WDSJ
Encyclopedia
WDSJ is a radio station
licensed to Greenville, Ohio
and is based in the Dayton
metropolitan area. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications
.
(its city of license)and was operated by Lewell Broadcasting.
The station switched from traditional middle of the road to adult contemporary in 1972 when it aired the automated "Hitparade" package produced by Drake-Chenault
Enterprises throughout a good part of the 1970s. The adult contemporary format however was tweaked by switching to locally produced automation tapes before the end of the decade. It later switched to a satellite country music format in the 1980s and later an oldies format in the late 80s.
During this time WDRK was cited by the FCC in the late 1970s for leaving the transmitter unattended overnight and making false entries on its logs claiming otherwise. The station's owners fought a long battle with the FCC to keep it on the air until around 1989 when WDRK went silent and never returned to the air.
calls itself have since moved back to a station licensed to Cincinnati at 1480-AM, interestingly enough as a 50's and 60's oldies station.
WDSJ aired programming from Broadcast Architecture's "Smooth Jazz Network."
It became "106.5 The Bull" with a country music format and a new website which went online on the morning of 2 May 2009.
A similar smooth jazz format can be found on sister station WLQT
's HD subcarrier and on the WLQT website's HD Radio streaming page which can be found here
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
licensed to Greenville, Ohio
Greenville, Ohio
Greenville is a city in Darke County, Ohio, United States. The population was 13,227 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Darke County.-History:Greenville is the historic location of Fort Greene Ville,Greenville is a city in Darke County, Ohio, United States. The population was 13,227 at...
and is based in the Dayton
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
metropolitan area. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
.
Early history
WDSJ's history dates back to 1964 as WDRK "The Brightest Spark In Darke (County)" known for its upper-case "W-spark" logo (possibly inspired by a similar logo used by the former WIFE(AM) in Indianapolis) when its studios were located in Greenville, OhioGreenville, Ohio
Greenville is a city in Darke County, Ohio, United States. The population was 13,227 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Darke County.-History:Greenville is the historic location of Fort Greene Ville,Greenville is a city in Darke County, Ohio, United States. The population was 13,227 at...
(its city of license)and was operated by Lewell Broadcasting.
The station switched from traditional middle of the road to adult contemporary in 1972 when it aired the automated "Hitparade" package produced by Drake-Chenault
Drake-Chenault
Drake-Chenault Enterprises was a radio syndication company that specialized in automation on FM radio stations. The company was founded in the late-1960s by radio programmer and deejay Bill Drake , and his business partner, Lester Eugene Chenault...
Enterprises throughout a good part of the 1970s. The adult contemporary format however was tweaked by switching to locally produced automation tapes before the end of the decade. It later switched to a satellite country music format in the 1980s and later an oldies format in the late 80s.
During this time WDRK was cited by the FCC in the late 1970s for leaving the transmitter unattended overnight and making false entries on its logs claiming otherwise. The station's owners fought a long battle with the FCC to keep it on the air until around 1989 when WDRK went silent and never returned to the air.
Smooth jazz and easy listening WLSN
A newer station in its place emerged in 1990 as WLSN, owned by Treaty City Broadcasting airing beautiful music mixed with smooth jazz with a taller and more powerful transmitter installed north of Greenville replacing the less powerful WDRK tower on the south edge of town. Around this same time the former WHIO-FM switched from a similar format to country as WHKO "K-99.1 FM."Buckeye Country and Jammin' Oldies
In 1997 WLSN was sold to Jacor Communications, later becoming "Buckeye Country 106.5 WBKI" in 1998 competing with WHKO until the merger with Clear Channel becoming WDJO (a call sign used previously at 1230-AM in Cincinnati) as "Dayton's Jammin' Oldies 106.5." But eventually, the late 60's and 70's rhythmic oldies format failed to attract sizeable listeners. The WDJOWDJO
WQRT is a radio station licensed to Florence, Kentucky in the Cincinnati, Ohio metropolitan area that carries a conservative talk format primarily from Talk Radio Network.-At 1180 AM:...
calls itself have since moved back to a station licensed to Cincinnati at 1480-AM, interestingly enough as a 50's and 60's oldies station.
Smooth jazz returns
When a group of listeners of the former WLSN joined together and complained about the lack of smooth jazz in the Dayton market, it was recommended that it would go back to what it was a decade earlier. Thus it became WDSJ which enjoyed a considerably large following in the Dayton market, eastern Indiana and the northern suburbs of Cincinnati since its switch to smooth jazz.WDSJ aired programming from Broadcast Architecture's "Smooth Jazz Network."
Back to country music
On Friday May 1, 2009 the Smooth Jazz format ended at 5pm Eastern time according to the WDSJ website.It became "106.5 The Bull" with a country music format and a new website which went online on the morning of 2 May 2009.
A similar smooth jazz format can be found on sister station WLQT
WLQT
WLQT is a radio station broadcasting a Soft Adult Contemporary format. Licensed to Englewood, Ohio, USA, the station serves the Dayton area...
's HD subcarrier and on the WLQT website's HD Radio streaming page which can be found here