the wmji callsign from 1987 to 1988 see wccr am . wmji city cleveland ohio broadcast area greater cleveland northeast ohio branding majic 105.7 slogan cleveland s greatest hits frequency 105.7 mhz also on hd radio first air date december 6 1948 format classic hits hd2 oldies erp 16 000 watts haat 344 meters class b facility id 73268 transmitter coordinates 41 23 2.00 n 81 41 44.00 w 41.3838889 n 81.6955556 w 41.3838889 ; 81.6955556 callsign meaning majic former callsigns wtam fm 1948 56 kyw fm 1956 65 wkyc fm 1965 72 wwwm 1972 82 wmji 1982 87 wmji fm 1987 88 affiliations city club of cleveland iheartradio premium choice total traffic and weather network owner iheartmedia citicasters licenses inc. sister stations waks wgar fm whlk wmms wtam webcast listen live website magic 105.7 wmji 105.7 fm branded majic 105.7 is a commercial classic hits radio station licensed to cleveland ohio serving greater cleveland and much of surrounding northeast ohio . owned by iheartmedia wmji is the cleveland affiliate for nationally syndicated radio personality gary bryan and the home of local personality jimmy malone . the wmji studios are located in the cleveland suburb of independence while the station transmitter resides in nearby parma . besides a standard analog transmission wmji broadcasts over two hd radio channels and is available online via iheartradio . 1 contents 1 history 1.1 early years 1.2 m105 1.3 majic radio 1.4 majic 105.7 2 current programming 3 references 4 external links history edit early years edit the station was founded by nbc on december 6 1948 as wtam fm and it simulcast the programming of sister station wtam . both radio stations were also paired with wnbk tv later wkyc tv which signed on that same year . when nbc traded its radio and television holdings in cleveland with westinghouse broadcasting s stations in philadelphia on february 13 1956 2 it became kyw fm taking the callsign of westinghouse s radio station . 3 when the nbc westinghouse trade was reversed on june 19 1965 the station reverted to nbc ownership . the call letters were changed to wkyc fm to match those of the am station which kept the popular ky slogan and identity westinghouse brought into cleveland . 4 5 m105 edit nbc eventually sold off wkyc and wkyc fm in 1972 to ohio communications owned by nick mileti and jim and tom embrescia . 6 the station became wwwm and broadcast a syndicated beautiful music format . in 1975 the format was changed to album oriented rock and the station identified itself as m105 . the station used the slogan the home of continuous music and was programmed by former wixy program director eric stevens and competed aggressively with later sister station wmms for ratings . in 1980 m 105 began billing itself as cleveland s classic rock playing a mix of rock music from the mid 1960s to the present . 7 8 majic radio edit wwwm and wbbg were sold to robinson communications headed by famed jeweler larry j.b. robinson in 1981 . the station changed to an adult contemporary format as wmji on june 14 1982 branded majic radio . 9 the station was sold to jacor communications of cincinnati along with am station wbbg on september 19 1984 . john lanigan began his morning show with former whk newscaster john webster on september 17 1985 returning to cleveland after a brief stint at magic radio in tampa florida . he replaced husband and wife team dan deely and kim scott after they resigned citing that the job had put strains on their marriage . when wbbg dumped its big band format on october 29 1987 it simulcast wmji s programming for a time and took the wmji calls until it was sold off . therefore 105.7 fm technically was wmji fm for several months in 1988 . when 1260 became wrdz with a religious format the fm station simply became wmji . jacor communications soon lma ed wmji to legacy broadcasting headed by former malrite executive carl hirsch in 1988 with legacy buying wmji outright in 1990 . majic 105.7 edit by 1990 the station adjusted their format to rock n roll oldies featuring much of the music made famous by top 40 legends whk and wixy . whk which dropped the rock and roll format in the mid 1960s had re established itself as an oldies station in the 1980s but had dropped that format by november 1988 . wixy was ironically the previous identity of former sister station wbbg and held the same studio space that wixy once did . in addition much of wmji s music library already consisted of former wixy tapes and jingles . john gorman formerly program director of legendary cleveland rock station wmms was brought in to redesign wmji as a 100 % rock oldies format . under his guidance the station immediately posted major ratings increases and became one of the top performing stations in cleveland . gorman also reunited with former wmms artist and co creator of the station s buzzard mascot david helton to create a new logo and early print ads and billboards for wmji . the majic 105.7 font was chosen by gorman as a tribute to boston s wrko 680 am logo in 1967 which under the direction of program director mel phillips was an influence on gorman s programming . wmji owner legacy broadcasting was later renamed omniamerica in 1994 and sold the station to nationwide communications in 1997 . by then wmji had established consistent ratings dominance in the cleveland market under program director denny sanders a market legend who replaced john gorman who relocated to cbs in detroit . the station was led by its highly rated morning show featuring lanigan webster and local comedian jimmy malone . webster left the station amid a health scare in 1997 while the lanigan & malone show remained intact until lanigan s retirement on march 31 2014 . during the period when lanigan and malone hosted mornings wmji achieved the highest total weekly listenership of any cleveland radio station in the decade of the 1990s . it later became the fm flagship for cleveland browns broadcasts from 1999 to 2001 . 10 the popularity of wmji in the late 1990s allowed clear channel to franchise wmji s format and majic nickname on several fm oldies stations and one am station mostly in the midwest . these stations included at its height wynt in marion wimj in findlay wmjk in sandusky wzom in defiance then also branded as majic 105.7 wmkj in louisville and wkeq in somerset . of those stations only wynt still uses the majic name and shares a similar logo to wmji although they changed formats to adult contemporary . early in november 2006 wthz fm in lexington north carolina a station owned by davidson county broadcasting changed formats to majic 94.1 replete with a similar logo to wmji s. this continued until march 2010 when the station changed formats . in august 1998 nationwide communications merged operations with jacor reuniting wmji with its former owner and also was paired up with wtam again bringing the two stations original relationship full circle . this was followed in may 1999 by the 6.5 billion purchase of jacor and its 454 stations by iheartmedia then known as clear channel communications including wmji . denny sanders departed wmji in 2001 and is currently general manager of telos systems a cleveland based international broadcast equipment design company . under the oldies format wmji has been recognized at the nab marconi radio awards . the station has been named large market station of the year twice 1998 2003 and three times as oldies station of the year 2002 2004 2006 . longtime morning team john lanigan and jimmy malone were also named large market personality of the year in 2005 . 11 current programming edit wmji s lineup features the nolan malone and kullik morning show hosted by longtime wmji personalities mark nolan jimmy malone and chip kullik along with tracey carroll . other local djs include kat jackson middays and don action jackson afternoon drive . 12 wmji also plays christmas music throughout the holiday season . 13 the hd2 digital subchannel airs oldies under the brand real oldies . 14 wmji also airs premium choice content during weekday evenings overnights and select weekend shifts . 15 additionally american top 40 the 70s airs on sundays distributed by clear channel subsidiary premiere networks . 16 references edit http hdradio.com station guides widget.php id 70 hd radio guide for cleveland nbc wbc trade properties in cleveland philadelphia . broadcasting may 23 1955 pp. 65 66 68 . 1 permanent dead link 2 permanent dead link 3 permanent dead link nbc wbc outlets change calls today . broadcasting february 13 1956 pp. 98 . 4 permanent dead link the great swap takes place june 19 ; westinghouse nbc return to original properties . broadcasting june 14 1965 pg . 83 . 5 permanent dead link philadelphia circle is complete and nine year history of that trade in philadelphia . broadcasting august 3 1964 pp. 23 25 . 6 permanent dead link 7 permanent dead link 8 permanent dead link first nbc radio properties go . broadcasting january 17 1972 pg . 38 . 9 permanent dead link scott jane . the happening the plain dealer june 13 1980 friday 30 webmasters mike olszewski 2002 03 04 . cleveland ohio broadcast radio archives project . cleve radio.com . retrieved 2014 08 18 . ewinger john . m 105 to switch to soft rock beat the plain dealer june 12 1982 5 c o connor clint september 22 2002 . at the controls clear channel programmer rules radio in cleveland . the plain dealer . plain dealer publishing co. p. j1 sunday arts . nab awards nab marconi radio awards past award winners . nab.org . retrieved 2014 08 18 . rich heldenfels 2014 03 24 . lanigan s colorful radio career coming to an end local . ohio . retrieved 2014 08 18 . once again this year majic 105.7 will be cleveland s christmas music station cleveland s greatest hits . wmji.com . 2012 11 08 . retrieved 2013 04 10 . stations more music . more stations . more features . digital sound . no subscription . hd radio . retrieved 2013 04 10 . washington julie e. may 16 2009 . broadcast blues clear channel does some clear cutting of on air radio talent . the plain dealer . plain dealer publishing co. p. e1 arts & life . clear channel ... is rolling out premium choice a menu of national formats chosen by headquarters . there is no local programming on premium choice stations except for commercials ... corrections and clarifications . the plain dealer . plain dealer publishing co. august 1 2009 . the cleveland clear channel stations using the premium choice programming package are waks wgar wmji and wmms . each station uses it overnight on weekdays and for selected hours on weekends . on air sunday . wmji.com . retrieved 2014 08 18 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to wmji . magic 105.7 query the fcc s fm station database for wmji radio locator information on wmji query nielsen audio s fm station database for wmji cleveland broadcast radio archives wmji timeline 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