WGRR (103.5

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 ...

) 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 ...

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 radio ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

Hamilton, Ohio Hamilton is a city in and the county seat of Butler County, Ohio, United States. Located north of Cincinnati, Hamilton is the second largest city in the Greater Cincinnati area and the 10th largest city in Ohio. The population was 63,399 at th ...

, and serving the

Cincinnati metropolitan area The Cincinnati metropolitan area and also known as the Cincinnati Tri-State area, or Greater Cincinnati) is a metropolitan area centered on Cincinnati and including surrounding counties in the U.S. states of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. The area ...

. It broadcasts 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 ...

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 broadcasting, ...

and is owned by

Cumulus Media 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 ...

. Its

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

s and offices are on Montgomery Road in

Norwood, Ohio Norwood is the third most populous city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and an enclave of the larger city of Cincinnati. The population was 19,207 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Originally settled as an early suburb of ...

, using a Cincinnati address. WGRR has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would hav ...

(ERP) of 11,000

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 Wa ...

s. Its

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...

is off West North Bend Road at Winton Road in Cincinnati.Radio-Locator.com/WGRR
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History

WHOH (1959-1973)

On February 9, 1959, the station

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...

as WHOH, representing Hamilton, OHio. It was the FM

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

WMOH WMOH (1450 AM "The Ticket") is a commercial radio station in Hamilton, Ohio, and serving the Cincinnati metropolitan area. It broadcasts a mixed news/talk and sports radio format and is owned by Vernon R. Baldwin, Inc. WMOH is powered at 1,00 ...

1450 AM, and was owned by Fort Hamilton Broadcasting. WHOH aired a blend of middle of the road and

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 musi ...

through the 1960s and 70s.

Adult contemporary (1973-1979)

In 1973, the

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 assigne ...

was changed to WYCH and in 1978 to WOKV playing

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 ...

music.

Disco (1979-1981)

There was a format switch to all

disco music Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric piano ...

in 1979. During this time, it was known as "The Chicken" in reference to its mascot, a giant whole broiled chicken dressed in seasonal clothing.

Rock/Rhythmic (1981-1990)

As disco lost steam in the 1980s, it switched briefly to a rock format as “Rock 104” in early 1981, only to switch again to

Rhythmic Contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip hop and upbeat R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary never uses ...

or "CHUrban" as WBLZ. WBLZ had a conservative

playlist A playlist is a list of video or audio files that can be played back on a media player either sequentially or in a shuffled order. In its most general form, an audio playlist is simply a list of songs, but sometimes a loop. The term has sever ...

for a CHUrban formatted station. WBLZ encountered competition when WSAI (previously WHKK), then on 100.9 FM, switched from a

Christian radio Christian radio is a Christian media radio format that focus on programming with a Christian message. Many such broadcasters play contemporary Christian music, though many programs include sermons, radio dramas, as well as news and talk progra ...

format and went

urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...

WIZF WIZF (101.1 FM) is an urban contemporary radio station licensed to Erlanger, Kentucky, serving the Cincinnati area. The station is owned and operated by Urban One. It broadcasts with an effective radiated power of 2,500 watts. Its studios are l ...

in January 1987, known as "The Wiz." Despite

's lower

, WBLZ was unable to compete.

Oldies (1990-2007)

On January 4, 1990, the station became Cincinnati's first FM

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 we ...

station under the original moniker "Oldies 103.5." WGRR was formerly owned by

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...

, and was sold to

Entercom Communications 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 ...

on August 21, 2006, along with CBS Radio's other Cincinnati stations. Entercom (which later exited the market) then traded the station to

in exchange for the frequency 94.9 FM and

WYGY WYGY (97.3 FM, "The Wolf") is a radio station broadcasting a gold-based country music format. Licensed to the suburb of Fort Thomas, Kentucky, it serves the Cincinnati, Ohio metropolitan area. It first began broadcasting in 1993 under the ...

Classic hits (2007-present)

With the new Cumulus ownership, station management updated WGRR's format. In early 2007, WGRR adopted a new logo to reflect its revised format, which shifted from "Oldies" of the 1960s and 1970s, to "Classic Hits", centering on the 1970s and 80s. In recent years, the

has shifted to mostly 1980s hits with some 1970s and 1990s titles.

Past personalities

The original WGRR lineup was Kenny Matthews (morning drive), Tony Michaels and Gina Ruffin Moore (news), Antonia "Mighty Toni" Mason (traffic) Steven Allan (program director and middays), Johnny Hall (production director and afternoons), Martin "Marty With The Party" Thompson (assistant program director and evenings), with Ronnie "Rockin' Ron" Schumacher (nights), and Kimberly "Slim Kim" Carson (overnights). For weekends WGRR adopted the Hot Wax Weekend concept by adding legendary

WSAI WSAI (1360 AM) is a Cincinnati, Ohio commercial radio station. Owned and operated by iHeartMedia, its studios, as well as those of iHeartMedia's other Cincinnati stations, are in the Towers of Kenwood building next to I-71 in the Kenwood secti ...

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

s from the 1960s: Dusty Rhodes, Ted McAllister and Jack Stahl. Also in the original WGRR lineup was Daniel "Dangerous Dan" Allen (Saturday Night Dial-A-Hit), with Tommy "Super Tom" Schroeder who worked overnight weekends like Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons, and longtime "Oldies" jock himself J.D. Hughes who stayed at WGRR after its transformation from CHUrban WBLZ. WGRR had been home to Jim "The Music Professor" Labarbara, voted by his peers as one of the Top 40 radio personalities of all time. Jim is also a member of the Rock Jock Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Ohio Radio/Television Broadcasters Hall of Fame. He was replaced in early 2007 by program director Keith Mitchell, formerly PD of WMOJ-FM (Mojo 94.9).

Current personalities

The current lineup at WGRR consists of Chris O'Brien and Janeen Coyle ("Married with Microphones") in morning

drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...

, with news and traffic from Angie Irick. Middays feature Rockin' Ron Schumacher, Keith Mitchell in afternoons and Steve Mann heard in the evening. "Classic

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

Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio personality, who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably '' American Top 40''. He was the first actor to voice Nor ...

" airs on weekends.

References

Greater Cincinnati Radio Guide

External links

103.5 WGRR
* {{coord, 39.200, N, 84.523, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title GRR Radio stations established in 1959 Cumulus Media radio stations