WDOK

The frequency was formerly occupied by WEWS-FM, which signed on in November 27, 1947.{{cite news |title=TOMORROW is the day! |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-cleveland-press-tomorrow-is-the-day/173598607/ |access-date=June 1, 2025 |newspaper=The Cleveland Press |date=November 26, 1947 |location=Cleveland, Ohio |page=14 |via=Newspapers.com}} The station was owned by E. W. Scripps and it signed off on March 25, 1950 due to the owners' focus on television.{{cite news |title=WEWS-FM Bows Out Tonight, Victim of Television Progress |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-cleveland-press-wews-fm-bows-out-ton/170772372/ |access-date=June 1, 2025 |newspaper=The Cleveland Press |date=March 25, 1950 |location=Cleveland, Ohio |page=7 |via=Newspapers.com}}

The station signed on as WDOK-FM on October 4, 1954, simulcasting its sister station, WDOK (1260 AM). Eventually, WDOK-FM originated its own programming and featured a beautiful music format. On December 12, 1965, the AM station changed its call sign to WIXY and adopted a Top 40 format. That allowed FM 102.1 to drop the FM suffix, now identifying as WDOK. The station was branded "Stereo Cleveland", with the slogan "Beautiful Music for the Lands of the Western Reserve."

Station personalities and voice overs included Wayne Mack, the founder of WDOK's beautiful music format and producer of the many memorable monthly odes and station breaks that he composed and set to music; Ken Nordine (the famous voice of Word Jazz), Tom Armstrong, previously the morning host at WGAR AM in the 1940s and 50s; and David Mark, who also worked for Cleveland market "beautiful music" stations WQAL, WKSW, WJW (AM), and WDBN. The station was programmed by Peter Irmiter and Neil Hershberger after they went live.

By the 1980s, WDOK had come under common ownership with WWWE; both stations were sold on November 30, 1987, by Lake Erie Radio Company, owned by Art Modell and Al Lerner, to the Independent Group Limited partnership, owned by Tom Embrescia, Larry Pollock, and Tom Wilson.

By the mid-1980s, WDOK's beautiful music format had brightened, with more vocals being played from such "soft rock" artists such as James Taylor and Elton John. Ratings remained high, but the format attracted mostly older listeners in advertiser-unfriendly demographics and not the younger audiences courted by advertisers. So WDOK made the final and complete switch to a soft adult contemporary format in April 1987 with Sue Wilson as program director. Alongside its music programming at the time, WDOK was also once the flagship station for both the Cleveland Browns and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The station promoted its new AC format with TV commercials announcing that it was "coming out of the elevator" (as in "elevator music"). WDOK initially positioned itself midway between beautiful music (which continued for a few more years on WQAL) and the mainstream AC format played on WLTF and WMJI.

On January 9, 2012, WDOK debuted a new and more up tempo playlist (going from Soft AC to more mainstream AC), re-branded as "The New 102", complete with an updated logo and imaging.{{cite web|url=http://new102.cbslocal.com |title=Cleveland's New 102 |publisher=New102.cbslocal.com |date=April 6, 2013 |accessdate=April 10, 2013}} On November 13, 2012, WDOK moved from its longtime studio home at One Radio Lane, off East Saint Clair Avenue in Downtown Cleveland, to the Halle Building on Euclid Avenue, also Downtown. Sister station WQAL joined WDOK in the move; as a result, all four Cleveland CBS Radio stations are now located in the same building.{{cite web|url=http://new102.cbslocal.com/2012/11/12/new-102-is-moving-tomorrow-kory-remembers-one-radio-lane/ |title=New 102 Is Moving Tomorrow, Kory Remembers One Radio Lane « Cleveland's New 102 |publisher=New102.cbslocal.com |date=November 12, 2012 |accessdate=April 10, 2013}}

Longtime WDOK morning host "Trapper" Jack Elliot announced on December 19, 2012, that the station had opted not to renew the contracts of both he and cohost Jim McIntyre, much to the dismay of many listeners.{{cite web|url=http://www.wkyc.com/news/article/274436/45/Trapper-Jack-Elliott-Jim-McIntyre-cut-from-WDOK |title=Trapper Jack Elliott, Jim McIntyre cut from WDOK |publisher=WKYC-TV |date=December 19, 2012 |accessdate=July 24, 2013}} On April 3, 2015, WDOK rebranded as "Star 102".{{cite web|author=Venta, Lance|date=April 3, 2015|title=WDOK Cleveland Rebrands As Star 102|url=http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/netgnomes/92552/star-to-shine-in-cleveland/|work=RadioInsight.com|publisher=Radio BB Networks|access-date=April 3, 2015}}

On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge with Entercom.[https://radioinsight.com/headlines/116299/cbs-radio-to-merge-with-entercom/ CBS Radio to Merge with Entercom] The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on the 17th.{{cite web|url=http://entercom.com/press/entercom-receives-fcc-approval-merger-cbs-radio/|title=Entercom Receives FCC Approval for Merger with CBS Radio|work=Entercom|date=November 9, 2017|access-date=November 17, 2017}}{{cite web|url=https://radioinsight.com/headlines/121072/entercom-completes-cbs-radio-merger/|title=Entercom Completes CBS Radio Merger|last=Venta|first=Lance|work=Radio Insight|date=November 17, 2017|access-date=November 17, 2017}}

Traditionally, WDOK plays Christmas music throughout the holiday season under the brand "Christmas 102", usually beginning around mid-November.{{cite web|date=November 14, 2014|title=Cleveland's New 102 Becomes Christmas 102|url=http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/135570/cleveland-s-new-102-becomes-christmas-102|work=AllAccess.com|publisher=All Access Media Group|access-date=December 8, 2014}}

• {{cite web|date=November 21, 2013|title=WDOK Flips To All Christmas Music|url=http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/124558/wdok-flips-to-all-christmas-music|work=AllAccess.com|publisher=All Access Media Group|access-date=December 8, 2014}}
• {{cite web|date=November 17, 2011|title=WDOK Brings The Holidays To Cleveberg|url=http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/99178/wdok-brings-the-holidays-to-cleveberg|work=AllAccess.com|publisher=All Access Media Group|access-date=December 8, 2014}}
• {{cite web|date=November 22, 2010|title=WDOK Flips To Christmas Music|url=http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/84125/wdok-flips-to-christmas-music|work=AllAccess.com|publisher=All Access Media Group|access-date=December 8, 2014}}

In December 2018, after the station did its annual switch to all Christmas music, WDOK decided to stop playing the well-known 1944 Christmas song Baby, It's Cold Outside, saying the lyrics seemed inappropriate in a time of the #MeToo movement, with increasing sensitivity and awareness of sexual manipulation and harassment of women.{{Cite web|url=https://star102cleveland.radio.com/blogs/glenn-anderson/star-102-abruptly-stops-playing-christmas-song-heres-why|title=Star 102 Abruptly Stops Playing This Christmas Song. Here's Why|date=November 27, 2018|website=Star 102|language=en|access-date=December 4, 2018}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.thewrap.com/baby-its-cold-outside-pulled-star-102-radio-station/|title=Radio Station Yanks 'Baby It's Cold Outside' in Support of #MeToo Movement|last=Maglio|first=Tony|date=December 1, 2018|website=www.thewrap.com|access-date=December 4, 2018}} The station's move sparked national, and even international, attention and controversy.{{Cite web|url=https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/radio-station-stops-playing-inappropriate-popular-christmas-carol/news-story/0b531e97dba8c7ecb6fe3dbcebbb21b6|title=Baby It's Cold Outside: Christmas carol banned from radio station|last=Cant|first=Ash|date=December 2, 2018|website=www.news.com.au|access-date=December 4, 2018}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/q/blog/radio-station-pulls-baby-it-s-cold-outside-from-airwaves-sparks-internet-firestorm-1.4930434|title=Radio station pulls Baby, It's Cold Outside from airwaves, sparks internet firestorm {{!}} CBC Radio|last=Van Evra|first=Jennifer|date=December 3, 2018|website=CBC|language=en|access-date=December 4, 2018}}

The weekday schedule includes WDOK personalities Jen Toohey and Tim Richards (mornings), Jill Bucco (middays), Chase Daniels (afternoons), and Jim Hart (evenings).{{cite web|url=http://new102.cbslocal.com/show/jeremiah |title=Jeremiah :: Afternoons 3:00 PM – 7:00 PM « Cleveland's New 102 |publisher=New102.cbslocal.com |access-date=August 18, 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://new102.cbslocal.com/2013/02/14/jen-toohey-tim-richards-reunite-as-jen-tim-in-the-morning/ |title=Jen Toohey & Tim Richards Reunite As 'Jen And Tim In The Morning' « Cleveland's New 102 |publisher=New102.cbslocal.com |date=February 14, 2013 |access-date=April 10, 2013}} On weekends, Throwback Nation Radio with Tony Lorino was heard on Saturday evenings. Until the late-2010s, WDOK was once the Cleveland affiliate for America's Greatest Hits with Scott Shannon.

The HD2 digital subchannel formerly broadcast an adult album alternative format under the brand "The Coffee Shop". It has since been turned off.{{cite web|url=http://www.hdradio.com/stations/Ohio-OH/Cleveland-17 |title=Stations | More Music. More Stations. More Features. Digital Sound. No Subscription |publisher=HD Radio |access-date=April 10, 2013}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Official website|https://audacy.com/star102cleveland}}{{FM station data|28525|WDOK}}
• {{Cite web|url= https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=80619 |title= History Cards for WDOK|publisher=Federal Communications Commission}} (Guide to reading History Cards)
• [http://www.cleve-radio.com/index2.htm#WDOK-FM Cleveland Broadcast Radio Archives: WDOK timeline]

{{Cleveland Radio}}

{{Adult Contemporary Radio Stations in Ohio}}

{{Entercom}}

Category:1954 establishments in Ohio

Category:Mainstream adult contemporary radio stations in the United States

Category:Radio stations established in 1954

DOK

Category:Audacy, Inc. radio stations