WWDV
Encyclopedia
WWDV is a radio station
in Zion, Illinois
, known as "The Drive". The station is currently owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, and simulcasts with WDRV
(97.1 FM
). "The Drive" programs a broad-based classic rock
format called "Timeless Rock" (similar to the early days of WLUP
).
. The station's effective radiated power then was 3,500 Watts, broadcasting from a transmitter and 143 feet (43.6 m) tower at 6400 67th Street and studios in the Isermann Building at 616 56th Street in downtown Kenosha, WI. In 1966, WAXO built new AM-FM studios at the transmitter/tower location, and moved operations there. The building is now a medical facility, though the WAXO tower supports remain on the grounds.
WAXO was Kenosha's second modern-day radio station after WLIP
and was billed as "The new voice of a new and greater Kenosha". WAXO's first station manager was longtime broadcaster Roy Ambrose of Manitowoc, Wisconsin
; Paul Weyrich
was the first program director and Don Jensen was the first news director. Subsequent station managers included Richard Blaha and Darrell Gorr. In a late-1968 promotional stunt, WAXO announcer Gary Anderson held a record for constant on-air broadcast duties by performing an air shift of 96.9 hours.
Service Broadcasting Corporation owned WAXO between 1962 and June 14, 1969. Arnold Johnson was president, Dr. Robert Heller was executive vice-president, and John E. Malloy Esq. was secretary-treasurer.
The company had always intended to operate an AM radio station, and there was an available AM frequency allocation at 1500 kilohertz. However, there were competing interests for the AM license, most notably from neighboring Zion, Illinois
, which had lost its 50,000 Watt radio station in a 1930s fire. After lengthy testimony the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) decided to grant the AM 1500 license to the Zion-Benton Broadcasting Association of Zion (principals: Billy Bicket and family), and the station became WZBN, signing on the air on September 19, 1967. After that, Service Broadcasting decided to sell WAXO, and competition developed for the licensed 96.9 FM frequency from broadcasting interests in both Zion, IL and Racine, WI. The owners of WZBN in Zion were the successful applicants, and paid $250,000 for WAXO. Within weeks a lightning strike destroyed the transmitter and WAXO's new owners were granted permission for an increase in power to 10,000 Watts horizontal and 8,100 Watts vertical and a new 500 feet (152.4 m) antenna tower at Dexter's Corner, Wisconsin.
By autumn of 1969 Zion-Benton Broadcasting Assoc. had changed the call letters to WKZN (for "Waukegan Kenosha Zion Newport"). They referred to themselves on-air as "KZ97". The new ownership had ordered and installed a new Schafer automation system
, then sold the three-year-old building and moved the WKZN studios to 2219 63rd Street in uptown Kenosha, which was built as a fire station. By 1971 WKZN was moved from Kenosha to combined WZBN-WKZN studios on the second floor of the Bicket Pharmacy (a former bank building constructed in 1909) at 2700 Sheridan Road in Zion, IL. A second Schafer automation system was added for WZBN programming. In the early seventies, music programming was the Adult Standards
format which came from a broadcast music service on open-reel tape with PSA's and spots loaded into NAB Cartridge carousels. The AM and FM music playlists differed slightly, but the Bicket's main focus was on providing ample local news covering a beat from North Chicago, IL through Kenosha, WI. News/sports/weather reports were simulcast.
The WAXO
call letters were later issued to 1220 AM in Lewisburg, Tennessee, where they are still in use. WAXO's 1969 tower at Dexter's Corner is still in use by the station.
(97.1 FM), which had been experiencing interference problems from WKZN's adjoining frequency.
WKZN then became WNIZ, and simulcast
nearly all of WNIB's programming until both stations were sold in 2000 for $158 million to the Bonneville broadcasting interests.
On April 2, 2001, WNIB became WDRV ("The Drive"), and WNIZ became a simulcast of WDRV's sister station, WTMX
. Call letters for 96.9 were changed to WTNX. This simulcast did very little for WTMX's ratings, and management felt it would be more appropriate to be paired up with its neighbor at 97.1. On January 1, 2003, 96.9 became the north metro frequency for "The Drive", and the call letters were changed to WWDV.
Bonneville announced the sale of WWDV, as well as 16 other stations, to Hubbard Broadcasting on January 19, 2011. The sale was completed on April 29, 2011.
The 97.1 frequency signed on as WNIB (NIB=Northern Illinois Broadcasting, original owner) in 1957, playing classical music. Later, the company purchased the station at 96.9 FM in Zion
, changing the call letters to WNIZ and serving as a simulcast for communities north of Chicago. The stations were sold in 2000 to Bonneville International
.
WNIB then became WDRV "The Drive" on April 2, 2001. It began as a classic hits
format, but has slowly evolved into a broad-based classic rock
format at the same time when former sister WLUP
was sold to Emmis and changed to a mainstream rock
format in 2005
. Many of The Drive's personalities have had long histories at other Chicago radio stations. The on-air staff includes morning host Steve Downes
(the voice of the Master Chief
in the Halo
video games), Bob Stroud (middays), Bobby Skafish
(afternoons), Phil Manicki (evenings), and Greg Easterling (overnights). Current weekend personalities include Ryan Arnold, Allie Ellison, Jim Foster, Carla Leonardo, Steve Seaver and Marc Vernon. On Sunday mornings Bob Stroud hosts his famous Rock 'N Roll Roots show, which debuted in 1980 at WMET. Steve Downes
' nationally syndicated show, The Classics, is aired every Sunday night.
station signed on simulcasting with WDRV HD-2 featuring Deep Tracks.
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...
in Zion, Illinois
Zion, Illinois
Zion is a city in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 22,866 at the 2000 census, and estimated at 24,303 as of 2005. The city was founded in July 1901 by John Alexander Dowie. He also started the Zion Tabernacle of the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church, which was the only...
, known as "The Drive". The station is currently owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, and simulcasts with WDRV
WDRV
WDRV is a radio station in Chicago, Illinois. The station is currently owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, and simulcasts on WWDV . "The Drive" programs a broad-based classic rock format called "Timeless Rock"...
(97.1 FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
). "The Drive" programs a broad-based classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
format called "Timeless Rock" (similar to the early days of WLUP
WLUP
WLUP-FM is a commercial classic rock radio station serving the Chicago metropolitan area. Owned and operated by Merlin Media, LLC, WLUP transmits its signal from an antenna located the top of the Willis Tower in Downtown Chicago at a height of with an effective radiated power of 4,000 watts...
).
History
WAXO first signed on the air at 96.9 FM on November 4, 1962; the first voice heard was that of Paul WeyrichPaul Weyrich
Paul M. Weyrich was an American conservativepolitical activist and commentator, most notable as a figurehead of the New Right. He co-founded the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank and the Free Congress Foundation, another conservative think tank...
. The station's effective radiated power then was 3,500 Watts, broadcasting from a transmitter and 143 feet (43.6 m) tower at 6400 67th Street and studios in the Isermann Building at 616 56th Street in downtown Kenosha, WI. In 1966, WAXO built new AM-FM studios at the transmitter/tower location, and moved operations there. The building is now a medical facility, though the WAXO tower supports remain on the grounds.
WAXO was Kenosha's second modern-day radio station after WLIP
WLIP
WLIP is a radio station located in Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S. serving the Chicago-Milwaukee metropolitan region along the west shore of Lake Michigan with 250 watts effective radiated power, and also streams worldwide at www.wlip.com...
and was billed as "The new voice of a new and greater Kenosha". WAXO's first station manager was longtime broadcaster Roy Ambrose of Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Manitowoc is a city in and the county seat of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, United States. The city is located on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Manitowoc River. According to the 2000 census, Manitowoc had a population of 34,053, with over 50,000 residents in the surrounding communities...
; Paul Weyrich
Paul Weyrich
Paul M. Weyrich was an American conservativepolitical activist and commentator, most notable as a figurehead of the New Right. He co-founded the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank and the Free Congress Foundation, another conservative think tank...
was the first program director and Don Jensen was the first news director. Subsequent station managers included Richard Blaha and Darrell Gorr. In a late-1968 promotional stunt, WAXO announcer Gary Anderson held a record for constant on-air broadcast duties by performing an air shift of 96.9 hours.
Service Broadcasting Corporation owned WAXO between 1962 and June 14, 1969. Arnold Johnson was president, Dr. Robert Heller was executive vice-president, and John E. Malloy Esq. was secretary-treasurer.
The company had always intended to operate an AM radio station, and there was an available AM frequency allocation at 1500 kilohertz. However, there were competing interests for the AM license, most notably from neighboring Zion, Illinois
Zion, Illinois
Zion is a city in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 22,866 at the 2000 census, and estimated at 24,303 as of 2005. The city was founded in July 1901 by John Alexander Dowie. He also started the Zion Tabernacle of the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church, which was the only...
, which had lost its 50,000 Watt radio station in a 1930s fire. After lengthy testimony the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) decided to grant the AM 1500 license to the Zion-Benton Broadcasting Association of Zion (principals: Billy Bicket and family), and the station became WZBN, signing on the air on September 19, 1967. After that, Service Broadcasting decided to sell WAXO, and competition developed for the licensed 96.9 FM frequency from broadcasting interests in both Zion, IL and Racine, WI. The owners of WZBN in Zion were the successful applicants, and paid $250,000 for WAXO. Within weeks a lightning strike destroyed the transmitter and WAXO's new owners were granted permission for an increase in power to 10,000 Watts horizontal and 8,100 Watts vertical and a new 500 feet (152.4 m) antenna tower at Dexter's Corner, Wisconsin.
By autumn of 1969 Zion-Benton Broadcasting Assoc. had changed the call letters to WKZN (for "Waukegan Kenosha Zion Newport"). They referred to themselves on-air as "KZ97". The new ownership had ordered and installed a new Schafer automation system
Schafer automation system
The first Schafer Automation System, installed at KGEE in Bakersfield, California in 1956, was dubbed the "blue-wire job" because all of the wiring in it was blue, its inventor, Paul Schafer said. "The owner wanted to program his station all night long without a person being there...
, then sold the three-year-old building and moved the WKZN studios to 2219 63rd Street in uptown Kenosha, which was built as a fire station. By 1971 WKZN was moved from Kenosha to combined WZBN-WKZN studios on the second floor of the Bicket Pharmacy (a former bank building constructed in 1909) at 2700 Sheridan Road in Zion, IL. A second Schafer automation system was added for WZBN programming. In the early seventies, music programming was the Adult Standards
Adult standards
Adult standards is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations.Adult standards is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly those persons over 50 years of age, but it is mostly targeted for senior citizens...
format which came from a broadcast music service on open-reel tape with PSA's and spots loaded into NAB Cartridge carousels. The AM and FM music playlists differed slightly, but the Bicket's main focus was on providing ample local news covering a beat from North Chicago, IL through Kenosha, WI. News/sports/weather reports were simulcast.
The WAXO
WAXO
WAXO is a radio station broadcasting a Country music format. Licensed to Lewisburg, Tennessee, USA. The station is currently owned by Marshall County Radio Corporation and features programing from Jones Radio Network...
call letters were later issued to 1220 AM in Lewisburg, Tennessee, where they are still in use. WAXO's 1969 tower at Dexter's Corner is still in use by the station.
Typical WAXO programming
- Sundial with Paul Weyrich
- The Mike is Yours with Larry Taylor
- Home Executive Club with Lida Hindley
- The Noon Report and Showtime with Don Jensen
- The Chuck Presley Show - Chuck Presley
- The Lou Rugani Show - Lou Rugani
- Sentimental Journey with Augie Gnorski (Gus Gnorski)
- Moondial with Jay Wells
- Passport to Italy with Mario Capponi
- Your Opinion Please with Roy Ambrose
- Sounds of Stereo (Chester Electronics)Gary Anderson
- The Big Bands with Lew Strangberg
- Play By Play with Jim Wynne
- Invitation to Music with Wayne Blackmon
- The Frank Carmichael Show - Frank Carmichael
- The Hammond Organ Show with Lillian Crawford (and later, Lillian Gildenstern)
WNIZ
In 1983, WKZN was sold to Northern Illinois Broadcasting, the owners of WNIBWDRV
WDRV is a radio station in Chicago, Illinois. The station is currently owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, and simulcasts on WWDV . "The Drive" programs a broad-based classic rock format called "Timeless Rock"...
(97.1 FM), which had been experiencing interference problems from WKZN's adjoining frequency.
WKZN then became WNIZ, and simulcast
Simulcast
Simulcast, shorthand for "simultaneous broadcast", refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are often...
nearly all of WNIB's programming until both stations were sold in 2000 for $158 million to the Bonneville broadcasting interests.
On April 2, 2001, WNIB became WDRV ("The Drive"), and WNIZ became a simulcast of WDRV's sister station, WTMX
WTMX
WTMX is an adult top 40 radio station licensed to Skokie, IL in the Chicago market. It is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting.-History:...
. Call letters for 96.9 were changed to WTNX. This simulcast did very little for WTMX's ratings, and management felt it would be more appropriate to be paired up with its neighbor at 97.1. On January 1, 2003, 96.9 became the north metro frequency for "The Drive", and the call letters were changed to WWDV.
Bonneville announced the sale of WWDV, as well as 16 other stations, to Hubbard Broadcasting on January 19, 2011. The sale was completed on April 29, 2011.
WDRV 97.1 FM
- See also WDRVWDRVWDRV is a radio station in Chicago, Illinois. The station is currently owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, and simulcasts on WWDV . "The Drive" programs a broad-based classic rock format called "Timeless Rock"...
The 97.1 frequency signed on as WNIB (NIB=Northern Illinois Broadcasting, original owner) in 1957, playing classical music. Later, the company purchased the station at 96.9 FM in Zion
Zion, Illinois
Zion is a city in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 22,866 at the 2000 census, and estimated at 24,303 as of 2005. The city was founded in July 1901 by John Alexander Dowie. He also started the Zion Tabernacle of the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church, which was the only...
, changing the call letters to WNIZ and serving as a simulcast for communities north of Chicago. The stations were sold in 2000 to Bonneville International
Bonneville International
Bonneville International Corporation is a broadcasting company wholly owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through its for-profit arm, Deseret Management Corporation...
.
WNIB then became WDRV "The Drive" on April 2, 2001. It began as a classic hits
Classic hits
Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes rock and pop music from 1964 to 1989. The term is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for the adult hits format, but is more accurately characterized as a contemporary style of the oldies format...
format, but has slowly evolved into a broad-based classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
format at the same time when former sister WLUP
WLUP
WLUP-FM is a commercial classic rock radio station serving the Chicago metropolitan area. Owned and operated by Merlin Media, LLC, WLUP transmits its signal from an antenna located the top of the Willis Tower in Downtown Chicago at a height of with an effective radiated power of 4,000 watts...
was sold to Emmis and changed to a mainstream rock
Mainstream rock
Mainstream rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada.-Format background:...
format in 2005
2005 in radio
The year 2005 in radio involved some significant events.-Events:*April 29 - KFRC 610 AM in San Francisco, switches formats as a result of ownership change. KFRC becomes KEAR, the "Sound of the New Life", a listener-supported, gospel/religious only station. It had been previously KFRC from...
. Many of The Drive's personalities have had long histories at other Chicago radio stations. The on-air staff includes morning host Steve Downes
Steve Downes
Steve Downes is an American DJ and voice actor. He is best known for his work as the voice of Master Chief in the popular Halo video game series. He worked as a disc jockey at Los Angeles, California, Album-oriented Rock radio stations KWST , KEZY-AM and KLSX , but is best remembered working...
(the voice of the Master Chief
Master Chief (Halo)
Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 is a fictional character and protagonist of the Halo fictional universe, created by Bungie. Master Chief is a player character in the trilogy of science fiction first-person shooter video games Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3 and will appear in the...
in the Halo
Halo (video game series)
Halo is a multi-million dollar science fiction video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed by 343 Industries and owned by Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant...
video games), Bob Stroud (middays), Bobby Skafish
Bobby Skafish
Bobby Skafish is a longtime radio personality in the Chicago area.-Career:* 1976-1983 WXRT* 1983-1993 WLUP* 1993-1994 WKQX* 1994-2006 WXRT* 2007- WDRV-Background:...
(afternoons), Phil Manicki (evenings), and Greg Easterling (overnights). Current weekend personalities include Ryan Arnold, Allie Ellison, Jim Foster, Carla Leonardo, Steve Seaver and Marc Vernon. On Sunday mornings Bob Stroud hosts his famous Rock 'N Roll Roots show, which debuted in 1980 at WMET. Steve Downes
Steve Downes
Steve Downes is an American DJ and voice actor. He is best known for his work as the voice of Master Chief in the popular Halo video game series. He worked as a disc jockey at Los Angeles, California, Album-oriented Rock radio stations KWST , KEZY-AM and KLSX , but is best remembered working...
' nationally syndicated show, The Classics, is aired every Sunday night.
HD radio
In September 2006, WWDV's HD-2HD 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...
station signed on simulcasting with WDRV HD-2 featuring Deep Tracks.