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WJJZ
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| WJJZ | |
 |
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| City of license | Burlington, NJ |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater Philadelphia/Delaware Valley |
| Branding | The New Smooth Jazz WJJZ 97.5 |
| Slogan | Philadelphia's Smooth Jazz/The Smoothest Place on Your Radio |
| Frequency | 97.5 (MHz) |
| First air date | November 17, 2006 |
| Format | Smooth Jazz |
| ERP | 26,000 watts |
| HAAT | 208 meters |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 47427 |
| Callsign meaning | W J JazZ |
| Former callsigns | WTOA (1949-1971) WPST (1971-2005) WTHK (2005-2006) |
| Owner | Greater Media |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | www.975wjjz.com |
WJJZ, off the air between August 10, 2006 and November 17, 2006, is a smooth jazz station in the Philadelphia market. The WJJZ callsign and name once owned by Clear Channel began broadcasting the smooth jazz format on the 106.1 frequency in the early 1990s, and continued through 2006. Previous stations under the callsign WJJZ broadcast Beautiful Music and Top 40 formats.
The original station's branding practice was "Smooth Jazz WJJZ 106.1", which was reflected in its on-air jingles and station logo. The new station was originally branded "Smooth Jazz 97.5 WJJZ", with the frequency coming before the callsign. The old station had a very catchy jingle, which had many versions. Some had the words "SMOOTH JAZZ WJJZ 106 POINT 1" sung to the tune, while others had the tune simply played in a jazz like style. Here is a link to the standard version, upon which all the other versions were based. The jingle was nearly always played in between songs. Other Smooth Jazz stations owned by Clear Channel continue to use similar jingles. Approximately 8 months after its launch, the new WJJZ introduced a its own jingle, with the words "Smooth Jazz 97.5 WJJZ" sung to the background of a popular smooth jazz song. This lasted only until November 2007, when the station reverted to the jingles used by the old station at 106.1, although the new station does not have a version with words. In addition, the new station has begun to use the old station's branding practice as well, and is now known as "Smooth Jazz WJJZ 97.5."
The callsign was acquired by Greater Media in October 2006. The new station is billed as "The New Smooth Jazz 97.5 WJJZ", to further distinguish itself from its 106.1 predecessor.
On Friday, June 15, 2007, WJJZ began transmission at its new transmitter site in Wyndmoor, PA, moving from its former transmitter in Trenton. It now shares a tower with WISX 106.1 (which, ironically, was WJJZ/Smooth Jazz up until September 2006), giving significant improvements to sound quality and increases its reach to the Delaware Valley, including Philadelphia, Bucks County, Delaware County and Wilmington, Delaware
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97.5 started life initially on January 10, 1949, then officially on April 19, 1949, as WTOA. It was owned by the Mercer Broadcasting Company, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Trenton Times newspaper. WTOA started out broadcasting from 3pm to 11pm, with an ERP of 14,500 watts. Its original coverage area reached as far north as Brooklyn NY and as far west as Reading PA. 97.5 became WPST on September 13, 1971.
The WPST calls originally stood for "Passport Stereo Trenton," a slogan of the station at the time. WPST is known for its mainstream CHR format, which they've had for many years. Tom Taylor was the PD who launched the format in the mid 1970's, and did mornings on the station until 1987. In August 1975, owner Herb Hobler hired Phil Gieger as the General Manager. Along with Tom Taylor, they revamped the station and coined the phrase, "From The Shore To The Poconos, The Music Is On The FM 97.5 WPST." They initially established an Adult Rock format, and by the Fall of 1975, the station took off and eventually became the number one station in the market. Some WPST DJ's over the years included John Mellon (aka Walt Ballard), Ed Johnson, Doug James, John Brown, Eddie Davis, Trish Merelo, Andy Gury, Brian Douglas, Mel Toxic, Jay Sorensen, Dave Hoeffel, Tom Cunningham, Michelle Stevens, Eric Johnson, Mark Sheppard, Andre Gardner, Phil Simon, Steve Trevelise, Joel Katz, Rich DeSisto and Scott Lowe. Caricatures of the WPST DJ's, circa 1977, can be found here.
On February 14, 2005, at 5pm, 97.5 "switched" frequencies and formats with 94.5 WTHK. Branded on air as "The Hawk", WTHK had a classic rock format. The Hawk was owned by Nassau Broadcasting. The transmitter was located in Trenton, and originally, the city of license was also Trenton. In August 2005, 97.5's city of license was changed from Trenton to Burlington.
WTHK 97.5 The Hawk signed off the air forever on November 15th, 2006 at 7 PM EST. Shortly after that, Greater Media aired a simulcast of WMGK, The Hawk's one-time competitor, on 97.5 until the sign on of WJJZ. Because WMGK is also a classic rock station, WTHK was ultimately discontinued in favor of WJJZ.
About 3 minutes before WJJZ was to take over, messages urged listeners to reprogram their radios to 102.9 WMGK to continue enjoying the classic rock. After the message, it was announced that "This is 97.5 WTHK The Hawk", and there was silence.
It is expected that many former listeners of WTHK will react the same way WJJZ's listeners did when Clear Channel discontinued the latter station in August 2006. The Hawk had a very loyal fanbase, and many said that they will not switch to its former competitor, Greater Media's WMGK. By virtue of The Hawk's demise, WMGK is now Philadelphia's lone classic rock station.
Note, however, that WCHR FM still exists, carrying both the name "The Hawk" and much of the same content as the former WTHK. It is audible, though a weak station, at the eastern edge of the Philadelphia market.
Smooth Jazz WJJZ 106.1 began its journey on March 13, 1993 at 1:03 pm, taking over from Eagle 106. The smooth jazz format was a growing phenomenon at the time.
At first, WJJZ lacked ratings and success and it seemed 106.1 was headed for another format change. In its early years, WJJZ featured an eclectic mix of contemporary jazz, some new age music, as well as a sprinkling of adult contemporary vocals. The Smooth Jazz format evolved however, and by the mid 90s, under the ownership of the Evergreen Media Corporation, WJJZ began to phase out the new age music and broad variety of contemporary jazz it played with more adult contemporary crossovers and some soft R&B. This coincided with its first strong ratings showings.
WJJZ was becoming a fixture in Philadelphia radio, with free smooth jazz listener party concerts, and music not heard anywhere else. Also during the period, the station introduced the Vacation-A-Day giveaway, giving away free vacations to different locales. The station called it the biggest giveaway in Philadelphia radio history.
In 1997, Evergreen Media was purchased by Chancellor Media, which eventually was purchased by AMFM and finally became part of conglomerate Clear Channel. During the late 90s, WJJZ saw its best ratings, reaching the top 5 in the Arbitrons for Philadelphia. However, like many stations across the country, the effect of cutbacks by owner Clear Channel started to take its toll.
2002 saw the dismissals of afternoon host Deanna Wright and longtime evening host Desirae McCrae. The music on the air began to feature far fewer instrumentals and more vocals, including Stevie Wonder, Al Green, The Police, Gladys Knight & The Pips, and Madonna, while still being called "smooth jazz". Ratings continued to be solid until 2004, which also coincided with the sign-on of urban adult contemporary station WRNB and gospel station WPPZ, both of which appeared to be taking a bite out of the station's ratings. WJJZ dropped out of the Top 10 in ratings and this led to adverse effects on its advertising rates. By the end of 2005, the signs were not looking positive for the heritage smooth jazz station. Ten-year afternoon host, Teri Webb, was dismissed before Christmas, and the Vacation-A-Day giveaway was dropped.
The following year brought some promise with a less expensive version of the Vacation giveaway and the addition of two new air talents, Sherri Lee Stevens and Salina Jones (previously with KJZI-FM Twin Cities, hired just after that smooth jazz station flipped to talk as KTLK-FM).
The final lineup of airstaff included program director Michael Tozzi (on-air 8-2 M-F and Sunday Brunch); Gerald Veasley [1] (Weekends 3-7); Salina Jones "The Smooth Ride Home" [2] (2-7 M-F, 10-3 Sat); Sherri Lee Stevens (5:30-8 M-F); Loni Taylor [3] (7-Midnight M-S); Frank Childs (Midnight-5:30 M-F, 6-10 Sat), and Greg Purcell (Sundays).
Despite attempted improvements, and the fact that Loni Taylor was #2 at night and Salina Jones brought key ratings up [4], rumors began to swirl in July that a format change was imminent. WJJZ 106.1 stopped playing smooth jazz at noon August 10, 2006, and flipped to the rhythmic adult contemporary format. After a eulogy of the station by program director Michael Tozzi, 'She's Gone' by Daryl Hall played, then after a brief pause, 'Let's Get It Started in Here' by the Black Eyed Peas began to play. The station name became 'Philly's 106.1', still carrying the WJJZ callsign.
It was the end of an era. Waiting rooms across the Delaware Valley fell silent as office workers quickly realized that this new station was not acceptable to that environment. Now, many in the area would have nothing to look forward to all day long like they once looked forward to their smooth ride home with Salina Jones. After a month, the callsign for 'Philly's 106.1' became WISX, and the WJJZ callsign was left open. WISX continues to broadcast the smooth jazz format on its HD2 station, and on an internet stream from its website. The HD2 station is accessible by visiting WJJZ.com. (It is anticipated, though, that Clear Channel will eventually be forced to change the format of its HD2 station sometime after WJJZ's debut on the 97.5 frequency.)
At that time, Loni Taylor, who hosted the mornings at her start, and the 7-midnight timeslot up until the demise of the old station; and Bill Simpson, who hosted the "Philadelphia After Hours" 7-midnight show, which was dropped before the ending of the old station; were working at sister station WSMJ in Baltimore; Simpson has since returned to the new WJJZ as the host of a revived "Philadelphia After Hours," while Taylor is now a featured voice on Jones Radio Networks' Smooth Jazz stations.
It would be 99 days before smooth jazz returned to the Philadelphia airwaves.
Many former Smooth Jazz 106.1 listeners protested angrily when the format was abandoned in Philadelphia. They were extremely vocal and on the first day of Philly's 106.1, anyone who called to complain could hear telephones ringing in the background. There were twenty-two pages of mostly angry posts on Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer's website, and the format change of 106.1, as well as that of 104.5 (WSNI "Sunny 104.5", which eventually went Spanish as "La Rumba/104.5", but has since flipped formats again. The station is now Radio 104.5 WRFF). Like 106.1, Clear Channel also owns the 104.5 frequency in Philadelphia.
Much to the delight of fans, Greater Media announced in late October that it had plans to flip the format of Burlington, NJ classic rock station WTHK to smooth jazz, change the call sign to WJJZ and broadcast on 97.5. WTHK was owned by Nassau Broadcasting, and Greater Media had plans to purchase it even before it was known that a new smooth jazz station would be created. It had also been rumored that Radio One was considering the format for its current hip-hop outlet WPHI-FM ("100.3 The Beat"); it already owns smooth jazz stations in Atlanta (WJZZ) and Indianapolis (WYJZ).
Greater Media was quick to park the WJJZ call letters at AM station WWTR, in Bridgewater, NJ, for approximately 1 month leading up to the launch. WWTR, which is a simulcast of WMTR, a Greater Media owned oldies stations, was changed to WJJZ during that time. It returned to WWTR after WJJZ moved back to the FM frequency. Although it is possible to have multiple stations with the same letters (on different bands), they must all be under the same ownership. This prevented a rival from gaining these letters.
When the return of the station was announced, there was some question as to whether or not any of the familiar personalities would be returning. On October 19, Greater Media announced that Michael Tozzi, the old frequency's former program director, would be returning but other staff announcements would come in the weeks before and the months after the launch of the new station.
The official transfer of ownership took place on November 15, when WTHK signed off and shut down the transmitter.
On November 16, at noon, a countdown timer was added to the front page of the new station's website, 975WJJZ.com. Headlining the timer were the words "Countdown to the Return of WJJZ", and the timer was started at 1 day, 6 hours, 0 minutes and 0 seconds. The timer ran continuously above the station's logo. (The old station's Web address, WJJZ.com, still exists, but the link will automatically redirect to the "Philly's 106.1" website.)
The new WJJZ started out at 6 pm EST on Friday, November 17, 2006. Since November 16, Greater Media-owned classic rock station, WMGK, once a rival of The Hawk, had been simulcasting on 97.5 FM. In the minutes leading up to 6:00 PM, the simulcast ended and listeners were urged to switch to 102.9, if they wanted to continue hearing classic rock. Listeners who stayed tuned to 97.5 heard a minute of silence, then a recording of smooth jazz artists greeting listeners (the same recording that was played at the closing of the old WJJZ). The first song played on the new frequency was the Grover Washington tune "Protect The Dream". Until July, 2007, the station had no identifying jingle, as they did with the former station. At that time, jingle were introduced using both male and female vocalists. However, in November 2007, as a tribute to WJJZ's heyday on the 106.1 frequency, the new station began to use some of the old station's jingles, but without any vocals. For most of the station's life, branding practices placed the station's frequency before the callsign, billing it as 97.5 WJJZ. Recently, this too has changed, and the station is now referred to WJJZ 97.5 by on-air staff, and on the website. These changes may be to recreate the strong image that the old station had.
WJJZ is now broadcasting from the same tower used by the old WJJZ, located on Mermaid Lane in Wyndmoor, PA. It began transmission on June 15, 2007. It's new HD radio was launched on Sunday June 18, 2007. The station now has the same signal strength as before; the only difference is that the new signal is directional.
At the station's start, there had been very few time slots in which a personality announced the songs. Initially, Michael Tozzi hosted middays, Teri Webb (who left the new station in August, 2007) covered evenings and weekend shifts and bassist Gerald Veasley did weekend afternoons. On December 4, WJJZ added Broadcast Architecture's Smooth Jazz Network, with Dave Koz as the afternoon host. Later, Bill Simpson returned to take over evenings, with "Philadelphia After Hours", a staple of the old station. In January, 2007, Frank Childs returned as music director and weeknight overnight host. Later in the same month, Al Winters (formerly of WLVE/"Love 94", in Miami, FL) was hired to host the morning show, and Lisa Fairfax was brought in for weekend overnights.
WJJZ's popular "Smooth Jazz Sunday Brunch", formerly at Robert and Benjamin Bynum's Zanzibar Blue (which closed in April, 2007) has moved to Warmdaddy's, another Bynum brothers establishment. Other returning programs include Bill Simpson's "Pathways to Health Radio" and "Standards" with Michael Tozzi.
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- WNUA in Chicago, Illinois
- 97.5 WJJZ's official website
- Query the FCC's FM station database for WJJZ
- Radio Locator information on WJJZ
- Query Arbitron's FM station database for WJJZ
- Press Release
- Announcement from Berks Jazz Fest