WJER

City of license	Dover-New Philadelphia, Ohio
Broadcast area	Tuscarawas County, Ohio
Branding	1450 WJER
Slogan	The Voice of the Valley
Frequency	1450 (kHz)
First air date	February 22, 1950
Format	full service/soft rock/oldies/Adult Contemporary
Power	1,000 watts
Class	C
Callsign meaning	Jerimiah E. Reeves, the father of the first owner
Owner	Gary A. Petricola/WJER RADIO LLC.
Website	www.wjer.com

WJER (1450 AM "The Voice of the Valley") is a commercial radio station. Licensed to the area of Dover-New Philadelphia, Ohio, it serves the Tuscarawas County area. It first began broadcasting in 1950, and had an FM sister station (WJER-FM) that operated from 1969 to 2006, which is today WHOF. The station had been owned by Clear Channel Communications in a reverse LMA by former owner Gary Petricola, who repurchased the AM station in 2007.

History

Origins of WJER

Jeremiah E. Reeves, of which WJER had been named for, was a member of one of the most influential family in Tuscarawas County, starting several major industries, banks and hotels in the Dover-New Philadelphia area. After his death in 1920, the Reeves family continued the leadership traditions begun by Jermiah.

Following World War II, the United States government saw the need to increase radio reach to citizens in rural as well as urban population centers, and many new AM stations were created. Jeremiah's daughter, Agnes (Reeves) Greer, filed for ownership of a new radio station for Dover, Ohio and was granted the license in 1949. As a tribute to her father, Ms. Greer requested the call letters for the station that were her father's initials, Jeremiah E. Reeves, or "JER".

On Wednesday, February 22, 1950 at 6 a.m., WJER Radio began broadcasting operations in the present studio facility at 646 Boulevard, a parcel of land that was part of the Reeves family estate. The 175 foot "original" tower was erected on land with 5 miles of copper wire buried beneath its surface.

WJER-FM was granted a license and began broadcasting in 1969 at 101.7. Originally, the FM station programmed "beautiful music" and was popular in doctor's offices and in elevators. As time went by WJER put more emphasis on the FM station, going "live" full-time by 1992. Both stations were locally-owned by Gary Petricola until 2003, when he sold them to Clear Channel Communications. Petricola, however, continued to operate both 101.7-FM and 1450-AM in a reverse LMA with Clear Channel.

In 2006 Petricola's WJER Radio LLC later repurchased WJER-AM from Clear Channel for $200,000.

Relocation of the FM signal

On April 14, 2006, the Federal Communications Commission approved Clear Channel's request to move WJER-FM's community of license to North Canton, Ohio. The new location allowed the station to increase its power from 3,000 watts ERP to 6,000 watts ERP after the move.

In a gradual process, the stations began simulcasting for most of the broadcast day, a process which completed in December 2006.

WJER-FM signed off on December 27, and the license was transferred to North Canton, Ohio under the new callsign WHOF the next day. WJER-AM continued to broadcast the original Dover/New Philadelphia-based programming.

Clear Channel signed on WHOF as Adult contemporary-formatted "my 101.7" serving the Akron/Canton area on January 16, 2007.

Programs heard on 1450

There are other programs that can be heard throughout the week at 1450 WJER

• "The Dave Koz Radio Show"--Sunday Mornings 10am-Noon/10pm-Midnight(Repeat)

• "Dick Bartley's Classic Countdown"--Sunday Afternoons

• "Casey Kasem's American Top 40: The 70's"--usually on Saturday Afternoons, sometimes later following sports events

• "Plant Talk Live"--Fred Hower "The Ohio Nurseryman" hits the airwaves every Saturday morning at 8:00AM. Listeners can call Fred with specific questions about their gardens and plants. Every March, Fred himself makes an appearance at New Towne Mall in New Philadelphia for a live edition of "Plant Talk".

Several times each day, a member of the listening audience is announced as The Name Of The Day in the following manner: "(name of the listener), THIS is YOUR! radio station!!" Various announcers have introduced The Name Of The Day over the years. It is currently voiced by Dave Peffer.

The Sports Voice of the Valley

WJER is also known as "The Sports Voice of the Valley". They are the local affiliate for the following teams:

• The Cleveland Browns

• The Cleveland Cavaliers

• The Cleveland Indians

• The Ohio State Buckeyes

WJER is also well known for delivering play-by-play coverage of local High School sports.

Contests

WJER has many chances for their listeners to be added to the "Endless List of Winners"

• "The Time Capsule"--Call in and guess the year at 8:40am & 2:40pm each day to qualify for a weekly grand prize courtesy of some great sponsors!

• "Wendy's What Year Was It?"--Win lunch for two at Wendy's every weekday during Anita's "Classic Canteen", just simply call in with the year in question and become a winner.

• "Subway Hump-Day Party Tray Giveaway"--Any Business that listens to 1450 while they work are eligible to win a party tray with Subway Subs, Cookies, Pop and Radiograms delivered to the workplace just in time for lunch on Wednesday.

• "The Birthday Contest"--Each day, WJER selects daily prize winner who receives different gift certificates from various businesses. WJER then chooses a GRAND prize winner at the end of each month.

• "The Great Escape Giveaway"--For 29 years, WJER has given away a trip for two to Hawaii. 18 registration locations are scattered throughout Tuscarawas County, and 1 semi-finalist is chosen from each location.

• "Deck-ya Contest"--WJER also has a chance to win a FREE Deck built in your back yard. Other great prizes are also awarded from the great sponsors, such as lawn and garden equipment.

• "The $5,000 Shopping Spree Giveaway"--Each holiday season, WJER teams up with 20 area businesses to give you a chance win a $5,000 Holiday Shopping Spree, including 20 $250 gift certificates from each of the participating businesses.

• "The Grand Slam Contest"--If a Cleveland Indians player hits a grand slam during the game, a contestant will be in the running for a $1,000 savings bond from First Federal Community Bank. The contestant automatically wins four medium Frappes from the McCafe menu at any McDonald’s in Tuscarawas County just for being selected.

On Air Line-up

• Morgan in the Morning with Bill Morgan—5:00am–10:00am

• The Midday Show with Anita—10:00am–2:00pm

'"The Classic Canteen"--12:30-2:00pm--"Your Favorite Oldies at Lunchtime"'

• The Kelly Kyle Show—2:00pm–7:00pm

• Evening Drive with Eric St. John—7:00pm-Midnight

Part Time Personalities

• Randy Fox
• Paul Tiratto
• Rosko Roscolini
• Laurel Schonbrun
• Michael Roberts

The "Award Winning" WJER News Team

The WJER News Department is constantly being honored by the Associated Press for things such as the "Most Outstanding Small Market News Media in Ohio", "Best Reporter", "Outstanding News Operation" and "Best Regularly Scheduled News"

• Jennifer Clark (News Director)
• Jamie Hambach
• Shyanne Bowman

WJER News also teams up with the Associated Press and the Ohio News Network to bring listeners the most complete news coverage in Tuscarawas County.

External links

• WJER Website

• Query the FCC's AM station database for WJER

Coordinates: 40°30′46″N 81°27′25″W / 40.51278°N 81.45694°W / 40.51278; -81.45694