WDZN (99.5 FM) is an active rock formatted broadcast

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

licensed to

Midland, Maryland Midland is a town in Allegany County, Maryland, United States, along the Georges Creek Valley. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 446 at the 2010 census. Midland was founded in 1850 as a coal-mi ...

, serving the Frostburg/ Cumberland area. WDZN is owned and operated by

West Virginia Radio Corporation WVRC Media is a media corporation comprising radio stations and two radio networks based in the state of West Virginia. The company was known as the West Virginia Radio Corporation prior to a December 2021 rebranding. The company is controlle ...

History

Originally known as WVMD, the station was scheduled to begin broadcasting sometime in early 2007, but finally launched with a

smooth jazz Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s. History Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 19 ...

format on April 1, 2008, at 12:00 midnight. Later that afternoon, a man named "Stu" claimed to have broken into and taken the radio station "hostage", playing only

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

and demanding that the owner of the station bring back the

John Boy and Billy John Isley (born August 15, 1956) and Billy James (born August 31, 1957), known as John Boy & Billy, are American radio hosts based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Their comedic morning program ''The John Boy & Billy Big Show'' broadcasts from 6:00& ...

show. John Boy and Billy had previously aired on

WQZK WQZK-FM is a Contemporary Hit Radio formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Keyser, West Virginia, serving the Keyser/Cumberland/Frostburg area. WQZK-FM is owned and operated by West Virginia Radio Corporation. Booster Station In additio ...

, then an active rock station, which West Virginia Radio Corporation purchased in December 2006 and subsequently changed the format to Contemporary Hit Radio. On the afternoon of April 2, it was announced that the smooth jazz format and the man named "Stu" were part of an

April Fools' Day April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...

joke and that the station ''would'' in fact, be carrying a country music format. The 99.5 frequency was previously home to a translator of Cumberland area radio station WCBC-FM. Locally produced "Sunday Morning Bluegrass", which was previously heard on WROG, moved to WVMD on September 7, 2008. On August 10, 2012, the station changed its call sign and its format to WDZN as part of a swap with its Romney, West Virginia-based sister station, 100.1 FM. On October 3, 2016, WDZN changed their format from active rock to classic hits. On February 7, 2022, at 9am, WDZN changed their format from classic hits to active rock, branded as "99.5 DZN", with the first song being "

Smells Like Teen Spirit "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana. It is the opening track and lead single from the band's second album, ''Nevermind'' (1991), released on DGC Records. The unexpected success of the song propelled ''Neve ...

" by

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

.WDZN Rocks Western Maryland
Radioinsight - February 7, 2022

FM Booster

WDZN's transmitter is located near Frostburg and the station's main signal has trouble reaching downtown Cumberland. As such, West Virginia Radio Corporation applied for an FM booster, WDZN-FM1, located in Cumberland. The booster's antenna is located off Virginia Avenue, near Queen Street near the center of the city. This central location allows the booster to provide complete coverage of Cumberland.

Previous logos

References

External links

WDZN website
* DZN Active rock radio stations in the United States {{Maryland-radio-station-stub