WERE

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**WERE**

Broadcast area	Cleveland, Ohio
Branding	News/Talk 1300 WERE-AM
Slogan	The People's Station
First air date	1949
Frequency	1300 (kHz)
Format	Urban News/Talk
Power	5,000 watts
Class	B
Callsign meaning	Lake E R i E or: "W e ' r e Cleveland!"
Affiliations	Syndication One USA Radio Network
Owner	Radio One
Website	www.1300were.com

WERE is an AM radio station in Cleveland, Ohio operating on 1300 kHz with studios in downtown Cleveland. It uses the on-air slogan "The People's Station," and features an urban news/talk format. The majority of WERE's shows are syndicated by station owner Radio One.

1 History
2 Programming
3 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Early years

Unlike most stations of its time, WERE actually first broadcast on the FM band in 1948 at 98.5 MHz. WERE (AM) came online at 1300 kHz a year later. Both stations lasted under common ownership for the next fifty years, as WERE-FM primarily simulcast the programming of its more popular AM sister station over the next 24 years, where it went into separate programming as WGCL.

During the 1950s, WERE was the first popular Top 40 station in the market, spearheaded by now-legendary personalities like Bill Randle, "Captain" Carl Reese and Ronnie Barrett. It obtained a construction permit in the mid-1950s for WERE-TV on channel 65, but the television station never made it on the air.

In the 1960s, the station was a middle-of-the-road radio station with personalities that included sportcaster Bob Neal in morning drive, the team of Jeff Baxter and Jack Riley in afternoon drive, and Bill Gordon with a nightly talk show from his apartment on East 30th Street. From 1951 until 1972, WERE was the flagship station for Cleveland Indians radio broadcasts.

[edit] People Power era

Starting in 1972, WERE adopted an edgy talk radio format, with controversial hosts, including Gary Dee (Gary D. Gilbert), Merle Pollis and Joel Rose. Gary Dee's populist-redneck style combined with his morning drive-time slot to make him Cleveland's top-rated talk host, leading him to answer each on-air call "This is Gary Dee, Number One in Cleveland." Pollis, who was ultraliberal, had the show right after Dee's. The station used the brand "People Power."

Around spring 1975, the station's finances got rocky as it was bought out by city-council president George Forbes and other unspecified investors. They turned it into an all-news station that completely lacked the drawing power its immensely-popular talk shows had brought it. Eventually, WERE moved back into an all-talk format, which it more or less maintained for the rest of the century.

During the 1980s, the station underwent a number of changes in ownership, to Metropolis Broadcasting on August 25, 1986, and then on September 22, 1988 to Metroplex Communcations, headed by veteran local broadcasters Norman Wain and Bob Weiss. WERE was a charter affiliate for Rush Limbaugh's national talk show in 1989 (WWWE AM 1100, now WTAM, picked up the program in June 1990), and still had a variety of local hosts throughout the balance of the day. While easily accessible in downtown Cleveland and in the eastern suburbs, WERE's position in the Cleveland market has been hampered by a directional broadcast signal that misses the fast-growing suburbs just to the west of Cuyahoga County.

[edit] Brokered programming era

On September 1, 1994, Metroplex Communications sold WERE and sister station WNCX FM 98.5 (along with the rest of Metroplex's stations in Florida and New York) to Clear Channel Communications. Soon after, WERE disbanded its local news department, cancelled all local talk programming, and took on a format featuring mostly brokered programs. Here, a radio producer would purchase blocked time from the station, and then produced the program, sold commercial air time, and keep the profit. As a result, the programming was very diverse.

Select programs on WERE during this period ranged from "America's Workforce" (labor issues in the Cleveland area), to "The Gay 90's" (homosexual and diversity issues) to "Talking Books" (interviews with literary figures), to "Those Antique Guys" (appraisials and commentary on antiques).

One of the most popular shows on WERE during this period was the 'Your Music' Show, a daily weekday block of a variety music from the 1940's through the 1970's programmed by Jim Davis, who also served as an on-air host from 1-3pm (after illness took Carl Reese off the air), followed by Ted Hallaman from 3-5pm after WRMR 1420-AM signed off permanently in July 2004. The 'Your Music' Show was sponsored by the Original Mattress Factory and aired from August of 2004 through January 2006 when the WERE daytime format was changed.

[edit] Later years

On April 29, 1999, WERE and WENZ 107.9-FM were spun off by the Clear Channel-Jacor merger to Lantham, Maryland-based Radio One. WNCX was sold to Infinity Broadcasting, which is today CBS Radio. This marked the first time in the 50-year history of the two, that WNCX and WERE were no longer affiliated. WENZ changed formats from modern rock to mainstream urban as "Z-107.9" shortly afterward, while WERE stuck with the profitable brokered format until 2006.

Today, WERE, programmed by Jim Davis, carries an urban talk format geared toward black audiences from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on weekdays, with a locally based morning show offering news, traffic, sports and weather hosted by broadcasting veteran Ronnie Duncan, supported by news veteran Greg Anthony and sports with Mark Smith.

The rest of WERE's daytime schedule consists of a line-up of urban talk programming that was rolled out by Radio One's "Syndication One" service on January 30, 2006. These programs are hosted by author, professor and minister Michael Eric Dyson (10 a.m.–1 p.m.), the Rev. Al Sharpton (1 p.m.–4 p.m.), and the "2 Live Stews"—a.k.a. brothers Doug and Ryan Stewart—who offer sports talk and celebrity buzz (4 p.m.–7 p.m.).

The brokered programs continue in the evening after 7:00 p.m. and on weekends. Long-running ethnic programs also continue throughout the day on Sunday.

There had been several reports that Radio One and WERE may air ESPN Radio programming in evening and overnight hours, to supplement Good Karma Broadcasting daytime outlet WWGK's sports/talk format as "ESPN Cleveland". The arrangement had been hinted on WWGK's website, though a companion logo was since removed. There has been no official word from WERE's station management that such an arrangement (or even an elaborate station swap) has been made.

[edit] Programming

[edit] Weekdays

6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.: The Ronnie Duncan Morning Show
9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.: Paid Programming
10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.: Michael Eric Dyson
1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.: Rev. Al Sharpton
4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.: The 2 Live Stews
7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.: Various Programming
9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.: Various Programming/Best of Ronnie Duncan
10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.: The Last Round (Mon-Thurs only)
11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.: USA Radio Network

[edit] Sundays

7:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.: The International Hour with Pete Catavolos
8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.: The Slovak Program with Milan Kobulsky & David Iley
9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.: The Polish Program with Eugenia Stolarczyk
10:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.: Roman Catholic Mass from St. John's Cathedral, Cleveland
11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.: The Irish Program with Pat Coyne
12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.: The Sounds of Croatia with Zdravco Belancic
1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.: Czech Voice of Cleveland with Frank Moravcik
2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.: God's Saving Word with Sister Juanita Shealey and Dr. Juan Hernandez
3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.: The Asian Hour with Anthony Yen
4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.: The Grecian Touch with Tula Spirtos
5:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.: Paid Programming
5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.: Prime Time Polkas with Richie Krzynowek
7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.: The Ukrainian Program with Katerina Nemyra