WWJZ

WWJZ was owned by John Farina, the originator of the sound adopted by Al Ham's Music of Your Life adult standards format. Farina's dream was to re-establish the signal he had on 1460 kHz in Mount Holly in the 1960s, as WJJZ. With the help of his long-time friend and engineer, Ted Schober, he got New Jersey its first 50-kilowatt AM radio station in many years and was able to put his beloved sound on the air again.

Until the inception of WWJZ operation in November 1992, there were no broadcast stations on 640 kHz on the East Coast. This was because KFI in Los Angeles is the clear-channel station on 640, in the days when Class I-A stations had few lesser stations on their frequencies, even thousands of miles away. When the Federal Communications Commission relaxed those regulations, it allowed several new stations, including WWJZ, to go on the air on the 640 frequency.

The music of Brook Benton, Tommy Dorsey, Margaret Whiting, Doris Day, Frankie Laine and many others aired from October 1992 into 1993, emanating from an ancient General Electric transmitter of the type used by the venerable WJZ in its early days as the flagship of the NBC Blue Network. Then a dispute between Farina and WWJZ's landlord, Edgar Cramer, put WWJZ off the air on July 9, 1993.

Not to be defeated, Farina re-established the station on a 1,700–watt temporary transmitter in Florence, New Jersey, with the help of Nick Grand and Schober. The sound was well received, but the weaker signal did not compare to the big transmitter. Shortly thereafter, Farina had a stroke and died. Nick Grand continued the temporary operation as executor through the end of 1999, unable to make peace with Cramer until The Walt Disney Company made an offer to buy the station, to air its Radio Disney format in the Philadelphia media market. After playing "Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye" by Gracie Fields from the movie Shipyard Sally, WWJZ began airing the Radio Disney format on September 12.{{cite magazine|title=Format Changes & Updates|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-M-Street/M-Street-Journal/M-Street-1999-09.pdf#page=12|magazine=The M Street Journal|date=September 15, 1999|page=2}} The first song WWJZ played as Radio Disney was Elvis Presley's cover of "Hound Dog", marking the end of local programming on the station.

File:radiodisneyphiladelphia.png

On August 13, 2014, Disney put WWJZ and 22 other Radio Disney stations up for sale, to focus on digital distribution of the Radio Disney network.{{cite news|last1=Lafayette|first1=Jon|title=Exclusive: Radio Disney Moving Off Air to Digital|url=http://broadcastingcable.com/news/currency/exclusive-radio-disney-moving-air-digital/133166|access-date=August 13, 2014|date=August 13, 2014}}{{cite magazine|title=Radio Disney to Sell the Majority of Its Stations|url=http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/6214509/radio-disney-to-sell-the-majority-of-its-stations|magazine=Billboard|access-date=August 13, 2014|ref=August 13, 2014}} Disney originally planned to temporarily shut down the station on September 26.{{cite web |url=http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/89717/radio-disney-to-sell-all-but-one-station/ |title=Radio Disney To Sell All But One Station |date=August 13, 2014 |website=RadioInsight |access-date=August 13, 2014 |last=Venta |first=Lance}} However, WWJZ remained on the air and continued carrying Radio Disney programming until the completion of its sale.{{cite web|title=NERW Extra: No Signoffs for Disney AMs|url=http://www.fybush.com/nerw-20140926/|website=Northeast Radio Watch|date=September 26, 2014|access-date=September 27, 2014}} {{Subscription required}} On August 11, 2015, Relevant Radio's parent, the Starboard Media Foundation, agreed to purchase WWJZ for $3.5 million.{{cite web|title=APPLICATION FOR CONSENT TO ASSIGNMENT OF BROADCAST STATION CONSTRUCTION PERMIT OR LICENSE|url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1683921&Service=AM&Form_id=314&Facility_id=43904|website=CDBS Public Access|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|access-date=August 12, 2015|date=August 12, 2015}} On September 18, WWJZ dropped the Radio Disney affiliation and went silent.{{Cite web|title=NERW 20150921|url=https://www.fybush.com/nerw-20150921|website=Fybush|date=September 21, 2015|access-date=September 21, 2015}}

The station began broadcasting Catholic programming, 24 hours a day, when the acquisition was consummated on September 23.{{Cite web|url=https://www.relevantradio.com/stories/relevant-radio-stati|title=Relevant Radio station coming to Philadelphia - Relevant Radio}} Radio Disney programming for the region later moved to the WXTU-HD3 digital subchannel, which has since ceased operations.

WWJZ can be heard by day in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, the Jersey Shore, and parts of Delaware and Maryland. The 1,000-watt nighttime signal is heard over Central New Jersey and Philadelphia's northern suburbs.

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• {{officialwebsite|https://www.relevantradio.com}}

{{AM station data|43904|WWJZ}}

{{Philadelphia Radio}}

{{Trenton Radio}}

{{Religious Radio Stations in New Jersey}}

{{Relevant Radio}}

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Category:1992 establishments in New Jersey

Category:Catholic radio stations

WJZ

Category:Mount Holly, New Jersey

Category:Radio stations established in 1992

Category:Relevant Radio stations