WWIZ is a commercial FM

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 radi ...

West Middlesex, Pennsylvania West Middlesex is a borough along the Shenango River in southwestern Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 815 at the 2020 Census. It is part of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area. Geography West Middlesex is ...

, United States, serving the

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County, Ohio, Mahoning County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of ...

market broadcasting at 103.9 MHz with an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as wel ...

format between January and September or October, and a

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

format between September or October and January. It is one of seven radio stations in the Youngstown market owned by Cumulus Broadcasting with studios in "The Radio Center" in Youngstown.

History

WWIZ first signed on the air in October 1972.

Format Flips

On March 31, 2017, WWIZ dropped its

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 ...

format (as "Rock 104") and began stunting with a loop of

The Moody Blues The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1964, initially consisting of keyboardist Mike Pinder, multi-instrumentalist Ray Thomas, guitarist Denny Laine, drummer Graeme Edge and bassist Clint Warwick. The group c ...

' “

Nights in White Satin "Nights in White Satin" is a song by the Moody Blues, written and composed by Justin Hayward. It was first featured as the segment "The Night" on the album '' Days of Future Passed''. When first released as a single in 1967, it reached number 19 ...

” and

The Royal Guardsmen The Royal Guardsmen are an American rock band, best known for their 1966 hit singles " Snoopy vs. the Red Baron", "The Return of The Red Baron", "Snoopy For President", and the Christmas follow up " Snoopy's Christmas". History Originally kn ...

's “ Snoopy vs. the Red Baron”, with just a legal ID between the songs. The following day at Noon, the station flipped to classic hits as "Z104" using

Westwood One Westwood One is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1978. The company w ...

's "Good Time Oldies" satellite feed.

First-in-the-nation Christmas music flips

On October 25, 2019, WWIZ dropped its oldies format and began carrying Christmas music, branded as "Christmas 104", It was the first station in the country to flip to Christmas music for the holiday season and initially appeared to be a

stunt A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat or an act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually on television, theaters, or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Before computer generated imagery sp ...

. On January 1, 2020, WWIZ ended the Christmas music stunt and returned to its previous oldies format, branded as "Z104". On September 25, 2020, at 12:25 p.m., WWIZ again flipped to Christmas music. It is the earliest known flip to Christmas music for an FCC-licensed station; the earliest stations, ''including'' stunting stations, typically flip to the format in mid-October. On October 1, 2021, at 12:25 p.m., WWIZ again flipped to Christmas music, branded as "Christmas 104".WWIZ Makes Its Annual Early Christmas Move
Radioinsight - October 1, 2021 In 2022, WWIZ opted not to repeat the excessively early flips of 2020 or 2021, and by October 31 of that year, the station was still playing its regular format. On November 1, 2022, at 12:25 p.m., WWIZ finally flipped to its Christmas music format becoming Christmas 104.

References

External links

* * WIZ Radio stations established in 1983 Cumulus Media radio stations WIZ Oldies radio stations in the United States {{Pennsylvania-radio-station-stub