WWMK
Encyclopedia
WWMK — branded Radio Disney AM 1260 — is the Cleveland, Ohio
affiliate of Radio Disney
. Owned by ABC Radio, the station's studios are located at 175 Ken Mar Industrial Parkway in Broadview Heights
, and its five-tower transmitter is located about 2.2 miles away on Snowville Road in front of I-77 in Brecksville
. Since October 2006, the station has broadcast in IBOC
HD Radio
.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, this station was known as "WIXY 1260", and became the most-listened to—and best remembered—station in the entire Cleveland market. It later became a popular pop standards station as WBBG in the mid 1980s, and later a religious station as WRDZ and WMIH.
(AM) to establish the station with Frederick C. Wolf and chief engineer Morris Pierce, who became station president. Wolf himself was a longtime ethnic broadcaster on Cleveland stations WHK, WJAY
and WGAR
, in addition to being the founder of Cleveland Recording Co. for the production of spot commercials, nationality music and auditions.
Early programming was highlighted by Wayne Mack's imaginary concert programs such as "Hometown Band Concert", "Candlelight Concert" and "Waltz Palace." WDOK's format was soon simulcast full-time on WDOK
102.1-FM, which originated as WEWS
-FM in 1950. Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s the station maintained a format of adult standards, although it did buck contemporary music trends by broadcasting two hours of classical music programming each night. By 1957 WDOK also was the radio home for eighteen different nationality programs, most of them broadcast on Sundays. Wolf sold his stake in WDOK and WDOK
-FM to Transcontinent Television Corp. of New York
in 1962.
Meanwhile crosstown, in the early 1960s Top 40 radio was flourishing led by KYW
and WHK. In July 1964 three account executives at WHK—Norman Wain, Bob Weiss and Joe Zingale—quit their jobs to form Westchester Corporation. They purchased WFAS
in White Plains, New York
(located in Westchester County, hence Westchester Corporation) in December 1964 and honed their skills in running a Top 40 station. They returned to Cleveland the following year and purchased WDOK and WDOK
-FM in November 1965.
under the name Bob Dearborn. The news staff included Bob Engel, Fred Griffith and Gary Ritchie.
WIXY soon began to dominate Top 40 radio in Cleveland, despite its having a weaker signal than either WKYC
(formerly KYW) or WHK. In 1966 WIXY sponsored The Beatles
second concert in Cleveland on August 14. (WHK had sponsored the first concert in 1964.) DJs who are remembered for their stint at WIXY during the late 1960s and early 1970s include Mike Reineri, Dick "Wilde Childe" Kemp, Larry "the Duker" Morrow (who settled in Cleveland after a stint as "Duke Windsor" on CKLW
), Billy Bass, Lou "The King" Kirby, Bob Shannon, Chuck Dunaway
and Jackson Armstrong (a.k.a. Big Jack Armstrong
"Your Leader" ).
WDOK-FM was, however, left untouched and still programmed by Wayne Mack. When Westchester Corporation saw the growing and devoted listener base that their largely ignored FM station was developing, WDOK
was branded "Stereo Cleveland—Beautiful Music for the land of the Western Reserve." While the FM station soon passed over into separate ownership, Wayne Mack stayed at WDOK until 1980, and died in October 2000.
In 1969, Westchester Corporation took the format to the Pittsburgh market, purchasing WMCK in suburban McKeesport, Pennsylvania
and changing the calls to WIXZ. The Pittsburgh-area station used the same graphics and jingles as the Cleveland station - it was called "WIXZ 1360" - but failed to impact Pittsburgh as it had Cleveland, putting only a dent in the dominance of Top 40 leader KQV
. One of the jocks at WIXZ, Jeff Christie, later went on to national fame under his real name of Rush Limbaugh
. The Top 40 format at WIXZ lasted in various forms until 1974, and the call letters remained in place until it became talk station WPTT in 1999.
The local ownership of WIXY was gobbled up by larger communications corporations in the 1970s. Wain, Weiss and Zingale merged Westchester Corporation into Globetrotter Communications for $14.3 million dollars in December 1971. Combined Communications (later Gannett
) purchased Globetrotter in May 1975.
, the era of AM Top 40 radio drew to a close. On July 19, 1976, WIXY became WMGC (or "Magic"), and the format switched to "adult rock," an early iteration of what would become known as adult contemporary. The station adopted the slogan "Get Your Rock Soft", which raised some eyebrows when it appeared in ads and billboards around town. Although it never caught on with a large audience, WMGC was home to several of the area's top broadcasters, including General Manager Dick Conrad, Program Director Jeff Baxter, and DJ's Dan Bradford and Lady J. Also on the air as the most popular of the WMGC personalities was Dave Sanderson. In reality, Sanderson was well-known local broadcaster David Mark who had to assume the Sanderson name due to contractual obligations to WKSW FM and WEWS TV.
The adult rock format lasted less than three years. On April 14, 1979, the station became WBBG and switched to talk radio
, under the name "SuperTalk 1260". The original lineup included several veteran Cleveland radio personalities—Bill Gordon, Merle Pollis, Ted Alexander, Bill Randle
, Ed Fisher, Bruce Drennan
with Sportstalk, and Cynthia Smith with the overnight program NightFlight 1260.
WBBG's talk format never caught on, so the station turned to an oldies
format briefly before finding success with a big band
-based music format programmed by local radio veteran Jim Davis. The station enjoyed much success including "Billboard
Station of the Year" (for its format) in 1983 with a nomination of "Program Director of the Year" going to Davis. During its glory years (July 1981-October 1987) on-air talent, in addition to Davis included Al James, Tom Armstrong, Bill Randle, Carl Reese, Ronnie Barrett, Dick Conrad, John Webster, Ted Alexander, Joe Black and Jack Renyolds.
Ownership of WBBG and sister FM station WWWM
passed from Embrescia Communications (led by Tom Embrescia) to Robinson Communications (led by local civic leader and jeweler Larry Robinson) on October 27, 1981. (WWWM's calls changed to WMJI
six months later.) Robinson, in turn, sold the stations to media giant Jacor Communications
on September 19, 1984.
WBBG's call letters (originally stood for "Boys from Bowling Green") soon took the meaning "Big Band Grandstand." After an attempt by Robinson to repurchase WBBG so that Jacor could buy WWWE collapsed, the big-band format was dumped on October 29, 1987, and Jacor simulcast the air signal of WMJI-FM 105.7 on the AM station. The AM call sign was changed to WMJI on November 24, 1987 to match the FM station's (which legally became WMJI-FM for the interim). The big band format - and program director Jim Davis - soon migrated over to crosstown station WRMR.
Coincidentally, the WRDZ call letters are now attached to two Radio Disney stations...AM 1300 serving Chicago
, and FM 98.3 serving Indianapolis
.
In early 1995 the station was purchased by Divine Mercy Communications Ltd., and it brought the format of Catholic programming. Under new call letters WMIH (for Mary's Immaculate Heart), which were adopted on February 23, 1995, the station was purported to be the first commercial Catholic radio station in the country.
The station inaugurated its new format on February 22 by broadcasting a noon mass live from St. John's Cathedral celebrated by Bishop Anthony Pilla. Regular programming centered on a live morning drive-time program called "Genesis", hosted by Fr. Wally Hyclack and Cleveland broadcast veteran Bob Tayek, which featured NBC Radio
news and local newsmaker interviews, and an evening drive program, named "Homeward Bound", with a local call-in format on current topics.
Mid-day programming included a live local two-hour talk show called "Ave Maria", a local information and spiritual support program called the "Living Word" with Cleveland nun Sr. Juanita Sheely, broadcasts of various Catholic speakers, in a program called "Catholic Classroom", which included Bishop Fulton J. Sheen
's programs from the 1950s. In addition, the station produced live daily Mass from St. John's Cathedral and carried regular installments of the English versions of Vatican broadcasts.
WMIH also produced live play-by-play coverage of Cleveland St. Ignatius high school football and basketball games, both home and away, as well as live remotes from Cleveland-area Catholic events, such as the Feast of the Assumption in Cleveland's Little Italy. The station also provided its own live, on-location coverage of Pope John Paul II
's entire trip to New York and Baltimore in 1995, with coverage anchored by owner Steve Kurdziel and local reports from Cuyahoga County Commissioner Lee Weingart.
Despite the innovative programming produced by WMIH, and the devoted listenership from the Catholic community in Cleveland, Divine Mercy ended up having serious financial trouble in maintaining that original programming, which emphasized local hosts and remote coverage of sports and other events.
At the same time, ABC Radio was looking for an outlet for its Radio Disney
in the Cleveland market, and it purchased the station. It took over the station on May 1, 1998., and the call sign was changed to WWMK on December 4.
Since then, the station has relayed the network on a 24-hour basis. The only local show of note on WWMK is the public-affairs show The Backyard Show, at 7 a.m. on Sunday mornings.
WWMK is also one of two AM stations in the Cleveland area that is currently broadcasting in IBOC
HD Radio
, the other one being WTAM
. WWMK has occasionally suffered from audio problems since the installment of their HD Radio equipment in 2006.
Listeners within the WWMK coverage area can have their name announced on Radio Disney AM 1260's Birthday Salute durning commercial breaks. The salutes can be heard between 7 to 8 a.m., 4 to 6 p.m., and 7 to 8 p.m.
towards Ontario
. As WWMK is a directional AM radio station, this was done by design.
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
affiliate of Radio Disney
Radio Disney
Radio Disney is a radio network based in Burbank, California and headquartered out of the Disney Channel headquarters on West Alameda Ave., from where it has been based since November 2008. Prior to that, the network was based in Dallas, Texas...
. Owned by ABC Radio, the station's studios are located at 175 Ken Mar Industrial Parkway in Broadview Heights
Broadview Heights, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 15,967 people, 6,411 households, and 4,378 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,222.7 people per square mile . There were 6,803 housing units at an average density of 521.0 per square mile...
, and its five-tower transmitter is located about 2.2 miles away on Snowville Road in front of I-77 in Brecksville
Brecksville, Ohio
-External links:* * *...
. Since October 2006, the station has broadcast in IBOC
In-band on-channel
In-band on-channel is a hybrid method of transmitting digital radio and analog radio broadcast signals simultaneously on the same frequency....
HD Radio
HD Radio
HD Radio, which originally stood for "Hybrid Digital", is the trademark for iBiquity's in-band on-channel digital radio technology used by AM and FM radio stations to transmit audio and data via a digital signal in conjunction with their analog signals...
.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, this station was known as "WIXY 1260", and became the most-listened to—and best remembered—station in the entire Cleveland market. It later became a popular pop standards station as WBBG in the mid 1980s, and later a religious station as WRDZ and WMIH.
Early years
The station began on April 30, 1950 as WDOK when Wayne Mack resigned his position at WGARWHKW
WHKW is an AM radio station in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, operating on 1220 kHz. The station is owned by Salem Communications and carries religious programming from the company's radio network. The bulk of WHKW's programming is simulcast on WHKZ in Warren, Ohio.The 1220 frequency in Cleveland was the...
(AM) to establish the station with Frederick C. Wolf and chief engineer Morris Pierce, who became station president. Wolf himself was a longtime ethnic broadcaster on Cleveland stations WHK, WJAY
WHLO
WHLO is an AM radio station in Akron, Ohio, USA, operating on 640 kHz, and owned by Clear Channel Communications.The station has a news/talk format with Jim Quinn's program from WPGB in Pittsburgh, and a schedule of syndicated talkers during the day, headed by Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, with a...
and WGAR
WHKW
WHKW is an AM radio station in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, operating on 1220 kHz. The station is owned by Salem Communications and carries religious programming from the company's radio network. The bulk of WHKW's programming is simulcast on WHKZ in Warren, Ohio.The 1220 frequency in Cleveland was the...
, in addition to being the founder of Cleveland Recording Co. for the production of spot commercials, nationality music and auditions.
Early programming was highlighted by Wayne Mack's imaginary concert programs such as "Hometown Band Concert", "Candlelight Concert" and "Waltz Palace." WDOK's format was soon simulcast full-time on WDOK
WDOK
WDOK — branded Soft Rock 102.1 WDOK — is a commercial adult contemporary radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio. Studios are located at One Radio Lane along with CBS Radio sister station WQAL, and its transmitter is located in Parma on a tower that it shares with WQHS-TV channel 61...
102.1-FM, which originated as WEWS
WEWS-TV
WEWS-TV, virtual channel 5 , is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio. WEWS has been owned by the E. W. Scripps Company since its inception, and is an affiliate of the ABC television network...
-FM in 1950. Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s the station maintained a format of adult standards, although it did buck contemporary music trends by broadcasting two hours of classical music programming each night. By 1957 WDOK also was the radio home for eighteen different nationality programs, most of them broadcast on Sundays. Wolf sold his stake in WDOK and WDOK
WDOK
WDOK — branded Soft Rock 102.1 WDOK — is a commercial adult contemporary radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio. Studios are located at One Radio Lane along with CBS Radio sister station WQAL, and its transmitter is located in Parma on a tower that it shares with WQHS-TV channel 61...
-FM to Transcontinent Television Corp. of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1962.
Meanwhile crosstown, in the early 1960s Top 40 radio was flourishing led by KYW
WTAM
WTAM — branded Newsradio WTAM 1100 — is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio. Owned by Clear Channel Communications, the station broadcasts primarily a news/talk format...
and WHK. In July 1964 three account executives at WHK—Norman Wain, Bob Weiss and Joe Zingale—quit their jobs to form Westchester Corporation. They purchased WFAS
WFAS (AM)
WFAS is an AM radio station in Westchester County, New York and vicinity broadcasting on 1230 kHz. The station has a classic adult contemporary format and is under ownership of Cumulus Media. WFAS is also the home for Iona College Men's Basketball. Gary Stanley and Ed Ingles call all the...
in White Plains, New York
White Plains, New York
White Plains is a city and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located in south-central Westchester, about east of the Hudson River and northwest of Long Island Sound...
(located in Westchester County, hence Westchester Corporation) in December 1964 and honed their skills in running a Top 40 station. They returned to Cleveland the following year and purchased WDOK and WDOK
WDOK
WDOK — branded Soft Rock 102.1 WDOK — is a commercial adult contemporary radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio. Studios are located at One Radio Lane along with CBS Radio sister station WQAL, and its transmitter is located in Parma on a tower that it shares with WQHS-TV channel 61...
-FM in November 1965.
"WIXY 1260"
On December 12, 1965 the AM station became WIXY, billing itself as "WIXY 1260" . The new call sign was similar to WXYZ in Detroit - and which also used the "Wixie" nickname - and also was selected for its rhyming with the 1260 frequency. The initial on-air lineup included Al Gates, Howie Lund, Johnny Michaels, Johnny Canton, Mark Allen and Bobby Magic. Allen later moved on to Chicago's WCFLWMVP
WMVP is the callsign of a commercial radio station in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It is owned by ABC. Its transmitter is located in Downers Grove. The station broadcasts live sports talk, both locally and nationally. Daily programming consists of talk shows that are both national and local...
under the name Bob Dearborn. The news staff included Bob Engel, Fred Griffith and Gary Ritchie.
WIXY soon began to dominate Top 40 radio in Cleveland, despite its having a weaker signal than either WKYC
WTAM
WTAM — branded Newsradio WTAM 1100 — is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio. Owned by Clear Channel Communications, the station broadcasts primarily a news/talk format...
(formerly KYW) or WHK. In 1966 WIXY sponsored The 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...
second concert in Cleveland on August 14. (WHK had sponsored the first concert in 1964.) DJs who are remembered for their stint at WIXY during the late 1960s and early 1970s include Mike Reineri, Dick "Wilde Childe" Kemp, Larry "the Duker" Morrow (who settled in Cleveland after a stint as "Duke Windsor" on CKLW
CKLW
CKLW is a 50,000 watt AM radio station broadcasting on 800 kHz and located in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and serving Windsor and Detroit. Additionally, its signal can be heard as far west as Belding, Michigan; as far east as Batavia, New York; as far south as Edgewood, Kentucky; and as far...
), Billy Bass, Lou "The King" Kirby, Bob Shannon, Chuck Dunaway
Chuck Dunaway
Chuck Dunaway is a retired radio personality and owner best known for his work at a variety of popular radio stations in Texas, Ohio, Oklahoma and New York City...
and Jackson Armstrong (a.k.a. Big Jack Armstrong
Big Jack Armstrong
Big Jack Armstrong , aka Jack Armstrong, Jackson W...
"Your Leader" ).
WDOK-FM was, however, left untouched and still programmed by Wayne Mack. When Westchester Corporation saw the growing and devoted listener base that their largely ignored FM station was developing, WDOK
WDOK
WDOK — branded Soft Rock 102.1 WDOK — is a commercial adult contemporary radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio. Studios are located at One Radio Lane along with CBS Radio sister station WQAL, and its transmitter is located in Parma on a tower that it shares with WQHS-TV channel 61...
was branded "Stereo Cleveland—Beautiful Music for the land of the Western Reserve." While the FM station soon passed over into separate ownership, Wayne Mack stayed at WDOK until 1980, and died in October 2000.
In 1969, Westchester Corporation took the format to the Pittsburgh market, purchasing WMCK in suburban McKeesport, Pennsylvania
McKeesport, Pennsylvania
McKeesport is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, in the United States; it is located at the confluence of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers and is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The population was 19,731 at the 2010 census...
and changing the calls to WIXZ. The Pittsburgh-area station used the same graphics and jingles as the Cleveland station - it was called "WIXZ 1360" - but failed to impact Pittsburgh as it had Cleveland, putting only a dent in the dominance of Top 40 leader KQV
KQV
KQV is a radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The station, which is the only broadcast station owned by Calvary, Inc., broadcasts at 1410 kHz, with 5000 watts of power day and night. KQV's call letters reportedly stand for King of the Quaker Valley...
. One of the jocks at WIXZ, Jeff Christie, later went on to national fame under his real name of Rush Limbaugh
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III is an American radio talk show host, conservative political commentator, and an opinion leader in American conservatism. He hosts The Rush Limbaugh Show which is aired throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks and is the highest-rated talk-radio program in the United...
. The Top 40 format at WIXZ lasted in various forms until 1974, and the call letters remained in place until it became talk station WPTT in 1999.
The local ownership of WIXY was gobbled up by larger communications corporations in the 1970s. Wain, Weiss and Zingale merged Westchester Corporation into Globetrotter Communications for $14.3 million dollars in December 1971. Combined Communications (later Gannett
Gannett Company
Gannett Company, Inc. is a publicly-traded media holding company headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia, United States, near McLean. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. Its assets include the national newspaper USA Today and the weekly USA Weekend...
) purchased Globetrotter in May 1975.
From talk to oldies to big band
With the emergence of FM radioFM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
, the era of AM Top 40 radio drew to a close. On July 19, 1976, WIXY became WMGC (or "Magic"), and the format switched to "adult rock," an early iteration of what would become known as adult contemporary. The station adopted the slogan "Get Your Rock Soft", which raised some eyebrows when it appeared in ads and billboards around town. Although it never caught on with a large audience, WMGC was home to several of the area's top broadcasters, including General Manager Dick Conrad, Program Director Jeff Baxter, and DJ's Dan Bradford and Lady J. Also on the air as the most popular of the WMGC personalities was Dave Sanderson. In reality, Sanderson was well-known local broadcaster David Mark who had to assume the Sanderson name due to contractual obligations to WKSW FM and WEWS TV.
The adult rock format lasted less than three years. On April 14, 1979, the station became WBBG and switched to talk radio
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
, under the name "SuperTalk 1260". The original lineup included several veteran Cleveland radio personalities—Bill Gordon, Merle Pollis, Ted Alexander, Bill Randle
Bill Randle
Bill Randle was an American disc jockey, lawyer and university professor.He was born William McKinley Randle Jr. in Detroit, Michigan. In Detroit, he hosted a popular show on WJLB-AM radio called The Interracial Goodwill Hour, featuring rhythm and blues music and hot jazz...
, Ed Fisher, Bruce Drennan
Bruce Drennan
Bruce Drennan is an American sportscaster in Cleveland, Ohio. He has been a radio and television sportscaster for 39 years....
with Sportstalk, and Cynthia Smith with the overnight program NightFlight 1260.
WBBG's talk format never caught on, so the station turned to an oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
format briefly before finding success with a big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
-based music format programmed by local radio veteran Jim Davis. The station enjoyed much success including "Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Station of the Year" (for its format) in 1983 with a nomination of "Program Director of the Year" going to Davis. During its glory years (July 1981-October 1987) on-air talent, in addition to Davis included Al James, Tom Armstrong, Bill Randle, Carl Reese, Ronnie Barrett, Dick Conrad, John Webster, Ted Alexander, Joe Black and Jack Renyolds.
Ownership of WBBG and sister FM station WWWM
WMJI
WMJI — branded Majic 105.7 — is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio broadcasting a classic hits format. The station serves Cleveland, Akron and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio....
passed from Embrescia Communications (led by Tom Embrescia) to Robinson Communications (led by local civic leader and jeweler Larry Robinson) on October 27, 1981. (WWWM's calls changed to WMJI
WMJI
WMJI — branded Majic 105.7 — is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio broadcasting a classic hits format. The station serves Cleveland, Akron and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio....
six months later.) Robinson, in turn, sold the stations to media giant Jacor Communications
Jacor
Jacor Communications was a media corporation which owned a large number of radio stations in the United States. Inside the radio industry, Jacor was seen as one of the most competitive broadcast companies in history. Jacor's re-image in 1996 created the slogan "The Noise You Can't Ignore".Jacor was...
on September 19, 1984.
WBBG's call letters (originally stood for "Boys from Bowling Green") soon took the meaning "Big Band Grandstand." After an attempt by Robinson to repurchase WBBG so that Jacor could buy WWWE collapsed, the big-band format was dumped on October 29, 1987, and Jacor simulcast the air signal of WMJI-FM 105.7 on the AM station. The AM call sign was changed to WMJI on November 24, 1987 to match the FM station's (which legally became WMJI-FM for the interim). The big band format - and program director Jim Davis - soon migrated over to crosstown station WRMR.
Later years
After a few months of FM simulcasting, Jacor sold the station to Gore-Overgaard Broadcasting (led by Harold W. Gore and Cordell J. Overgaard), a Christian organization who brought a format of religious programming and gospel music. The call sign was changed to WRDZ on July 1, 1988. Under Gore-Overgaard ownership, the station received permission to double its daytime power from 5,000 to 10,000 watts, although the upgrade was not accomplished until Divine Mercy Communications, Ltd. purchased and installed the new transmitter provided for in the license change.Coincidentally, the WRDZ call letters are now attached to two Radio Disney stations...AM 1300 serving Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, and FM 98.3 serving Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
.
In early 1995 the station was purchased by Divine Mercy Communications Ltd., and it brought the format of Catholic programming. Under new call letters WMIH (for Mary's Immaculate Heart), which were adopted on February 23, 1995, the station was purported to be the first commercial Catholic radio station in the country.
The station inaugurated its new format on February 22 by broadcasting a noon mass live from St. John's Cathedral celebrated by Bishop Anthony Pilla. Regular programming centered on a live morning drive-time program called "Genesis", hosted by Fr. Wally Hyclack and Cleveland broadcast veteran Bob Tayek, which featured NBC Radio
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
news and local newsmaker interviews, and an evening drive program, named "Homeward Bound", with a local call-in format on current topics.
Mid-day programming included a live local two-hour talk show called "Ave Maria", a local information and spiritual support program called the "Living Word" with Cleveland nun Sr. Juanita Sheely, broadcasts of various Catholic speakers, in a program called "Catholic Classroom", which included Bishop Fulton J. Sheen
Fulton J. Sheen
Servant of God Fulton John Sheen, born Peter John Sheen was an American archbishop of the Catholic Church known for his preaching and especially his work on television and radio...
's programs from the 1950s. In addition, the station produced live daily Mass from St. John's Cathedral and carried regular installments of the English versions of Vatican broadcasts.
WMIH also produced live play-by-play coverage of Cleveland St. Ignatius high school football and basketball games, both home and away, as well as live remotes from Cleveland-area Catholic events, such as the Feast of the Assumption in Cleveland's Little Italy. The station also provided its own live, on-location coverage of Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
's entire trip to New York and Baltimore in 1995, with coverage anchored by owner Steve Kurdziel and local reports from Cuyahoga County Commissioner Lee Weingart.
Radio Disney
Despite the innovative programming produced by WMIH, and the devoted listenership from the Catholic community in Cleveland, Divine Mercy ended up having serious financial trouble in maintaining that original programming, which emphasized local hosts and remote coverage of sports and other events.
At the same time, ABC Radio was looking for an outlet for its Radio Disney
Radio Disney
Radio Disney is a radio network based in Burbank, California and headquartered out of the Disney Channel headquarters on West Alameda Ave., from where it has been based since November 2008. Prior to that, the network was based in Dallas, Texas...
in the Cleveland market, and it purchased the station. It took over the station on May 1, 1998., and the call sign was changed to WWMK on December 4.
Since then, the station has relayed the network on a 24-hour basis. The only local show of note on WWMK is the public-affairs show The Backyard Show, at 7 a.m. on Sunday mornings.
WWMK is also one of two AM stations in the Cleveland area that is currently broadcasting in IBOC
In-band on-channel
In-band on-channel is a hybrid method of transmitting digital radio and analog radio broadcast signals simultaneously on the same frequency....
HD Radio
HD Radio
HD Radio, which originally stood for "Hybrid Digital", is the trademark for iBiquity's in-band on-channel digital radio technology used by AM and FM radio stations to transmit audio and data via a digital signal in conjunction with their analog signals...
, the other one being WTAM
WTAM
WTAM — branded Newsradio WTAM 1100 — is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio. Owned by Clear Channel Communications, the station broadcasts primarily a news/talk format...
. WWMK has occasionally suffered from audio problems since the installment of their HD Radio equipment in 2006.
Listeners within the WWMK coverage area can have their name announced on Radio Disney AM 1260's Birthday Salute durning commercial breaks. The salutes can be heard between 7 to 8 a.m., 4 to 6 p.m., and 7 to 8 p.m.
Coverage Map
As can be seen on the two maps below, the station's daytime coverage area is poor on the east and south-east side of the Cleveland area, with most of its signal going over Lake ErieLake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
towards Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. As WWMK is a directional AM radio station, this was done by design.
Further reading
- Morrow, Larry (2010). This is Larry Morrow. Cleveland, OH: Gray & Company, Publishers. ISBN 978-1-59851-069-0
- Wolff, Carlo (2006). Cleveland Rock and Roll Memories. Cleveland, OH: Gray & Company, Publishers. ISBN 978-1-886228-99-3