WEZN-FM (99.9 MHz, "Star 99.9") is a commercial

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

, licensed to

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the fifth-most populous in New England. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequo ...

, and serving

Southern Connecticut Greater New Haven is the metropolitan area whose extent includes those towns in the U.S. state of Connecticut that share an economic, social, political, and historical focus on the city of New Haven. It occupies the south-central portion of the sta ...

. The station is owned by

Connoisseur Media Connoisseur Media LLC is an American media company. It is based in Westport, Connecticut and led by Jeff Warshaw. Connoisseur operates radio stations and digital assets in markets across the U.S. cities of Billings, Fredrick, Maryland; Bay Shore, H ...

and it airs a

hot adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...

. The WEZN

studios A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery ( ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

are located on Wheelers Farms Road in Milford; the station's

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...

is on Green Haven Road in Trumbull. WEZN has a strong signal which reaches north of

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

, and into southern Hampden County, Massachusetts. The signal is heard in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk and Nassau County, New York, Nassau counties on Long Island to the south and into Westchester County, New York, to the west. It can be heard in Monmouth County, New Jersey.

History

On October 24, 1960, the station first signed on the air as WJZZ, the FM sister station of WICC (AM), WICC. As the call sign, call letters imply, the station started out as a jazz outlet. It was the first station to be assigned the WJZZ call sign followed by 105.9 FM in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan (now WDMK), and 107.5 FM in Atlanta, Georgia (now WAMJ). There were few FM radios in the 1960s and the all-jazz format was not financially viable. For a time, WICC simulcast the programming from AM 600 on FM 99.9. WICC sold the station after several years. The station was later bought by Williams Broadcasting, carrying a beautiful music format and changing its call letters to WEZN to reflect its easy listening sound. While WEZN was a popular and profitable station, the audience wanting to hear mostly orchestras and instrumental music was aging. So in the 1990s, WEZN gradually added more soft adult contemporary vocals until it made the switch to full-time adult contemporary. At the same time, WEBE, 107.9 WDJF in nearby Westport, Connecticut, also moved to an adult contemporary format, so WEZN went a step further, implementing a hot adult contemporary format. Despite the format changes, the station has kept its WEZN call sign; however, outside of hourly station identifications, it rarely says those call letters on the air, preferring the handle "Star 99.9." The station was purchased from Cox Radio by

along with sister stations WFOX (FM), WFOX and WPLR, at a purchase price of $40 million. Connoisseur Media took ownership on May 10, 2013. Past radio hosts have included Randye Kaye.

References

External links

* Mass media in Bridgeport, Connecticut Mass media in Fairfield County, Connecticut Radio stations in Connecticut, EZN-FM Connoisseur Media radio stations Radio stations established in 1960 1960 establishments in Connecticut Hot adult contemporary radio stations in the United States {{Connecticut-radio-station-stub