WPRS-FM (104.1
FM) is an
urban contemporary gospel
Urban/contemporary gospel, also known as urban gospel music, urban gospel pop, or just simply urban gospel, is a modern subgenre of gospel music. Although the style developed gradually, early forms are generally dated to the 1970s, and the gen ...
formatted radio station in the
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, metropolitan area. The station is licensed to
Waldorf, Maryland, and is co-owned with
WKYS
WKYS (93.9 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Washington, D.C., United States. The station is owned by Urban One through licensee Radio One Licenses, LLC, and broadcasts an urban contemporary radio format. It is co-owned with W ...
,
WMMJ
WMMJ (102.3 FM), known on air as "Majic 102.3 & 92.7," is an urban oldies-leaning urban adult contemporary radio station owned by Urban One in the Washington, D.C. market. It is co-owned with WKYS, WOL, WPRS-FM and WYCB and has studios ...
,
WOL and
WYCB and has studios located in
Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially Unincorporated area, unincorporated, it is an edge city with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ...
, with a transmitter located just east of Waldorf.
History
Xtra 104
For many years, 104.1 FM was known as WXTR-FM, an
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 ...
station known as "Xtra 104", which began in 1976. WXTR, which had been purchased by Liberty Broadcasting, was soon paired with the
Frederick, Maryland
Frederick is a city in, and the county seat of, Frederick County, Maryland, United States. Frederick's population was 78,171 people as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Maryland, second-largest ...
-licensed WZYQ (103.9 FM) (which aired a Top 40 format), in an attempt to attain better signal coverage for WXTR-FM. From that point on, both stations operated as a simulcast throughout a variety of formats: first
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 ...
, then
all-1970s music.
Z104
Finally,
Bonneville purchased the WXTR-FM/WZYQ combo, and, under program director Dale O'Brian, changed the format over to
contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...
at 11 am on July 15, 1996, as "Z104" with the call letters WWZZ and WWVZ. "Z104" was Washington, D.C.'s first Top 40 station since the flip of
WAVA to Christian programming in 1992. The station was also known for its community efforts and donation drives for local charities. Furthermore, as a member of the Nationals Network, it offered radio coverage of a large portion of the
Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...
games.
On October 1, 2001, due to new competition from
WIHT
WIHT (99.5 FM broadcasting, FM) is a contemporary hit radio formatted radio station that serves the greater Washington, D.C. Washington metropolitan area, metropolitan area. Located on the fourth floor of 1801 Maryland Route 355, Rockville Pike ...
(which had a full-market signal), Z104 switched to a
modern 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 ...
format, playing music by the likes of
Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band (also known as DMB) is an American rock band from Charlottesville, Virginia. The band's lineup consists of Dave Matthews (lead vocals, guitar), Stefan Lessard (bass), Carter Beauford (drums), Tim Reynolds (lead guitar), R ...
,
Goo Goo Dolls
The Goo Goo Dolls are an American rock band based in Buffalo, New York, composed of lead vocalist and guitarist John Rzeznik, bassist and vocalist Robby Takac, as well as several rotating members since its formation in 1986.
After starting ...
and
Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1993. After years of lineup changes in the early and mid-1990s, the songwriting duo of Stephan Jenkins and Kevin Cadogan signed the band's first major-label reco ...
. The format proved an effective alternative to WIHT and to local stations
WWDC
The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is an information technology conference held annually by Apple Inc. The conference is currently held at Apple Park in California. The event is used to showcase new software and technologies in the macO ...
(DC101) and
WHFS (HFS 99.1), both of which specialized in
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...
. The simulcast also dropped the "Z104" name in favor of "More Music 104" and simply "104" for a while, before reverting to the "Z104" name on April 8, 2004, at 8:04 am.
On January 4, 2006, at noon, WWZZ went off the air due to a multiple-station format change arranged by Bonneville International. One of the most popular stations in the Washington, D.C., area,
all-news
All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to the discussion and broadcast of news.
All-news radio is available in both local and radio syndication, syndicated forms, and is carried on both major US satellite radio networks. All-news sta ...
station
WTOP, expanded its reach by adding 103.5 to its collection, though a new radio station, "
Washington Post Radio
Washington Post Radio was an attempt by Bonneville Broadcasting and ''The Washington Post'' to create a commercial long-form all-news radio network in the style of National Public Radio. The small network of stations based in the Washington, D.C., ...
", took over WTOP's previous frequencies on March 30, 2006. The previous occupant of 103.5, the classical music station
WGMS, was moved to the Z104 frequencies. The final full song played on "Z104" was "
Soul To Squeeze" by
Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1982, consisting of Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Flea (musician), Flea (bass), John Frusciante (guitar), and Chad Smith (drums). Their music incorporates elements of a ...
. The opening lyrics of "
I Will Remember You" by
Sarah McLachlan
Sarah Ann McLachlan (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is ''Surfacing (album), Surfacing'' (1997), for which she won two G ...
were then played, but the song was cut off by general manager Joel Oxley announcing the changes, thanking the staff and listeners, and, in a rare move, redirecting former listeners to competing stations in the area.
George 104
On January 22, 2007, at 3 pm, after the announcement of the end of WGMS (which had aired on various frequencies in the Washington market for 60 years), 104.1/103.9 flipped to
adult hits, branded as "George 104". At the time of the format change, Bonneville announced that it had reached a deal with
public radio
Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive ...
station
WETA-FM to return the latter station to a classical format. WETA hired Jim Allison, the longtime program director of WGMS, and Bonneville donated its 15,000-disc WGMS music library to WETA. Bonneville also gave WETA the right to use the WGMS
call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...
. The format change to "George" took place after an abortive effort by Bonneville in late 2006, to sell the two frequencies to
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...
owner
Daniel Snyder. Snyder planned to buy WGMS to convert it to a
sports radio
Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sport, sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often-low comed ...
format, adding its frequencies to the
Triple X ESPN Radio network. Snyder withdrew from the preliminary purchase agreement, however, citing "a change in the radio climate" and hopes that "a better signal will soon become available in the market." News accounts suggested that a comment to ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' from an unnamed Bonneville executive, who said Snyder had offered "50 percent more than WGMS was worth", had stalled the negotiations.
The station used the "George" moniker (as in
George Washington
George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
) for its adult hits instead of the usual "
Jack FM
Jack FM is a radio network brand that is licensed by Sparknet Communications, with the exception of the European Union where it is licensed by Oxis Media. It plays an adult hits radio format, format, in most cases not using disc jockey, DJs.
F ...
", which is trademarked. The call sign for 104.1 FM would be changed to WXGG on February 1.
"George 104", however, only lasted about three months. Bonneville announced a local marketing agreement with
Radio One for the 104.1 signal on April 6, 2007. 103.9 FM was switched on the same date to a simulcast of WTOP (as WTLP), while the 104.1 frequency went dark in anticipation of a format switch ("George", meanwhile, moved to WTOP-HD2, though it would eventually be discontinued altogether).
Praise 104.1
"Praise 104.1" and its current format launched the next morning (Easter Sunday). On April 24, WXGG changed its call letters to WPRS-FM. Radio One would acquire the station outright in July 2007, with the sale closing a year later.
In 2019, WPRS's HD2 subchannel began broadcasting programming from sister station
WTEM
WTEM (980 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial Sports radio, sports radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Washington metropolitan area as the flagship station of the Washington Wizards ...
.
References
External links
*
The end of WGMS classical programming (audio)Z104's farewell note via the wayback machine
{{coord, 38, 37, 07, N, 76, 50, 39, W, region:US-MD_type:landmark_source:dewiki, display=title
1961 establishments in Maryland
PRS-FM
Urban gospel radio stations in the United States
Radio stations established in 1961
Urban One stations
Waldorf, Maryland