WHTZ
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| City of license | Newark, New Jersey |
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| Broadcast area | North Jersey & New York City |
| Branding | Z-100 |
| Slogan | New York's #1 Hit Music Station |
| First air date | August 2, 1983 |
| Frequency | 100.3 MHz |
| Format | Top 40 |
| ERP | 6000 watts |
| Class | B |
| Callsign meaning | HiTZ |
| Owner | Clear Channel Communications |
| Website | www.z100.com |
WHTZ, also known as Z-100, is a radio station that serves New York City and the neighboring Northern New Jersey region, broadcasting at a frequency of 100.3 MHz. Licensed in Newark, New Jersey to Clear Channel Communications, WHTZ's studios are located in nearby Jersey City, New Jersey.
The call letters are supposed to represent the word "hits"; indeed, an early advertising campaign for the station claimed that HTZ was "The New Way to Spell 'Hits' in New York."
The "Z100" brand name is also used on other Top 40 radio stations with a "Z" in their call sign and located on or near the 100 frequency, though it is not as heavily used as the KISS-FM brand.
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[edit] History
100.3 began as WMGM-FM, which played easy listening music. They would change hands to local owners in the 60's and become WVNJ-FM. The station had a music format playing instrumental pop versions of songs, as the station was known as "WVNJoy". The station was licensed in Newark, with its FM transmitter in West Orange, New Jersey, while its studios and AM transmitter were located on State Route 10 in Livingston, New Jersey. At the time, they had an effective power of about 20,000 watts, and they put out 5,000 actual watts. The station's target market was northern New Jersey because radio listeners in New York City listen to WPAT-AM, WPAT-FM and WRFM.
In 1980, when WRVR (now WLTW) dropped jazz for country, WVNJ-FM began playing jazz music, which would air after 8 PM. They became known as "VNJoy by day VNJazz By Night". In May of 1983, plans were made for 100.3 FM to be purchased by Cleveland-based Malrite Communications. Malrite allowed the station to sign on in a studio in Secaucus, New Jersey and move the transmitter to the top of the Empire State Building. In addition, new management announced plans for a top 40 format. The sale became final on August 1, 1983, and WVNJ-FM would end broadcasts on 100.3 that night.
The station, which now had the callsign WHTZ, went on the air at 6:08 AM on August 2, 1983 with then program director Scott Shannon and the first song ever played on the station was "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor. They signed on from their new and still incomplete studio in Secaucus, transmitting from the old FM tower site near Livingston, New Jersey, as their antenna would not be moved to the top of the Empire State Building until later in August. They did not begin calling themselves "Z-100" until a few days later.
Z-100 was the second station that summer to attempt to bring the Top 40 format back to New York, with rock station WPLJ having switched to top 40 in late June. WHTZ was programmed to raise listener memories of AM powerhouse WABC, which flipped to an all-talk format from an adult contemporary format on May 10, 1982.
Within 74 days of signing on, the station had climbed from last place to first in the New York Arbitron ratings book.
Over the years, Z-100 stayed with a top 40 format with WPLJ right behind them in the ratings. By 1991, however, the top 40 format was in an identity crisis. A major sign of this crisis would come when WPLJ would move to a hot adult contemporary format by 1992. Z-100 would respond to this crisis by adding some songs from the 1970's and introduced an evening talk show called "Love Phones". In 1993, Z-100 began mixing in alternative rock music which wouldn't normally be played by a top 40 station. By the end of 1994, the majority of the station's music consisted of alternative rock. To flesh out the playlist, the station would play music by artists such as Madonna, TLC, and Mariah Carey.
Ratings would remain steady at the station during much of the mid-1990's, but by March 1996, there was a steep drop after WKTU signed on 103.5 FM with a dance music format and WXRK (now WFNY) adapting a full-time alternative rock format. Both stations would end up taking listeners from Z-100.
In April 1996, the station brought in Tom Poleman as its new programming director. After replacing its on-air staff, the station would gradually began to move back to a mainstream top 40 format as they added pop music from such formats as R&B, rap, and adult contemporary. One of Poleman's biggest moves was to move DJ Elvis Duran to the Z Morning Zoo, Z-100's popular morining show. Despite having shared the post with other Z-Jays through the years, Duran remains the "Head Zookeeper" to this day. By December 1996, Z-100 was a full-time top 40 station again, and its ratings reached the heights at which they still remain today.
In a 1999 merger, Z-100's parent company, Chancellor, would acquire another radio station owner, forming AM/FM Inc. Shortly after the merger was finalized, AM/FM would be bought by its current owners, Clear Channel Communications.
The station broadcasts remixes by DJ Spinbad, a well-known DJ who creates a nightly remix of the day's tops songs, playing them all together, mixing, for instance, the lyrics of one with the music of another. This often lasts up to 18 or 20 minutes, and is played at seven o'clock and midnight Monday thru Friday. Spinbad's remix is also a part of the weekly 5 O'Clock Whistle, a tradition started in 1986 to celebrate the end of the work week.
In early 2006, Z100 launched an HD Radio station that plays songs by bands who have not gone mainstream, or have very little press. Currenty, it is the only New York City area HD2 station that features DJs.
[edit] The Z Morning Zoo
While it was not created at WHTZ, the popular morning zoo format became a widely-employed morning show concept based on its success at Z-100. With its big success in New York, then-owner Malrite immediately took the "Zoo" concept over to their sister station in Cleveland, rock-formatted WMMS. Essentally, the Morning Zoo formula was grafted onto their already successful morning show, then hosted by Jeff Kinzbach and Ed "Flash" Ferenc. What became the "Buzzard Morning Zoo" lasted until 1994, with the name living on until 1998.
The current Z Morning Zoo includes Elvis Duran, Danielle Monaro, John Bell, Carolina Bermudez, Skeery Jones, David Brody, TJ and Greg T "the Round-Headed Frat Boy". The Zoo also features Froggy, the Miami executive producer.
Christine Nagy is a past member of the morning zoo. Nagy was news director and member of the show for eight years before leaving in December 2004. She reportedly left to devote more time to an acting career. In May 2005, she joined weatherman New York Fox News's Nick Gregory on the morning show of Z100's sister station, 106.7 Lite FM.
The Z Morning Zoo features Stupid News with John Bell, Danielle's Sleaze Report, Carolina's Rage Page, Phone Taps (prank calls to an unsuspecting friend or relative of a listener), a stunt performed by Greg T, various contests, and news and weather reports.
Beginning May 22, 2006, it began syndication on WHYI in Miami, Florida. They have been on WHCY in New Jersey since 2003.
[edit] Zookeepers
The Z-Morning Zoo has had several lead hosts, or "zookeepers":
- Ross Brittain
- Gary Bryan
- Steve Cochrane
- Elvis Duran
- John Lander
- Jack Murphy
- Elliot Segal
- Scott Shannon
- Brian Wilson
[edit] Bits
- Elvis List
- Mr. Cardboard Tube - Voiced by Elvis with a Cardboard Tube
- Phone Taps
- Stupid News
- The Sleaze
[edit] Annual Events
The station annually holds a popular concert featuring top-name acts: "Z100's Jingle Ball" at Madison Square Garden in Midtown Manhattan during the winter holiday season
On Christmas at noon, the station airs a (pre-recorded) countdown show of top 100 songs for the year based on the total number of song spins, listener requests, and weekly playlist success (peak position, weeks on). The show then airs on an average of once a day over the following week, with a final broadcast airing January 2nd. Until 2006, the countdown was hosted by Elvis Duran and Paul "Cubby" Bryant, however on June 23, Cubby left Z100 for sister station WKTU, to co-host a morning show "Wake up with Whoopi". Other countdown shows air on summer holidays such as Labor Day.
Songs that are released in the final quarter of the year are often biased; if a song is very popular during the last three months of the year and is in high rotation, it will often peak higher than a song in medium rotation for a number of months. However, if a popular song is only in low to medium rotation during the latter part of the year, it will often chart very low or not at all on the year end countdown, only to appear very high on the countdown of the following year.
[edit] Staff
[edit] On-air
- Elvis Duran (and the Morning Zoo)
- Shelley Wade
- Joe Rosati
- Niko
- JJ Kincaid
- Sharon Stevens
- Romeo on the Radio
- DJ Spinbad
- Ryan Hall
- Jagger
- Phill Kross
Additionally, WHTZ broadcasts the nationally-syndicated American Top 40 hosted by Ryan Seacrest every Sunday from 8am to 12pm ET.
[edit] Former DJs
- Paul "Cubby" Bryant
- Scott Shannon
- Gary Bryan
- Ross Brittain
- Shadoe Stevens
- Jack Da Wack
- The Jammer
- Kid Kelly
- Clarke Ingram
- Chio
- Janet Dean
- Diane Pryor
- Spanky
- Skinny Bobby
- Robby Bridges
- Hollywood Hamilton
- Chris Jagger
- Claire Stevens
- Booker
- Lisa Taylor
[edit] Management
- Rob Williams – Senior Vice President
- Tom Poleman – Operations Manager
- Sharon Dastur - Program Director
- Romeo - Music Director
- Bob McCuin – General Sales Manager
- Sharon Ritterband – Local Sales Manager
- George Marshall – Chief Engineer
[edit] External links
- Official Website
- Z100's MySpace Page
- DJ Spinbad's Homepage (Requires Flash)
- The Morning Zoo's Homepage
- American Top 40
- Z100 Top 100 Countdown History, 1983-2005
- Query the FCC's FM station database for WHTZ
| FM radio stations in the New York market (Arbitron #1) | |
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(Arbitron #1) |
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(Arbitron #18) |
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(Middlesex-Somerset-Union) (Arbitron #39) |
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(Bridgeport and Stamford-Norwalk) (Arbitron #121 and 145) |
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(Poughkeepsie) (Arbitron #163) |
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| Clear Channel Communications, Inc. |
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Corporate officers: Lowry Mays | Mark Mays | Randall Mays | Tom Hicks |
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Radio / Television stations: (See List of broadcast stations owned by Clear Channel) |
