WAYV
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| WAYV | |
| Broadcast area | Atlantic City, New Jersey |
|---|---|
| Branding | WAYV |
| Slogan | South Jersey's #1 Hit Music Station |
| Frequency | 95.1 (MHz) |
| First air date | 1961 |
| Format | Hot AC |
| ERP | 50,000 watts Directional |
| HAAT | 101 meters |
| Class | B |
| Callsign meaning | WAYV resembles wave |
| Owner | Equity Communications |
| Website | www.951wayv.com |
WAYV is a commercial radio station located in Atlantic City, New Jersey, broadcasting on 95.1 FM. WAYV airs a hot adult contemporary music format.
It has been among the top rated and billing stations in the Atlantic City market since 1980.[citation needed]
[edit] Personalities
Mike & Diane - morning hosts
Heather DeLuca - midday host
Paul Kelly - afternoon host and Program Director
[edit] History
95.1 started broadcasting in April 1961, with calls of WRNJ. Mel Gollub, owner of WIFI (now WXTU) in Philadelphia, built WRNJ on top of the Ritz Carlton Hotel on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City. He owned and operated it for its first two years.
In 1963, Mel Gollub sold WRNJ to Eddie Newman, a nighttime talk host at WPEN, Philadelphia.
On July 1, 1974, Eddie Newman sold the station to Radio WAYV, Inc., and calls were changed to WAYV. The station featured a "Beautiful Music" format that lasted until 1977. The music was provided by Jim Schulke's Stereo Radio Productions.
In 1978, under Program Director Bob Everland, the format evolved into "The Music People", a soft-rock format similar to "Magic" stations, such as WMGK in Philadelphia.
In January 1979, with the arrival of Kingsley Smith as Program Director, the format was made more contemporary and disco was added at night. The response to the "Disco nights at the Jersey shore" was large enough so that in late '79 WAYV became the "Rhythm of South Jersey" with fulltime disco and had its first time as #1 in the Spring 1980 Atlantic City Arbitron.
With the wane of Disco in 1981, the format again evolved into Hot Adult Contemporary (Hot AC) daytime / Contemporary Hit Radio(CHR) nighttime with the arrival of John Barab as Program Director. That combination remained into the early '90s through a number of Program Directors. In April 1990, WAYV started calling itself "Hot 95", which lasted for a short period of time. With some updates and adjustments over the last fifteen years, the Hot AC format still exists today. Despite the disco and Hot AC formats, WAYV also provided the first Atlantic City broadcast home for Jerry Blavat and his live broadcasts from Memories in Margate.
During the 80's, WAYV's studios were located on the Atlantic City boardwalk at Chelsea Ave., and before that, the broadcast studio was located on the rooftop of the Ritz Apartments (formerly the Ritz Carlton Hotel.)-- in 1980 through 1981 the business office was located in a rowhouse on the beach block of California Avenue. The General Manager at this time was Vi Trofa, a former school administrator who was hired by then Radio WAYV, Inc. owners Bob McMurtrie, Carl Monk and Tom Donatucci to run the business operation. Trofa was married to the former mayor of Ocean City, NJ Nick Trofa, and would remain as General Manager through 1993.
In 1986, Radio WAYV Inc. was purchased by Robert Forrest. In 1991, WAYV moved from its Boardwalk location to its present studio site at the Bayport One building in West Atlantic City. In the fall of 1993, Atlantic City Broadcasting Corp., a subsidiary of Frank Osborn's Osborn Communications, began operating WAYV and purchased it in March 1994.
In June 1996, WAYV was purchased by Equity Communications. It remains in the Bayport One building, and has been joined by Equity's other acquisitions, including WZXL, WZBZ, WTTH, and WMID.
[edit] Alumni
- Bob Everland, Program Director in the mid 70s
- Kingsley Smith, Program Director in the late 70s to early 80s
- Diane Prior, evening, then midday, then morning host in the late 70s to early 80s
- Allison Wing, midday host in the early to mid 80s
- Johnny B.(John Barab), evening host and Program Director in the early to mid 80s
- Christopher Caldwell, hosted various shifts in the early to mid 80s
- Christy Springfield (under a different name), evening host in the early 80s
- Eric Johnson, overnight host in the early 80s
- Bobby Sharpe, afternoon host in the mid 80s
- Spider McGuire, morning host (with multiple cohosts) through the 80s and 90s
- Mike Boyle, afternoon host and Program Director in the mid 80s
- Russ Monroe, morning host and Program Director in the mid 80s
- John Rizzo, afternoon host in the mid to late 80s
- Glen Stewart, midday host in the late 80s
- Sab Cupelli, midday host and Program Director in the early 90s
- J. Patrick, middays and PD, 1993
- Charlie Maxx (under a different name), afternoon host in the early 90's
- Rick Derringer, evening host in the early 90's
- Mark Hunter, afternoon host and Program Director in the mid 90's
- Jay Towers, midday host in the mid 90s
- Tommy Frank, Program Director in the mid to late 90s
- Christina Joyce, midday host in the late 90s to early '00s
- Walt B (aka. Alan Fox), Overnight host early 90's
- Michael J (aka. Hitman). Nights mid 90's - 2000
- Scott Stephens, overnight host mid 90's
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