WEZZ (970 AM) is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting 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 rad ...

located in

Canton, North Carolina Canton is the second largest town in Haywood County, North Carolina, United States. It is located about west of Asheville, North Carolina, Asheville and is part of that city's Asheville metropolitan area, metropolitan area. The town is named aft ...

, that simulcast WISE's

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

format from

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad River, French Broad and Swannanoa River, Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populou ...

, from 2007 to early 2024. As of March 29, 2024, the station is owned by Lester Elton and Julie Ziegler, through licensee EZ Radio LLC. WEZZ is licensed by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

to broadcast with 5,000 watts of power during the day and 30 watts at night. The station was formerly an affiliate of the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

radio network, the largest radio affiliate network in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

History

The station signed on in 1954 as WWIT (the call sign stood for "Where Wheels of Industry Turn"). WWIT was daytime-only and broadcast with only 1,000 watts. It featured a

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 and ...

format that gave way to a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently 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. "To ...

format by the late 1950s. Teenagers at that time considered Nathaniel Lowery ("Nat the Cat"), an afternoon host, a favorite disc jockey. "Nat the Cat" introduced the region to jazz, rock 'n' roll, and gospel music produced by Black and white musicians at a time when schools and churches were segregated in Western North Carolina.

Bob Caldwell Robert Caldwell (1814–1891) was a British missionary and linguist. Robert Caldwell may also refer to: * Robert Caldwell (academic) (1843–1914), master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge * Robert Porter Caldwell (1821–1885), American repr ...

WLOS WLOS (channel 13) is a television station licensed to Asheville, North Carolina, United States, broadcasting ABC and MyNetworkTV programming to Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group in an e ...

worked at WWIT in the early 1960s. The station was known on the air as "Big-IT" and "97-IT" by the late 1970s. The station was purchased by Dan Greene from Sid Watts in 1974. Greene switched back and forth with longtime legend Jimmy Haney working the popular morning drivetime slot. He worked for a power increase for several years and in 1979, WWIT increased its signal to 5,000 watts, but was still daytime only. The Top 40 format, now known as

CHR CHR or chr may refer to: Organisations * Canadians for Health Research, a national not-for-profit organisation * Centre for Human Rights, an organisation promoting human rights in Africa * Christ Church Secondary School, a government-aided school ...

, continued until the mid-1980s when it gradually switched over to

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 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

. Greene sold the station in 1984. Prior to 1992, WWIT aired Pisgah High School football.Jeff Bryson, "Bears Fans Tune in for Action," ''Asheville Citizen-Times'', October 19, 2003. The station was sold in 1994, to a new company that took the station

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

as "970 WWIT". It eventually went into bankruptcy by 2000 and was sold, becoming WBCG with a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

format. In September 2001, the station was sold to another company that switched the station to

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

and reclaimed the WWIT call sign. It was sold to Saga Communications in 2003 and became a full-time simulcast of the

WOXL-FM WOXL-FM (96.5 MHz; "Mix 96.5") is a radio station licensed to Biltmore Forest, North Carolina, United States, the station serves the Asheville area and broadcasts a hot adult contemporary music format. The station is owned by Saga Communication ...

oldies format. The station again dropped the WWIT call sign for WOXL. It became WLZR in 2005 and WYSE in 2006. Effective March 29, 2024, Saga Communications sold WYSE and its two translators to Lester Elton and Julie Ziegler's EZ Radio LLC for $10,000. The station changed its call sign to WEZZ on March 31, and it now broadcasts predominantly religious programming.

References

External links

* * * * {{coord, 35, 31, 58, N, 82, 51, 58, W, type:landmark_region:US, display=title EZZ Fox Sports Radio stations Radio stations established in 1954 1954 establishments in North Carolina