WPPZ-FM (107.9 FM) is a commercial FM

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 to serve

Pennsauken, New Jersey Pennsauken Township is a township in Camden County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township's population was 37,074, reflecting an increase of 1,189 (+3.3%) from the 35,885 count ...

in the

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

radio market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television station, television and radio broadcasting, ra ...

. The station is owned by

Urban One Urban One, Inc. (formerly Radio One) is a Silver Spring, Maryland-based American media conglomerate. Founded in 1980 by Cathy Hughes, the company primarily operates media properties targeting African Americans. It is the largest African-American-o ...

, through licensee Radio One Licenses, LLC, and broadcasts an

Urban Oldies Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music on ...

format Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informatio ...

. Studios are located in

Bala Cynwyd Bala Cynwyd ( ) is a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania. It is located on the Philadelphia Main Line in Southeastern Pennsylvania, bordering the western edge of Philadelphia at U.S. Route 1 (City Avenue). It was originally two separa ...

and the broadcast tower used by the station is located atop

One Liberty Place Liberty Place is a skyscraper complex in Philadelphia. The complex is composed of a 61-story, skyscraper called One Liberty Place, a 58-story, skyscraper called Two Liberty Place, a two-story shopping mall called the Shops at Liberty Place, a ...

Center City, Philadelphia Center City includes the central business district and central neighborhoods of Philadelphia. It comprises the area that made up the City of Philadelphia prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854, which extended the city borders to be coterminous wi ...

at (). WPPZ-FM uses

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...

, and broadcasts an

Urban Gospel Urban/contemporary gospel is a modern subgenre of gospel music. Although the style developed gradually, early forms are generally dated to the 1970s, and the genre was well established by the end of the 1980s. The radio format is pitched prima ...

on its HD2 subchannel branded as ''Praise 107.9 HD2''.

History

In 1946, 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 ...

at 98.9 MHz as WSNJ-FM in

Bridgeton, New Jersey Bridgeton is a city in Cumberland County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is the county seat of Cumberland County 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, simultane ...

its AM

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 ...

WSNJ WSNJ (1240 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Bridgeton, New Jersey. It is owned by SNJ Today, LLC, and it airs a full-service adult contemporary radio format, featuring hits from the 1980s, 90s and early 2000s. WSNJ is power ...

. In the early 1960s, it became an affiliate of the WQXR Classical Network, based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In the 1961, WSNJ-FM's frequency moved to 107.7 MHz, after a frequency swap with the Philadelphia Bulletin's WPBS, and the station resumed simulcasting the middle of the road format of popular music and news on 1240 WSNJ. In 1971, WSNJ-AM-FM were sold to Cohanzick Broadcasting, which held the license until the station's move to the Philadelphia suburbs. In 2004, the station's frequency and city of license were changed to allow it to move into the more lucrative Philadelphia market. To clear space on the FM band for the new operation, high school station

WHHS WHHS (99.9 FM) is a non-commercial educational FM radio station licensed to the School District of Haverford Township in Havertown, Pennsylvania (a suburb of Philadelphia), and run by the students of Haverford High School. Studios are located ...

was moved from 107.9 to 99.9 MHz and a Philadelphia translator of classical station

WWFM WWFM ( FM, "The Classical Network") is a classical music radio station owned and operated by Mercer County Community College. The flagship station is licensed to the Trenton/Princeton area and operates from the West Windsor campus of MCCC. The Clas ...

was taken off the air. During transmitter testing, 107.9 used the call sign WPPZ and broadcast gospel music; owner Radio One eventually gave that call sign and format a permanent home in the market on 103.9 FM. (Before WRNB went on the air in 2004, the call sign was used for a Radio One-owned sister station in Dayton, Ohio, now called

WROU-FM WROU-FM (92.1 MHz) is an urban adult contemporary radio station licensed to West Carrollton, Ohio serving the Dayton area and owned and operated by Alpha Media. WROU is Dayton's affiliate of The Steve Harvey Morning Show. Its studios are locate ...

.) The new permanent

Urban AC Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music on ...

format as WRNB went on the air on February 4, 2005. Radio One paid $35 million for the "move-in" FM station, which was now able to attract Philadelphia listeners and advertisers. On September 1,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, Radio One moved WRNB's programming to 100.3, and the

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 ...

format of WPHI-FM (which moved away from

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 ...

earlier that year) moved to the weaker signal 107.9 FM as "Hot 107.9" (after stunting that weekend as "

Michael Vick Michael Dwayne Vick (born June 26, 1980) is a former American football quarterback. Regarded as having transformed the quarterback position with his rushing abilities, he is the NFL leader in quarterback rushing yards and was the league's firs ...

Radio" and "

Rickey Smiley Broderick Dornell Smiley (born August 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian, television host, actor, and radio personality, known for his prank phone calls. The calls feature Smiley disguising his voice and carrying on a conversation with t ...

Radio") on September 4 at 5 p.m.. The first song on "Hot" was ''

Hot In Herre "Hot in Herre" is a song by American rapper Nelly, released as the first single from his second studio album ''Nellyville'' (2002). It was released on May 7, 2002, by Universal Records. It was written by Nelly, Charles Brown, and the producers ...

'' by

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal ...

. On November 6, 2014, at 7 p.m., WPHI dropped the "Hot" format and became the fourth classic hip-hop station in the United States (following KNRJ in

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

KDAY KDAY (93.5 FM, "93.5 KDAY") is a radio station that is licensed to Redondo Beach, California and serves the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Meruelo Media and airs a classic hip hop format. The station's studios are located in ...

/ KDEY in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and sister station

KROI KROI (92.1 FM broadcasting, FM) is a radio station serving the Greater Houston market. Licensed to Seabrook, Texas and owned by Urban One, the station broadcasts an urban gospel format. The station's studios are located in Greenway Plaza and the ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

) as "Boom 107.9". The last song on "Hot" was ''I Like It'' by

Sevyn Streeter Amber Denise "Sevyn" Streeter (born July 7, 1986)S ...

, while the first song on "Boom" was ''

99 Problems "99 Problems" is the third single released by American rapper Jay-Z in 2004 from '' The Black Album''. It was released on April 27, 2004. The chorus hook "I got 99 problems, but a bitch ain't one" is taken from the Ice-T single "99 Problems" f ...

'' by

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

. On September 27, 2016, at Midnight, WPHI and WPPZ swapped formats and call signs with "Boom" moving to 103.9 FM, and "Praise" moving to 107.9 FM. (With the change, WPHI's classic hip hop format shifted to

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 ...

, returning the format to the 103.9 frequency for the first time since 2002 and marking the fourth attempt by Radio One to compete against long dominant

WUSL WUSL (98.9 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It carries a mainstream urban radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The radio studio, ...

.) On December 10, 2018, WPPZ flipped from urban gospel (which moved to WPPZ's HD2 subchannel) to

branded as "Classix 107.9". Urban One Launches "Classix 107.9" Philadelphia
/ref>

References

External links

* {{Radio One Urban One stations PPZ-FM Urban oldies radio stations in the United States Pennsauken Township, New Jersey Radio stations established in 2005 2005 establishments in New Jersey