WERZ

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WERZ is a radio station located in Portsmouth, New Hampshire located on 107.1 on the FM Dial. Listeners know the station as 107.1 WERZ.

The station was formerly known as WKXR-FM. In March 1982 the call letters were changed to WERZ and the slogan was "Z107...the continuous music FM". The format also changed to CHR. The first program director was Jack O'Brien. The studios were located at 11 Downing Court in Exeter, NH.

WERZ continued through the mid 80s as a CHR station with great ratings success. Boston-area concert promoter Don Law's Precision Media purchsed the station in 1986 and modified the format to a hybrid Adult Contemporary/Top 40 format during which time the on-air slogan was "107FM WERZ...today's hits, yesterday's classics". Due to the gold-based music product, ratings dropped precipitously until around 1990, when the tempo of the music was picked up, the older Adult Contemporary music was dropped, and more current music was added to the rotation. The slogan was modified to "107.1 FM WERZ...more music, more variety". Specialty weekend programs helped to boost ratings, including American Top 40 with Shadoe Stevens, Rick Dees Weekly Top 40, and "Party Saturday Night" featuring uptempo party songs and "megamixes" of popular dance music, as well as frequent prize giveaways and heavy listener interaction and requests.

WERZ broadcasts from studios located on Lafayette Road in Portsmouth, NH, and from a transmitter located in Greenland, NH. WERZ's signal serves Southeastern New Hampshire, Southwestern Maine, and Northeastern Massachusetts; an area more commonly known as "The (N.H.) Seacoast Region". WERZ's legal identification is WERZ-Exeter/Portsmouth. Exeter being the actual city of license.