WNVZ
 | |
| Broadcast area | Hampton Roads |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 104.5 MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | "Z 104" |
| Programming | |
| Format | Rhythmic Contemporary Hit Radio |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WPTE, WVKL, WWDE-FM | |
| History | |
First air date | 1967 |
Former call signs | WTID-FM (1967-1972) WQRK (1973-1981) |
Call sign meaning | W Norfolk Virginia Z |
| Technical information | |
| Facility ID | 40755 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 49,000 Watts |
| HAAT | 146 Meters |
Transmitter coordinates | 37°2′18.0″N 76°18′29.0″W / 37.038333°N 76.308056°W |
| Links | |
| Webcast | WNVZ Webstream |
| Website | WNVZ Online |
WNVZ is a Rhythmic Contemporary Hit Radio formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Norfolk, Virginia, serving Hampton Roads. WNVZ is owned and operated by Entercom.
History
1967 to 1972 , Country as WTID-FM
WNVZ originally signed on the air in 1967 as a simulcast of Country music outlet 1270 WTID. Program director, Mike Alen created this programing for both stations. He helped to create the Super Q formate for WQRK. WTID-AM in the mid 70's became WTJZ-AM with jazz programing. The AM station is now separately owned by a religious broadcaster.
1973 to 1981, WQRK
By 1973 they would break off the simulcast and become WQRK, broadcasting a Top 40 format with custom made jingles, sped up records, and a lot of on air audio processing (Then known as "QRK" and "Super Q" at the time).In 1975 WQRK went from live to a simi automated live Top 40 formate using the ID Q 105 and a 1/2 in the late 70s and early 80s. They evolved into a Live Adult Contemporary format. In the early 80s, the station began running RKO Network's "Nighttime America".
1982 to Present WNVZ "Z104"
That would all change in August 1982, when they returned to a mainstream Top 40 format as Z104,and debuted the WNVZ calls and Z104 name. The station marked the retiring of the "Q104½" moniker and hailed the return of the CHR format on the air with the slogan "The Half Has Become a Whole." The station flipped its format and positioning several weeks before acquiring its new call letters in later that year, which meant that for a short period of time the station was using a new nickname (Z104) that was completely unrelated to its call letters (which were still WQRK). This resulted in a very curious-sounding top-of-the-hour station IDs that went something like: "Z-104 is WQRK, Norfolk." The station had to run "Nighttime America" for a few more weeks after the format change before they could get out of the contract.
About a year later they were using Mike Joseph's "Hot Hits" format, which had been done in several larger markets, but dropped Joseph by summer of 1985. By 1993 they would evolve into a Rhythmic Top 40 direction. Today, it uses the slogan "The 757's Party Station" to describe its broad-based mix of Hip-Hop/R&B and Rhythmic Pop hits. This pits the station against its urban contemporary hip hop/R&B competitor WOWI, Top 40/CHR rivals WVHT and WVMA, and to a lesser extent Rhythmic adult contemporary WMOV-FM.
WNVZ HD2
On April 25, 2006, WNVZ's HD2 subchannel offered an all-comedy format, which debuted in June of that year. It was later replaced with a Dance format in August 2012.
External links
- Z 104 Online
- Template:FMQ
- Template:FML
- WNVZ in Nielsen Audio's FM station database