WJZ (AM)
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WJZ (1300
WJZ is powered at 5,000 watts, using a
History
WEAR (1922–1924)
Effective December 1, 1921, the U.S. Department of Commerce, in charge of radio at the time, adopted a regulation formally establishing a broadcasting station category, which set aside the wavelength of 360 meters (833 kHz) for entertainment broadcasts, and 485 meters (619 kHz) for farm market and weather reports.[10] On June 3, 1922, the Baltimore American & News Publishing Company was issued a license for a new station on the shared 360-meter "entertainment" wavelength.[11] The station's call letters, WEAR, were randomly assigned from a sequential roster of available call signs.
WEAR was the third broadcasting station licensed in the state of Maryland, following two earlier Baltimore grants: WKC, which had been licensed the previous March,[12] followed by WCAO in May.[13]
WEAR's June 8 inaugural program included a speech from Mayor
In 1924 WEAR was reassigned to 1150 kHz.[16] The station was deleted on October 27, 1924.[17]
WFBR (1924–1990)
Equipment formerly used by WEAR was acquired to establish another station. On November 3, 1924, the Fifth Regiment of the Maryland National Guard received a license for a station on 1180 kHz.[18][19] The new station's call letters, WFBR, were also randomly assigned from the sequential list of available call signs; other new stations licensed the same month included WFBK (Hanover, New Hampshire), WFBL (Syracuse, New York), WFBM (Indianapolis, Indiana), WFBN (Bridgewater, Massachusetts), WFBQ (Raleigh, North Carolina), WFBT (Pitman, New Jersey and WFBU (Boston, Massachusetts).[18] A tradition later developed that WFBR could be rendered as "World's First Broadcasting Regiment".[20] Another slogan, also derived from the call letters, was "First Baltimore Radio".[21]
WFBR's original studios were located at the
WFBR broadcast dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows and
In the 1960s, as network programming moved to television, the station switched its format. WFBR was a
In the 1970s, WFBR's on-air talent featured popular personalities such as "The Flying Dutchman" Pete Berry; Ron Matz, and his fictitious alter-ego, "Harry Horni";
From 1979 through 1986, WFBR was the radio flagship station for Baltimore Orioles major league baseball. The team had previously aired its games on WBAL. Under the leadership of Shriver, WFBR promoted the team to new levels and to a younger audience, and created what became known as "Oriole Magic".[29] From 1979 through 1982, the Orioles radio broadcast team featured longtime announcers Chuck Thompson and Bill O'Donnell, along with WFBR veteran broadcaster Tom Marr. O'Donnell left the broadcast team early in the 1982 season due to an illness from which he eventually died later that year. After the 1982 season, Chuck Thompson moved from the radio booth to do the TV broadcasts full-time on WMAR-TV, with Brooks Robinson. Once Thompson left the radio booth, WFBR's general manager Harry Shriver replaced him by hiring the now legendary Jon Miller to team up with Marr on the radio broadcasts.
Musically, WFBR evolved from Top 40 to an
In 1984, the station began broadcasting in
, early Motown music, and others. After the sale and format switch, most of WFBR's former on-air personalities moved to WCBM which was under new management at the time, and adopted most aspects of WFBR's news/talk format, which it still airs today. Ratings for the reformatted WFBR were very low as of the summer of 1989. The station would then switch to a business news format, which only lasted for a brief time, and station management eventually changed its call letters, thus successfully killing one of the great radio stations in Baltimore history.WLIF/WJFK (1990–2008)
On January 29, 1990, WFBR dropped the business news format, and began
On October 1, 1991, the station split from the WLIF simulcast and was renamed WJFK. WJFK was originally simulcast with WJFK-FM, a talk radio station that serves the Washington metropolitan area. This change was precipitated by WJFK-FM's addition of Howard Stern, which was also on Infinity's stations in New York and Philadelphia. This simulcast brought Stern to the Baltimore market.[32][33]
When the Cleveland Browns relocated to Baltimore in 1996 and became the Ravens, WJFK (AM) was named as the football team's radio flagship station, with games simulcast on WLIF, and later, WQSR. Longtime WMAR-TV sports anchor Scott Garceau was named the lead play-by-play man, with former Baltimore Colts running back Tom Matte as the color commentator. WJFK held the broadcast rights for the Ravens from through the 2005 NFL season, after which the rights were acquired by WBAL. To fill the gap in the team's coverage, WJFK and sister station WHFS aired Baltimore Gameday Uncensored throughout the 2006 season; the show was hosted by former Ravens announcers Scott Garceau and Tom Matte.
On March 10, 2003, the same day WXYV flipped from
WJZ
WJFK changed its call sign to WJZ, while WHFS changed its call letters to
On February 2, 2017, CBS agreed to merge CBS Radio with
On June 21, 2021, WJZ flipped to
History of the WJZ call letters
The WJZ
WJZ was sold in 1923 to the
In 1953, ABC merged with
References
- ^ a b c d Rasmussen, Fred (June 1, 1997). "WEAR was radio pioneer Media: It was expected that the new communications device would boost newspaper circulation and advertising". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
- ^ a b c "Call Sign History: Facility ID #28636". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WJZ". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "WJZ-AM 1300 kHz Baltimore, Maryland" (Radio-Locator.com)
- ^ "W285EJ-FM 104.9 MHz White Marsh, Maryland" (Radio-Locator.com)
- ^ a b "President Harding Extols Francis Scott Key And The 'Star-Spangled Banner'", Baltimore American, June 15, 1922, page 1. At least two earlier Harding speeches in Washington, D.C. had been broadcast by U.S. Navy radio stations: a May 18, 1922, speech before the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, carried by NOF, and the May 30, 1922, Lincoln Memorial dedication, carried by NOF and NAA. Plans by the Navy to also carry the Baltimore speech were never implemented.
- ^ a b "Chronology of Milestones: Programming in the Public Interest: Politics", The First Quarter-century of American Broadcasting by Edward P. J. Shurick, 1946, page 265.
- ^ "WFBR (WJZ) history cards" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
- ^ "Radio stations 40 or more years old in 1962" (WFBR entry), Broadcasting, May 14, 1962, page 128.
- ^ "Amendments to Regulations", Radio Service Bulletin, January 3, 1922, page 10.
- ^ "News Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, July 1, 1922, page 3. Limited Commercial license for station WEAR, serial No. 444, issued June 3, 1922, to the Baltimore American & News Publishing Company for a three-month period, for operation on 360 meters.
- ^ "New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, April 1, 1922, page 2. Limited Commercial license for station WKC, serial No. 557, issued March 23, 1922, for a three-month period to the Joseph M. Zamoiski Company, for operation on 360 meters.
- ^ "New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, June 1, 1922, page 2. Limited Commercial license for station WCAO, serial No. 366, issued May 8, 1922, for a three-month period to the Sanders & Stayman Company, for operation on 360 meters.
- ^ "The American's Broadcasting Station Begins Concerts Tonight", Baltimore American, June 8, 1922, page 20.
- ^ "10,000 Hear the American Radio Concert", Baltimore American, June 9, 1922, page 24.
- ^ "Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, May 1, 1924, page 8.
- ^ "Strike out all particulars", Radio Service Bulletin, November 1, 1924, page 10.
- ^ a b "New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, November 1, 1924, page 3.
- ^ Hyder, William (May 14, 1972). "50 Years Ago, Baltimore Got its First Radio Station". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
- ^ "What's in a Station's Call" by Madeleine Moschenross, Western Electric Pick-Ups, May 1936, page 9.
- ^ "Oldradio's Radio/TV Station Call Letter Origins" (oldradio.com)
- ^ "Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, August 31, 1927, page 6.
- ^ "Broadcasting Stations, alphabetically by States and cities", Radio Service Bulletin, February 28, 1929,page 17.
- ^ "1922—Year Radio's Population Soared: Present Ownership", Broadcasting, May 14, 1962, page 103.
- ^ "Changes in Affiliations Of NBC in Baltimore and Pittsburgh Outlined", Broadcasting, April 14, 1941, page 18.
- ^ Radio Broadcast Stations, Federal Communications Commission (March 29, 1941, edition), page 58.
- ^ "WFBR Will Shift To Blue June 15", Broadcasting, January 29, 1945, page 14.
- ^ WFBR (advertisement), Broadcasting, April 18, 1955, page 41.
- ^ a b c d e f Kaltenbach, Chris (June 15, 1997). "Alumni of 'Mad Radio 13' gathering for reunion WFBR: A few hundred former employees will meet Saturday to reminisce about the late, great station". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
- ^ Goldstein, Alan (July 5, 2007). "Remembering Eckman". Press Box. 2 (27). Baltimore, Maryland: Word Smith Media Ventures, LLC.
- ^ "Vox Jox" by Sean Eoss with Craig Rosen & Phyllis Stark, Billboard, January 27, 1990, page 14.
- ^ Badger, Sylvia. "Howard Stern makes radio waves here". The Baltimore Sun.
- ^ Siegel, Eric. "Good morning, Baltimore is your radio ready for Howard Stern?". The Baltimore Sun.
- ^ "WXYV/Baltimore Goes 'Live' As WJFK-AM Shifts To Sports", Radio & Records, March 14, 2003, page 3.
- ^ Klingaman, Mike (June 29, 2003). "In tune with sports". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
- ^ Zurawik, David (June 21, 2012). "CBS to launch national sports radio network - Baltimore's WJZ-FM and AM key players". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
- ^ "CBS Sets Radio Division Merger With Entercom". Variety. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
- ^ "CBS and Entercom Are Merging Their Radio Stations". Fortune. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
- ^ "Entercom Receives FCC Approval for Merger with CBS Radio". Entercom. November 9, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
- ^ Venta, Lance (November 17, 2017). "Entercom Completes CBS Radio Merger". Radio Insight. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
- ^ Audacy Flips Seven Stations To BetQL Network Radioinsight - June 21, 2021
- ^ Has the HFS Alternative Brand Met its Final Demise?
- ISBN 978-0-7864-3848-8. P. 5.
External links
- WJZ in the FCC AM station database
- WJZ in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
- FCC History Cards for WJZ (covering 1927-1981 as WFBR)