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WZFT (104.3 FM), branded "Z104.3", is a gold-leaning
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 ...
station located in
Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...
. It is currently owned and operated by
iHeartMedia 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 ...
. WZFT's studios are located at The Rotunda shopping center in Baltimore, and its transmitter is based atop Television Hill in the city's Woodberry district.


History


WITH-FM/DJ-104

The station signed on in 1949, as WITH-FM, the FM sister to WITH (1230 AM, now
WFOA WFOA (1230 kHz) is a AM radio station broadcasting a Spanish contemporary hit radio format. Licensed to Baltimore, Maryland, the station serves the Baltimore metropolitan area. The station is owned by Julio Arquinio's BMax Media LLC. The stat ...
). WITH-FM was Maryland's pioneer FM station, with local legend Jack Wells serving as its first announcer. On October 1, 1974, WITH-FM became
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 ...
WDJQ-FM "DJ-104". By the late 1970s, WDJQ-FM made an attempt to do an all-
disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...
format, which failed in the ratings, and the station went back to Top 40 at the end of 1979.


B-104

In June 1980, Scripps-Howard Broadcasting acquired WDJQ-FM, and at noon on July 2, 104.3 FM became WBSB under the handle "B-104", but retaining the previous Top 40 format. "B-104" was one of Baltimore's top-rated FM stations during the 1980s, and was home to "Brian and O'Brien", one of Baltimore's most notable morning drive time shows. Radio and TV personalities
Glenn Beck Glenn Lee Beck (born February 10, 1964) is an American conservative political commentator, radio host, entrepreneur, and television producer. He is the CEO, founder, and owner of Mercury Radio Arts, the parent company of his television and rad ...
and Pat Gray hosted a show on WBSB for several years in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Other notable air personalities included Ken Merson (The Merson Person), Willie B., Gary Murphy, Sean Hall, Tom Gilligan, Kris Earl Phillips, Ann Duran, J.R. Russ, Lisa Kay, "Downtown" Billy Brown and Brian Carter.


Variety 104.3/Soft 104.3

By 1991, the Top 40 format suffered a decline in audience and revenue due to the rise of
alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
and
hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
. Many stations around the country flipped to other formats; WBSB was one of those. On February 18, 1992, at 9:00 am, after playing a montage of station memories, the station flipped to "Variety 104.3", a
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, ...
competitor to
WWMX WWMX (106.5 FM), known on-air as Mix 106.5, is a commercial radio station in Baltimore, Maryland. It broadcasts a hot adult contemporary radio format and is owned by Audacy, Inc. The studios and offices are on Clarkview Road off Jones Falls ...
, which was a mainstream AC at the time. The first song on "Variety" was " Listen to the Music" by
The Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in San Jose, California in 1970. Known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies, the band has been active for over five decades, with their greate ...
. In January 1993, the station changed its call letters to WVRT. The station suffered from low ratings during this time. Capitol Broadcasting, the owners of WWMX, bought the station from E. W. Scripps in the fall of 1993. On December 13, the station began stunting with a simulcast of WWMX. At midnight on December 20, the stunting switched to a one song per day loop, as well as liners redirecting listeners to WWMX. Finally, on January 12, 1994, at 6 pm, the station flipped to "Soft 104.3" WSSF, a soft AC competing with well-established WLIF. Capitol sold the station to American Radio Systems in 1994.


104.3 The Colt/104.3-OCT

After just 9 months of "Soft", on October 14, at 3 pm, the station flipped to 1970s-based classic hits as "104.3 The Colt", using the call letters WOCT. The first song on "The Colt" was Bachman–Turner Overdrive's " You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet". The station later evolved into a
classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...
format. In 1998, American Radio Systems merged with CBS Radio/
Infinity Broadcasting Infinity Broadcasting Corporation was a radio company that existed from 1972 until 2005. It was founded by Michael A. Wiener and Gerald Carrus. It became associated with popular radio personalities like Howard Stern, Opie and Anthony, Don Im ...
. The company was forced to sell one station due to being over the ownership limitations of 5 FM stations in a market. As a result, WOCT was sold to Jacor Communications, which would merge with the station's current owner
iHeartMedia 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 ...
(then known as Clear Channel Communications) a year later. Following the sale, the station changed its format again, this time to a harder classic rock format as "104.3-OCT".


Baltimore 104.3/B-104.3

In 2001, the station returned to mainstream classic rock as "Baltimore 104.3", and then a year later briefly brought back the heritage "B-104" name as WXFB ("B-104.3").


Smooth Jazz 104.3/Channel 104.3

On September 5, 2003, at 10 am, the station flipped to
smooth jazz Smooth jazz is commercially oriented crossover jazz music. Although often described as a "genre", it is a debatable and highly controversial subject in jazz music circles. As a radio format, however, smooth jazz radio became the successor to e ...
as WSMJ. During WSMJ's (near) five-year run, it was nominated by the Radio & Records Industry for "Smooth Jazz Station of the Year" in 2005, as well as, one nomination and one win for "Program Director of the Year" in 2005 and 2007. On May 23, 2008, at 9 am, after playing " Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)" by
Gladys Knight & the Pips Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American Rhythm and blues, R&B, soul music, soul, and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early ...
, the station began stunting with
Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...
. At noon the same day, the station launched into a 1990s-intensive
modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college and commercial rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. ...
format similar to other Clear Channel modern rockers in
Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...
,
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, and
Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
, as ''Channel 104.3''. The first (and ultimately, last) song on "Channel" was " No Way Back" by The Foo Fighters. On May 29, 2008, the station changed its call letters to WCHH. In January 2009, the transmitter was moved from northeast of the city to Television Hill near downtown, with hopes of improving signal coverage in the Howard County and
Anne Arundel County Anne Arundel County (; ), also notated as AA or A.A. County, is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 588,261, an increase of just under 10% since 2010. Its county seat is Annapolis, wh ...
suburbs.


Z104.3

At 10 am on November 4, 2009, the station briefly stunted again, this time with R&B music as "Charm 104.3" (
Mario Winans Mario Mendell Winans ( Brown; born August 29, 1974) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer from South Carolina. An extended member of the Winans musical family, he is best known for his 2004 single " I Don't Wanna Know" (f ...
's " I Don't Wanna Know" was the first song played as part of the stunt), before officially flipping to contemporary hit radio at noon (the last song played as part of the stunt was
Ja Rule Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule (), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. Born and raised in New York City, Ja Rule became known for blending gangsta rap with pop rap, pop and contempo ...
& Ashanti's " Always on Time") as "Z104.3". The first song played on "Z" was " 3" by
Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...
. The station changed calls to WZFT on November 20, 2009. The debut of "Z104.3" marked the first time that Baltimore had a Top 40 station since 2001, when WXYV flipped to
mainstream urban Mainstream may refer to: Film * ''Mainstream'' (film), a 2020 American film Literature * ''Mainstream'' (fanzine), a science fiction fanzine * Mainstream Publishing, a Scottish publisher * ''Mainstream'', a 1943 book by Hamilton Basso * ' ...
, and also brought the CHR format back to 104.3 FM after a 17-year absence. Hot AC-formatted WWMX, a former sister station now owned by
Entercom Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corp., it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning over 220 radio stations across 47 media ...
, had been leaning towards a mainstream Top 40 direction beginning the preceding year to try and fill that void. On July 1, 2014, WZFT updated its logo, mirroring a logo similar to sister station WHTZ in New York.


HD Radio

On June 26, 2019, WZFT-HD2 flipped to iHeart's " Pride Radio" format of Top 40/Dance music targeting the
LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...
community.iHeartMedia Expands Pride Radio to 12 Additional Markets
/ref> Previously, the HD2 subchannel carried hip-hop music as "The Beat",
urban adult contemporary Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music on ...
music from iHeart's "All My Jams" channel, and
alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
as "Alt 104.3".


References


External links

* * * ( Guide to reading History Cards) * {{coord, 39.336, N, 76.649, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title 1945 establishments in Maryland Contemporary hit radio stations in the United States IHeartMedia radio stations Radio stations established in 1945 ZFT