WGTZ
Encyclopedia
WGTZ "Fly 92.9" is a commercial FM station licensed in Eaton, Ohio
Eaton, Ohio
Eaton is a city in and the county seat of Preble County, Ohio, United States. The population was 8,407 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

 at 92.9 MHz serving 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...

 and Springfield
Springfield, Ohio
Springfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River, Buck Creek and Beaver Creek, approximately west of Columbus and northeast of Dayton. Springfield is home to Wittenberg...

 market area with an Adult Hits
Adult hits
Adult hits is a radio format, popular in the early 2000s, that does not adhere to a specific music genre, but instead draws from a wider playlist...

 format. The previous CHR/Pop format commenced Sunday, March 15, 1984 at Noon when Dayton-based Great Trails Broadcasting owned the station at the time. First song played was Kenny Loggins "Footloose", kicking off 10,093 songs in a row. Fly 92.9 began airing on November 2, 2007 following a day of stunting, with the first song played being Steve Miller Band's "Fly Like An Eagle". It is currently owned by Pennsylvania-based Main Line Broadcasting.

Early history

Founded in 1959 as WCTM
WCTM
WCTM were the call letters assigned to an FM radio station, and later an AM station, both licensed to Eaton, Preble County, Ohio, U.S.A.-WCTM-FM:...

 co-founded by Stanley Coning and three other business partners (dba:Western Ohio Broadcasting Service Inc.) and took to the air in November 1960. WCTM-FM aired mostly beautiful music
Beautiful music
Beautiful music is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in American radio from the 1960s through the 1980s...

 but was essentially a middle of the road format in the beginning. Its original FM tower still stands today on North Barron Street in downtown Eaton near the Norfolk Southern Railway
Norfolk Southern Railway
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I railroad in the United States, owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation. With headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, the company operates 21,500 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia and the province of Ontario, Canada...

 crossing with the original call letters still intact.
In the 1960s,Coning was locked out of the station in an attempt by his partners to take over the operation but were taken to court. Coning won and became the sole owner. He originally wanted an AM station first but was unable to obtain a license at the time so he went for the FM license. A serious heart attack in the early 1970s forced him to put the station up for sale while at the same time Great Trails was looking to acquire an FM station as a sister for its Dayton AM station WING
WING
WING "ESPN 1410" is a commercial AM radio station in Dayton, Ohio operating with 5,000 watts at 1410 kHz with studios, offices and transmitter located on David Road in Kettering. It is the first full-time commercial radio station in Dayton...

 when no more commercial FM frequencies in Dayton were available. WCTM-FM was the logical choice. Coning sold the station and eventually was granted an AM frequency several years after his health improved. WCTM
WCTM
WCTM were the call letters assigned to an FM radio station, and later an AM station, both licensed to Eaton, Preble County, Ohio, U.S.A.-WCTM-FM:...

-AM was on the air from 1981 until 2004 when he retired and sold the station due to failing health and age. That station is now WEDI simulcasting WBZI
WBZI
WBZI "Classic Country Radio" is a AM broadcasting station in Xenia, Ohio, United States, at 1500 kHz operating with 500 watts. Its current owner Town and Country Broadcasting operates it with a country oldies format serving Greene, Clark, eastern Montgomery and surrounding counties...

(AM) in Xenia with a country oldies format.

WCTM-FM becomes WJAI/Studios

After the station was acquired the calls were changed to WJAI (for "Jai-Alai"
Jai alai
Jai alai is a sport involving a ball bounced off a walled space. It is a variety of Basque Pelota. The term, coined by Serafin Baroja in 1875, is also often loosely applied to the fronton where the sport is played...

 a popular game in Florida.) Great Trails purchase of the station did not include the existing studio. Former owner Stan Coning obliged by constructing a temporary studio in the basement of his home in Eaton; the quirky studio consisted of a rack along the left wall with aged broadcasting gear, an ancient Gates "Yard" audio board in front, a washer/dryer and toilet along the back wall. Access to the basement studio was through a windowed sliding door. WJAI-FM remained at this location for nearly three years. Former owner, Stan Coning was employed as the on-site engineer, Program Director John Robertson rarely visited the studios, maintaining his Dayton, Ohio address. Robertson was a former WING-Dayton on-air personality, promoted to managing the station and its low-maintenance format. Robertson hired Doug Ritter (Doug Ritterling), as one of WJAI's first announcers- Ritter was only 16 years of age. Ritter later became a news anchor at WING-Dayton. Great Trails purchase of WJAI was motivated by a possibility of a transmitter power increase, and access to the much larger Dayton market. The power increase was finally approved by the FCC after a prolonged legal battle with owners of two Dayton stations; the owners protested establishment of a new competing station in the Dayton market.

WJAI's first "official" studios were moved to a movie theater which had been converted to an office building at the corner of Sommers and North Barron streets in downtown Eaton. The beautiful music continued under the new nickname "WJ-93" until 1979 when it switched to country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 giving competition to WONE (AM)
WONE (AM)
WONE is an AM radio station in Dayton, Ohio operating on 980 kHz with a Sports Talk format. It carries programming from Fox Sports Radio, as well as the Jim Rome Show and the Dan Patrick Show .-History:The station took the air in 1949, licensed to Skyland Broadcasting Corp...

 in Dayton and WBZI in Xenia (then at 95.3 FM.) By this time Kim Faris was on board doing mid-days as one of the first women DJs in the Dayton market area. She was joined by afternoon personality Ron Scott. Doug Davisson did the 7 to midnight shift after leaving WONE AM in the early 1980s. The studios would eventually move to its current location at 717 E. David Rd. in early 1986, where it would join clustermate 1410 WING
WING
WING "ESPN 1410" is a commercial AM radio station in Dayton, Ohio operating with 5,000 watts at 1410 kHz with studios, offices and transmitter located on David Road in Kettering. It is the first full-time commercial radio station in Dayton...

 AM.

In the early 1980s, the syndicated Al Ham's "Music Of Your Life" a big band/ballad-themed 1940s/early 50s format was gaining a following on stations in Indianapolis,Chicago and other market areas. WJAI did its own take on the format though they themselves furnished the music instead. The format ran from 1982 to 1984.

Z-93 History

The Z-93 nickname has been used by many hit stations since the late 1970s in other radio market areas, so Great Trails gave the nickname a try while at the same time moving the Top 40 format over from WING
WING
WING "ESPN 1410" is a commercial AM radio station in Dayton, Ohio operating with 5,000 watts at 1410 kHz with studios, offices and transmitter located on David Road in Kettering. It is the first full-time commercial radio station in Dayton...

 to the newer FM. In the spring of 1984, the nostalgia format was dropped becoming WGTZ "Z-93" playing "Ten Thousand and Ninety Three In A Row" without commercial interruption.

The catchy top of hour legal ID "WGTZ, Eaton/Dayton and Springfield ALIVE!" first caught the attention of listeners that same year when there was no contemporary hit station in Dayton at the time. Earlier in the decade WING
WING
WING "ESPN 1410" is a commercial AM radio station in Dayton, Ohio operating with 5,000 watts at 1410 kHz with studios, offices and transmitter located on David Road in Kettering. It is the first full-time commercial radio station in Dayton...

 switched to adult contemporary mixed with oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....

 and the former WDJX in Xenia (transplanted to Beavercreek as WYMJ "Majic 104"...later "Oldies 104") followed suit. Former album rocker WVUD, then owned by The University of Dayton
University of Dayton
The University of Dayton is a private Roman Catholic university operated by the Society of Mary located in Dayton, Ohio...

 tried its hand as a hit format for a brief time but was later sold and became AC WLQT
WLQT
WLQT is a radio station broadcasting a Soft Adult Contemporary format. Licensed to Englewood, Ohio, USA, the station serves the Dayton area...

 "Lite 100", and later, Lite 99.9.

Great Trails also owned Z-93's then sister stations WCOL and WXGT in Columbus. WCOL 1230 AM was Columbus' heritage Top-40 station through the 1970s. WCOL-FM 92.3 played album-oriented progressive rock music. Largely because of the demise of AM radio, Great Trails abandoned Top-40 music on its AM station and moved it to its FM signal. WCOL-FM changed its call letters to WXGT and became more commonly known as 92X, Columbus' first and most popular contemporary hit station. It was largely due to the success of 92X that Great Trails made the decision to bring the format to Dayton. WXGT and WGTZ were virtual clones of each other, using similar playlists, imaging, jingles and even station logos. On November 1, 2007, "Z-93" began a countdown clock to a new format.

Z-93 Morning Shows

King and Dorsey (originally afternoons at WING
WING
WING "ESPN 1410" is a commercial AM radio station in Dayton, Ohio operating with 5,000 watts at 1410 kHz with studios, offices and transmitter located on David Road in Kettering. It is the first full-time commercial radio station in Dayton...

) came to Z-93 in 1984 being the first "Morning Crew" for a year. They were followed by "Dr. Dave" Gross and Wild Bill taking the reins from March 1985 until 1987, when it became known as simply "The Z Morning Zoo". During their first ratings sweep, "Dr. Dave" and Wild Bill doubled the morning show's arbitron ratings, and within one year became the first morning show in Dayton radio to unseat the #1 ranked WHIO morning show (hosted by Lou Emm for over 40 consecutive years). Alan Kaye replaced Wild Bill as Dr. Dave's side-kick in November 1987. Dr. Dave would leave in March 1990, replaced briefly by Humble Billy Hayes.

In June 1990, night jock Joe Momma replaced Hayes. Todd Hollst, who was doing overnights, began producing comedy bits doing stunts for the show. In March 1991, Alan Kaye would be fired under controversy, which would result in a later lawsuit from Kaye, which he would win. Joe Momma's new co-host was Sandy Donovan.

In March 1992, Jeff Wicker was hired as the new Z-93 Morning Show host, and Momma and Donovan were fired, and the "Z Morning Zoo" name was permanently retired. Kim Faris, who had been doing news at the station since Marita Matray departed in 1990, was named Wicker's new co-host, along with Producer Dave. Booger Johnson would later replace Dave in 1995 as Morning Show Producer. Wicker left the station in August 1995, replaced briefly by The Hawkman, and then Jack Pohl, with the morning show being called simply "Jack and Kim in the Morning".

After Pohl left to take the position of Sports Director at local TV station WDTN-TV 2
WDTN
WDTN, virtual channel 2, is the NBC-affiliated television station for Ohio's Miami Valley. Licensed to Dayton, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 50 from a transmitter in the Frytown section of the city. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 2 and in...

 in 1997, he was replaced by comedians Rob Haney and Chili Challis, who along with Faris would be referred to as "The Z-93 Morning Show". Haney left WGTZ in March, 1998, and was replaced by long-time afternoon drive host Sean Roberts. Challis would leave in mid-1998. Roberts left in June 1999.

After two months of Scott Sharp subbing, Jim Wheeler was hired in August, 1999, and the show would now be known as "Jim and Kim in the Morning". Campy moved over to Z-93 after WING-FM changed formats in August 2001 and became the third host, along with Jim and Kim, and the show became known as "Z-93 Mornings with Jim, Kim, and Campy". Wheeler would leave in mid-March, 2002, and the show was known as "The Morning Z with Kim and Campy."

Faris was moved to middays in August, 2002(See below), leaving Campy solo in the morning as a search for a new morning host was underway. Scott Mallory was eventually hired and debuted on Monday, March 17, 2003, and the show would be known until the end of Z-93 (on November 1, 2007) as "The Morning Z with Mallory and Campy". Kim Faris stayed on at the station doing mid-days until 2006 when she was inducted into the Ohio Broadcasters Hall Of Fame. She announced her departure from the Z-93 airstaff in December of that year and thanked her many fans who sent in countless letters and e-mails thanking her for a job well done. In 2007, Faris was also inducted into the Dayton Area Broadcasters Hall of Fame. She was joined by fellow broadcasters from WING
WING
WING "ESPN 1410" is a commercial AM radio station in Dayton, Ohio operating with 5,000 watts at 1410 kHz with studios, offices and transmitter located on David Road in Kettering. It is the first full-time commercial radio station in Dayton...

's hit music era including Kathy O'Conner Bow, Charlie Reeder, Bill Nance and Reetha Phillips. Faris returned to the air in the summer of 2007 as the morning personality of competitor WLQT
WLQT
WLQT is a radio station broadcasting a Soft Adult Contemporary format. Licensed to Englewood, Ohio, USA, the station serves the Dayton area...

, where she remains on-air today as the afternoon host.

Fly 92.9 Today

Its studios are located at 717 E. David Road in Kettering, the same location as its AM sister WING
WING
WING "ESPN 1410" is a commercial AM radio station in Dayton, Ohio operating with 5,000 watts at 1410 kHz with studios, offices and transmitter located on David Road in Kettering. It is the first full-time commercial radio station in Dayton...

 with its transmitter moved in 1985 to Brookville between Eaton and Englewood, where it broadcasts at 40,000 watts. It currently shares its studio location with Rhythmic CHR WDHT
WDHT
WDHT, "Hot 102.9", is an Rhythmic Contemporary radio station in Urbana, Ohio serving the Dayton/Springfield area that broadcasts on the 102.9 frequency. WDHT is currently owned by Main Line Broadcasting which also owns WING-AM, WROU-FM, WCLI-FM and WGTZ-FM...

 "Hot 102.9" and Urban AC 92.1 WROU-FM
WROU-FM
WROU-FM is an Urban Adult Contemporary radio station at 92.1 FM licensed in West Carrollton, Ohio serving the Dayton area and owned and operated by Main Line broadcasting.-History:...

.

On May 17, 2007 Philadelphia-based Main Line Broadcasting announced the acquisition of Radio One's stations in the Dayton and Louisville market areas. Main Line took over the Dayton stations on September 14, 2007.

On Thursday, November 1, 2007, all of the Z-93 DJs were let go or reassigned within the Main Line / Dayton radio cluster. The last song played on Z-93 was "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
-Charts:-Covers:* Rancid have covered the song in some acoustic performances, Matt Freeman is the lead vocalist in the cover.* Comedian Tim Hawkins plays a parody of the song entitled "These Are Things You Don't Say to Your Wife"...

" by Green Day, followed by an announcement that Z-93 would be changing formats the following day.

According to the Dayton Daily News on Nov. 2, 2007, Z-93 was expected to switch to a Variety Hits format as "92.9 Jack FM
Jack FM
JACK FM is the alternative name and on-air brand of 60 radio stations in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia. Jack stations play a mix of 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s hits with some current hot adult contemporary singles. Jack's slogan "playing what we want" can also be...

," this according to Radio Online.

At Noon on Friday, November 2, 2007 "FLY 92.9" debuted with the tag line "We Play Anything." The first song played was "Fly Like An Eagle" by The Steve Miller band, followed by Sugar Ray's "Fly", and Bryan Adams "Summer of '69" after a full day of on-air "stunting" using a synthesized-like countdown voice and Pink Floyd "On The Run"-styled electronic sweeps.

In August, 2008, Danielle became the first on-air personality, airing from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday thru Friday and 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Saturdays. In January, 2010, Christina was added as Morning Traffic Reporter/Board Operator.

See also

  • WCTM
    WCTM
    WCTM were the call letters assigned to an FM radio station, and later an AM station, both licensed to Eaton, Preble County, Ohio, U.S.A.-WCTM-FM:...

  • WING
    WING
    WING "ESPN 1410" is a commercial AM radio station in Dayton, Ohio operating with 5,000 watts at 1410 kHz with studios, offices and transmitter located on David Road in Kettering. It is the first full-time commercial radio station in Dayton...

  • WROU-FM
    WROU-FM
    WROU-FM is an Urban Adult Contemporary radio station at 92.1 FM licensed in West Carrollton, Ohio serving the Dayton area and owned and operated by Main Line broadcasting.-History:...

  • WDHT
    WDHT
    WDHT, "Hot 102.9", is an Rhythmic Contemporary radio station in Urbana, Ohio serving the Dayton/Springfield area that broadcasts on the 102.9 frequency. WDHT is currently owned by Main Line Broadcasting which also owns WING-AM, WROU-FM, WCLI-FM and WGTZ-FM...

  • Radio One (Former owners)
  • List of radio stations in Ohio
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