WWDC (FM)
Encyclopedia
WWDC is a commercial radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...

 in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, broadcasting to the Washington, DC-Baltimore, Maryland area. WWDC airs an alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 format on 101.1 FM branded as DC101.

History

WWDC-FM signed on in 1947 as a beautiful music
Beautiful music
Beautiful music is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in American radio from the 1960s through the 1980s...

 station. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, it simulcast with its (slightly more contemporary than) MOR AM sister station on weekdays, and played oldies at night and on weekends. In the mid-1970s, it attempted album rock at night for a few months and then flipped full-time to an album rock music format. Its AM counterpart (now WWRC
WWRC
WWRC —branded 1260 WRC—is a news/talk radio station licensed to Washington, D.C. and serving the Washington metro area. It operates with 5,000 watts on an unlimited basis with studios and transmitters both located in the city proper...

) was the first American radio station to play a Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

 song when it played "I Want to Hold Your Hand
I Want to Hold Your Hand
"I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and recorded in October 1963, it was the first Beatles record to be made using four-track equipment....

" in December 1963.

DC101's most successful era in terms of ratings and revenue was 1987-1990. The station was #1 in Men (Arbitron) and was a printing press when it came to money. One of the premier Album Oriented Rock stations in the country, the air staff featured Greaseman in the morning, Dusty Scott in midday, Steveski in afternoons and Kirk McEwen in the evening. With this lineup and format, DC101 consistently ran in the 6s, dominating Men in the nation's 7th largest market. The sound was a combination of new and classic rock.

DC101's rock playlist
Playlist
In its most general form, a playlist is simply a list of songs. They can be played in sequential or shuffled order. The term has several specialized meanings in the realms of radio broadcasting and personal computers.-In radio:...

 typically swings toward the hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

 end of the rock spectrum, playing acts like Foo Fighters and Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...

. Early on, though, pop-oriented
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...

 acts including Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...

 and Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....

 often cropped up on-air. During the 1990s, DC101 interspersed more modern
Modern rock
Modern rock is a rock format commonly found on commercial radio; the format consists primarily of the alternative rock genre...

 and alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 acts including Smashing Pumpkins and Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots is an American rock band from San Diego, California that consists of Scott Weiland , brothers Robert DeLeo and Dean DeLeo , and Eric Kretz ....

 into its rotation to compete with its chief rival, WHFS-FM. Originally a mainstream rock
Mainstream rock
Mainstream rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada.-Format background:...

 station, WWDC changed to their current alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 format by 2005
2005 in radio
The year 2005 in radio involved some significant events.-Events:*April 29 - KFRC 610 AM in San Francisco, switches formats as a result of ownership change. KFRC becomes KEAR, the "Sound of the New Life", a listener-supported, gospel/religious only station. It had been previously KFRC from...

 because of WHFS-FM flipping to tropical music
Tropical music
Musica tropical or tropical music is a broad term for vocal and instrumental music with "tropical" flavor usually associated with the Afro-Caribbean music. It is part of an even broader category of Latin music. Usually it is an upbeat dance music, but also includes ballads. It features complex,...

 as WLZL
WLZL
WLZL is a radio station broadcasting a Spanish language format. Licensed to the suburb of Bowie, Maryland, it serves the Baltimore, Maryland/Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The station is currently owned by CBS Radio. Its transmitter is located near Crofton, Maryland.-History:WLZL signed on...

, but Mediabase
Mediabase
Mediabase is a music industry service that monitors radio station airplay in 180 US and Canadian markets. Mediabase publishes music charts and data based on the most played songs on terrestrial and satellite radio, and provides in-depth analytical tools for radio and record industry professionals...

 & Nielsen BDS had them on the alternative rock panels prior to the WHFS-FM flip. This left the hard rock/active rock playlist for the Washington/Baltimore area to continue on rival WIYY
WIYY
WIYY is a radio station in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, owned by the Hearst Corporation. WIYY broadcasts an Mainstream Rock format that mixes music popular in the modern rock, heavy metal and classic rock genres...

 (98 Rock) in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

.

Until 1998, DC101 was among the last independently-owned radio stations in the Washington, D.C. market. The station's parent company, Capitol Broadcasting, sold DC101 and its AM
Amplitude modulation
Amplitude modulation is a technique used in electronic communication, most commonly for transmitting information via a radio carrier wave. AM works by varying the strength of the transmitted signal in relation to the information being sent...

 sister station, WWDC 1260 (now WWRC
WWRC
WWRC —branded 1260 WRC—is a news/talk radio station licensed to Washington, D.C. and serving the Washington metro area. It operates with 5,000 watts on an unlimited basis with studios and transmitters both located in the city proper...

), to Chancellor Media, later AM-FM. Eventually, AM-FM was acquired by Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...

, which now owns and operates a total of five radio stations in Washington, D.C. Like many other Clear Channel radio stations, DC101 has been criticized for having a limited play list. Listeners can hear the same songs several times throughout a 24-hour period.

DC101's facilities were once located on Connecticut Avenue between Dupont Circle
Dupont Circle
Dupont Circle is a traffic circle, park, neighborhood, and historic district in Northwest Washington, D.C. The traffic circle is located at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue NW, Connecticut Avenue NW, New Hampshire Avenue NW, P Street NW, and 19th Street NW...

 and Farragut Square
Farragut Square
Farragut Square is a city square in Washington, D.C.'s Ward 2. It is bordered by K Street NW on the north, I Street NW to the south, and on the east and west by segments of 17th Street NW, and it interrupts Connecticut Avenue NW...

 in downtown
Downtown
Downtown is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's core or central business district ....

 Washington, D.C. They later moved to Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It had a population of 71,452 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth most populous place in Maryland, after Baltimore, Columbia, and Germantown.The urbanized, oldest, and...

, and are now located in Rockville, Maryland
Rockville, Maryland
Rockville is the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a major incorporated city in the central part of Montgomery County and forms part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. The 2010 U.S...

.

DC101 is known for its prize giveaways. They give tickets most commonly, but also (more-rarely) give away larger prizes such as stereos, cars, boats, or trips.

By 2011
2011 in radio
The following events occurred in radio broadcasting in 2011.-Events:*January 1: 2 Knoxville stations change formats as WDLF and WYLV flip to K-LOVE and Air 1 , and a few Pittsburgh station change formats, as ESPN Radio moves from WEAE to WBGG, and Radio Disney moves from WWCS to the renamed WDDZ,...

, DC101 added Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...

, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd back on the playlist, although they are played sparingly and the station is still not considered as active rock
Active rock
Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock plays contemporary rock artists with a mix of songs common in the classic rock radio format.-Format background:...

. DC101 still remains the Washington/Baltimore area's only alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 station. Also in 2011, WWDC
WWDC (FM)
WWDC is a commercial radio station in Washington, D.C., broadcasting to the Washington, DC-Baltimore, Maryland area. WWDC airs an alternative rock format on 101.1 FM branded as DC101.-History:WWDC-FM signed on in 1947 as a beautiful music station...

 changed their logo.

Shock jock springboard

DC101 advanced the careers of several famous – and arguably notorious – morning radio personalities. Howard Stern
Howard Stern
Howard Allan Stern is an American radio personality, television host, author, and actor best known for his radio show, which was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2005. He gained wide recognition in the 1990s where he was labeled a "shock jock" for his outspoken and sometimes controversial style...

 was the morning man from March 1981 to June 1982. When Stern left the station on June 29, 1982, it was falsely reported that he was fired because of his on-air prank of pretending to call Air Florida
Air Florida
Air Florida was an American low-cost carrier that operated from 1971 to 1984. In 1975 it was headquartered in the Dadeland Towers in what is now the Kendall CDP in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida.-History:...

 airlines to book a flight to the 14th Street Bridge only one day after 78 people died when Air Florida Flight 90
Air Florida Flight 90
Air Florida Flight 90 was a scheduled U.S. domestic passenger flight from Washington National Airport in Arlington County, Virginia, to Fort Lauderdale – Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with a stopover at Tampa International Airport in Tampa, Florida...

 crashed into the Potomac River at the bridge. There is a large amount of time between these milestones, as the crash of Air Florida 90 occurred on January 13, 1982, and the firing didn't come until late June. It is probably more accurate to state that Stern was fired because of an impasse met on his compensation, and the fact that he signed with WNBC during the latter part of his WWDC contract. DC101 is featured prominently in Stern's 1997 bio-pic Private Parts
Private Parts (1997 film)
Private Parts is a 1997 American biographical comedy film produced by Ivan Reitman and released by Paramount Pictures. Written by Len Blum and Michael Kalesniko, the film is an adaptation of the 1993 best-selling book of the same name by radio personality Howard Stern, who stars as himself. It...

.

Stern was replaced by Doug Tracht, better known as the GreaseMan, who spent over ten years at the station, from August 2, 1982, to January 22, 1993, and returned to the station in April 2008, but eventually was laid off again in October 2008 so the station can focus solely on music on weekends without his comedy bits.

DC101's current morning program is Elliot In the Morning
Elliot in the Morning
Elliot in the Morning is a morning radio talk show hosted by DJ Elliot Segal. It airs weekdays from "5:48 until 10-something" on WWDC-FM in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and on WRXL in Richmond, Virginia...

, led by Elliot Segal
Elliot Segal
Elliot Segal is an American talk radio host. His Elliot in the Morning show is broadcast on WWDC in Washington, D.C. and WRXL in Richmond, Virginia.-Personal:...

. Since beginning his tenure at DC101 in the late 1990s, Segal has been suspended and fined on several occasions for the show's sometimes controversial content.

Annual events

  • Chili Cook-Off
    DC101 Chili Cook-Off
    The DC101 Chili Cook-Off is an annual chili cookoff and rock concert sponsored by Washington, D.C. / Baltimore, Maryland radio station WWDC . Proceeds from the cookoff, traditionally held in Washington, D.C...

    : Day-long festival featuring live bands heard on DC101 and a chili cook-off competition; held in downtown Washington, D.C. every spring to benefit the National Kidney Foundation
    National Kidney Foundation
    The National Kidney Foundation, Inc. is a major voluntary health organization in the United States, headquartered in New York City...

    .
  • Kegs & Eggs
  • Shantytown (cancelled 2006)
  • Non-denominational Christmas Party (cancelled 2009)
  • Downtown Countdown
  • The Easter Keg Hunt (cancelled 2010)
  • Beef, Bullets, Beer, and Butts
  • Elliot
    Elliot in the Morning
    Elliot in the Morning is a morning radio talk show hosted by DJ Elliot Segal. It airs weekdays from "5:48 until 10-something" on WWDC-FM in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and on WRXL in Richmond, Virginia...

    's Big-Ass Football Bash (cancelled 2010)
  • Polar Plunge
  • Elliot's Daytona 500
    Daytona 500
    The Daytona 500 is a -long NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is one of four restrictor plate races on the Cup schedule....

     Party
  • Big-Ass Halloween Bash
  • Last Band Standing
  • Roche's Water Wars
  • The Thousand Dollar Thong Competition

Elliot in the Morning v. Bishop O'Connell High School

The morning of May 7, 2002, on D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 metro area shock jock
Shock jock
Shock jock is a slang term used to describe a type of any radio broadcaster who attracts attention using humor that a significant portion of the listening audience may find offensive. The term is usually used pejoratively to describe provocative or irreverent broadcasters whose mannerisms,...

 Elliot Segal
Elliot Segal
Elliot Segal is an American talk radio host. His Elliot in the Morning show is broadcast on WWDC in Washington, D.C. and WRXL in Richmond, Virginia.-Personal:...

's radio program, DC101's "Elliot in the Morning
Elliot in the Morning
Elliot in the Morning is a morning radio talk show hosted by DJ Elliot Segal. It airs weekdays from "5:48 until 10-something" on WWDC-FM in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and on WRXL in Richmond, Virginia...

" was conducting a contest. The winners of this contest would be cage dancers at an upcoming Kid Rock
Kid Rock
Robert James "Bob" Ritchie , known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and rapper with five Grammy Awards nominations...

 concert at George Mason University
George Mason University
George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...

's Patriot Center
Patriot Center
The Patriot Center is a 10,000-seat arena in Fairfax, Virginia. It is located on the campus of George Mason University , and has attracted 9.6 million people to over 2,958 events. In 2010, the Patriot Center was ranked No. 7 nationwide and No...

. Wanting to be contestants, two sixteen-year-old O'Connell students, claiming to be eighteen, called the show. Instead of discussing the contest, the students, goaded by Elliot, discussed alleged sexual activity at O'Connell. The students, who had used false names on air, were suspended the same day for their comments. The principal addressed the student body over the PA
Public address
A public address system is an electronic amplification system with a mixer, amplifier and loudspeakers, used to reinforce a sound source, e.g., a person giving a speech, a DJ playing prerecorded music, and distributing the sound throughout a venue or building.Simple PA systems are often used in...

 system and criticized the immoral content of that morning's show. The following day (May 8), Mr. Segal, angered by the students' suspension, personally insulted the principal on air, making lewd insinuations about his family. He also mocked the school's mission statement
Mission statement
A mission statement is a statement of the purpose of a company or organization. The mission statement should guide the actions of the organization, spell out its overall goal, provide a path, and guide decision-making...

. The two days of broadcasting were ruled indecent by the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...

 (FCC). As a result, in October 2003, sixteen months after the incident, DC101's parent company Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...

 was fined $55,000.

Awards

In 2007, the station was nominated for the top 25 markets Alternative station of the year award by Radio & Records
Radio & Records
Radio & Records was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It originally started out as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006, up until its final issue in 2009.-History:The company was founded in 1973 and...

 magazine.
Other nominees included WBCN in Boston, Massachusetts, KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM — branded 106.7 KROQ — is a commercial modern rock radio station licensed to Pasadena, California serving the Greater Los Angeles. The call sign is pronounced "kay rock." It is the flagship station of Loveline hosted by Dr...

 in Los Angeles, KTBZ-FM
KTBZ-FM
KTBZ-FM, also known as 94.5 The Buzz, is an alternative rock radio station licensed to Houston, Texas with studios located in Houston at 2000 West Loop South, Suite 300, and with transmitter facilities located in Missouri City, Texas.- History :...

 in Houston, Texas, KITS
KITS
KITS is a San Francisco, California, USA-based radio station broadcasting at 105.3 MHz. The station is owned by CBS Radio and programs a modern rock format. The station also broadcasts on HD channel L2, locally on Comcast cable channel 986, and is streaming online.-Hot Hits:The station's...

, in San Francisco, and KNDD
KNDD
KNDD , also known as "107.7 The End", is an alternative rock radio station in Seattle, Washington. It is operated by Entercom Communications Its studios are located in the Metropolitan Park West tower between Downtown and South Lake Union in Seattle...

in Seattle, Washington.

External links

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