WERZ (107.1
FM) is a radio station licensed to
Exeter, New Hampshire
Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,049 at the 2020 census, up from 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood. ...
. The station is owned by
iHeartMedia
iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
. WERZ broadcasts from studios located on Lafayette Road in
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
and from a transmitter located on Long Hill in
Stratham. Its on-air call sign is "Z107, Exeter/Portsmouth". WERZ's signal serves the coastal area from
Salem Harbor
Salem Harbor is a harbor in northeastern Massachusetts spanning an area north and south of Salem, Massachusetts, Salem. Historically the Salem Harbor was the site of one of the major international ports in the colonies. During the American R ...
up north to
Biddeford, Maine, including the Portsmouth and
Dover
Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...
-
Rochester areas of
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
, southern
York County, Maine
York County is the southwesternmost county in the U.S. state of Maine, along the state of New Hampshire's eastern border. It is divided from Strafford County, New Hampshire, by the Salmon Falls River, and the connected tidal estuary—the Pi ...
and northeastern
, where it overlaps with sister station
WXKS-FM from Boston.
History
The station went on the air September 21, 1972,
[ as WKXR-FM. In March 1982, the call letters were changed to WERZ and the format was changed to ]Top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...
/ CHR. Their first slogan was "The New Z107, The Continuous Music FM", then later, "WERZ107, New Hampshire's Hot FM". The first program director was Jack O'Brien and the studios were located at 11 Downing Court in Exeter
Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol.
In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...
.
Boston area concert promoter Don Law
Donald Firth Law (February 24, 1902 – December 20, 1982) was an English–American record producer and music business executive. He produced Robert Johnson's only recordings, and as head of Columbia Records' country music division later worke ...
's Precision Media purchased the station in 1986 and modified the format to a hybrid AC/Top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...
format ( Hot AC), with the slogan, "The All New 107 FM WERZ, Playing Today's Hits And Yesterday's Classics". In 1989, WERZ had a slogan of "13 Hits in a row" and competed wildly against WHEB. Pete Falconi was Program Director and allowed air staff such as Lindsay Robins, Tim Fontaine, and Jeff the Doctor, to produce authentic, and unique radio shows. The result was pumping out as many hits an hour as possible, and providing the community of the Seacoast with live remote broadcasts. Ratings as per Arbitron (1989) competed well with WHEB.
Specialty weekend programs helped to boost ratings, including the legendary ''American Top 40
''American Top 40'' (previously abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally syndicated, independent song countdown radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs. The program is currently hosted by Ryan Seacr ...
'' with Shadoe Stevens
Shadoe Stevens (; ) is an American radio host, voiceover actor, and television personality. He was the host of ''American Top 40'' from 1988 to 1995. He currently hosts the internationally syndicated radio show ''Top of the World,'' and co-hosts ...
, the ''Weekly Top 40'' with Rick Dees, and ''The WERZ's House Party Saturday Night'' featuring uptempo party songs and a megamix of popular dance music, as well as frequent prize giveaways and heavy listener interaction and requests.
WERZ was a Hot AC throughout all of the 2000s, during which their slogan was "The Hits of the '80s, the '90s, and today. We are 107.1 WERZ" (As with all prior iterations, the "we are Z..." was played off the call letters: We R Z...). For the first time in December 2008, WERZ went all-Christmas. After the holiday season, WERZ became an Adult Contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
station playing an even bigger mix of the '80s, the '90's, and Today. Then, in December 2009, WERZ went Christmas again and this time returned as Hot AC with their fifth slogan, "The '80s, The '90s, and now are all on today's mix, 107.1 WERZ".
In February 2010, WSKX and WERZ announced that Matty in the Morning, syndicated by WXKS-FM out of Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, would be moving from WSKX to WERZ.
On October 4, 2012, at 3 pm, WERZ flipped back to their Top 40/CHR roots as "The All New Z107, The Seacoast's Hit Music", reviving the format and branding that WERZ used from 1982 to 1986. Double Flip on New Hampshire's Seacoast
/ref>
The WERZ DJs between 1982 and 2009
*Willie B. Goode!
*Jack O'Brien
*Jeffrey Paradis
*Sarah Sullivan
*Brian Battle
*Lisa G.
*Jay Michaels
*Samantha "The Wilde V." Wilde
*Timmy Rose
*David W. DeFranzo - Dave Sandz
*Corey Matthews
*Arik "ARock" Pierce
*Michael "Tommy Boy" Mullins
*Chad Erickson
*Valerie Scott
*Zach Carter
*Roy Sullivan
*Michael "Mikey OD" O'Donnell
*Kid Cruise
*Kevin Matthews
*Mark Matzell
*Peter Falconi
*Michael Rock
*Audley Williams
*Dom Armano
*Jason "JJ" Wright
*Dave Stevens
*Lindsey Robbins
*Tony Vincent
*Timmy Fontaine
*John Willis
*Robert "K-Rob" Walker
*Steve McVie
*Dan Alexander
*Tommy Record
*Kenneth "Captain Ken" Spaulding
*Eric Powers
*Stella Mars
*Andy Hartmann
*Super Dave
*Eddie Foxx
*Jimmy "JR" Randall
*Jeffrey "Dr. Jeff" Lawrence
*Benji Hamilton
*Jimmy Stevens
*BB Good (who went to Radio Disney
Radio Disney was an American radio network operated by the Disney Radio Networks unit of Disney Branded Television within the Disney General Entertainment Content, headquartered in Burbank, California.
The network broadcast music programming ...
in the mid '90s)
*Teigan Hart
*Melissa Mathers
*Bobby Lindner
*Bobby Goodwin
*Jackie Goddard
*Johnny Collins
*Patrick "Pat" St. John (Now on Sirius/XM's Classic Rewind)
*Jason "Jammin' Jay" Brady
*Peter Scott
*Scott McKay
*Gary Williams
*Charlie Phillips
*Ben Hamilton
*Mikey Thomas
*Steve "Matt Taylor" Varholy
*Peter Falconi
*Ralphie Marino
*Suzanne Lewis
*Jay Brown
*Eddie McMann
*Glen Turner
*Scotty Dee
*Jeffrey Knight
*Danny Steele
*Beverly "Bev" Valentine
*Shadoe Stevens
*Rick Dees
*Mike McGowan
References
External links
*
*
{{IHeartMedia
ERZ
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Radio stations established in 1972
Exeter, New Hampshire
Contemporary hit radio stations in the United States
IHeartMedia radio stations