WJRZ-FM

WJRZ-FM
City Manahawkin, New Jersey
Broadcast area Ocean County, New Jersey
Branding 100.1 WJRZ
Slogan Jersey's Greatest Hits, Home of the No-Repeat Guarantee
Frequency 100.1 MHz (also on HD Radio)
Translator(s) See § Translators
First air date July 4, 1976
Format FM/HD1: Classic hits
HD2: Mainstream rock (WRAT simulcast)
ERP 1,700 watts
HAAT 133 meters (436 ft)
Class A
Facility ID 31078
Callsign meaning JeRSey (sic)
Owner Beasley Broadcast Group
(Beasley Media Group, LLC)
Sister stations WRAT, WMTR, WDHA-FM, WCTC, WMGQ
Webcast Listen Live
Listen Live via iHeart
Website www.wjrz.com

WJRZ-FM (100.1 FM, "100.1 WJRZ") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Manahawkin, New Jersey. The station is owned by Beasley Broadcast Group through licensee Jersey Shore Broadcasting Corporation and broadcasts a classic hits format. The station's broadcast tower is located in Waretown, New Jersey at (39°47′54.0″N 74°12′9.0″W / 39.798333°N 74.202500°W / 39.798333; -74.202500).[1]

History

WJRZ began broadcasting on July 4, 1976 from Manahawkin, New Jersey with a Top 40 format that also played a lot of recurrents. The original city of license was Ship Bottom, later changed to Manahawkin, and used the ID "Manahawkin-Toms River". Some of the early slogans used were "Stereo 100 WJRZ", "FM 100 WJRZ", and as "HitRadio Power 100 WJRZ". The station was originally licensed to the Jersey Shore Broadcasting Corporation, which was incorporated in New Jersey in 1974, with Joseph J. Knox, Jr., as president and Brent McNally VP and founders. The station signed on as an affiliate of the ABC Radio Network and later switched to AP Radio. From its sign-on the station grew its listenership very quickly. WJRZ has had a long history of talented music hosts and newscasters. They include (1970s) Jason "Big Jay" Sorensen, Jay Lurie, Brent McNally, Bob Sorrentino, Terry Barnes, Joe Stephens, Ron Stevens, Lance DeBock, Mike Brophy, A.J. Brooks, Arthur Sarnovsky, Chuck Flamini, Karyn Westhoven, Chris VanZant and many,many others. The station maintained studios and a 340 ft (100 m) tower on 16 acres (65,000 m2) on Beach Avenue in Manahawkin, next to AT&T High Seas Radio Station WOO. The transmitter was later moved to a 500 ft (150 m) tower on 20 acres (81,000 m2) off Route 9 in Waretown.

The CHR/Hot AC format continued until November 1991, when WJRZ moved to a classic hits format, but went back to CHR by the middle of 1992. In December 1998, WJRZ dropped Hot AC in favor of country as "Jersey Shore Country." The country format had a mixed reaction from area listeners and failed to attract a significant number of listeners.

In June 2000, they switched to oldies and rebranded as "Oldies 100," and in 2002 ownership changed to Greater Media.

WJRZ-FM started broadcasting using HD Radio in November 2007. WJRZ-FM's HD2 subchannel was to be "Classic Oldies," however a launch date had not been established at that time.

WJRZ-FM re-branded as "100.1 WJRZ - The Greatest Hits Of the 60's & 70's" in early 2008, simply using "Jersey's Greatest Hits" and dropping all pre-Beatles music except for Sunday nights. The station dropped one of its signature programs- Jukebox Saturday Night with Joe Stephens in June, 2009.

For Christmas 2009, WJRZ-FM flipped to an all-Christmas playlist on Friday, November 6, 2009.

On December 14, 2009, most of the on-air personnel at WJRZ-FM were dismissed and on December 15, WJRZ-FM started airing commercials between the Christmas songs announcing their new format. In each of the commercials, they were playing the type of songs typically hear in that type of format. On December 26, 2009, 100.1 WJRZ-FM became Magic 100.1 "Today's Best Variety" similar to Greater Media's sister station WMGQ; an adult contemporary format from New Brunswick, NJ which is also programmed by WJRZ-FM's OM/PD Jeff Rafter. It was not, however, a direct simulcast. The stations shared similar personalities who voicetracked their shows on the WJRZ-FM signal (mornings with Chris McCoy and mid-days with Debbie Mazella).

In 2010, Jeff Rafter was relieved of his duties at WJRZ-FM. He remains OM/PD at WMGQ. Glenn Kalina overtook the OM/PD role, and became host of the station's new local morning show.

On April 22, 2013, at 6 am, WJRZ-FM flipped back to their classic hits format carried from 2000–09 as WJRZ 100.1: Jersey's Greatest Hits. The new station launched with "Here Comes the Sun" by the Beatles followed by "The Boys are Back in Town" by Thin Lizzy.

On January 6, 2015, longtime Program Director/Afternoon host Glenn Kalina announced his resignation of the positions and retirement from full time radio. He will continue to host "The Beatles: From Us To You" on Sunday mornings. Assistant Program Director Matt Knight was elevated to Program Director/Afternoons while TJ Bryan fills the Assistant Program Director/Mornings role.

On July 19, 2016, Beasley Media Group announced it would acquire Greater Media and its 21 stations (including WJRZ) for $240 million.[2] The FCC approved the sale on October 6, and the sale closed on November 1.[3]

Translators

Call sign Frequency
(MHz) 		City of license ERP
W 		Height
m (ft) 		Class FCC info Notes
W264AM 100.5 Toms River, New Jersey 250 80 m (260 ft) D FCC Simulcasts WJRZ-FM analog/HD1
W300AO 107.9 Manahawkin, New Jersey 250 97.4 m (320 ft) D FCC Simulcasts WJRZ-FM-HD2 (WRAT)[4]

References

  1. ↑ "FM Query Results for WJRZ". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved 2017-04-27.
  2. ↑ Beasley Acquires Greater Media
  3. ↑ Beasley Closes on Greater Media Purchase; Makes Multiple Staff Moves
  4. ↑ "WRAT on 107.9 FM". wrat.com. Retrieved 2017-04-27.

Coordinates: 39°47′53″N 74°12′07″W / 39.798°N 74.202°W / 39.798; -74.202

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