazy.htm Originally the station broadcast at 96.7 MHz, but shortly after it changed to 96.5 MHz. http://www.well.com/~irw/stations/wazy.htmlWAZY-FM is the oldest top 40 station still in existence.
WAZY is the flagship station for Purdue University Football
Purdue Boilermakers football
The Purdue Boilermakers football team is the intercollegiate football program of the Purdue University Boilermakers. The program is classified in the NCAA's Division I Bowl Subdivision, and the team competes in the Big Ten Conference. The Boilermakers have an all-time record of...
.
History
In 1938, the first radio station to sign on the air was WLAF-AM. Located at 1180 on the dial, the station broadcasted local programming and the popular BLUE network. In 1952, the father of Top 40 radio Todd StorzTodd Storz
Robert Todd Storz is credited with being the father of the Top 40 radio format, which Gordon McLendon then went on to perfect with great commercial success during the 1950s and 1960s.-Biography:...
(Storz Radio) purchased the AM station and built his first FM signal, WAZY-FM. Lafayette was the first city in the United States with a Top 40 FM radio station.
In 1955, Storz sold the combo to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, which intended to move the AM station to a higher frequency so that WOWO
WOWO
Located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, WOWO is an independent news/talk radio station transmitting on 1190 kHz at 50,000 watts during the daylight hours and 9,800 watts during the nighttime hours. An application is on file with the Federal Communications Commission to add a fourth tower to the three...
in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...
could expand its service. In 1956, Westinghouse
Westinghouse Broadcasting
The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the broadcasting division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It owned several radio and television stations across the United States and distributed television shows for syndication....
sold WAZY-FM to Holmes Radio Inc who also owned present day WFBQ in Indianapolis and present day WTMX Chicago. In 1964, WAZY-FM was reunited with WLAF-AM and they began sharing station call letters.
In 1964, J. Edward "Ed" Willis purchased the combo and moved it to its current location on South 18th Street in Lafayette. Willis sold the radio stations to the Peoria Journal Star newspaper group. It was later purchased in the early 80's by Lightfoot Broadcasting, headquartered out of Connecticut. Rob Ford was hired from the WASK group to run the stations. Hal Youart, the station's GM for many years, was widely regarded as the person who grew WAZY-FM into the successful station it was.
The tide really turned for the station when it flipped its Top Forty by day and AOR by night format to all Top Forty. Jeffrey Jay Weber, who later became one of the first PD's to make the move directly to GM when he left the station to go to an AM-FM in Terre Haute, was instrumental in the station's growth in the late seventies along with jocks like Bobby Day, Chuck Brody, Lou Patrick, Scott Dugan, Bob Leonard, Keith Harris and Steve West.
History making ratings were achieved in the 80's with Jim Stacy as program director, and talent including Steve Louizos and Dr. Dave (Dave Gross) which was featured on the cover of Friday Morning Quarterback.
In the 1970s WAZY-FM began to grow, while the AM station's influence lessened. Some of the talent and programming staff that worked for WAZY in the 1970s moved on to become programmers in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Philadelphia, and Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
In 1984, Lightfoot Broadcasting sold the AM signal to First Assembly of God Church of Lafayette. In 1987 Lightfoot Broadcasting's Indiana stations, including WAZY A/F and WXLX A/F Columbus, were purchased by University Broadcasting, which would become Artistic Media Partners of Lafayette. Since that period, WAZY-AM (now WSHY) has been reunited once again with the FM station.
In 1995 under program director John Flint (Harrison), WAZY switched from a Top 40 format to a Hot Adult Contemporary format, positioning themselves as "The Best Of the 80's and 90's." In the fall of 2000, WAZY decided to soften its musical approach and flipped to Adult Contemporary. On March 16, 2001, just 6 months after the switch to AC, WAZY returned to the Contemporary Hits Radio (Top 40) format. It remained 96.5 WAZY until September 28, 2006, when it switched to "Lafayette's #1 Hit Music Station - Z96.5".
In 2004, Artistic Media Partners, as a part of company-wide sports programming realignment initiative, moved Purdue University Football and Men's Basketball off WAZY to their classic rock sister station, WSHP, and the following year to country sister, WLFF. This resulted in two frequency flip-flops between WLFF and WSHP in a less than 18 months. Beginning in the fall of 2007, WAZY once again became the flagship station for Purdue Football.
Since 2006, VP/Programming Karen Rite has overseen the management of WAZY and sister WBPE. Under her direction were Program Directors Dana Marshall, Dan Baisden and currently Jimmy Knight.
Programming
WAZY currently plays a Contemporary hit radioContemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
format.
Weekend programming includes Open House Party
Open House Party
Open House Party is an American radio show hosted on Saturday nights by John Garabedian that promotes itself as "the biggest party on the planet". It focuses on playing contemporary hit radio music, also known as Top 40. The show differentiates itself from most Top 40 stations because it plays a...
weekend evenings.
WAZY is a Local Primary Source-2 for the Indiana Emergency Alert System. http://www.indianabroadcasters.org/information/easstatepolicy.pdf
WAZY is currently streaming online at their website
Where are they now?
Former WAZY morning show hosts Gavin Todd and Stephanie Patterson left WAZY during the fall 2006 ratings sweep. Todd now works in Hawaii, while Patterson, who was with the station for 5 years, left WLFFWLFF
WSYN is an classic hits music formatted radio station licensed to Surfside Beach, South Carolina and serves the Grand Strand area. The Cumulus Media outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to broadcast at 103.1 MHz with an ERP of 8 kW...
to become the Community Relations Coordinator at the Tippecanoe Community Health Clinic.
Scotty Blades has decided to return to the educational field in Kentucky, Dan "Tyler" Baisden moved to Lima Ohio as PD of WWSR/WDOH and now is Operations Director at Grenax Broadcasting II in Flagstaff/Prescott AZ. Carley O' Kelly is now hosting mid-days in Clear Channel Madison WI. Beau Derek now hosts nights in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
. Kim Iverson
Kim Iverson
Kim Iverson is an American radio personality best known as the host of the nationally syndicated radio program, "Your Time with Kim Iversen", heard on many radio stations across the country. She is one of few notable women to have achieved national syndication in the radio broadcast industry...
now hosts a nationally syndicated night show based in Austin, TX.
Chris Carter now directs promotions for WHHH, Hot 96.3 in Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
. General Manager Rick Prusator is a sales manager for WLFI in Lafayette. Chris Cruise is hosting nights at WJFX Fort Wayne. JJ Davis is now hosting nights in Kokomo, Indiana
Kokomo, Indiana
Kokomo is a city in and the county seat of Howard County, Indiana, United States, Indiana's 13th largest city. It is the principal city of the Kokomo, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Howard and Tipton counties....
. Dana Marshall has left radio to pursue a career in Artist Management for Sally Anthony
Sally Anthony
-Biography:Anthony grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, and self-released her first EP in 1998. Two more EPs followed, and Anthony, who had built a strong fan base in Indiana, was offered the opportunity to tour with acts such as Natalie Merchant, Chris Isaak, Barenaked Ladies, James Taylor, Tom...
.
Sidney Sharp, the production director at Z96 in 1983-84 and an on-air personality until 1990, now works for an NPR affiliate in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
. Long-time program director, Jim Stacy, is an independent record promoter working for Tri-State Productions in Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
.
Former OM/PD Jeff "Jeffrey Jay" Weber is Executive Vice-President/part owner of the Business TalkRadio Network and the Lifestyle TalkRadio Network in Greenwich CT, a position he has held since 2002.
Gary Spears http://www.kbig.com/pages/gary.html, aka Michael Ray (real name: Michael Raymond Frosch), who last broadcast from WAZY-FM in 1977 and later went to WBBM-FM
WBBM-FM
WBBM-FM, known on air as "B96", is a Rhythmic Contemporary outlet in Chicago, Illinois with a Rhythmic based playlist. The station is owned by CBS Radio and broadcasts at 96.3 MHz with an ERP of 4.2 kW. WBBM's main competition is WKSC-FM "103.5 Kiss FM", as well as urban rivals WGCI-FM &...
Chicago, was at KYSR
KYSR
KYSR is a commercial modern rock radio station in Los Angeles, California, covering the Los Angeles, Orange County, and Inland Empire areas on 98.7 FM. KYSR is also simulcasted on KSRY 103.1 FM in Tehachapi, California...
98.7 Los Angeles, then middays at KIIS-FM
KIIS-FM
KIIS-FM is a Los Angeles, California, USA-based radio station with a partial Top 40 musical format. It is owned by Clear Channel Communications. KIIS is also simulcasted on KVVS in Rosamond, at 105.5 MHz...
102.7 Los Angeles, then the afternoon drive at KBIG-FM
KBIG-FM
KBIG-FM is an FM radio station in Los Angeles, California, owned by Clear Channel. The station plays a Hot Adult Contemporary format heavy on music from the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.-Early years:...
104.3 Los Angeles until 20 April 2007, then a few weeks later began co-hosting St. Jude Hospital weekly podcast "Casting Hope" with Pixie Monroe. Gary Spears began middays 10:00 am - 3:00 pm on WJMK 104.3 FM K-Hits Chicago on 21 March 2011.