northeast ohio branding 107.3 the wave slogan cleveland s smooth fm frequency 107.3 mhz also on hd radio first air date october 18 1948 format smooth ac erp 20 000 watts haat 238 meters class b facility id 19462 transmitter coordinates 41 16 10.00 n 82 00 16.00 w 41.2694444 n 82.0044444 w 41.2694444 ; 82.0044444 callsign meaning the wave former callsigns weol fm 1948 65 wbea 1965 87 wczr 1987 owner rubber city radio group inc. rubber city radio group inc. sister stations wakr wone fm wqmx webcast listen live website 1073thewave . net wnwv 107.3 fm branded 107.3 the wave is a commercial smooth ac radio station licensed to elyria ohio . owned by rubber city radio group inc. the station serves greater cleveland and much of surrounding northeast ohio . the wnwv studios are located in the cleveland suburb independence while the station transmitter resides in grafton . in addition to a standard analog transmission wnwv broadcasts over a single hd radio channel and is available online . contents 1 history 1.1 early years 1.2 z rock 1.3 the wave 1987 2009 1.4 v 107.3 1.5 the wave 2011 present 1.6 hd programming 2 current programming 3 references 4 external links history edit early years edit the station began as weol fm simulcasting the programming on am station weol through the 1950s and most of the 1960s . the fm installations was established as an adjunct to the am outlet around the same time as weol s 1948 sign on . by 1960 weol fm started separate programming on the weekdays as formula 107 playing a mixture of automated classical music and pop standards from 2pm until 10pm weekdays while both weol and weol fm played sterophonic hi lites from 9pm to 11pm on sundays . weol fm assumed a separate identity on december 8 1965 as wbea with a mostly automated beautiful music and easy listening format aimed toward elyria their city of license . many of the area s top broadcast talents made a stop at wbea and weol early in their careers including dick conrad jeff baxter david mark ronnie barrett ron penfound jim mehrling rick martyn bob tayek and others . the easy listening soon segued to top 40 as wbea b 107 in the early 1980s . z rock edit from january 1 until november 15 1987 the station carried the callsign wczr and operated as z rock with a heavy metal rock format . this format itself originated from the satellite music network later absorbed into abc radio in dallas texas and wczr was only the second station to have picked it up . wczr gained a cult following in the cleveland area as most other rock stations did not devote their playlists to heavy metal . however lackluster ratings and the spread of the smooth jazz format precipitated a format change less than a year later . 1 2 the wave 1987 2009 edit the station changed its callsign to wnwv ; rebranded itself the wave ; began airing a new age format via a 24 7 satellite service from metromedia ; and increased its broadcast target area to include the entire cleveland market . the changes were patterned after ktwv in los angeles then owned by metromedia . wnwv sister station weol continued to focus on lorain county . until december 17 2011 wnwv still shared studios with weol in downtown elyria while wnwv had a separate sales office and staff located in suburban rocky river . its first operations director was chris daniels eicher who also hosted the morning news and also threw the switch that jettisoned the z rock format and brought in the wave . the first song played after the switch was if you love somebody set them free by sting . the station did alter its on air nickname several times . around 1990 wnwv dropped the wave satellite format for a lineup of local hosts and briefly renamed itself cleveland s cool fm 107 3 wnwv with the slogan smooth jazz fresh hits before assuming its longtime nickname and logo in 1994 . it s airstaff was remarkably stable throughout the rest of the decade with broadcasters b.j. hart dan steinberg richard greer tom murphy lisa danevich frank macek now at wkyc grace roberts now again at wnwv harvey zay joan kelly starr d avril mike kessler who remained with the aaa format under the name mike gallagher michelle chase mark ribbins brian cruise sandy bennett larry adams sarah greer cody brooks mark mcquire mark sanders al pawlowski now at wkyc and sto kathy gudell tracey brich murphy jen kaminski greg yocum tammy frizzel pat allen desiray mccray now at wdok nathan pope carmen kennedy lisa jeffries andrea morris and carolyn carr gracing the airwaves . its programmers included steve hibbard bernie kimble and angie handa who went by angie calli on air as well as syndicated personalities ramsey lewis and dave koz . in 2003 wnwv became the first station in the cleveland market to broadcast in the new hd digital format as well as one of a handful in the country to make the initial switch . wclv licensed to nearby lorain but also aimed at the cleveland market was the second . throughout its history the station had been owned by elyria lorain broadcasting co. on may 15 1958 elyria lorain broadcasting co. was purchased by the lorain county printing and publishing company making it a wholly owned subsidiary . lcp & p also owns the elyria chronicle telegram and medina gazette ; in effect forming a radio newspaper duopoly . this arrangement lasted until wnwv s sale to the rubber city radio group long grandfathered by fcc legislation that now prohibit such arrangements . under the wave smooth jazz format wnwv was a two time national association of broadcasters marconi award winner for jazz station of the year 1995 2001 . 3 v 107.3 edit on december 21 2009 it was announced that the wave would change its smooth jazz format after a 22 year run . 4 5 the station cited the nationwide downturn for the smooth jazz format as the reason for the change despite the wave being a perennially strong ratings performer in cleveland . the format was officially dropped after midnight on december 28 2009 . after a stunt of a clock ticking for 12 hours wnwv switched to an adult album alternative format featuring a mix of alternative and classic rock at noon that same day with radio retaliation by thievery corporation . however the smooth jazz format continued to run on the station s hd2 subchannel and online . after the format change mark ribbins assumed the title of program director and also served as afternoon host but was released that october . from that point wnwv hd 2 played only music without on air personalities with mike gallagher voicing the top of the hour station identification . wnwv preferred to brand itself boom 107.3 as a tribute to recently departed local radio announcer len boom goldberg . this however matched too closely with a copyrighted brand of cbs radio . as a result wnwv opted for 107.3 cleveland before settling on v 107.3 . 6 while v 107.3 the lineup featured holdover morning host mike gallagher kessler midday host ravenna miceli afternoon host program director ric rocco bennett and evening host music director brad hanson . weekend programming included acoustic caf with rob reinhart the house of blues radio hour with elwood blues dan aykroyd in character and the new music show with brad hanson and ric rocco bennett . inner sanctum a showcase of local music ran sunday nights from september december 2011 . the wave 2011 present edit on october 13 2011 wnwv owner elyria lorain broadcasting co. announced plans to sell the station to the akron ohio based rubber city radio group inc. for 6.5 million . 7 the deal was completed that december 16 at 5 00 p.m. with rubber city radio group formally announcing a return to the station s prior branding as the wave but with an updated smooth ac format on january 4 2012 in a music style similar to san diego outlet kifm ; however wnwv switched a bit earlier than expected at 8 30 p.m. on january 3 . 8 9 hd programming edit the smooth jazz format continued for some time on the hd2 digital subchannel as wave classics ; as of january 2013 wnwv is no longer broadcasting an hd2 subchannel . 10 11 current programming edit the current wnwv line up features veteran cleveland djs dan deely and grace roberts with producer sidekick jason pottsy potter mornings 12 13 wnwv personalities carmen kennedy and mark ribbins are heard middays and afternoons respectively . 14 lynn kelly midday host at akron sister station wqmx is heard evenings via voicetracking . 15 dave koz s weekly syndicated show airs on sunday mornings via the smooth jazz network . studios are located in independence oh . 16 references edit webmasters mike olszewski 2002 03 04 . cleveland ohio broadcast radio archives project . cleve radio.com . retrieved 2014 08 18 . http www.americanradiohistory.com archive randr 1980s 1987 rr 1987 11 13.pdf nab awards nab marconi radio awards past award winners . nab.org . retrieved 2014 08 18 . steve fogarty december 23 2009 . the wave 107.3 fm to switch formats . chronicle telegram . elyria ohio . access date requires url help https radioinsight.com blog headlines 1460 107 3 the wave cleveland to flip to aaa http formatchange.com audio 393.mp3 august 18 2014 2011 10 13 . elyria lorain broadcasting co. sells wnwv chronicle telegram . chronicle.northcoastnow.com . retrieved 2014 08 18 . https radioinsight.com blog headlines netgnomes 54693 is the wave returning to cleveland http formatchange.com wnwv brings back the wave august 18 2014 2011 12 18 . sale of radio station 107.3 fm now complete chronicle telegram . chronicle.northcoastnow.com . retrieved 2014 08 18 . local hd radio stations . hd radio . retrieved 2014 08 18 . grace roberts joins cleveland s the wave . allaccess.com . 2013 10 24 . retrieved 2014 08 18 . the wave morning show . 1073thewave . net . retrieved 2014 08 18 . personalities . www.wnwv.com . retrieved 2016 09 19 . personalities . 1073thewave . net . retrieved 2014 08 18 . 1 archived december 3 2012 at the wayback machine . external links edit official website query the fcc s fm station database for wnwv radio locator information on wnwv query nielsen audio s fm station database for wnwv 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 adult contemporary radio stations in the state of ohio stations wbnv barnesville wchi chillicothe wcpz sandusky wcsm celina wdok cleveland wfro fremont sandusky wgtz eaton dayton whiz fm zanesville whof north canton akron canton wjer dover new philadelphia wkki celina wktn kenton wmoa marietta wmvr sidney wmxy youngstown wndh napoleon wnto racine wnwv elyria cleveland wptw