WVAZ
Encyclopedia
WVAZ, known locally as "V-103", is an urban adult contemporary
radio station that is licensed
to Oak Park
. WVAZ is owned by Clear Channel
, alongside sister stations WGCI-FM and WGRB-AM. In 2005, WVAZ began broadcasting in IBOC digital radio
, using the HD Radio
system from iBiquity
.
featuring soul
hits, dance music
and contemporary jazz
. The station would become the launching pad for the radio career of syndicated personality Doug Banks
(who would also hone his skills at the stations eventual replacement WVAZ) and was owned by Sonderling Broadcasting.
In between 102.7 in Chicago managed to etch its frequency and various call letters into radio history. In the early 70s Sonderling Broadcasting bought the station along with its sister station WOPA-AM
. The call letters WOPA stood for The Oak Park Arms, a hotel on Oak Park Avenue where the station occupied the penthouse. Despite having a signal limited to the west side of Chicago WOPA was a goldmine for Sonderling who brokered time to a plethora of colorful African-American entrepreneurs and entertainers. The FM had one of the better signals in the market operating off of the John Hancock Tower on the near north side.
Sonderling programmed the station as an eclectic album rocker under Ed Shane, who brought in Dwight Cook out of Houston and Peter B. Collins from Cincinnati. Also on board was Morgan Tell who soon thereafter managed the career of Chicago balladeer Jim Croce
. The station had some success but the album rock niche was crowded at the time with at least five other stations playing album cuts.
Buoyed by the success of their oldies station WMOD-FM in Washington, DC the company brought in Ron (Buzz) Brindle from DC. He soon brought with him Dusty Brooks with whom he had worked at WSVP in Providence. He retained Collins and Cook while taking over the morning show along with Pat Cassidy, who was his newsman and sidekick. The hope was that oldies on FM would work in the Windy City. Before WGLD could gain much traction, RKO-General converted its FM station on a nearby frequency to their brand of FM oldies. The legendary Bill Drake was instrumental in establish the company as the groundbreaker with oldies on FM thanks to his programming of KRTH in Los Angeles, WOR-FM in New York, and WROR-FM
in Boston. In fact, longtime Chicago TV newsman Ernie Anastas was originally brought to town along with RKO's Boston boss Dwight Case to run WFYR. Within months, "The Chicago Fire" was raging.
WGLD and general manager Charles Manson (obviously no relation) did have one weapon--a show called "The Femme Forum." Hosted by Morgan Moore (who claimed to be a former taxi driver) the midday program was a local knock-off of the Los Angeles sex talk show hosted in that market by Bill Ballance. It was attracting a growing audience. One particular show dealt with subject of oral sex
. Controversy and complaints ensued, with the Federal Communications Commission eventually getting involved. In a decision that would impact the radio industry for years the FCC ruling essentially said that the way a host handles a subject can have a bearing on the tone of the show and how it is perceived by the public. In this case Moore was determined to have encouraged listeners to take things well beyond what was considered "decent" in 1973. For that one show WGLD-FM and Sonderling Broadcasting were fined $2000. That decision remains a landmark and a benchmark in the evolution of shock talk on radio.
Not long after Moore was gone, Brindle was out, and the avuncular Art Roberts was installed as Program Director. He narrowed the focus of the station to 1950s and early 60s doo-wop. Despite his popularity WGLD faded quickly and within months WGLD was in transition again.
Around that time stations in several major markets were beginning to succeed with soft soul and disco on FM. With the change of call-letters to WBMX "The Black Music Experience" began. This incarnation remains today. Through the years the battle between WBMX, now WVAZ, and WGCI was the stuff of urban legends.
They continued as an urban contemporary
station into the late 1980s when the station was sold to Broadcast Partners. They continued with an urban format. In October 1988, the station evolved to more of an urban adult contemporary
format. Broadcast Partners sold the station in 1997 to Chancellor Media. Chancellor also owned former rival WGCI which had stayed a mainstream urban
station.
Chancellor sold 3 other stations but kept WVAZ and WGCI. WGCI remained a mainstream urban
station while WVAZ plays the role as the urban adult contemporary
station. Chancellor would restructure into AMFM, Inc., in 1999 and in 2000 merge with Clear Channel
.
Until March 2009, WVAZ was the largest radio affiliate (market size) to carry the Tom Joyner Morning Show; in other words, Chicago was the largest market where Tom Joyner was syndicated due to a lack of popularity in New York City
and Los Angeles
. There was discussion of dropping Joyner in late 2007 to make room for Doug Banks
; however, Banks moved his show to afternoon drive time
instead, leaving Joyner's show intact. On March 25, 2009, WVAZ dropped Tom Joyner and picked up the Steve Harvey
Morning Show, which previously aired on WGCI-FM and WSRB
.
Friday Nights
Weekends
Urban Adult Contemporary
Urban adult contemporary is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have rap music on their playlists. The format was designed by Barry Mayo when he, Lee S. Simonson and Bill Pearson organized Broadcast...
radio station that is licensed
City of license
A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator....
to Oak Park
Oak Park, Illinois
Oak Park, Illinois is a suburb bordering the west side of the city of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is the twenty-fifth largest municipality in Illinois. Oak Park has easy access to downtown Chicago due to public transportation such as the Chicago 'L' Blue and Green lines,...
. WVAZ is owned by Clear Channel
Clear channel
A clear-channel station is an AM band Radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. Usually known as class A stations since 1982, they are occasionally still referred to by their former...
, alongside sister stations WGCI-FM and WGRB-AM. In 2005, WVAZ began broadcasting in IBOC digital radio
Digital radio
Digital radio has several meanings:1. Today the most common meaning is digital radio broadcasting technologies, such as the digital audio broadcasting system, also known as Eureka 147. In these systems, the analog audio signal is digitized into zeros and ones, compressed using formats such as...
, using the HD Radio
HD Radio
HD Radio, which originally stood for "Hybrid Digital", is the trademark for iBiquity's in-band on-channel digital radio technology used by AM and FM radio stations to transmit audio and data via a digital signal in conjunction with their analog signals...
system from iBiquity
IBiquity
iBiquity Digital Corporation is a company formed by the merger of USA Digital Radio and Lucent Digital Radio, with the goal of creating an in-band on-channel digital radio system for the United States and around the world...
.
History
The station signed on in 1950. They were originally a black owned radio station and by the mid 1970s they were known as WBMX and an urban contemporaryUrban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...
featuring soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
hits, dance music
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
and contemporary jazz
Smooth jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of music that grew out of jazz fusion and is influenced by R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles ....
. The station would become the launching pad for the radio career of syndicated personality Doug Banks
Doug Banks
Doug Banks is an American radio personality and host of The Doug Banks Radio Show.-Career highlights:The Philadelphia-born, Detroit raised Banks began his radio career broadcasting on the high school radio station. Local station WDRQ took notice of his talent and offered him a spot as a temporary...
(who would also hone his skills at the stations eventual replacement WVAZ) and was owned by Sonderling Broadcasting.
In between 102.7 in Chicago managed to etch its frequency and various call letters into radio history. In the early 70s Sonderling Broadcasting bought the station along with its sister station WOPA-AM
WRTO
WRTO may refer to:* WRTO-FM, a radio station licensed to Goulds, Florida, United States* WRTO , a radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, United States...
. The call letters WOPA stood for The Oak Park Arms, a hotel on Oak Park Avenue where the station occupied the penthouse. Despite having a signal limited to the west side of Chicago WOPA was a goldmine for Sonderling who brokered time to a plethora of colorful African-American entrepreneurs and entertainers. The FM had one of the better signals in the market operating off of the John Hancock Tower on the near north side.
Sonderling programmed the station as an eclectic album rocker under Ed Shane, who brought in Dwight Cook out of Houston and Peter B. Collins from Cincinnati. Also on board was Morgan Tell who soon thereafter managed the career of Chicago balladeer Jim Croce
Jim Croce
James Joseph "Jim" Croce January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973 was an American singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, Croce released five studio albums and 11 singles...
. The station had some success but the album rock niche was crowded at the time with at least five other stations playing album cuts.
Buoyed by the success of their oldies station WMOD-FM in Washington, DC the company brought in Ron (Buzz) Brindle from DC. He soon brought with him Dusty Brooks with whom he had worked at WSVP in Providence. He retained Collins and Cook while taking over the morning show along with Pat Cassidy, who was his newsman and sidekick. The hope was that oldies on FM would work in the Windy City. Before WGLD could gain much traction, RKO-General converted its FM station on a nearby frequency to their brand of FM oldies. The legendary Bill Drake was instrumental in establish the company as the groundbreaker with oldies on FM thanks to his programming of KRTH in Los Angeles, WOR-FM in New York, and WROR-FM
WBZ-FM
WBZ-FM is a sports radio station known as "98.5 The Sports Hub" and broadcasting on 98.5 MHz in Boston, Massachusetts. Owned by CBS Radio, the current WBZ-FM began on August 13, 2009 and competes with AM sports talk stations WEEI and competed with the ESPN Radio pair of WAMG and WLLH before their...
in Boston. In fact, longtime Chicago TV newsman Ernie Anastas was originally brought to town along with RKO's Boston boss Dwight Case to run WFYR. Within months, "The Chicago Fire" was raging.
WGLD and general manager Charles Manson (obviously no relation) did have one weapon--a show called "The Femme Forum." Hosted by Morgan Moore (who claimed to be a former taxi driver) the midday program was a local knock-off of the Los Angeles sex talk show hosted in that market by Bill Ballance. It was attracting a growing audience. One particular show dealt with subject of oral sex
Fellatio
Fellatio is an act of oral stimulation of a male's penis by a sexual partner. It involves the stimulation of the penis by the use of the mouth, tongue, or throat. The person who performs fellatio can be referred to as the giving partner, and the other person is the receiving partner...
. Controversy and complaints ensued, with the Federal Communications Commission eventually getting involved. In a decision that would impact the radio industry for years the FCC ruling essentially said that the way a host handles a subject can have a bearing on the tone of the show and how it is perceived by the public. In this case Moore was determined to have encouraged listeners to take things well beyond what was considered "decent" in 1973. For that one show WGLD-FM and Sonderling Broadcasting were fined $2000. That decision remains a landmark and a benchmark in the evolution of shock talk on radio.
Not long after Moore was gone, Brindle was out, and the avuncular Art Roberts was installed as Program Director. He narrowed the focus of the station to 1950s and early 60s doo-wop. Despite his popularity WGLD faded quickly and within months WGLD was in transition again.
Around that time stations in several major markets were beginning to succeed with soft soul and disco on FM. With the change of call-letters to WBMX "The Black Music Experience" began. This incarnation remains today. Through the years the battle between WBMX, now WVAZ, and WGCI was the stuff of urban legends.
They continued as an urban contemporary
Urban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...
station into the late 1980s when the station was sold to Broadcast Partners. They continued with an urban format. In October 1988, the station evolved to more of an urban adult contemporary
Urban Adult Contemporary
Urban adult contemporary is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have rap music on their playlists. The format was designed by Barry Mayo when he, Lee S. Simonson and Bill Pearson organized Broadcast...
format. Broadcast Partners sold the station in 1997 to Chancellor Media. Chancellor also owned former rival WGCI which had stayed a mainstream urban
Mainstream Urban
Mainstream Urban is a term used to describe a radio format similar to an Urban Contemporary format. The format differentiates itself due to two factors: playlist composition and target demographic...
station.
Chancellor sold 3 other stations but kept WVAZ and WGCI. WGCI remained a mainstream urban
Mainstream Urban
Mainstream Urban is a term used to describe a radio format similar to an Urban Contemporary format. The format differentiates itself due to two factors: playlist composition and target demographic...
station while WVAZ plays the role as the urban adult contemporary
Urban Adult Contemporary
Urban adult contemporary is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have rap music on their playlists. The format was designed by Barry Mayo when he, Lee S. Simonson and Bill Pearson organized Broadcast...
station. Chancellor would restructure into AMFM, Inc., in 1999 and in 2000 merge with Clear Channel
Clear channel
A clear-channel station is an AM band Radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. Usually known as class A stations since 1982, they are occasionally still referred to by their former...
.
Until March 2009, WVAZ was the largest radio affiliate (market size) to carry the Tom Joyner Morning Show; in other words, Chicago was the largest market where Tom Joyner was syndicated due to a lack of popularity in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. There was discussion of dropping Joyner in late 2007 to make room for Doug Banks
Doug Banks
Doug Banks is an American radio personality and host of The Doug Banks Radio Show.-Career highlights:The Philadelphia-born, Detroit raised Banks began his radio career broadcasting on the high school radio station. Local station WDRQ took notice of his talent and offered him a spot as a temporary...
; however, Banks moved his show to afternoon drive time
Drive time
Drive time is the daypart analog to prime time for radio broadcasting. It consists of the morning hours when listeners wake up, get ready, and/or head to work or school, and the afternoon hours when they are heading home and before their evening meal. These are the periods where the number of...
instead, leaving Joyner's show intact. On March 25, 2009, WVAZ dropped Tom Joyner and picked up the Steve Harvey
Steve Harvey
Broderick Steven "Steve" Harvey is an American actor, comedian, entertainer, television and radio personality and best-selling author. He is best known as the star of the WB sitcom The Steve Harvey Show, and as one of the four comedians featured in the Spike Lee film The Original Kings of Comedy...
Morning Show, which previously aired on WGCI-FM and WSRB
WSRB
WSRB, known locally as Soul 106-3 is a Talk and Urban Adult Contemporary radio station in Chicago, licensed in the suburb of Lansing.WSRB is the home to the syndicated Love, Lust and Lies with Michael Baisden. It was home to Steve Harvey in the mornings until August 1, 2007. On March 25, 2009,...
.
Current line up
Weekdays- Steve Harvey Morning ShowSteve HarveyBroderick Steven "Steve" Harvey is an American actor, comedian, entertainer, television and radio personality and best-selling author. He is best known as the star of the WB sitcom The Steve Harvey Show, and as one of the four comedians featured in the Spike Lee film The Original Kings of Comedy...
5-9AM - Middays with Kris Kelly 9AM-2PM
- Doug BanksDoug BanksDoug Banks is an American radio personality and host of The Doug Banks Radio Show.-Career highlights:The Philadelphia-born, Detroit raised Banks began his radio career broadcasting on the high school radio station. Local station WDRQ took notice of his talent and offered him a spot as a temporary...
and DeDe McGuire, 2-6PM - Ramonski Luv & Joe Soto 6PM-9PM
- Glenn Cosby 9PM-1AM
- Renee Taylor 1AM-5AM
Friday Nights
- Davante Stone 9PM-12AM
Weekends
- Herb Kent 8AM-12PM (Sat.), 12PM-7PM (Sun.)