the kdka fm callsign see wltj . kdka fm city pittsburgh pennsylvania broadcast area pittsburgh metropolitan area branding sportsradio 93.7 the fan slogan pittsburgh s hometown sports station frequency 93.7 mhz also on hd radio first air date 1953 1953 format 93.7 hd 1 sports talk 93.7 hd 2 kdka simulcast 93.7 hd 3 cbs sports radio erp 41 000 watts haat 167 meters class b facility id 20350 callsign meaning taken from sister station kdka former callsigns wkjf fm 1950s after 1968 1 wkoi 1974 wjoi 1974 12 10 1981 wbzz 12 10 1981 07 07 2004 wrkz 07 07 2004 04 02 2007 wtzn fm 04 02 2007 11 27 2007 wbzw fm 11 27 2007 02 15 2010 affiliations pittsburgh pirates radio network cbs sports radio nfl on westwood one owner cbs radio cbs radio stations inc. sister stations kdka kdka tv wbzz wdsy fm wpcw webcast listen live website www.937thefan.com kdka fm 93.7 fm branded as sportsradio 93.7 the fan is a radio station in pittsburgh pennsylvania . owned by cbs radio the station operates at 93.7 mhz with an erp of 41 kw . its studios are located at foster plaza in green tree west of downtown pittsburgh and the transmitter is located on mount washington next to their former studios in pittsburgh s south shore area . the station programs a sports radio format and serves as the flagship station for the pittsburgh pirates of major league baseball mlb . it simulcasts its am namesake kdka on its hd2 subchannel while hd3 is the national broadcast feed of cbs sports radio . contents 1 history 1.1 early years 1.2 wbzz b94 1.3 the k rock years and the zone experiment 1.4 revert to b94 1.5 kdka fm sportsradio 93.7 the fan 2 references 3 external links history edit early years edit the 93.7 frequency in pittsburgh began its life as wkjf fm in the 1950s an independently owned fm station . for a brief time there was a co owned uhf tv station wkjf tv channel 53 ; now occupied by wpgh tv which operated in 1953 54 . during its early incarnations as wkjf wkoi and wjoi the station programmed a beautiful music format . during the 1960s bill hillgrove who would later become a pittsburgh sportscaster was a staff member and hosted a saturday night big band show titled stereo dance party . for many years the station was owned by ez communications . wbzz b94 edit debuting on april 12 1981 wbzz b94 was the city s number one top 40 music station tailoring its programming to not only a younger audience but also a pittsburgh audience . 2 the first song played after the format switch was you may be right by billy joel . b94 featured local morning shows such as quinn and banana featuring jim quinn and banana don jefferson from its debut in 1983 until 1993 and john dave bubba shelly with some minor personality changes from 1993 through 2004 . in addition the station as a whole featured a mostly local airstaff who were born and or raised in the area . ez communications would merge with american radio systems in july 1997 with ars merging with infinity broadcasting owned by cbs radio in september of that year . infinity would be renamed cbs radio in december 2005 . in 1998 the station relocated from its longtime studios on mount washington to foster plaza in green tree . in 2000 clear channel communications unveiled a new chr format kiss fm on wkst fm . the new station began to take a large chunk out of b94 s audience . with more syndicated programming featuring famous national on air talent and focusing more on the younger audience b94 for the first time saw itself slipping into second place . also not helping matters was sister station wzpt switching to a hot ac format at the same time which while it played a mix of 1980s and 1990s music with current hits otherwise had a similar format to b94 . in february 2003 wbzz tweaked its name by calling itself 93 7 bzz . this was done because the station didn t want any confusion of exactly where it was on the radio dial especially considering that the only station in pittsburgh actually on the 94 range wwsw fm had an oldies format . it was also done to re image the station to compete with wkst and because most radio stations sound out their exact frequency rather than rounding it due to the spread of digital tuners . later in mid 2004 the station tweaked its name again calling itself b93 7 . the k rock years and the zone experiment edit in 2004 clear channel yanked howard stern from all of their owned stations that aired his show including the local wxdx fm . in response wbzz operations manager keith clark decided to flip the station s format after 23 years and not only pick up howard stern which he saw as a golden opportunity to improve the station s ratings but unveil a new active rock format known as 93 7 k rock to compete with clear channel s other rock stations . on june 30 2004 at 8 a.m. without much warning wbzz s on air talent gathered to say goodbye to pittsburgh thanking the city for its support throughout the years . wbzz ended the top 40 format at 8 30 a.m. with move this by technotronic while k rock s first song was for those about to rock by ac dc . 3 4 5 6 7 listeners that had liked wbzz but didn t like the new rock format were encouraged on air to listen to sister station wzpt . the wbzz call letters would be replaced by wrkz on july 7 2004 . ratings for the station improved initially after the switch but began to decline before howard stern s departure for sirius satellite radio . to replace stern the station carried david lee roth s radio show as his replacement . however due to low ratings roth was replaced by opie and anthony less than three months after his debut . the afternoon drive show of kidd chris from co owned wysp in philadelphia aired on 93.7 from august 28 2006 until march 19 2007 . on april 2 2007 wrkz became 93.7 the zone and changed its call signs to wtzn fm in the process . this left pittsburgh without an active rock station until wkve flipped to it in 2009 . the new station although not carrying the free fm name in its branding was considered to be part of cbs s hot talk network by that name the only station to affiliate with the network after the initial launch . joining the lineup were opie and anthony pittsburgh native dennis miller and former wdve personality scott paulsen . 8 the station also carried programming from sporting news radio . miller and paulsen were displaced to kdka when the format was abandoned . revert to b94 edit logo for the revival of b94 used from october 2007 to february 2010 on monday october 1 2007 at 10 am after opie and anthony wtzn began stunting with christmas music in anticipation of a format flip scheduled for later that week . 9 the station made some fairly obvious hints as to the future of the station advertising something s missing in pitts urgh and asking what is missing in pitts urgh prompting visitors to go to a message board at http www.pitts urgh.com where there was a message board asking what do you miss the most about pittsburgh among the choices being b94 radio . b94 returned to pittsburgh the following friday october 5 at 5 pm with its first song being justin timberlake s sexyback . this marked cbs radio s first top 40 station launch of the late 2000s ; it would later launch the format in houston kkhh san francisco kmvq fm new york city wxrk los angeles kamp fm and detroit wvmv . the return of b94 was apparently part of a cbs radio initiative of resurrecting radio stations that had been killed off for other formats such as wcbs fm in new york and kfrc fm in san francisco . however unlike those stations which carry classic hits formats b94 played current hits . on november 27 2007 wtzn switched its call sign to wbzw fm to reflect its new format . b94 s former call letters wbzz were in use by an adult contemporary radio station in malta new york . that station is now known as wqsh and cbs has indicated an intention to reacquire the call signs for use on one of its properties which would later be at wzpt . in the wake of wamo fm s departure from the urban contemporary format in september 2009 after it was sold to a catholic based organization wbzw managed to take advantage of the situation by adding current r & b hip hop tracks to pick up the displaced wamo listeners even at the expense of the more rhythmic heavy wkst but at the same time stay within the mainstream top 40 chr realm due to wkst s rhythmic direction . kdka fm sportsradio 93.7 the fan edit on january 19 2010 it was announced that cbs radio would drop b94 again and would flip the frequency to sports talk launching february 15 2010 under the name sportsradio 93.7 the fan . 10 again the change was part of an initiative by cbs to establish fm sports talk stations ; often displacing heritage music stations in the process wbz fm in boston was another example of this . the station will focus on local sports programming while going head to head with weae and wbgg which are owned by espn radio and affiliated with fox sports radio respectively . much like the previous abandonment of b94 the station s format was merged into wzpt star 100.7 . bubba and melanie from the former b94 morning show have both moved to star 100.7 with bubba joining jr and shelly on the morning show and melanie taylor taking the midday shift . former wzpt midday jock scott alexander slides to afternoons prompting the exit of former star afternoon personality jonny hartwell . kobe b94 s afternoon jock and music director and flick b94 s night jock were both released . flick eventually wound up at wkst and then the current wbzz wzpt would adopt the call letters in 2011 . midday guy sean coop cooper was transferred to nights at wycd in detroit . 11 the end of b94 came in the late hours of the 14th when 93.7 began stunting with music played at sports events also known as jock jams and liners redirecting listeners of b94 to star before the flip officially occurred at 6 am on the 15th . many station liners are also used with a different branding on sister stations wscr in chicago wkrk fm in cleveland and wfan wfan fm in new york . the station also adopted the call sign kdka fm on february 15 2010 to reflect the recent trend for cbs radio all sports stations in markets with a heritage cbs owned station to have matching call signs in this case kdka tv and the historic kdka radio . in 2012 kdka fm became the flagship station for the pittsburgh pirates radio network . pittsburgh portal radio portal references edit http www.pbrtv.com stations in the late 1960s http www.americanradiohistory.com archive billboard 80s 1981 bb 1981 04 18.pdf http www.fybush.com nerw 2004 040712 nerw.html http www.freerepublic.com focus f news 1163905 posts http www.post gazette.com ae radioland 2004 07 01 stern returns to pittsburgh radio stories 200407010184 http www.bizjournals.com pittsburgh stories 2004 06 28 daily35.html http www.americanradiohistory.com archive randr 2000s 2004 rr 2004 07 09.pdf 1