WSRZ-FM (107.9

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting 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 rad ...

licensed to Coral Cove, Florida, and serving the

Sarasota Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers and Punta Gorda. Its official limits include Sarasota Ba ...

Bradenton Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698, up from 49,546 at the 2010 census. It is a principal city in the Sarasota metropolitan area. Dow ...

area. It has a classic hits

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 broadcasting, ...

and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios are on Fruitville Road in Sarasota. WSRZ-FM is a Class C2 FM station with an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ha ...

(ERP) of 47,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

is off North Tamiami Trail (

U.S. Route 41 U.S. Route 41, also U.S. Highway 41 (US 41), is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Until 1949, the part in southern Florida, from Naples to Miam ...

) at Florida Route 681 in Nokomis. WSRZ-FM broadcasts using

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. HD radio generally simulcast, simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD R ...

technology. Its HD2

digital subchannel In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compress ...

rebroadcasts the

Hot AC 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 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, ...

programming of

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

WSDV

1450 AM The following radio broadcasting, radio stations broadcast on AM broadcasting, AM frequency 1450 kHz: 1450 AM is a Regional and Local broadcast frequency. Argentina * LRJ211 in San Juan. * LRI203 El Sol in Buenos Aires. Bermuda *VSB Canada ...

History

WSPB-FM, WMLO

The station

signed on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...

the air on . It originally broadcast on 106.3 MHz as WSPB-FM,

to WSPB 1450 AM (now WSDV). In 1982, it switched to WMLO (branded as "Mellow 106.3") playing

Soft 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 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

music. The station flipped to

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

in 1984 and its frequency moved to 106.5 FM. In September 1986, the station changed its call letters to WSRZ. It aired a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

format known as Z-106 after Robert Weeks (former owner of the station) sold the station to Sarasota Radio Partners Inc. The station carried the syndicated "

Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 ''Rick Dees Weekly Top 40'' (sometimes known as ''The Weekly Top 40'') is an internationally syndicated radio program created and hosted by American radio personality Rick Dees. It is currently heard on over 200 radio stations worldwide. It is ...

" starting with the station's debut as a Top 40 outlet, one of two contemporary hits stations in the

Tampa Bay area The Tampa Bay area is a major metropolitan area surrounding Tampa Bay on the Gulf Coast of Florida in the United States. It includes the main cities of Tampa, Florida, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater, Florida, Clea ...

. However, WSRZ didn't go full-time CHR until 1988. The Contemporary Hits format was unsuccessful for the station. As at that point, CHR listeners preferred 104.7

WRBQ WRBQ-FM (104.7 MHz, "Q105") is a commercial radio station licensed to Tampa, Florida, airing a classic hits radio format. Owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group, its studios are on Executive Center Drive North, near Gandy Boulevard in St. Pete ...

or later

WFLZ WFLZ-FM (93.3 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Tampa, Florida. It airs a contemporary hit radio (CHR/Top 40) format and is owned and operated by iHeartMedia. The station's studios and offices are located on Gandy Boulevard in South Tampa. ...

93.3 "The Power Pig." Both those stations had medium-to-strong signals in the Sarasota-Bradenton areas, and 97.1 WINK-FM

Fort Myers A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

had a medium-to-strong signal in the Venice area. With those stations adding to the competition, Z-106 did not remain a Top 40 station for long. WSRZ returned to its former oldies format in 1990. It was located at 106.5 MHz, known as 'Oldies 106' and played music from the 1950s to the early 1970s. Weekend specialty programming included street corner harmony

Doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, ...

shows.

WSRZ moves to 107.9

In 1999, a major shift was completed among

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...

stations in the Sarasota-Bradenton region.

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

WCTQ (92 CTQ) moved to the superior 106.5 position, WSRZ moved to the slightly less-powerful 107.9 position, and

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

station WYNF moved from 107.9 to the newly created (and lower powered) 105.9. 92.1 adopted a soft AC format as "The Dove". After moving to its current 107.9 frequency, WSRZ-FM was then renamed as "Oldies 108". In early 2007, the moniker was changed to the present "107.9 WSRZ", dropping music from the 1950s and 60s. The current format is classic hits, focusing on music from the 1970s and 80s, with some 90s hits.

Programming

WSRZ-FM's local morning

drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...

show is ''Jones and Company''. It was formerly known as ''The Jones and Crane Morning Show'' prior to Christina Crane's retirement in 2017. It currently features David Jones and Meredith Michaels. The hosts have incorporated numerous fundraising and community service related causes into the show, including an annual toy and fund drive benefiting The Safe Children's Coalition-Sarasota

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

. There's also an annual blood drive benefiting the Suncoast Community

Blood Bank A blood bank is a center where blood gathered as a result of blood donation is stored and preserved for later use in blood transfusion. The term "blood bank" typically refers to a department of a hospital usually within a clinical pathology labora ...

. The hosts frequently throw parties for listeners on Friday nights. The rest of the WSRZ-FM schedule is nationally syndicated shows and voice-tracked hosts from other iHeart stations. In middays, WSRZ-FM carries '' The Martha Quinn Show''. On weekends, the station airs classic ''

American Top 40 ''American Top 40'' (abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally radio syndication, syndicated, independent song countdown radio programming, radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs (broadcaster), Ron Jaco ...

'' shows hosted by

Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio presenter who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably ''American Top 40'', as well as the weekly syndicated televi ...

. It also carries ''The 80s Show with Jeff Stevens''.

References

External links

* {{IHeartMedia SRZ-FM Radio stations established in 1991 IHeartMedia radio stations 1991 establishments in Florida