WPPZ-FM

WPPZ-FM, also known as "Praise 103.9 FM", is a Radio One-owned Philadelphia-area radio station

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...

licensed to Jenkintown, Pennsylvania

Jenkintown, Pennsylvania

Jenkintown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, about 10 miles north of downtown Philadelphia. "Jenkintown" is also used to describe a number of neighborhoods surrounding the borough, which also are known by names such as Rydal, Jenkintown Manor and Noble...

and featuring a Gospel Music

Gospel music

Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....

format.

WIBF-FM

103.9 originally started out on November 1, 1960 as WIBF-FM Jenkintown, Pennsylvania

Jenkintown, Pennsylvania

, which was owned by Fox Broadcasting, not related to the more recent Fox Broadcasting television network. WIBF stood for the station's owners — William, Irwin, and Benjamin Fox — who also owned WIBF-TV, channel 29, at the time.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the station featured a format of MOR, big bands, Dixieland jazz

Dixieland Jazz

Dixieland Jazz was a Canadian music television series which aired on CBC Television in 1954.-Premise:The series host was Trump Davidson, a cornet player. He also hosted a radio music series on CBC's Trans-Canada Network.-Scheduling:...

and the area's first FM country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

show, plus religious and ethnic programs. By the mid-1970s, the station switched to religious and ethnic programming during the day and Spanish music at night. The Barry Reisman

Barry Reisman

Barry Reisman is the host of The Barry Reisman Show, currently an hour-long, Monday-Friday radio program playing on WWDB, 860kHz AM, in Philadelphia, featuring klezmer and other Jewish music. His Jewish music radio program has been running almost continually on various radio stations in the...

Show, featuring Jewish music and programming, was broadcast during the afternoon drive time

Drive time

Drive time is the daypart analog to prime time for radio broadcasting. It consists of the morning hours when listeners wake up, get ready, and/or head to work or school, and the afternoon hours when they are heading home and before their evening meal. These are the periods where the number of...

from 1969 through the station's sale in 1992.

WDRE

The station was bought in October of 1992 by Jarad Broadcasting, and on November 9, 1992, 92.7 WDRE Garden City, New York

Garden City, New York

Garden City is a village in the town of Hempstead in central Nassau County, New York, in the United States. It was founded by multi-millionaire Alexander Turney Stewart in 1869, and is located on Long Island, to the east of New York City, from mid-town Manhattan, and just south of the town of...

started simulcasting its programming with WIBF-FM, and shortly after the simulcast began, WIBF's branding was changed to WDRE to match the New York station. It was decided however in 1995 that WDRE New York would change its call letters back to WLIR, thus making WDRE in Philadelphia an independent local modern rock station; WIBF-FM then changed its own callsign to WDRE - "We DaRE to be Different" to match its branding.

WDRE was branded as "Philly's Modern Rock". Alive by Pearl Jam

Pearl Jam

Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...

is the first and last song ever played on WDRE 103.9 FM.

The station helped launch the careers of many famous disc jockey

Disc jockey

A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...

s and local personalities. They include Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison of the Preston and Steve

Preston and Steve

The Preston and Steve show is a morning radio comedy and variety broadcast on Philadelphia Active Rock station 93.3 FM WMMR featuring DJs Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison. The show, which originated at Y100 in Philadelphia, features daily telephone interviews, in-studio guests, celebrity...

morning show on 93.3 WMMR

WMMR

WMMR is an active rock radio station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, broadcasting at 93.3 MHz FM. The station is owned by Greater Media....

Philadelphia, Bret Hamilton of WCAU-TV, Marilyn Russell (formerly of Y100, WXPN

WXPN

WXPN is a non-commercial, public radio station operated by the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia that broadcasts a music radio format called adult album alternative , along with many other format shows supported all with an indie slant...

, 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. ...

), Jim McGuinn

Jim McGuinn

Jim McGuinn, born James Slusarek, is an American radio personality. He served as program director of the now defunct Y100 100.3FM and its predecessor, WDRE in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , both of which changed formats after being bought by Radio One. McGuinn also served as Program Director for...

(also known as Rumour Boy), the former Program Director of WPLY Y100 Philadelphia - currently programming 89.3 The River in Minneapolis / St. Paul, and Mel "Toxic" Taylor who went on to WYSP Philadelphia.

Veteran Philadelphia DJ Mel "Toxic" Taylor (WPST, WIFI), was the first DJ hired for the only 2 local shows that would be live from Philadelphia each week.
When WDRE Philadelphia became a local radio station, talent was hired from within the city (e.g. Bret Hamilton, formerly of WIOQ

WIOQ

WIOQ, known as "Q102", is a CHR/Pop radio station which is broadcast in the Philadelphia area. The station appeals to a generally young demographic. WIOQ is owned by Clear Channel Communications. Its transmitter is located in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia.-WFIL-FM/Popular 102:The...

) and outside of the city. While WDRE never became a true mainstream radio station in the Philadelphia radio market, the station gained a cult status in the Philadelphia area, and as a result, events like the station's music festival held in (known as "DREfest") sold out to a crowd of over 25,000 people.

However, in December of 1996, Radio One bought WDRE from Jarad Broadcasting, and it was announced that WDRE would be permanently kicked off the air for a 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...

/R&B radio station.

Due to the informed notice of the station's flip, the staff at WDRE were able to organize a concert called "Bitterfest", which was to be held at The Electric Factory. The concert featured local acts G Love and the Fun Lovin' Criminals

Fun Lovin' Criminals

The Fun Lovin' Criminals is an American alternative hip hop / alternative rock group from New York City. Their musical style is primarily eclectic, covering styles such as hip hop, rock, funk, blues and jazz. Their songs often deal with life in New York City, as well as urban life in general...

, and was created to celebrate the life of WDRE as a local institution for modern rock. On February 7, 1997, "Bitterfest" was held to a sold out crowd of over 3,000 people, with all of the WDRE staff present at the event. At midnight on February 8, 1997, a lucky (or unlucky) listener was selected to "pull the plug" on WDRE. Two of the WDRE disc jockeys (Preston Eliot, Bret Hamilton) went to local radio station WPLY Y100

Y-Rock On XPN

WXPN-HD2 is an alternative rock radio station carried on the secondary HD radio channel of WXPN FM in Philadelphia. It had been the latest incarnation of the Y100 brand until June 2010 that originally aired on 100.3 FM, which was the city's alternative rock station from the 1990s until...

Philadelphia, as did the DRE Program Director, Jim McGuinn and midday and Sunday night DJ, Marilyn Russell (as Promotions Director for Y100). WPLY was itself also bought out by Radio One (in 2000), and was later flipped in 2005 to a Hip Hop/R&B format.

Weekdays

Mornings — January '96 — September '96 The WDRE Morning Show with Sarah, Spike and Brian/ September '96 — February '97 The WDRE Morning Show with Sarah, Spike and Vinnie
Middays — Bret Hamilton
Afternoons — Preston Elliot
Evenings — John Castino
Overnights — Leigh Taylor

Weekends

Sunday Evenings — Marilyn Russell
Sunday Overnights — Dan Fein
Various Shifts — Brian Robbins
Various Shifts — Debbie Mann (formerly of WXPN 88.5 and WRNR 103.1 Annapolis, MD)
Various Shifts — Gil Edwards
Various Shifts — Rumour Boy (Jim McGuinn)
Various Shifts — Chris Martin

WPHI-FM

Then, on February 7, 1997, under new ownership, the format became Urban Contemporary and the call letters WPHI. (Sister station WPLY picked up the Modern Rock format in 1995.) When the station rebranded as The Beat it became a rhythmic top 40 station in 2002

2002 in radio

The year 2002 in radio involved some significant events.-Events:*January 21 - A train derailment in Minot, North Dakota kills one person and knocks out power throughout the region, spilling 250,000 gallons of toxic anhydrous ammonia for fertilizer purposes. The designated primary station for the...

, only to revert to urban the following year when WPTP 96.5 (now WRDW-FM

WRDW-FM

WRDW-FM, also known as Wired 96.5, is a Philadelphia radio station owned by Beasley Broadcast Group that plays a Rhythmic Top 40 musical format. Although they lean towards R&B/Hip-Hop, Wired also adds Rhythmic Pop tracks to their playlist...

) switched to rhythmic contemporary. WPHI-FM is still a rhythmic contemporary

Rhythmic Contemporary

Rhythmic contemporary, also known as rhythmic top 40, rhythmic contemporary hit radio or rhythmic crossover, is a music radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip-hop and R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary rarely uses rock music or country music in its airplay, but it may...

station per Mediabase

Mediabase

Mediabase is a music industry service that monitors radio station airplay in 180 US and Canadian markets. Mediabase publishes music charts and data based on the most played songs on terrestrial and satellite radio, and provides in-depth analytical tools for radio and record industry professionals...

reports, although until 2006

2006 in radio

The year 2006 saw a number of significant events in radio broadcasting.-Events:*January 3 - The BJ Shea Morning Experience switches to KISW in Seattle, Washington, from the former FM Talk station KKWF....

, WPHI-FM was also on BDS' rhythmic panel.

On February 25, 2005, Radio One moved "The Beat" format to the 100.3 frequency, which was formerly WPLY (Y100).

On February 27, 2005, WPPZ started on 103.9. The callsign was changed to WPPZ-FM on March 3.

Except for The Yolanda Adams

Yolanda Adams

Yolanda Adams is an American Grammy- and Dove-award-winning Yolanda Adams is an American [[Grammy Awards|Grammy]]- and [[Dove Awards|Dove]]-award-winning...

Morning Show and CeCe McGhee weekdays afternoon, the station ran jockless throughout the day until August 2007. In late August the addition of performer Lonnie Hunter from Chicago was made to be the mid-day personality along with Sheik Meah. Famous Speaker Les Brown was also added to be on Sunday nights from 7–9pm. In September, Pastor Alan E Waller joined the staff to do a Saturday morning show from 10–11am and two more weekend shows were added. The Holy Hip-Hop show was added on Saturday nights from 7–9pm and a Christian dating show was added on Sundays frm 9–11pm. Its transmitter is located in the Roxborough section

Roxborough, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Roxborough is a neighborhood in the Northwest Philadelphia section of the United States city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is bordered to the southwest, along the Schuylkill River, by the neighborhood of Manayunk, along the northeast by the Wissahickon Creek section of Fairmount Park, and to...

of Philadelphia

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

.

WPPZ has DJs Lonnie Hunter, Coco Brother, and CeCe Magee. Former DJs include Church Lady (2007–2008), Ed Long (2005–2007), and Les Brown and B.I.G. C.I.T.Y. (2008–2009; 2009–present)