WENZ

WENZ (107.9 FM) is a commercial mainstream urban radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio. Owned by Urban One since 1999, its studios are located along the Euclid Avenue Corridor in Cleveland's eastside, while the station transmitter resides in Russell Township in Geauga County. Besides a standard analog transmission, WENZ broadcasts over two HD Radio channels, and is available online.
History.
Early years.
The station debuted on April 5, 1958 as WNOB; it was started by Northern Ohio Broadcasting, whose principals were 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.
Disco 108/WDMT.
In 1975, Beasley Broadcast Group purchased the station from Multicom for $550,000 and changed the call letters to WDMT which is short for "We're DynoMite!", "Dynomite!" being a well known catchphrase by comic and actor Jimmie Walker on the popular Norman Lear sitcom Good Times. Then in 1976 the station switched to the then popular disco format and took the moniker "The New Disco FM 108 WDMT!" And this is where the urban influence started and in 1978 WDMT has decided to switched into a CHR/UC hybrid format also known as "CHUrban", which would be the forerunner to what is now known as Rhythmic Contemporary as "FM 108 WDMT Your Power Station!". WDMT was Cleveland's first ever CHUrban radio station. During the WDMT era, the station aired "The FM 108 WDMT's Club Style" where street jocks from Cleveland got the chance to mix live on the air. Caroline Ford, Freddie James, Brenda & Michael Love, Matthew Morgan, Lady Skill, Hot Rod See, with Dean Rufus, and the late great Ronnie "The Ghoul" Sweed were popular WDMT jocks during this period. In 1985 the entire FM 108 WDMT air staff appeared with Arsenio Hall on the first 'Urban Music Awards' show.
The station's early disco and 80s CHUrban format can now be heard online at www.fm108wdmt.com, which is a tribute to the station's heritage from 1975 to 1986. Many of the former disc jockeys have cut liners for the online station.
Power 108 FM.
On April the 9th of 1987 the call letters were changed to WPHR and rebranded itself as "The New Power 108 FM" with a shift to a CHR/Top 40 format. In 1988, the station was sold to Ardman Broadcasting for $2.8 million. Personalities during this period included Program Director and DJ Steven "Big Steve" Kelly, Calvin Hicks, Jimmy Bosh, Maria Farina, Elizabeth "Liz" Luke, John Records Landecker, Gina St. John, Cat Thomas, Steven "Little Stevie Z." Szabo, Ricky Michaels, Cathy Cruise, Scott James, Mark Allen, Edward "Downtown Eddie" Brown, James "Jammin' Jimmy" Hart, and Sonny Joe Fox, among others. WPHR moved its studios to Playhouse Square in late 1988.
107.9 The End.
On May 12, 1992, the station changed its callsign to WENZ and flipped its format to alternative rock, branding itself as "107.9 The End". Both the branding and callsign reflected the station's position on the FM dial. In March 1996, Ardman would sell the station to Clear Channel Communications. Both the inception and the demise of 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)". A documentary film made about The End, entitled "The End of the World As We Knew It", was released in 2009 and featured many of the former staffers and jocks. On February 25, 2020, "The End" was re-launched as an internet radio station under the management of former station producer, Dan Binder.
Z 107.9.
On January 15, 1999, WENZ was purchased by Radio One (now named Urban One as of May 2018), 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 – forced Radio One to drop the "Kiss" brand; that September 1, WENZ renamed itself "Z 107.9".
Current programming.
WENZ is the Cleveland affiliate of the nationally syndicated "Morning Hustle" with HeadKrack (via Syndication One). The rest of the day features local programs - including "The Break Room" with Matty Willz middays, "The Day Party" with Rochelle "Ro Digga" Frazier and DJ Ryan Wolfe afternoons, and Urban One syndicated "Incognito" evenings.