WJZ (1300
kHz) is a
commercial
Commercial may refer to:
* a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television)
** Radio advertisement
** Television advertisement
* (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...
AM 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 ...
in
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
. It is owned by
Audacy, Inc.
Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corporation, it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning 235 radio stations across 48 media ...
, and broadcasts a
sports betting
Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome. The frequency of sports bet upon varies by culture, with the vast majority of bets being placed on association football, American football, basket ...
radio format
A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...
, carrying the BetQL network during the day and evening, with
CBS Sports Radio heard nights and weekends. The
studios are on Clarkview Road in Baltimore, off Jones Falls Expressway (
Interstate 83
Interstate 83 (I-83) is an Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its southern terminus is at a signalized intersection with Fayette Street in Baltimore, Maryland; its northern terminus is at I-81 near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Mo ...
).
WJZ is powered at 5,000
watt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...
s, using a
directional antenna with a five-
tower array
A tower array is an arrangement of multiple radio towers which are mast radiators in a phased array. They were originally developed as ground-based tracking radars. Tower arrays can consist of free-standing or guyed towers or a mix of them. Tower ...
. The
transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...
site is on Clays Lane in
Windsor Mill
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
*Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Win ...
. Programming is
simulcast
Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simulta ...
on
FM translator
A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tra ...
W285EJ at 104.9
MHz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...
in
White Marsh, Maryland
White Marsh is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 9,513 at the 2010 census. White Marsh is a northeast suburb of Baltimore.
History
In 1965, the largely undev ...
. It is also heard on 106.5
WWMX
WWMX (106.5 FM), known on-air as Mix 106.5, is a commercial radio station in Baltimore, Maryland. It broadcasts a hot adult contemporary radio format and is owned by Audacy, Inc. The studios and offices are on Clarkview Road off Jones Falls Exp ...
's
HD-2 digital subchannel.
History
WEAR (1922–1924)
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...
records list the station's "First License Date" as November 3, 1924,
reflecting the date an initial license was issued for the station as WFBR. However, the station has traditionally traced its history to a predecessor station, the ''
Baltimore American
The ''Baltimore News-American'' was a broadsheet newspaper published in downtown Baltimore, Maryland until May 27, 1986. It had a continuous lineage (in various forms) of more than 200 years. For much of the mid-20th century, it had the largest ...
'' newspaper's WEAR, which was first licensed in 1922.
Effective December 1, 1921, the U.S. Department of Commerce, in charge of radio at the time, adopted a regulation formally establishing a broadcasting station category, which set aside the wavelength of 360 meters (833 kHz) for entertainment broadcasts, and 485 meters (619 kHz) for farm market and weather reports. On June 3, 1922, the Baltimore American & News Publishing Company was issued a license for a new station on the shared 360 meter "entertainment" wavelength. The station's call letters, WEAR, were randomly assigned from a sequential roster of available call signs.
WEAR was the third broadcasting station licensed in the state of Maryland, following two earlier Baltimore grants:
WKC, which had been licensed the previous March, followed by
WCAO
WCAO (600 AM broadcasting, AM "Heaven 600") is a commercial radio, commercial radio station in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland. It broadcasts an urban gospel radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. It also airs some Christian talk and teac ...
in May.
WEAR's June 8 inaugural program included a speech from Mayor
William F. Broening and live musical performances. On June 14, 1922, U.S. President
Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...
's speech at the dedication of the
Francis Scott Key Monument
The Francis Scott Key Monument is an outdoor sculpture to Francis Scott Key in Baltimore, Maryland.
History
Charles Marburg gave $25,000 to his brother Theodore Marburg to hire a sculptor to create a monument to Francis Scott Key. The Fren ...
at
Fort McHenry
Fort McHenry is a historical American coastal pentagonal bastion fort on Locust Point, now a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. It is best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack ...
was broadcast by the station. This is generally considered the first time a
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
gave a speech over a civilian radio station.
[
In 1924 WEAR was reassigned to 1150 kHz. The station was deleted on October 27, 1924.
]
WFBR (1924–1990)
Equipment formerly used by WEAR was acquired in order to establish another station. On November 3, 1924, the Fifth Regiment
The Fifth Regiment ( es, Quinto Regimiento, the full name ''Quinto Regimiento de Milicias Populares)'', was an elite corps loyal to the Spanish Republic at the onset of the Spanish Civil War. Made up of volunteers, the Fifth Regiment was active ...
of the Maryland National Guard
The Maryland Military Department (MMD) is a department of the State of Maryland directed by the adjutant general of Maryland.
The Maryland Military Department consists of the:
*State Operations section, which manages fiscal and administrative du ...
received a license for a station on 1180 kHz.["New Stations"]
''Radio Service Bulletin'', November 1, 1924, page 3. The new station's call letters, WFBR, were also randomly assigned from the sequential list of available call signs; other new stations licensed the same month included WFBK (Hanover, New Hampshire), WFBL
WFBL (1390 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Syracuse, New York and owned by Wolf Radio, Inc. It serves Syracuse and its suburbs, with studios and offices located on Smokey Hollow Road in Baldwinsville. Since September 2017 the stati ...
(Syracuse, New York), WFBM (Indianapolis, Indiana), WFBN (Bridgewater, Massachusetts), WFBQ
WFBQ (94.7 FM, "Q95") is a radio station in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, owned by iHeartMedia. The studios are located at 6161 Fall Creek Road on the northeast side of Indianapolis. The transmitter and antenna are located on the northwe ...
(Raleigh, North Carolina), WFBT (Pitman, New Jersey and WFBU (Boston, Massachusetts).[ A tradition later developed that WFBR could be rendered as "World's First Broadcasting Regiment". Another slogan, also derived from the call letters, was "First Baltimore Radio".
WFBR's original studios were located at the ]Fifth Regiment Armory
The Fifth Regiment Armory is a historic National Guard armory located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is an imposing, fortress-type structure situated in midtown Baltimore. It consists of a full basement, a first floor containing a 200 fo ...
on Preston Street. In 1927, WFBR was sold to The Baltimore Radio Show, a group of investors majority-owned by the Maslin and Barroll families. At that time the station moved to 1230 kHz. With the implementation of the Federal Radio Commission
The Federal Radio Commission (FRC) was a government agency that regulated United States radio communication from its creation in 1927 until 1934, when it was succeeded by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FRC was established by t ...
's General Order 40
The Federal Radio Commission's (FRC) General Order 40, dated August 30, 1928, described the standards for a sweeping reorganization of radio broadcasting in the United States. This order grouped the AM radio band transmitting frequencies into thre ...
, on November 11, 1928, WFBR was reassigned to 1270 kHz.
WFBR broadcast dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
s, game show
A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...
s and big band
A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...
broadcasts during the " Golden Age of Radio". Arthur Godfrey
Arthur Morton Godfrey (August 31, 1903 – March 16, 1983) was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer who was sometimes introduced by his nickname The Old Redhead. At the peak of his success, in the early-to-mid 1950s, Godf ...
started his radio career at WFBR in 1930. On August 29, 1931, the station became an affiliate of the NBC Red Network
The NBC, National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the Blue Network, NBC Blue Network it was ...
. switching to the Mutual Broadcasting System
The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Old-time radio, golden ...
in October 1941. With the March 29, 1941, implementation of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement, stations on 1270 kHz, including WFBR, moved to 1300 kHz. Network affiliation changed to ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
in 1945.
In the 1960s, as network programming moved to television, the station switched its format. WFBR was a CBS Radio Network
CBS News Radio, formerly known as CBS Radio News and historically known as the CBS Radio Network, is a radio network that provides news to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by Paramount Global. ...
affiliate and was played 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 "cont ...
music with a solid news department and extensive local sports coverage. The station had its studios on East 20th Street in Baltimore City, and a transmitter site on the south side of the mouth of the Patapsco River off Waterview Avenue. In addition to sports and music, WFBR had an award-winning news team. One of its most popular news programs was a weekday afternoon panel discussion known as ''Conference Call'', which aired from 1962 to 1988. The award-winning program covered news topics of local, state, and national interests and was moderated by station general manager Harry Shriver. Regular panelists included WFBR newscasters Tom Marr, Ron Matz, Ken Matlath, and station program director Norm Brooks. Additionally, state and local politicians were often invited to appear as panelists as well as other special guests of civic notoriety.
In the 1970s, WFBR's on-air talent featured popular personalities such as "The Flying Dutchman" Pete Berry; Ron Matz, and his fictitious alter-ego, "Harry Horni"; Johnny Walker, a wildly popular morning DJ who was "cutting edge" for his time; "The Coach", Charley Eckman
Charles Markwood Eckman Jr. (September 10, 1921 – July 3, 1995) was an American basketball head coach and professional basketball referee for the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was also a sports broadcaster.
Early life
Eckman was b ...
, a former NBA basketball coach and referee, who later became a Baltimore sportscasting legend; and a young but versatile, broadcaster named Tom Marr
Thomas Aquinas Marr (October 17, 1942 – July 7, 2016) was an American talk radio host on WCBM (680-AM) in Baltimore, Maryland, known for his conservative political views. He spent nearly 20 years as a newsman and sportscaster, including e ...
who pulled triple duty as the station's news director, morning news anchor, and reporter, while also working as a sportscaster for the CBS Radio Network. For years, WFBR marketed itself as "Mad Radio 13".
From 1979 through 1986, WFBR was the radio flagship station for Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...
major league baseball. The team had previously aired its games on WBAL. Under the leadership of Shriver, WFBR promoted the team to new levels and to a younger audience, and created what became known as "Oriole Magic". From 1979 through 1982, the Orioles radio broadcast team featured longtime announcers Chuck Thompson
Charles Lloyd Thompson (June 10, 1921 – March 6, 2005) was an American sportscaster best known for his broadcasts of Major League Baseball's Baltimore Orioles and the National Football League's Baltimore Colts. He was well-recognized for his r ...
and Bill O'Donnell, along with WFBR veteran broadcaster Tom Marr. O'Donnell left the broadcast team early in the 1982 season due to an illness from which he eventually died later that year. After the 1982 season, Chuck Thompson moved from the radio booth to do the TV broadcasts full-time on WMAR-TV
WMAR-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. The station's studios and offices are located on York Road ( ...
, with Brooks Robinson. Once Thompson left the radio booth, WFBR's general manager Harry Shriver replaced him by hiring the now legendary Jon Miller
Jon Miller (born October 11, 1951) is an American sportscaster, known primarily for his broadcasts of Major League Baseball. Since 1997 he has been employed as a play-by-play announcer for the San Francisco Giants. He was also a baseball annou ...
to team up with Marr on the radio broadcasts.
Musically, WFBR evolved from Top 40 to 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 ...
format by 1982. The station began to also move from a music intensive approach to more of a full service Full service or Full Service may refer to:
* Full-service radio, a wide range of programming
* Full Service Network, a communications company
Entertainment
* "Full Service", a song by the New Kids on the Block from their album ''The Block''
* F ...
approach. The station began to add evening talk shows by 1984. After the 1986 baseball season, WFBR was out-bid on the Orioles broadcast rights by rival station WCBM
WCBM (680 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Baltimore, Maryland. It is owned by WCBM Maryland, Inc., and broadcasts a talk radio format, calling itself "Talk Radio 680 WCBM." The radio studios and offices are on York Road in Luthervi ...
. By that time, Miller was under contract directly with the Orioles and stayed with the team, while Marr was under contract with WFBR and remained at the station to start a successful career as a radio talk-show host. WCBM held the broadcast rights for just one season before its ownership went bankrupt and defaulted on their financial obligation. By this time, WFBR switched to a " news/talk-radio" format; in addition to Tom Marr, hosts on the station during this period included Alan Christian, Les Kinsolving, Joe Lombardo, former Baltimore TV anchor Frank Luber, and Stan "the Fan" Charles. Despite strong ratings, the station was not as profitable under this new format as it was when it held the Orioles broadcast rights.
In 1984, the station began broadcasting in AM stereo. In 1988, WFBR was sold to Infinity Broadcasting
Infinity Broadcasting Corporation was a radio company that existed from 1972 until 2005. It was founded by Michael A. Wiener and Gerald Carrus. It became associated with popular radio personalities like Howard Stern, Opie and Anthony, Don Imus ...
(owners of crosstown WLIF
WLIF (101.9 FM, "Today's 101.9") is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Baltimore, Maryland. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. through licensee Audacy License, LLC and broadcasts an adult contemporary format. Its studios are located ...
), switched to an oldies
Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as ...
format, and let go all the on-air personnel from the previous ownership. This format played only music from 1955 to 1965, excluding British Invasion
The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising "counterculture" on ...
artists. This station focused on artists like Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
, Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 193 ...
, Crystals
A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...
, Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017), known as Fats Domino, was an American pianist, singer and songwriter. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New O ...
, Ricky Nelson
Eric Hilliard Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985) was an American musician, songwriter and actor. From age eight he starred alongside his family in the radio and television series ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet''. In 1957, he bega ...
, Frankie Lymon
Franklin Joseph Lymon (September 30, 1942 – February 27, 1968) was an American rock and roll/rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, best known as the boy soprano lead singer of the New York City-based early rock and roll doo-wop group Th ...
, The Drifters
The Drifters are several American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal groups. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, formed in ...
, Jackie Wilson, Roy Orbison, early Motown music, and others. After the sale and format switch, most of WFBR's former on-air personalities moved to WCBM which was under new management at the time, and adopted most aspects of WFBR's news/talk format, which it still airs today. Ratings for the reformatted WFBR were very low as of the summer of 1989. The station would then switch to a business news format, which only lasted for a brief time, and station management eventually changed its call letters, thus successfully killing one of the great radio stations in Baltimore history.
WLIF/WJFK (1990–2008)
On January 29, 1990, WFBR dropped the business news format, and began simulcast
Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simulta ...
ing WLIF, which was about to switch from beautiful music
Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator mu ...
to soft 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, quiet sto ...
. It became WLIF, a change that required the FM station to become WLIF-FM for several years. (The WFBR call sign has since been used by two stations: 95.3 WFBR-LP of Mt. Washington, Kentucky
Mount Washington is a home rule-class city in northeast Bullitt County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 18,090 at the 2020 census. The city is one of several surrounding Louisville that have experienced a sharp rise in populat ...
; and WFBR 1590 AM, formerly WJRO, in Glen Burnie, Maryland
Glen Burnie is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Baltimore. The population of Glen Burnie was 67,639 at the 2010 census.
History
In 1812, Elias Glenn, a di ...
, which coincidentally, was the home of the late Charley Eckman.)
On October 1, 1991, the station split from the WLIF simulcast and was renamed WJFK. WJFK was originally simulcast with WJFK-FM
WJFK-FM (106.7 MHz "106.7 The Fan") is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Manassas, Virginia, and serving the Washington metropolitan area. WJFK-FM airs a sports radio format and is owned and operated by Audacy, Inc.
WJFK-FM's studi ...
, a talk radio station that serves the Washington metropolitan area
The Washington metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the National Capital Region, is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C. The metropolitan area includes all of Washington, D.C. and parts of the states of Maryland, Virgi ...
. This change was precipitated by WJFK-FM's addition of Howard Stern
Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American radio and television personality, comedian, and author. He is best known for his radio show, '' The Howard Stern Show'', which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terr ...
, which was also on Infinity's stations in New York and Philadelphia. This simulcast brought Stern to the Baltimore market.
When the Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...
relocated to Baltimore in 1996 and became the Ravens
Ravens may refer to:
* Raven, a species of the genus ''Corvus''
Sports
* Anderson Ravens, the intercollegiate athletic program of Anderson University in Indiana
* Baltimore Ravens, a professional American football franchise
* Benedictine Ravens, ...
, WJFK (AM) was named as the football team's radio flagship station, with games simulcast on WLIF, and later, WQSR
WQSR (102.7 FM, "102.7 Jack FM") is a commercial radio station licensed Baltimore, Maryland. The station is owned by iHeartMedia through licensee iHM Licenses, LLC. It broadcasts an adult hits radio format, using the syndicated "Jack FM" ser ...
. Longtime WMAR-TV sports anchor Scott Garceau was named the lead play-by-play man, with former Baltimore Colts running back Tom Matte
Thomas Roland Matte (June 14, 1939November 2, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) in the 1960s and 1970s and earned a Super Bowl ring. He attended Shaw High School in ...
as the color commentator
A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main ( play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and ...
. WJFK held the broadcast rights for the Ravens from through the 2005 NFL season, after which the rights were acquired by WBAL. To fill the gap in the team's coverage, WJFK and sister station WHFS aired ''Baltimore Gameday Uncensored'' throughout the 2006 season; the show was hosted by former Ravens announcers Scott Garceau and Tom Matte
Thomas Roland Matte (June 14, 1939November 2, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) in the 1960s and 1970s and earned a Super Bowl ring. He attended Shaw High School in ...
.
On March 10, 2003, the same day WXYV flipped from urban
Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to:
* Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas
* Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities
Urban may also refer to:
General
* Urban (name), a list of people ...
to hot talk
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...
, WJFK dropped the simulcast with WJFK-FM and flipped to a full-time ESPN Radio affiliate as "AM 1300 The Jock." WJFK promoted itself as "Baltimore's only all-sports radio station"; however, the station's weekend schedule at the time included infomercials, and WNST
WNST (1570 kHz) is a sports radio station located in Towson, Maryland, near Baltimore. It is owned and operated by local sports media personality Nestor Aparicio through Nasty 1570 Sports, LLC.
WNST was the first 24-hour all sports radio stat ...
also offered a sports radio
Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on ...
format, which launched three years prior to WJFK's format change. In 2004, the station rebranded as "ESPN Radio 1300".
WJZ
WJFK changed its call sign to WJZ, while WHFS changed its call letters to WJZ-FM
WJZ-FM (105.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Catonsville, Maryland, and serving the Baltimore metropolitan area. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. through licensee Audacy License, LLC, and it broadcasts a sports radio for ...
, on November 3, 2008, with the FM flipping to local-oriented sports programming, and the AM retaining its full-time affiliation of ESPN Radio (with some limited local weekend programming). Additionally, the callsigns of all three of Baltimore's major-affiliate TV stations have now been used on the city's radio stations; the WMAR call letters were once used on what is now WWMX
WWMX (106.5 FM), known on-air as Mix 106.5, is a commercial radio station in Baltimore, Maryland. It broadcasts a hot adult contemporary radio format and is owned by Audacy, Inc. The studios and offices are on Clarkview Road off Jones Falls Exp ...
. WJZ also carries University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
sporting events, whose rights were previously held by rival station WBAL. On December 10, 2012, ESPN Radio was dropped for a simulcast of sister station WJZ-FM. The station became a full-time affiliate of CBS Sports Radio on January 2, 2013.
On February 2, 2017, CBS agreed to merge CBS Radio with Entercom
Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corporation, it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning 235 radio stations across 48 media ...
, at the time the fourth-largest radio broadcaster in the United States; the sale was conducted using a Reverse Morris Trust
A Reverse Morris Trust in United States law is a transaction that combines a divisive reorganization (spin-off) with an acquisitive reorganization ( statutory merger) to allow a tax-free transfer (in the guise of a merger) of a subsidiary. It may b ...
so that it would tax-free. While CBS shareholders retain a 72% ownership stake in the combined company, Entercom was the surviving entity, separating WJZ radio (both 1300 and FM 105.7) from WJZ-TV. The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on November 17.
On June 21, 2021, WJZ flipped to sports gambling
Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome. The frequency of sports bet upon varies by culture, with the vast majority of bets being placed on association football, American football, basket ...
, branded as "The Bet Baltimore", with programming from the co-owned BetQL network. CBS Sports Radio programming continues to air late nights and weekends. On August 1, WJZ began simulcasting on FM translator
A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tra ...
W285EJ (104.9 MHz), which dropped its "HFS"-branded alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...
format.Has the HFS Alternative Brand Met its Final Demise?
/ref>
History of the WJZ call letters
The WJZ call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assign ...
was first used on what is now WABC in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. The original Westinghouse Electric Corporation
The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was an American manufacturing company founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse. It was originally named "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company" and was renamed "Westinghouse Electric Corporation" in ...
, whose broadcasting division is a predecessor to the current broadcasting unit of ViacomCBS
Paramount Global (doing business as Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned and operated by National Amusements (79.4%) and headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York. It ...
, launched WJZ in Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.[Radio Corporation of America
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Com ...]
, which moved the station to New York City. On January 1, 1927, WJZ became the flagship station for the NBC Blue Network
The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945.
Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the National Broadcasting Comp ...
.[Cox, Jim (2008). ''This Day in Network Radio: A Daily Calendar of Births, Debuts, Cancellations and Other Events in Broadcasting History''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 5.] (In the 1929 movie ''The Cocoanuts
''The Cocoanuts'' is a 1929 pre-Code musical comedy film starring the Marx Brothers (Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, and Zeppo Marx in his first starring role). Produced for Paramount Pictures by Walter Wanger, who is not credited, the fil ...
'' the station was name-checked by Chico Marx in a sequence of running gags between Chico and Groucho. Chico uses the station's call sign as the punchline of a punning joke based on his confusion over the meaning of the word "radius
In classical geometry, a radius ( : radii) of a circle or sphere is any of the line segments from its center to its perimeter, and in more modern usage, it is also their length. The name comes from the latin ''radius'', meaning ray but also the ...
", which he confuses with 'radios', leading to the mention of the station's call letters.) The NBC Blue Network became the American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Cali ...
(ABC) in 1942. ABC later established WJZ-FM and WJZ-TV at the same time in 1948.
In 1953, ABC merged with United Paramount Theatres
American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, Inc. (originally United Paramount Theatres, later the American Broadcasting Companies and ABC Television) was the post-merger parent company of the American Broadcasting Company and United Paramount Thea ...
, and changed the call letters of their New York City stations to WABC, WABC-FM (now WPLJ
WPLJ (95.5 FM) is a non-commercial Christian adult contemporary music radio station licensed to New York City. It is owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF) and broadcasts EMF's flagship programming service, K-Love. WPLJ's transmi ...
) and WABC-TV
WABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios in the Lincoln Square neig ...
. Four years later, Westinghouse Broadcasting acquired Baltimore television station WAAM (channel 13) and changed its call letters to WJZ-TV
WJZ-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is Owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, and ma ...
, even though it had not used that unusual three-letter call sign in the past. Once WJZ-TV had been established, it was able to share its three-letter call sign with 105.7 WJZ-FM and 1300 WJZ (AM).
References
External links
FCC History Cards for WJZ
(covering 1927-1981 as WFBR)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wjz (Am)
Sports radio stations in the United States
JZ
American Basketball Association flagship radio stations
Radio stations established in 1922
1922 establishments in Maryland
CBS Sports Radio stations
Audacy, Inc. radio stations