northeast ohio branding 98.5 wncx slogan cleveland s classic rock frequency 98.5 mhz also on hd radio first air date october 23 1948 format classic rock hd2 classic rock erp 16 000 watts haat 293 meters class b facility id 41390 transmitter coordinates 41 20 28.00 n 81 44 24.00 w 41.3411111 n 81.7400000 w 41.3411111 ; 81.7400000 callsign meaning north coast express former callsigns were fm 1948 72 wgcl 1972 86 affiliations cleveland browns radio network cumulus media networks dial global united stations radio networks owner cbs radio cbs radio stations inc. sister stations wdok wkrk fm wqal webcast listen live website 98.5 wncx wncx 98.5 fm branded 98.5 wncx is a commercial classic rock radio station licensed to cleveland ohio serving greater cleveland and much of surrounding northeast ohio . owned by cbs radio wncx serves as a co flagship station for the cleveland browns radio network ; the cleveland affiliate for little steven s underground garage ; and the radio home of michael stanley . the wncx studios are located at the halle building in downtown cleveland while the station transmitter resides in the cleveland suburb of north royalton . besides a standard analog transmission wncx broadcasts over two hd radio channels and is available online . 1 contents 1 history 1.1 early years 1.2 g98 and the north coast express 1.3 evolution to classic rock 1.4 metroplex years 1.4.1 morning troubles 1.5 the howard stern show 1.6 corporate radio 1.7 post stern 2 current programming 3 references 4 further reading 5 external links history edit early years edit 1948 print ad for were fm the station first went on the air in 1948 as were fm and was the fm outlet for were 1300 am where it primarily simulcast the programming of its more popular am sister station over the next 24 years . were fm actually signed on one year prior to its am counterpart . both stations lasted under common ownership for the next fifty years as were fm primarily simulcast the programming of its more popular am sister station over the next 24 years . during the 1950s were was the first popular top 40 station in the market spearheaded by now legendary personalities like bill randle captain carl reese phil mclean ronnie barrett howie lund and bob forster . randle was the most influential of the group as he was the first major market disk jockey in the northeast united states to play elvis presley and bolstered the careers of a number of young musicians including the four lads bobby darin and fats domino . future nbc announcer and voice over artist danny dark also was a host on were in the early 1960s . g98 and the north coast express edit variations of g98 logo tv ad promoting wncx launch in 1986 the stations were purchased by general cinema corporation in 1972 which would go on to change the call letters of the fm station to wgcl on august 15 1972 while it flipped the station from its fully automated format to top 40 as g98 . wgcl began as an affiliate of the drake chenault solid gold and hit parade formats which featured a top 40 oldies mix but eventually went live and local with personalities such as david mark and mike dix formerly of the legendary wixy 1260 . famed programmer lee abrams helmed the station ; george jay was its news director . one of g98 s most recognized air personalities was dancin danny wright who later had a long stretch in afternoon drive at country wgar fm . he later became nationally syndicated with his current show jones radio network s danny wright all night . 2 during the next 14 years the station would go on to enjoy moderate success in the face of significant competition from crosstown rock juggernaut wmms . their best year was 1982 when they briefly beat wmms in the ratings but after wmms re tooled and recaptured first place a short time later wgcl slowly lost ground . the station was sold in 1986 . the call letters wgcl are now in use at the cbs television affiliate in atlanta . with the station being sold to detroit based metropolis broadcasting it ushered in a change . for only the second time its 38 year history the station would change its call letters to wncx which was to stand for north coast express but metropolis failed to service mark the slogan which wmms did and format on october 22 1986 when it adopted an eclectic rock top 40 mixed format . to signal a sign of the changes to come the station aired beatles records non stop for 72 hours after the last day of the old wgcl format just before the launch of the new wncx format . this was one of the earliest examples of stunting in between formats a practice which became common some years later . it was rumored at the time that one reason for the stunt was that disgruntled wgcl employees who would be losing their jobs once metropolis took over had stolen virtually all of the g 98 music library forcing station staff to go out and purchase compact discs to play for when the new format launched and in addition the arrival of the compact disc players the station had ordered was delayed for two days . because of this the station was one of the first radio stations in cleveland to have a complete on air library made up of compact discs having spent thousands of dollars on what was considered a fairly new and advanced form of media . while it was considered a new radio station the staff was anything but new as it featured a well seasoned lineup of cleveland radio veterans eight of whom were stolen directly from its heated rival wmms . headed by the latter s former program director john gorman as wncx operations manager and 15 year wmms veteran denny sanders as wncx program director the pair promised a much different sound than other stations and that they would play a wide variety of music 360 degrees of rock n roll from old to new to r & b. the sizable wncx s playlist emphasized new music local records and included a saturday night dance club music show . the format became a pioneering effort in what just a short time later would be a successful approach for many stations throughout the country the rock chr format . its dj lineup included former wgar 1220 am personality paul tapie in the morning former whk program director and dj bernie kimble in middays sanders during the afternoon drive former wmms dj spaceman scott evenings and nancy alden late nights . due to the last minute inability by metropolis broadcasting to buy out his contract which gorman and sanders were promised and his incompatibility with the new format danny wright was moved to the overnight slot for several weeks as a board op with no speaking role whatsoever to finish out his contract . recorded station ids and imaging was created by acclaimed word jazz artist ken nordine . yet just three months after the cutting edge station s high visibility launch all of the staff except for paul tapie were suddenly and unexpectedly fired and the station was put back up for sale . most of the dismissed personalities enjoyed longevity and success in the market elsewhere . john gorman became program director at wmji in 1991 and again at wmms in 1994 and lasted until 1996 . sanders landed at wmji in 1988 and succeeded gorman as program director in 1996 . during his tenure wmji won the national association of broadcasters marconi award in 1997 as large market station of the year . spaceman scott became the program director for wrqk in the late 80s then came back to wmms in the early 90s . nancy alden went to wdok in april 1987 and was a fixture at that station for many years while bernie kimble was the program director at smooth jazz wnwv for over fifteen years . jack speer who did newscasts at the station is currently a news anchor at npr in washington d.c. by contrast metropolis broadcasting went out of business just a few months later . the immediate offering of the station for re sale lead most observers to conclude that metropolis broadcasting was poorly organized and financed right from the start . their sole other station wdtx in detroit was put up for sale at this time as well and within just a few months metropolis broadcasting ceased to exist . evolution to classic rock edit longtime wncx afternoon dj michael stanley during the time wncx was offered again for sale metropolis broadcasting employed the use of cleveland based radio consultant mike mcvay former program director and general manager at another cleveland station wmji . mcvay immediately relaunched wncx as a classic hits station featuring an innocuous mix of pop rock classic artists like elton john paul mccartney and cat stevens with little promotion and dramatically reduced expenses . the curiously swift abortion of the current based eclectic format so soon after launch was a cause for concern in the local radio and musicians community . however the dominantly 1970s early 1980s based classic hits format had a level of success with cleveland audiences as heavy focus at wmji on late 1950s and 1960s oldies at that time left a definite gap in the market for a station willing to serve listeners who enjoyed more recent memories . over the next several rating periods as wmji began to compensate wncx eventually repositioned itself solidly between wmji and wmms drawing from both stations by completing an evolution to pure harder edged classic rock . consultant mike mcvay departed about this time . mcvay currently serves as president of mcvay media and is the author of the book the 7 habits of highly successful radio stations . 3 metroplex years edit not too long after the evolution to classic rock wncx and were found themselves being sold once again but this time to locally based metroplex communications . metroplex was headed by two cleveland radio architects norman wain and bob weiss the former owners of the legendary cleveland top 40 station wixy 1260 am during the 1960s . wain and weiss set out to accomplish once again what they had done in 1965 and that was to build a radio station with personality particularly cleveland personality . over the next few years they did just that . cleveland native bill louis was brought in to do middays in 1987 an airshift he continues to man to date and was promoted to program director in 1996 . following that promotion louis named fellow cleveland native and wncx morning show producer dave jockers as his assistant program director and music director positions jockers held for nearly fourteen years until departing in october 2010 . in 1990 wain and then program director doug podell hired local rock musician michael stanley to host a one hour radio program entitled in the heartland ; the show would eventually lead to stanley taking over the afternoon shift on wncx an airshift he still does to date . cleveland native mr. classic walt garrett has been on wncx for since june 1987 . 4 a weekend highlight of radio is named the saturday night live house party five hours of great requests with musically savvy listeners . his knowledge of the world is unparalleled knowledge he shares with his listeners during his many weekend and substitute air shifts . for a couple of years ron sweed co hosted his saturday night all request show under his ghoul persona . morning troubles edit comedian paul tapie the lone holdover from the original staff carried on in morning drive until his dismissal in 1989 . the station posted several