WJJZ
Encyclopedia
WPEN-FM is a radio station
owned by Greater Media
. Licensed to Burlington, New Jersey
, it currently broadcasts a sports
format to the Philadelphia metropolitan area.
The station had been broadcasting smooth jazz format as "WJJZ" until September 5, 2008, when it changed to the adult contemporary format. The WJJZ call letters were switched to "WNUW" a week later.
. The station there began test broadcasts on January 10, 1949, then official operations on April 19, 1949, as WTOA.
It was owned by the Mercer Broadcasting Company, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Trenton Times newspaper.
WTOA started out broadcasting from 3 pm to 11 pm, with an ERP of 14,500 watts. Its original coverage area reached as far north as Queens, NY and as far west as Reading PA.
By the late 1960s the station had been acquired by Nassau Broadcasting
. Its call letters were changed to WPST on September 13, 1971.
WPST is known for its mainstream CHR
format, which they've had for many years.
Tom Taylor was the PD who launched the format in the mid 1970's, and did mornings on the station until 1987.
In August 1975, owner Herb Hobler hired Phil Gieger as the General Manager.
Along with Tom Taylor, they revamped the station and coined the phrase, "From The Shore
To The Poconos
, The Music Is On The FM 97.5 WPST
."
They initially established an Adult Rock
format, and by the Fall of 1975, the station took off and eventually became the number one station in the market.
Some WPST DJ's over the years included John Mellon (aka Walt Ballard), Ed Johnson, Doug James, John Brown, Eddie Davis, Trish Merelo, Andy Gury, Brian Douglas, Mel Toxic, Jay Sorensen, Dave Hoeffel, Tom Cunningham, Michelle Stevens, Eric Johnson, Mark Sheppard, Andre Gardner, Phil Simon, Steve Trevelise, Joel Katz, Rich DeSisto, Lee Tobin, Steve Kamer, Lori Johnson, Mark DiDia, Bob Sorrentino, and Scott Lowe.
These changes were the first two steps of a three-step process designed to maximize the value of the licenses for 94.5 and 97.5. The reallocation of the 97.5 frequency from Trenton to Burlington moved it into the far larger Philadelphia market and made it possible to move the 97.5 transmitter to a site much closer to Philadelphia. This made 97.5 a much more valuable property—one ripe for sale to a major-market broadcast company regardless of what format it might be running. The object of the frequency swap was to allow WPST to continue to operate as a highly popular and profitable Trenton-market station on 94.5, a frequency allotment not suitable for relocation to a larger market. The lower-rated WTHK format was deemed expendable. Nassau chose to leave the final necessary step—the actual relocation of the 97.5 transmitter—to the eventual buyer, which would turn out to be Greater Media. Since Greater Media already had a Philadelphia classic rock station in WMGK
, it was almost certain that a format change would be in order; Clear Channel's decision to drop smooth jazz from 106.1 left a format hole in the market, and Greater Media decided to fill it with a new version of WJJZ on 97.5.
WTHK 97.5 The Hawk signed off on November 15, 2006, at 7 pm EST. Shortly after that, Greater Media
began airing a simulcast of WMGK, the Hawk's former competitor, on 97.5 as a placeholder until the sign on of WJJZ. About 3 minutes before WJJZ was to take over, messages urged listeners to reprogram their radios to 102.9 WMGK to continue enjoying the classic rock. After the message, it was announced that "This is 97.5 WTHK The Hawk", and there was silence.
format. After a eulogy of the station by program director Michael Tozzi, 'She's Gone' by Daryl Hall
played, then after a brief pause, 'Let's Get It Started' by The Black Eyed Peas
began to play. The station name became 'Philly's 106.1
', still carrying the inappropriate WJJZ callsign.
After a month, the callsign for 'Philly's 106.1' became WISX
, and the WJJZ callsign was left open. Until September 2008, WISX continued to broadcast the smooth jazz format on its HD2
station, and on an internet
stream
from its website
, but eventually, the smooth jazz format was dropped in favor of Tropical (a simulcast of WUBA, which currently broadcasts at 1480 AM).
At that time, Loni Taylor, who hosted the mornings at her start, and the 7-midnight timeslot up until the demise of the old station; and Bill Simpson, who hosted the "Philadelphia After Hours" 7-midnight show, which was dropped before the ending of the old station; were working at sister station WSMJ in Baltimore
(which has since been flipped to modern rock/alternative as WCHH "Channel 104.3", and again to CHR/Top-40
as WZFT "Z104.3"); Simpson would return to the new WJJZ as the host of a revived "Philadelphia After Hours," while Taylor was a featured voice on Jones Radio Networks
' Smooth Jazz stations until September 30, 2008.
It would be 99 days before smooth jazz returned to the Philadelphia airwaves.
's website, and the format change of 106.1, as well as that of 104.5 (WSNI "Sunny 104.5", which eventually went Spanish as "La Rumba/104.5", but has since flipped formats again. The station is now Radio 104.5 WRFF
). Like 106.1, Clear Channel also owns the 104.5 frequency in Philadelphia.
Much to the delight of fans, Greater Media
announced in late October that it had plans to flip the format of Burlington, NJ
classic rock
station WTHK
to smooth jazz, change the call sign to WJJZ and broadcast on 97.5. WTHK was owned by Nassau Broadcasting
, and Greater Media had plans to purchase it even before it was known that a new smooth jazz station would be created. It had also been rumored that Radio One was considering the format for its current hip-hop
outlet WPHI-FM
("100.3 The Beat"); at the time, it already owned smooth jazz stations in Indianapolis
(formerly WYJZ) and Atlanta (formerly WJZZ-FM).
Greater Media was quick to park the WJJZ call letters at AM station WWTR, in Bridgewater, NJ, for approximately a month leading up to the launch. WWTR, which is a simulcast of WMTR, a Greater Media owned oldies stations, was changed to WJJZ during that time. It returned to WWTR after WJJZ moved back to the FM frequency. Although it is possible to have multiple stations with the same letters (on different bands), they must all be under the same ownership. This prevented a rival from gaining these letters.
When the return of the station was announced, there was some question as to whether or not any of the familiar personalities would be returning. On October 19, Greater Media announced that Michael Tozzi, the old frequency's former program director, would be returning but other staff announcements would come in the weeks before and the months after the launch of the new station.
The official transfer of ownership took place on November 15, when WTHK signed off and shut down the transmitter.
On November 16, at noon, a countdown timer was added to the front page of the new station's website, 975WJJZ.com. Headlining the timer were the words "Countdown to the Return of WJJZ", and the timer was started at 1 day, 6 hours, 0 minutes and 0 seconds. The timer ran continuously above the station's logo. The old station's Web address, WJJZ.com, still exists, but the link will automatically redirect to the "WDAS 105.3" website.
, once a rival of The Hawk, had been simulcasting on 97.5 FM. In the minutes leading up to 6:00 PM, the simulcast ended and listeners were urged to switch to 102.9, if they wanted to continue hearing classic rock. Listeners who stayed tuned to 97.5 heard a minute of silence, then a recording of smooth jazz artists greeting listeners (the same recording that was played at the closing of the old WJJZ). The first song played on the new frequency was the Grover Washington, Jr.
tune "Protect the Dream". Until July, 2007, the station had no identifying jingle, as they did with the former station. At that time, jingles were introduced using both male and female vocalists. However, in November 2007, as a tribute to WJJZ's heyday on the 106.1 frequency, the new station began to use some of the old station's jingles, with vocal versions added in December. For most of the station's life, branding practices placed the station's frequency before the callsign, billing it as "97.5 WJJZ." This was changed, and the station was then referred to as "WJJZ 97.5" by on-air staff, voiceover announcers and on the website (although the jingles did not include the word "point" in their lyrics, instead referring to the station as "WJJZ 97-5"). These changes may be to recreate the strong image that the old station had.
The new WJJZ broadcasted from the same tower used by the old WJJZ, located on Mermaid Lane in Wyndmoor, PA
. It began transmission on June 15, 2007. Its new HD radio was launched three days later. The station has the same signal strength as before; the only difference is that the new signal is directional.
as the afternoon host. Later, Bill Simpson returned to take over evenings, with "Philadelphia After Hours", a staple of the old station. In January, 2007, Frank Childs returned as music director and weeknight overnight host. Later in the same month, Al Winters (formerly of WLVE/"Love 94", in Miami, FL) was hired to host the morning show, and Lisa Fairfax was brought in for weekend overnights. Shortly before Christmas 2007, Desirae McCrae became the latest former 106.1 personality to return to the new WJJZ, and she was in charge of the weekend shift. However, in the beginning of 2008, the respective contracts of Winters and Fairfax were not renewed and both were let go from the station. Ramsey Lewis
' morning show was piped in from Chicago
.
WJJZ's popular "Smooth Jazz Sunday Brunch", formerly at Robert and Benjamin Bynum's Zanzibar Blue
(which closed in April, 2007) was moved to Warmdaddy's, another Bynum brothers establishment. Other returning programs included Bill Simpson's "Pathways to Health Radio" and "Standards" with Michael Tozzi.
On September 5, 2008 at 6:00 pm, the Smooth Jazz format ended due to low ratings again as the last song played was Boyz II Men
's "I'll Make Love to You". Three days later (September 8, 2008) at 9 AM, Now 97.5 made its debut. It positions itself as "a younger approach to today's soft rock", competing with the current market leader, WBEB
("B-101"). The first song was Who Knew
by Pink
. The station launched after a weekend of stunting with a loop of 15 Hot AC songs, including Blondie's "Heart of Glass" and Avril Lavigne's "Complicated". For the second time in two years, both WJJZ and the "Smooth Jazz" format were replaced with an AC station; also, both times that WJJZ had ended its run, the final song was by a Philadelphia-based act.
The use of the WJJZ call letters ended on September 12, 2008, with the change to WNUW.
On October 31, 2008 at 5:00 pm, the station switched to all-Christmas music. It was announced on-air that the switch to a Christmas format was to celebrate the Philadelphia Phillies
's World Series win
. The Christmas music lasted through the weekend and they returned to their regular format during the early morning on Monday. However, due to overwhelming listener response, WNUW switched back to Christmas music during the afternoon. WNUW then playing Christmas music through the holiday. During WNUW's first week in the all-Christmas format, competitor B101 announced that they'd be sprinkling in Christmas tunes during the weekend of November 8–9. This was the earliest B101 had ever played Christmas music and it was apparently in response to WNUW. On November 13, B101 flipped to all-Christmas. Shortly thereafter, standards AM1340 WHAT also started playing an all-Christmas format. Then on November 26, in a surprise move, Oldies 98.1FM WOGL temporarily changed its format to all-Christmas for the first time. Including Wilmington's 99.5FM WJBR, heard throughout the city, Philadelphians had five Christmas formatted stations from which to choose in 2008. In 2007, they had only one (B101).
The first on-air personality to be hired by WNUW was Glenn Kalina, whose morning show debuted on January 5, 2009.
Now 97.5 never found a significant audience for its Hot AC format, trailing every other commercial Philadelphia FM and even Trenton, New Jersey
station WPST
, as well as Wilmington, Delaware
's WSTW
in its last ratings. The format's end came at 5 pm on Friday, October 9, 2009. The last song played was Streetcorner Symphony
by Rob Thomas
.
began to air on FM with the new identity of "97.5 The Fanatic, Powered by ESPN." Sports programming has continued on 950 AM as well, with the AM side focusing on live game broadcasts, while WPEN-FM airs mostly Philadelphia-focused sports talk.
FM competition in sports talk radio began when WIP-FM began simulcasting on 94.1 as of 3 p.m. on September 2, 2011.
WPEN's HD2 digital subchannel broadcasts Classical music. The subchannel carried Christmas music
from late October through December 2010.
WPEN's arbitron ratings are trailing behind even WSJO (Hot AC) which broadcasts out of South Jersey and is one of the lowest rated stations in the Philadelphia market. 97.5 WPEN is also behind WPST (94.5) and WSTW (93.7). WPEN has multiple shows throughout the day, all of which are strictly sports. Christmas music on 97.5 HD2 starts the last week of October.
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 Greater Media
Greater Media
Greater Media, Inc., known as Greater Media, is an American media company that specializes in radio stations. The markets where they own radio stations include Boston, Detroit, Philadelphia, Charlotte, and the state of New Jersey...
. Licensed to Burlington, New Jersey
Burlington, New Jersey
Burlington is a city in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States and a suburb of Philadelphia. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 9,920....
, it currently broadcasts a sports
Sports radio
Sports radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A popular format with an almost exclusively male demographic in most areas, sports radio is characterized by an often-boisterous on-air style and extensive debate and analysis by both hosts and...
format to the Philadelphia metropolitan area.
The station had been broadcasting smooth jazz format as "WJJZ" until September 5, 2008, when it changed to the adult contemporary format. The WJJZ call letters were switched to "WNUW" a week later.
WTOA
The 97.5 frequency was originally allocated to Trenton, New JerseyTrenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
. The station there began test broadcasts on January 10, 1949, then official operations on April 19, 1949, as WTOA.
It was owned by the Mercer Broadcasting Company, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Trenton Times newspaper.
WTOA started out broadcasting from 3 pm to 11 pm, with an ERP of 14,500 watts. Its original coverage area reached as far north as Queens, NY and as far west as Reading PA.
By the late 1960s the station had been acquired by Nassau Broadcasting
Nassau Broadcasting Partners
Nassau Broadcasting Partners LP is a company based in Princeton, New Jersey that owns radio stations in New England and the Mid-Atlantic United States. Nassau's stations, which include both AM and FM frequencies, are located in Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey,...
. Its call letters were changed to WPST on September 13, 1971.
WPST
The WPST calls originally stood for "Passport Stereo Trenton," a slogan of the station at the time.WPST is known for its mainstream CHR
Contemporary 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, which they've had for many years.
Tom Taylor was the PD who launched the format in the mid 1970's, and did mornings on the station until 1987.
In August 1975, owner Herb Hobler hired Phil Gieger as the General Manager.
Along with Tom Taylor, they revamped the station and coined the phrase, "From The Shore
Jersey Shore
The Jersey Shore is a term used to refer to both the Atlantic coast of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the adjacent resort and residential communities. . The New Jersey State Department of Tourism considers the Shore Region, Greater Atlantic City, and the Southern Shore to be distinct, each having...
To The Poconos
The Poconos
The Pocono Mountains is a region located in northeastern Pennsylvania, United States. The Poconos, located chiefly in Monroe and Pike counties , are an upland of the larger Allegheny Plateau...
, The Music Is On The FM 97.5 WPST
WPST
WPST is a radio station broadcasting a Top 40 format. Licensed to Trenton, New Jersey, USA, the station serves the Philadelphia, Central Jersey area. The station is currently owned by Nassau Broadcasting Ii, LLC and features programing from Westwood One...
."
They initially established an Adult Rock
Album-oriented rock
Album-oriented rock is an American FM radio format focusing on album tracks by rock artists.-Music played:Most radio formats are based on a select, tight rotation of hit singles...
format, and by the Fall of 1975, the station took off and eventually became the number one station in the market.
Some WPST DJ's over the years included John Mellon (aka Walt Ballard), Ed Johnson, Doug James, John Brown, Eddie Davis, Trish Merelo, Andy Gury, Brian Douglas, Mel Toxic, Jay Sorensen, Dave Hoeffel, Tom Cunningham, Michelle Stevens, Eric Johnson, Mark Sheppard, Andre Gardner, Phil Simon, Steve Trevelise, Joel Katz, Rich DeSisto, Lee Tobin, Steve Kamer, Lori Johnson, Mark DiDia, Bob Sorrentino, and Scott Lowe.
WTHK
On February 14, 2005, at 5 pm, 97.5 swapped call letters and formats with 94.5 WTHK. Branded on air as "The Hawk", WTHK had a classic rock format. Like WPST, WTHK was owned by Nassau Broadcasting and licensed as a Trenton station. However, in August 2005 97.5's city of license was changed from Trenton to Burlington.These changes were the first two steps of a three-step process designed to maximize the value of the licenses for 94.5 and 97.5. The reallocation of the 97.5 frequency from Trenton to Burlington moved it into the far larger Philadelphia market and made it possible to move the 97.5 transmitter to a site much closer to Philadelphia. This made 97.5 a much more valuable property—one ripe for sale to a major-market broadcast company regardless of what format it might be running. The object of the frequency swap was to allow WPST to continue to operate as a highly popular and profitable Trenton-market station on 94.5, a frequency allotment not suitable for relocation to a larger market. The lower-rated WTHK format was deemed expendable. Nassau chose to leave the final necessary step—the actual relocation of the 97.5 transmitter—to the eventual buyer, which would turn out to be Greater Media. Since Greater Media already had a Philadelphia classic rock station in WMGK
WMGK
WMGK, known as "Classic Rock 102.9 MGK" or "Philadelphia's Classic Rock: 102.9 MGK", is a Classic rock formatted radio station which is broadcast in the Philadelphia area. The station features popular Philadelphia radio personality John DeBella and former Howard Stern Show censor Andre Gardner. ...
, it was almost certain that a format change would be in order; Clear Channel's decision to drop smooth jazz from 106.1 left a format hole in the market, and Greater Media decided to fill it with a new version of WJJZ on 97.5.
WTHK 97.5 The Hawk signed off on November 15, 2006, at 7 pm EST. Shortly after that, Greater Media
Greater Media
Greater Media, Inc., known as Greater Media, is an American media company that specializes in radio stations. The markets where they own radio stations include Boston, Detroit, Philadelphia, Charlotte, and the state of New Jersey...
began airing a simulcast of WMGK, the Hawk's former competitor, on 97.5 as a placeholder until the sign on of WJJZ. About 3 minutes before WJJZ was to take over, messages urged listeners to reprogram their radios to 102.9 WMGK to continue enjoying the classic rock. After the message, it was announced that "This is 97.5 WTHK The Hawk", and there was silence.
Ending of WJJZ 106.1
WJJZ 106.1 stopped playing smooth jazz at noon August 10, 2006, and flipped to the rhythmic adult contemporaryRhythmic Adult Contemporary
Rhythmic adult contemporary is a format used on stations in the United States and Canada. It usually gears toward an older audience, ages 25 to 54. Stations using this format play disco from the 1970s and early 1980s, dance/pop music, adult-friendly hip hop/old school tracks, R&B, dance/freestyle...
format. After a eulogy of the station by program director Michael Tozzi, 'She's Gone' by Daryl Hall
Daryl Hall
Daryl Hall is an American rock, R&B and soul singer, keyboardist, guitarist, songwriter and producer, best known as the co-founder and lead vocalist of Hall & Oates . Hall scored several Billboard chart hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, and is regarded as one of the best blue eyed soul singers...
played, then after a brief pause, 'Let's Get It Started' by The Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas are an American pop group , formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1995. The group includes rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo, and singer Fergie. Since the release of their third album Elephunk in 2003, the group has sold an estimated 56 million records worldwide...
began to play. The station name became 'Philly's 106.1
WISX
WISX is a Hot adult contemporary radio station licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are owned by Clear Channel Communications.-Beautiful Music Era: WQAL/WWSH:...
', still carrying the inappropriate WJJZ callsign.
After a month, the callsign for 'Philly's 106.1' became WISX
WISX
WISX is a Hot adult contemporary radio station licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are owned by Clear Channel Communications.-Beautiful Music Era: WQAL/WWSH:...
, and the WJJZ callsign was left open. Until September 2008, WISX continued to broadcast the smooth jazz format on its HD2
HD Radio
HD Radio, which originally stood for "Hybrid Digital", is the trademark for iBiquity's in-band on-channel digital radio technology used by AM and FM radio stations to transmit audio and data via a digital signal in conjunction with their analog signals...
station, and on an internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
stream
Streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...
from its website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
, but eventually, the smooth jazz format was dropped in favor of Tropical (a simulcast of WUBA, which currently broadcasts at 1480 AM).
At that time, Loni Taylor, who hosted the mornings at her start, and the 7-midnight timeslot up until the demise of the old station; and Bill Simpson, who hosted the "Philadelphia After Hours" 7-midnight show, which was dropped before the ending of the old station; were working at sister station WSMJ in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
(which has since been flipped to modern rock/alternative as WCHH "Channel 104.3", and again to CHR/Top-40
Contemporary 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...
as WZFT "Z104.3"); Simpson would return to the new WJJZ as the host of a revived "Philadelphia After Hours," while Taylor was a featured voice on Jones Radio Networks
Jones Radio Networks
Jones Radio Networks & Jones Media Group were branches of Jones International before being sold to Triton Media Group. JRN and JMN provide local radio stations with satellite-delivered formats. They also offer other services to local radio such as news and talk programs, syndicated radio shows,...
' Smooth Jazz stations until September 30, 2008.
It would be 99 days before smooth jazz returned to the Philadelphia airwaves.
Leading up to the launch
Many former Smooth Jazz 106.1 listeners protested angrily when the format was abandoned in Philadelphia. They were extremely vocal and on the first day of Philly's 106.1, anyone who called to complain could hear telephones ringing in the background. There were twenty-two pages of mostly angry posts on Philly.com, The Philadelphia InquirerThe Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily newspaper that serves the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area of the United States. The newspaper was founded by John R. Walker and John Norvell in June 1829 as The Pennsylvania Inquirer and is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the...
WRFF
WRFF is a modern rock FM radio station located in and licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications and is known on-air as "Radio 104.5."-WRCP-FM:...
). Like 106.1, Clear Channel also owns the 104.5 frequency in Philadelphia.
Much to the delight of fans, Greater Media
Greater Media
Greater Media, Inc., known as Greater Media, is an American media company that specializes in radio stations. The markets where they own radio stations include Boston, Detroit, Philadelphia, Charlotte, and the state of New Jersey...
announced in late October that it had plans to flip the format of Burlington, NJ
Burlington, New Jersey
Burlington is a city in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States and a suburb of Philadelphia. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 9,920....
classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
station WTHK
WTHK
WTHK, known on-air as "The Hawk" was a radio station located at 97.5 FM which had a classic rock format. Although the station was originally licensed to Trenton, New Jersey, changing to Burlington, New Jersey in early 2006, The Hawk targeted the Philadelphia broadcasting area in addition to its own...
to smooth jazz, change the call sign to WJJZ and broadcast on 97.5. WTHK was owned by Nassau Broadcasting
Nassau Broadcasting Partners
Nassau Broadcasting Partners LP is a company based in Princeton, New Jersey that owns radio stations in New England and the Mid-Atlantic United States. Nassau's stations, which include both AM and FM frequencies, are located in Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey,...
, and Greater Media had plans to purchase it even before it was known that a new smooth jazz station would be created. It had also been rumored that Radio One was considering the format for its current hip-hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
outlet WPHI-FM
WPHI-FM
WPHI-FM, " Hot 107.9", is a radio station owned by Radio One, that airs a Urban Contemporary format. The station is licensed to Pennsauken, New Jersey and serves the Philadelphia market. When WPHI was on 100.3, it was known as "100.3 The Beat". On August 27, 2011, the "Beat" moniker was dropped...
("100.3 The Beat"); at the time, it already owned smooth jazz stations in Indianapolis
Indianapolis
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...
(formerly WYJZ) and Atlanta (formerly WJZZ-FM).
Greater Media was quick to park the WJJZ call letters at AM station WWTR, in Bridgewater, NJ, for approximately a month leading up to the launch. WWTR, which is a simulcast of WMTR, a Greater Media owned oldies stations, was changed to WJJZ during that time. It returned to WWTR after WJJZ moved back to the FM frequency. Although it is possible to have multiple stations with the same letters (on different bands), they must all be under the same ownership. This prevented a rival from gaining these letters.
When the return of the station was announced, there was some question as to whether or not any of the familiar personalities would be returning. On October 19, Greater Media announced that Michael Tozzi, the old frequency's former program director, would be returning but other staff announcements would come in the weeks before and the months after the launch of the new station.
The official transfer of ownership took place on November 15, when WTHK signed off and shut down the transmitter.
On November 16, at noon, a countdown timer was added to the front page of the new station's website, 975WJJZ.com. Headlining the timer were the words "Countdown to the Return of WJJZ", and the timer was started at 1 day, 6 hours, 0 minutes and 0 seconds. The timer ran continuously above the station's logo. The old station's Web address, WJJZ.com, still exists, but the link will automatically redirect to the "WDAS 105.3" website.
Launch of the station
The new WJJZ started out at 6 pm EST on Friday, November 17, 2006. Since November 16, Greater Media-owned classic rock station, WMGKWMGK
WMGK, known as "Classic Rock 102.9 MGK" or "Philadelphia's Classic Rock: 102.9 MGK", is a Classic rock formatted radio station which is broadcast in the Philadelphia area. The station features popular Philadelphia radio personality John DeBella and former Howard Stern Show censor Andre Gardner. ...
, once a rival of The Hawk, had been simulcasting on 97.5 FM. In the minutes leading up to 6:00 PM, the simulcast ended and listeners were urged to switch to 102.9, if they wanted to continue hearing classic rock. Listeners who stayed tuned to 97.5 heard a minute of silence, then a recording of smooth jazz artists greeting listeners (the same recording that was played at the closing of the old WJJZ). The first song played on the new frequency was the Grover Washington, Jr.
Grover Washington, Jr.
Grover Washington, Jr. was an American jazz-funk / soul-jazz saxophonist. Along with George Benson, John Klemmer, David Sanborn, Bob James, Chuck Mangione, Herb Alpert, and Spyro Gyra, he is considered by many to be one of the founders of the smooth jazz genre.He wrote some of his material and...
tune "Protect the Dream". Until July, 2007, the station had no identifying jingle, as they did with the former station. At that time, jingles were introduced using both male and female vocalists. However, in November 2007, as a tribute to WJJZ's heyday on the 106.1 frequency, the new station began to use some of the old station's jingles, with vocal versions added in December. For most of the station's life, branding practices placed the station's frequency before the callsign, billing it as "97.5 WJJZ." This was changed, and the station was then referred to as "WJJZ 97.5" by on-air staff, voiceover announcers and on the website (although the jingles did not include the word "point" in their lyrics, instead referring to the station as "WJJZ 97-5"). These changes may be to recreate the strong image that the old station had.
The new WJJZ broadcasted from the same tower used by the old WJJZ, located on Mermaid Lane in Wyndmoor, PA
Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania
Wyndmoor is a census-designated place in Springfield Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, USA. The population was 5,498 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
. It began transmission on June 15, 2007. Its new HD radio was launched three days later. The station has the same signal strength as before; the only difference is that the new signal is directional.
Airstaff
At the station's start, there had been very few time slots in which a personality announced the songs. Initially, Michael Tozzi hosted middays, Teri Webb (who left the new station in August, 2007) covered evenings and weekend shifts and bassist Gerald Veasley did weekend afternoons. On December 4, WJJZ added Broadcast Architecture's Smooth Jazz Network, with Dave KozDave Koz
Dave Koz is an American smooth jazz saxophonist.- Life and career :Dave Koz was born on March 27, 1963 in Encino, California....
as the afternoon host. Later, Bill Simpson returned to take over evenings, with "Philadelphia After Hours", a staple of the old station. In January, 2007, Frank Childs returned as music director and weeknight overnight host. Later in the same month, Al Winters (formerly of WLVE/"Love 94", in Miami, FL) was hired to host the morning show, and Lisa Fairfax was brought in for weekend overnights. Shortly before Christmas 2007, Desirae McCrae became the latest former 106.1 personality to return to the new WJJZ, and she was in charge of the weekend shift. However, in the beginning of 2008, the respective contracts of Winters and Fairfax were not renewed and both were let go from the station. Ramsey Lewis
Ramsey Lewis
Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis, Jr. is an American jazz composer, pianist and radio personality. Ramsey Lewis has recorded over 80 albums and has received seven gold records and three Grammy Awards so far in his career.-Biography:...
' morning show was piped in from 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...
.
WJJZ's popular "Smooth Jazz Sunday Brunch", formerly at Robert and Benjamin Bynum's Zanzibar Blue
Zanzibar Blue
Zanzibar Blue was a jazz club located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Known for its live jazz each night and for Sunday brunch, it branded itself as "Philadelphia's Premier Jazz Club". Owned by brothers Robert and Benjamin Jr. Bynum, the club was located in Center City, Philadelphia below the...
(which closed in April, 2007) was moved to Warmdaddy's, another Bynum brothers establishment. Other returning programs included Bill Simpson's "Pathways to Health Radio" and "Standards" with Michael Tozzi.
Now 97.5
WJJZ's lack of ratings success fueled rumors of a format change. It was reported that in the summer of 2008 that Greater Media was doing listener research to identify format opportunities for the station. Among the formats tested was Soft AC, Hot AC, all news on FM, FM Talk, and a AAA format similar to WIOQ of the early 80s.On September 5, 2008 at 6:00 pm, the Smooth Jazz format ended due to low ratings again as the last song played was Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men is an American R&B vocal group best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are the most successful R&B group of all time, having sold more than albums worldwide. In the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet, but original member Michael McCary...
's "I'll Make Love to You". Three days later (September 8, 2008) at 9 AM, Now 97.5 made its debut. It positions itself as "a younger approach to today's soft rock", competing with the current market leader, WBEB
WBEB
WBEB is a radio station broadcasting a Soft Rock/Adult Contemporary format. Licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it serves the Greater Philadelphia metropolitan area. It first began broadcasting in 1963 under the call sign WDVR. The station is currently owned by Jerry Lee...
("B-101"). The first song was Who Knew
Who Knew
"Who Knew" is a pop rock song written by Pink, Max Martin and Dr. Luke for Pink's fourth album, I'm Not Dead . It was released as the album's second single worldwide in 2006, and was re-released to U.S...
by Pink
Pink (singer)
Alecia Beth Moore , better known by her stage name Pink , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and actress....
. The station launched after a weekend of stunting with a loop of 15 Hot AC songs, including Blondie's "Heart of Glass" and Avril Lavigne's "Complicated". For the second time in two years, both WJJZ and the "Smooth Jazz" format were replaced with an AC station; also, both times that WJJZ had ended its run, the final song was by a Philadelphia-based act.
The use of the WJJZ call letters ended on September 12, 2008, with the change to WNUW.
On October 31, 2008 at 5:00 pm, the station switched to all-Christmas music. It was announced on-air that the switch to a Christmas format was to celebrate the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
's World Series win
2008 World Series
The 2008 World Series was the 104th World Series between the American and National Leagues for the championship of Major League Baseball. The Philadelphia Phillies as champions of the National League and the Tampa Bay Rays, as American League champions, competed to win four games out of a possible...
. The Christmas music lasted through the weekend and they returned to their regular format during the early morning on Monday. However, due to overwhelming listener response, WNUW switched back to Christmas music during the afternoon. WNUW then playing Christmas music through the holiday. During WNUW's first week in the all-Christmas format, competitor B101 announced that they'd be sprinkling in Christmas tunes during the weekend of November 8–9. This was the earliest B101 had ever played Christmas music and it was apparently in response to WNUW. On November 13, B101 flipped to all-Christmas. Shortly thereafter, standards AM1340 WHAT also started playing an all-Christmas format. Then on November 26, in a surprise move, Oldies 98.1FM WOGL temporarily changed its format to all-Christmas for the first time. Including Wilmington's 99.5FM WJBR, heard throughout the city, Philadelphians had five Christmas formatted stations from which to choose in 2008. In 2007, they had only one (B101).
The first on-air personality to be hired by WNUW was Glenn Kalina, whose morning show debuted on January 5, 2009.
Now 97.5 never found a significant audience for its Hot AC format, trailing every other commercial Philadelphia FM and even Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
station WPST
WPST
WPST is a radio station broadcasting a Top 40 format. Licensed to Trenton, New Jersey, USA, the station serves the Philadelphia, Central Jersey area. The station is currently owned by Nassau Broadcasting Ii, LLC and features programing from Westwood One...
, as well as Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...
's WSTW
WSTW
WSTW is a Pop Contemporary Hit Radio formatted radio station that broadcasts in the Wilmington, Delaware metropolitan area which is just south of Philadelphia. Although the station and transmitter are located in Wilmington, the signal is strong enough to provide city-grade coverage of most of...
in its last ratings. The format's end came at 5 pm on Friday, October 9, 2009. The last song played was Streetcorner Symphony
Streetcorner Symphony
"Streetcorner Symphony" is the fifth single from Rob Thomas's solo album …Something to Be. It was released on October 16, 2006. The song features John Mayer on lead guitar and backing vocals ....
by Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas (musician)
Robert Kelly "Rob" Thomas is an American rock recording artist and songwriter. He is the primary songwriter and lead singer of the band Matchbox Twenty. Thomas also records and performs as a solo artist...
.
97.5 The Fanatic
Upon Now 97.5's demise, the sports format of 950 ESPN PhiladelphiaWPEN (AM)
WPEN is an AM radio station broadcast on 950 kHz. The station is licensed to Philadelphia and serves that market. WPEN is owned and operated by Greater Media and offers a Sports Talk format. The station is known as "950 ESPN"-The Early Years:...
began to air on FM with the new identity of "97.5 The Fanatic, Powered by ESPN." Sports programming has continued on 950 AM as well, with the AM side focusing on live game broadcasts, while WPEN-FM airs mostly Philadelphia-focused sports talk.
FM competition in sports talk radio began when WIP-FM began simulcasting on 94.1 as of 3 p.m. on September 2, 2011.
WPEN's HD2 digital subchannel broadcasts Classical music. The subchannel carried Christmas music
Christmas music
Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music normally performed or heard around the Christmas season, which tends to begin in the months leading up the actual holiday and end in the weeks shortly thereafter.-Early:...
from late October through December 2010.
WPEN's arbitron ratings are trailing behind even WSJO (Hot AC) which broadcasts out of South Jersey and is one of the lowest rated stations in the Philadelphia market. 97.5 WPEN is also behind WPST (94.5) and WSTW (93.7). WPEN has multiple shows throughout the day, all of which are strictly sports. Christmas music on 97.5 HD2 starts the last week of October.