| City of license | Cleveland, Ohio |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater Cleveland Northeast Ohio |
| Branding | Z 107.9 |
| Slogan | Cleveland's Number One for Hip-Hop and R&B |
| Frequency | 107.9 (MHz) |
| First air date | April 5, 1958 |
| Format | Analog/HD: Mainstream urban[1] |
| ERP | Horizontal: 16,000 watts Vertical: 15,000 watts |
| HAAT | 272 meters |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 2685 |
| Callsign meaning | W-"The ENd"-Z (former branding) |
| Former callsigns | 1987–1992: WPHR 1975–1987: WDMT 1970–1975: WELW-FM 1958–1970: WNOB |
| Owner | Radio One, Inc. (Blue Chip Broadcasting Licenses, Ltd.) |
| Sister stations | WERE, WJMO, WZAK |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | ZHipHopCleveland.com |
WENZ (107.9 FM)—branded Z 107.9—is a mainstream urban commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio serving surrounding Northeast Ohio. Owned by Radio One since 1999, the station's studios are located in Downtown Cleveland near Burke Lakefront Airport, while its transmitter resides in Russell Township of Geauga County.
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The station debuted on April 5, 1958 as WNOB (Northern Ohio Broadcasting), was started by several people from WNEW in New York. When the companion AM license was not granted, the station found itself in a precarious position, because standalone FM stations in the 1950s did not make money.
In 1961, the station filed for bankruptcy. A machine operator, Phillip Kerwin, purchased WNOB for $16,000. In 1963, WNOB became one of the first FM stations in the US to broadcast in stereo. In 1968 the signal was upgraded; the station purchased a new transmitter and antenna system. Two years later, in 1970, Multicom Inc. (owner of WELW AM 1330 in Willoughby, Ohio) purchased the station for $330,000. The call letters were then changed to WELW-FM. WELW played a top 40 Drake type format for almost two years, then switched to country music.
In 1975, Beasley Broadcast Group purchased the station from Multicom for $550,000 and changed the call letters to WDMT ("Dyno-mite", which happened to be a well known catch phrase on the popular sitcom Good Times). In 1976, the station switched to the then popular disco format and took the moniker Disco 108. This is where the urban influence started, and in 1978, the station switched to an "Urban Contemporary" format, (WDMT-FM 108) one of the first urban formatted stations in the USA. It is during this era that the popular "Club Style" show was initiated, where street jocks from Cleveland got the chance to mix live on the air.
In 1987 the call letters were changed to WPHR, and the station branded itself Power 108 along with a switch to Top-40. In 1988, the station was sold to Ardman Broadcasting in Washington DC for $2.8 million. Personalities during this period included Jim Bosh, Maria Farina, Liz Luke, John Landecker, Gina St. John, Cat Thomas, "Big" Steve Szabo, Rick Michaels, Cathy Cruise, Scott James, Mark Allen, Downtown Eddie Brown, and Sunny Joe among others. WPHR moved to Playhouse Square in late 1988.
In 1992, the station changed its callsign to WENZ and flipped its format to alternative rock, branding itself 107.9 The END (the name and callsign each reflected the station's position on the FM dial).
Both the inception and the demise of 107.9 The END were stunted: with both format changes, the station broadcast a 24 hour loop of R.E.M.'s song "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)". There was a documentary film made about The End, entitled The End of the World As We Knew It, released in 2009. It featured many of the former staffers and jocks.[2]
On January 15, 1999, WENZ was purchased by Radio One, a company that owns and operates radio stations, most of which target African American communities. On May 14, 1999, the station relaunched as Kiss 107.9, with a Mainstream Urban format featuring hip-hop and R&B. However, legal action from Clear Channel Communications — which claimed exclusive rights to the "Kiss" brand in the state of Ohio through CHR station WAKS (104.9 FM) — forced Radio One to drop the "Kiss" brand at WENZ. On September 1, 1999, WENZ branded itself Z 107.9.[3][4]
Z 107.9 was the home of the syndicated Russ Parr Show In the Mornings until June 07, 2010. On June 07, 2010, WENZ debuted The Rickey Smiley Morning Show, replacing Russ Parr's syndicated morning show. PD/Afternoon drive DJ Colby Colb says, "Cleveland is a home away from home for Rickey Smiley, spending his childhood summers in Cleveland and getting his start at the Cleveland Improv."[5]
Once you get southeast of Youngstown, Ohio, WDSY-FM, on the same frequency, in Pittsburgh starts interference with Z then after the PA line, Z 107.9 is completely gone which is why WRBP-FM in Youngstown is there for people who can't pick up Z.
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