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This article is about the "new" WJJZ, "old" WJJZ, and previous stations on the 97.5 MHz frequency. For other stations on the 106.1 MHz frequency, see WISX.

WJJZ-FM
City of license	Burlington, NJ
Broadcast area	Greater Philadelphia/Delaware Valley
Branding	The New Smooth Jazz 97.5 WJJZ
Slogan	Philadelphia's Smooth Jazz/The Smoothest Place on Your Radio
First air date	November 17, 2006
Frequency	97.5 (MHz)
Format	Smooth Jazz
ERP	26,000 watts
Callsign meaning	W J JazZ
Former callsigns	WTOA (1949-1971) WPST (1971-2005) WTHK (2005-2006)
Owner	Greater Media
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 is 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.

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.

Contents 1 History of the 97.5 Frequency 1.1 WTOA 1.2 WPST 1.3 WTHK 1.3.1 Reaction to The Hawk's Loss 2 History of WJJZ 106.1 2.1 Beginnings of the Station 2.2 Strong Ratings 2.3 Decline 2.4 Ending of WJJZ 106.1 3 The New Smooth Jazz 97.5 WJJZ 3.1 Leading up to the Launch 3.2 Launch of the Station 3.3 Airstaff 3.3.1 Weekday Schedule 3.3.2 Saturday Schedule 3.3.3 Sunday Schedule 4 Other Smooth Jazz Radio Stations 5 External Links

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 most of them have already 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 tabbed it as 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 finest ratings, reaching into the top 5 of 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 dismissials of afternoon host Deanna Wright and longtime evening host Desirae McCrae. The music on the air began to feature much less instrumentals and more vocals, featuring the likes of 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 appearing to be taking a bite out of the station's ratings. The station dropped out of the top 10 in ratings, and this also 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. 10-year afternoon host Teri Webb (who has returned to the new station) was dismissed before Christmas, and the Vacation-A-Day giveaway was dropped.

2006 brought some promise with the addition of two new air talents, Sherri Lee Stevens and Salina Jones, as well as a less expensive version of the Vacation giveaway.

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.)

Currently, 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; are working at sister station WSMJ in Baltimore.

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 about their upset, and on the first day of Philly's 106-1, anyone who called to complain could hear many other phones 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", now WUBA "Rumba 104.5"), were not well recieved. Like 106.1, Clear Channel also owns the 104.5 frequency in Philadelphia.

Much to the delight of these fans, Greater Media announced in late October it had plans to flip the format of Burlington, NJ classic rock station WTHK to smooth jazz, change the callsign 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 if any of the previous personalities would be returning. On October 19 Greater Media announced the popular program director from the old WJJZ, Michael Tozzi would be returning. Many other announcements of returning staff members came in the weeks before and after the launch of the station.

Besides airstaff, other people behind the station are Chrissy Sirianni who is the director of promotions. 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, which was once a rival of The Hawk, was simulcasting on 97.5. 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 they heard a recording of Smooth Jazz artists greeting listeners; it was the same recording that was played at the closing of the old WJJZ. Next, the sound of Smooth Jazz was heard, with a soprano saxophone taking the lead. A characteristic of the new station is that it currently has no noticeable jingle similar to that of the old station. As previously stated, the new station's branding places the callsign after the frequency, instead of the other way around.

WJJZ is currently broadcasting from the same transmitter used by WTHK. It was scheduled to move to the same tower used by the old WJJZ, located on Mermaid Lane in Wyndmoor, PA, at sometime in January 2007. This move has not yet occurred, though, due to unknown delays. Some liners for the station have been recorded to inform listeners about the new broadcast signal. After the move, the new station will have almost exactly the same signal as the old station, the only difference being that the new signal will be directional.

After the new station was announced, listeners were told that Michael Tozzi and Gerald Veasley would be members of the airstaff. In the week leading up to the launch, Teri Webb's return was also announced.

At the station's start, there had been very few timeslots where a personality announced the songs. Teri Webb took care of evenings (and weekends), Michael Tozzi hosted middays, and Gerald Veasley filled weekend afternoons, but outside of these times, there were no voices on air.

Starting December 4th, the afternoons were filled by Broadcast Architecture's smooth jazz network, with Dave Koz as the host. Later in the month of December, Bill Simpson returned to take over the evenings from Teri Webb. Simpson is now hosting a new version of Philadelphia After Hours, which was removed from the old station before its end. In early January, Frank Childs, who was very popular at the old station, was brought on as Music Director and overnight host. Later in the same month, Al Winters was hired to host the morning show. Winters is the only personality who has no direct affiliation with the old WJJZ, although he had previously worked at Clear Channel-owned WLVE ("Love 94") in Miami.

WJJZ has also returned to Zanzibar Blue for its "Smooth Jazz Sunday Brunch" broadcast, which existed on the old station. Some other returning programs are "Pathways to Health" and "Standards"

• 12AM to 6AM: Frank Childs

• 6AM to 10AM: Al Winters

• 10AM to 3PM: Michael Tozzi

Listeners Choice every weekday at 12PM

• 3PM to 7PM: "The Smooth Ride Home" with Dave Koz

• 7PM to 12AM: "Philadelphia After Hours" with Bill Simpson

• 12AM to 6AM: Lisa Fairfax

• 6AM to 10AM: Al Winters

• 10AM to 3PM: Teri Webb

• 3PM to 7PM: Gerald Veasley

• 12AM to 6AM: Lisa Fairfax

• 6AM to 7AM: "Pathways to Health" with Bill Simpson

• 7AM to 9AM: "Sunday Soundscapes" with Frank Childs

• 9AM to 11AM: "Dave Koz Radio Show" with Dave Koz

• 11AM to 3PM: "Smooth Jazz Sunday Brunch" with Michael Tozzi, live from Zanzibar Blue

• 3PM to 7PM: Gerald Veasley

• 8PM to 10PM: "Standards" with Michael Tozzi

• 10PM to 12AM: "Legends of Jazz" with Ramsey Lewis

• WSJW in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
• WJZZ in Atlanta, Georgia
• WNWV in Cleveland, Ohio
• WSMJ in Baltimore, Maryland
• KYOT in Phoenix, Arizona
• WSJT in Tampa, Florida
• WQCD in New York, New York
• WJZW in Washington, D.C.

• Query the FCC's FM station database for WJJZ

• Press Release

• Announcement from Berks Jazz Fest

• 97.5 WJJZ's official website

Smooth jazz formatted radio stations in the United States  view • talk • edit
By call sign	KABQ · KBZN · KHJZ · KIFM · KIJZ · KJCD · KJJZ · KJZN · KJZS · KJZY · KKSF · KKSJ · KKXS · KMET · KMGQ · KMYT · KNIK · KOAS · KPKK · KQMO · KRVR · KSFQ · KSNO · KSSJ · KTSJ · KTWV · KUJJ · KVCL · KWJZ · KYOT · KYSJ · WASJ · WAUN-FM · WDSJ · WEIB · WFSK · WGRZ · WJCD · WJJZ · WJSH · WJSJ · WJSJ · WJZA · WJZF · WJZK · WJZL · WJZQ · WJZR · WJZT · WJZW · WJZZ · WKYL · WLOQ · WLVE · WNUA · WNWV · WQCD · WQJC · WQJZ · WROB · WSBZ · WSJF · WSJT · WSJW · WSMJ · WSSJ · WVMV · WXJZ · WYJZ · WZJZ ·
By city	Anchorage, AK · Atlanta, GA · Baltimore, MD · Cadillac, MI · Charlotte, MI · Chicago, IL · Cleveland, OH · Columbus, OH · Coos Bay, OR · Dayton, OH · Denver, CO · Detroit, MI · Fernandina Beach, FL · Folsom, LA · Fort Myers, FL · Fresno, CA · Gainesville, FL · Grand Ledge, MI · Harrisburg, PA · Houston, TX · Indianapolis, IN · Kewaunee, WI · Lafayette, LA · Lakeland, FL · Las Vegas, NV · Lancaster, OH · Lawrenceburg, KY · Llano, TX · Los Angeles, CA · Los Angeles, CA · Melbourne, FL · Miami Beach, FL · Miramar Beach, FL · Modesto, CA · Nashville, TN · New York, NY · Norfolk-Virginia Beach, VA · Northampton, MA · Ocean Pines, MD · Opelousas, LA · Palm Springs, CA · Panama City Beach, FL · Philadelphia, PA · Phoenix, AZ · Quincy, IL · Redding, CA · Reno, NV · Rincon, GA · Rochester, NY · Sacramento, CA · Saint Augustine Beach, FL · Salt Lake City, UT · San Diego, CA · San Francisco, CA · Santa Barbara, CA · Santa Fe-Albuquerque, NM · Santa Fe, NM · Santa Rosa, CA · Seattle, WA · Shell Knob, MO · Snowmass Village, CO · Standish, ME · Tampa, FL · Temecula, CA · Vancouver, WA · Washington, DC · West Point, MS · Weston, OR · Winnfield,vLA · Winter Park, FL · Woodville, FL · Yulee, FL See also Easy Listening