northeast ohio branding z 107.9 slogan cleveland s blazin hip hop and r & b frequency 107.9 mhz also on hd radio first air date april 5 1958 format mainstream urban hd2 news talk were simulcast erp 16 000 watts horizontal 15 000 watts vertical haat 272 meters class b facility id 2685 transmitter coordinates 41 27 54.00 n 81 17 13.00 w 41.4650000 n 81.2869444 w 41.4650000 ; 81.2869444 callsign meaning the end former callsigns wnob 1958 70 welw fm 1970 75 wdmt 1975 87 wphr 1987 92 owner radio one inc. blue chip broadcasting licenses ltd. sister stations were wjmo wzak webcast listen live hd2 listen live website zhiphopcleveland.com wenz 107.9 fm branded z 107.9 is a commercial mainstream urban radio station licensed to cleveland ohio serving greater cleveland and much of surrounding northeast ohio . owned by radio 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 . 1 contents 1 history 1.1 early years 1.2 disco 108 1.3 power 108 1.4 107.9 the end 1.5 z 107.9 2 current programming 3 references 4 external links history edit early years edit the station debuted on april 5 1958 as wnob northern ohio broadcasting was started by 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 edit 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 which happened to be a well known catchphrase by comic and actor jimmie kid dynomite walker on the popular sitcom good times . in 1976 the station switched to the then popular disco format and took the moniker disco 108 . this is where the urban influence started and in 1978 the station switched to an urban contemporary format as the new fm 108 wdmt . wdmt was one of the first urban formatted fm stations in the country . it is during this era that the popular club style show was initiated 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 ghoul were popular djs during this period . in 1985 the air staff appeared with arsenio hall on the first urban music awards show . the station s early disco and 80s urban 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 edit power 108 logo in 1987 the call letters were changed to wphr and the station re branded itself as power 108 along with a switch to top 40 . in 1988 the station was sold to ardman broadcasting for 2.8 million . personalities during this period included program director 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 with james jammin jimmy hart and kmel wqht alum sonny joe fox among others . wphr moved its studios to playhouse square in late 1988 . 107.9 the end edit 107.9 the end logo 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 . 2 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 . there was a documentary film made about the end entitled the end of the world as we knew it released in 2009 . it featured many of the former staffers and jocks . 3 z 107.9 edit on january 15 1999 wenz was purchased by radio one 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. 4 however legal action from clear channel communications which claimed exclusive rights to the kiss brand in the state of ohio through chr station waks 104.9 fm forced radio one to drop the kiss brand at wenz . on september 1 1999 wenz branded itself z 107.9 . 5 6 current programming edit wenz is the cleveland affiliate of the nationally syndicated the rickey smiley morning show via syndication one . 7 the rest of the day features local djs including robin bijou star sandler middays rochelle ro digga frazier & keenan dj knyce williams afternoons jared incognito mcgriff evenings and moquick overnights . 8 9 references edit http hdradio.com station guides widget.php id 70 cleveland hd radio guide http www.americanradiohistory.com archive randr 1990s 1992 rr 1992 05 15.pdf http www.imdb.com title tt1384803 http www.americanradiohistory.com archive randr 1990s 1999 rr 1999 05 21.pdf feran tom may 26 1999 . one station may have to kiss name goodbye . the plain dealer . the plain dealer publishing co. p. 1e entertainment . feran tom september 25 1999 . swoboda backs to news as anchor on tv 5 at 11 . the plain dealer . the plain dealer publishing co. p. 6e entertainment . affiliates . the rickey smiley morning show . 2012 02 08 . retrieved 2013 04 10 . show schedules z 107.9 . zhiphopcleveland.com . retrieved 2013 04 10 . rickey smiley morning show debuts in cleveland . radio info.com . june 7 2010 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to wenz . official website query the fcc s fm station database for wenz radio locator information on wenz query nielsen audio s fm station database for wenz cleveland broadcast radio archives wenz timeline newstalkcleveland.com wenz hd2 v t e radio stations in the cleveland ohio market by fm frequency 87.7 88.3 88.3 88.7 89.3 90.3 91.1 91.5 92.3 93.1 95.5 96.5 98.5 99.1 99.5 100.7 102.1 103.3 104.1 104.9 105.7 106.5 107.3 107.9 by am frequency 850 930 1000 1040 1100 1220 1260 1300 1320 1330 1380 1420 1460 1490 1540 1560 defunct by wx frequency 162.55 by callsign khb59 w256bt wabq waks watj defunct wbwc wccd wccr wclv wcpn wcrf fm wcsb wdlw wdok wenz weol were wfhm fm wgar fm whk whkw whlk whwn wint wjcu wjmo wjtb wkhr wknr wkrk fm wlfm lp wmji wmms wncx wnwv wobl wqal wruw fm wtam wwgk wzak online owow radio ohio radio markets akron canton cincinnati cleveland columbus dayton lima marietta toledo youngstown warren other ohio radio regions ashtabula ironton mid ohio sandusky southern ohio wheeling steubenville see also list of radio stations in ohio radio stations in southwestern ontario clear channel stations with extended nighttime coverage . v t e radio one key people cathy hughes chairman and ceo radio shows the tom joyner morning show via reach media under contract russ parr morning show via aurn the yolanda adams morning show the donnie simpson show radio stations mainstream urban kbfb kbxx wcdx wckx wenz werq fm wgpr1 whhl whta wizf wkys wqnc wqok urban adult contemporary kmjq wamj wbmo wdmk wfxc wfxk wkjm wkjs wmmj wrnb wtlc fm wumj wwin fm wxmg wzak urban gospel wjmo wjyd wnnl wppz fm wprs fm wpze wpzr wpzs wpzz wtlc wwin wycb urban talk wchb wdbz were wol wolb wtps chr wnow fm rhythmic chr whhh rhythmic oldies wfun fm wosf wosl classic hip hop kroi ksoc wphi fm w275bk china radio international wild other wdni cd telemundo tv one interactive one 1 owned by international free and accepted modern masons and operated by radio one under an lma . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title wenz & oldid 743407439 categories hd radio stations1958 establishments in ohioafrican american history in clevelandmainstream urban radio stationsradio one stationsradio stations established in 1958radio stations in clevelandhidden categories commons category template with no category setcommons category without a link on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured 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