WJZE (Hot 97-3) is a

Mainstream Urban Mainstream may refer to: Film * ''Mainstream'' (film), a 2020 American film Literature * ''Mainstream'' (fanzine), a science fiction fanzine * Mainstream Publishing, a Scottish publisher * ''Mainstream'', a 1943 book by Hamilton Basso Mu ...

radio station serving the

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Orur ...

area in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, United States. The Urban Radio Broadcasting outlet broadcasts at 97.3 MHz with an ERP of 4,300 Watts and is licensed to

Oak Harbor, Ohio Oak Harbor is a village in Ottawa County, Ohio, United States. Oak Harbor is 30 miles east of Downtown Toledo. The population was 2,759 at the 2010 census. It lies a short distance southwest of the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station, one of two n ...

. The station's studios are located in downtown Toledo, and its transmitter is located west of

Woodville, Ohio Woodville is a village in Sandusky County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,135 at the 2010 census. The National Arbor Day Foundation has designated Woodville as a Tree City USA. History Woodville was laid out and platted in 1836. It ...

History

Jazzy 97

The Station was originally assigned the call letters WUIA but they were never used. 97.3 FM signed on September 18, 1993 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 known as Jazzy 97, the call letters WJZE matched the station's name. The station was owned by Oak Harbor Community Broadcasting, Inc. The company's name would later change to RASP Broadcasting Enterprises, Inc. Studios and offices were located at 1600 Woodville Road in nearby Millbury.

Classic Rock 97.3 WJZE

WJZE dropped its smooth jazz format for classic rock in mid-1996. A few months prior to the change, 94.5 WXKR had dropped its popular classic rock format for Adult Alternative, leaving Toledo without a full-time classic rock station. The station became simply known as "Classic Rock 97.3 WJZE, the station that brought classic rock back to Toledo". WJZE did moderately well despite its spotty signal on the west side of town. However, on February 2, 1998, 94.5 WXKR changed its format back to classic rock. It soon became apparent, that with WXKR's 30,000–watt signal, WJZE could not compete with only 3,000 watts of power.

Buzz 106.5 and 97.3

In the summer of 1998, WJZE dumped its Classic rock format for a full-time simulcast of WBUZ, going by the name "Buzz 106.5 and 97.3". WBUZ (now WTOD) was sold to

Cumulus Broadcasting Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 87 ...

in early 1999. 106.5 rebranded itself as "Pure Rock 106", the only time 97.3 was mentioned was in the top of the hour ID. The simulcast on WJZE continued until the agreement between WJZE and Cumulus ended.

97.3 The Fox

On August 1, 2000, Clear Channel Broadcasting (now iHeartRadio) entered into a local marketing Agreement (LMA) with WJZE's owner RASP Broadcasting. The station became 97.3 The Fox, with a

classic hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980s ...

format. The station ran without DJs most of the day.

Hot 97.3

In early 2005, RASP Broadcasting sold WJZE to

Urban Radio Broadcasting URBan Radio Broadcasting, LLC, (typically written with the first three letters of the word 'urban' capitalized) is an American media company that specializes in radio stations. The markets where they own radio stations include Columbus, Mississippi ...

. On March 15, the classic hits format was dropped in favor of an Urban format as "Hot 97.3".

External links

*
New ''HOT 97.3'' Homepage
{{coord, 41.472, N, 83.418, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title JZE Mainstream urban radio stations in the United States Urban Radio Broadcasting radio stations