Can you believe it's been 30 years?

[MediaLover]

1994 was also the year WJMO-FM became WZJM while continuing as Jammin' 92.3 with a Mainstream Top 40 approach, WMMS and WHK became sister stations with WMJI while 'MMS flipped to Alternative to compete with WENZ, and Howard Stern had his infamous funeral after took WNCX to number one in the morning.

 

[vjm]

1994 was also the year WJMO-FM became WZJM while continuing as Jammin' 92.3 with a Mainstream Top 40 approach, WMMS and WHK became sister stations with WMJI while 'MMS flipped to Alternative to compete with WENZ, and Howard Stern had his infamous funeral after took WNCX to number one in the morning.

Ah yes,

In the summer of '94, Uncle Howard (dressed as General George S. Patton) and the gang had their big shindig in the Flats, and in the middle of the show, a saboteur from WMMS snipped the wires, causing the broadcast to go off the air, with Stern then calling in (back in the days of landlines) to continue the festivities until the wire got patched up.

And that led to people getting arrested and all kinds of court cases.

1994 was the beginning of the morning wasteland on WMMS that spanned from the departure of Jeff and Flash until Rover's arrival in 2008.

WNCX had their own truncated version of that in the time between 2006 (when Stern went to satellite), and 2011 (when Slats came in and stabilized things).

 

[skiwest]

I assume the current 19/43 tower in West Creek Reservation will be removed once they move to the old WUAB tower.

 

[Rusty Muck]

I assume the current 19/43 tower in West Creek Reservation will be removed once they move to the old WUAB tower.

Given it's right in the middle of a metropark, it might be more trouble than it's worth to dismantle that tower. It could also still be used as an auxiliary/backup.

 

[Northcoast43]

And it's unpainted too. I believe that tower was rebuilt in the late 90s, perhaps to prepare for the future of digital television.

There was also a smaller, self supporting tower just right to the transmitter building, which was demolished around the same time as well. That could have been the original tower that dated back to the WXEL channel 9 era when they first signed on the air. That would make sense as WEWS had a similar tower when they originally signed on, and WKYC, then KYW, used one as well when they moved out to Parma, all of which would eventually be replaced with taller towers to make the signal go out further. For WEWS, their self supporting tower is still use for their auxiliary transmitter, while WKYC still has a bat wing VHF antenna on theirs, which was probably used in later years for either their analog 3 aux, their pre-transition digital 2 aux, or both.


That would have been WKBF, the original licensee of channel 61 who built that tower and signed on in 1968. WUAB would later sign on from that tower, placing a second antenna on top of the tower (the candelabra). Later on the 70's, a license for channel 19 (not the current day WOIO license) was to utilize that tower as well, but was eventually canceled by the FCC and never built. Supposely the plan was to have the UHF broadcasters all transmit from that same tower. WKBF signed off the air and returned their license in the mid 70's, merging into WUAB, leaving them as the only TV broadcaster on that tower. In 1981, the current day 61 license (as WCLQ) signed on the air from a newly built tower off of West Ridgewood Drive, rather than ultizing the original WKBF tower. In the late 80's or early 90's, the candelabra setup was removed, and the tower was extened above the original antenna mounts to increase the height of the WUAB antenna, which is where it remains inactive today. A few years back when Gray bought WLFM-LD (now WTCL-LD), they moved their transmitter to that tower, which is side-mounted on the extention. Interestingly enough, WOIO will soon start broadcasting from that tower with their new 30 kW broadcast, which was designated for the oringinal 19 licensee. This will also bring WUAB back as well after they sold off their RF 28 frequency in the spectrum auction and became a sharing guest on WOIO's RF 10.

Below is a picture of the top of the tower. I have labeled the broadcasters as well as the original top of the tower where the candelabra antennas would have been.

View attachment 6549

Interesting stuff...I remember the smaller WJ(K)W tower on Pleasant Valley and wondered why it was expendable.

WKBF's delay in reaching the air. (They were in the TV book weeks earlier) Was it being too cold and icy that January to safely finish off its tower. I remember several failed attempts at bringing 19 on sooner, including WUAB's wish at one time to slide 43 down on the dial to there (I was always glad they didn't).

For the record, the "WKBF" tower is at the end of Bruening Drive, with some developments around it and one of the few not in the Ridgewood cluster of Parma. (Another mystery is why WCLQ didn't choose to use the old WKBF tower. There was certainly a lot of nostalgia in Junior High when 61 re-hit the air. Including a "Bring back the Ghoul" petition passed around before 61 signed back on, but was first spotted in the Plain Dealers TV book the previous Friday.

 

[MediaLover]

Ah yes,

In the summer of '94, Uncle Howard (dressed as General George S. Patton) and the gang had their big shindig in the Flats, and in the middle of the show, a saboteur from WMMS snipped the wires, causing the broadcast to go off the air, with Stern then calling in (back in the days of landlines) to continue the festivities until the wire got patched up.

And that led to people getting arrested and all kinds of court cases.

1994 was the beginning of the morning wasteland on WMMS that spanned from the departure of Jeff and Flash until Rover's arrival in 2008.

WNCX had their own truncated version of that in the time between 2006 (when Stern went to satellite), and 2011 (when Slats came in and stabilized things).

Brian and Joe would replace Jeff and Flash on WMMS. B&J were on WENZ hosting mornings for two years before the move to "Buzzard Radio: The Next Generation."

Of course, The End went through morning shows that came and went (as did Jammin') and the Buzzard also revamped their jock lineup in '94.

 

[vjm]

Brian and Joe would replace Jeff and Flash on WMMS. B&J were on WENZ hosting mornings for two years before the move to "Buzzard Radio: The Next Generation."

Of course, The End went through morning shows that came and went (as did Jammin') and the Buzzard also revamped their jock lineup in '94.

B & J would wind up as the morning team just a few years later at the then WMVX Mix 106.5 (now WHLK The Lake), where had a respectable decade long run.

Until recently Brian Fowler had a run as morning co-host on WGAR 99.5, and Joe Cronauer (until last year) was afternoon man at WFHM 95.5 The Fish (Joe is currently hosting the daily half hour sponsored chat show Good Company on WKYC NBC 3)

The End never really could find it's footing, piecemealing and duct taping to try to stay afloat until 1999, when it was put out of it's misery and became the hip-hop/rap oriented Z 107.9 (which this year is celebrating it's 25th anniversary).

92.3 as a station went through so many formats (Jammin', The Beat, Xtreme Radio, 923X, K-Rock, Radio 92.3) before stabilizing with sports in 2011 as The Fan (and whoda thunk that sports would be the thing to finally get 92.3 on stable footing?)

 

[MediaLover]

Was Q104 already beating out Lite Rock 106 1/2 in the ratings in '94?

 

[MediaLover]

B & J would wind up as the morning team just a few years later at the then WMVX Mix 106.5 (now WHLK The Lake), where had a respectable decade long run.

Until recently Brian Fowler had a run as morning co-host on WGAR 99.5, and Joe Cronauer (until last year) was afternoon man at WFHM 95.5 The Fish (Joe is currently hosting the daily half hour sponsored chat show Good Company on WKYC NBC 3)

The End never really could find it's footing, piecemealing and duct taping to try to stay afloat until 1999, when it was put out of it's misery and became the hip-hop/rap oriented Z 107.9 (which this year is celebrating it's 25th anniversary).

92.3 as a station went through so many formats (Jammin', The Beat, Xtreme Radio, 923X, K-Rock, Radio 92.3) before stabilizing with sports in 2011 as The Fan (and whoda thunk that sports would be the thing to finally get 92.3 on stable footing?)

This will also be 25 years since Jammin' and The End both went off the air and was replaced by The Beat and KISS 107.9 respectively. It will also be 25 years since WZLE went off the air and replaced by KISS 104.9.

 

[radiofollower]

I didn't know they were ever on Euclid Ave. For all I know, maybe they never actually had studios in Parma, just the transmitter. I might have kind of assumed, due to Big Chuck's mention of them (The towers) in his Autobiography.

This entire thread today is making me miss their CBS days as I still think they were a better affiliate than WOIO. Who seemed better in its "Fox 19" days.

Yes, Channel 8 was on Euclid Avenue near Playhouse Square for many years until sometime -- I think -- in the late 70s or so when they built the building on the Shoreway. Way back, yes, they were at the transmitter.

 

[radiofollower]

Ah yes,

In the summer of '94, Uncle Howard (dressed as General George S. Patton) and the gang had their big shindig in the Flats, and in the middle of the show, a saboteur from WMMS snipped the wires, causing the broadcast to go off the air, with Stern then calling in (back in the days of landlines) to continue the festivities until the wire got patched up.

And that led to people getting arrested and all kinds of court cases.

1994 was the beginning of the morning wasteland on WMMS that spanned from the departure of Jeff and Flash until Rover's arrival in 2008.

WNCX had their own truncated version of that in the time between 2006 (when Stern went to satellite), and 2011 (when Slats came in and stabilized things).

I will point out that after Jeff and Flash left the WMMS morning show, John Lanigan on WMJI (by this time "Lanigan and Malone") was usually the #1 overall, total audience morning show, not Stern. Stern may have just nipped him once or twice, but overall listenership almost always went to Lanigan. Demo wise, it was Stern hands down men 18-34 but that was not enough to hit #1 total audience with any consistency.

 

[Santa fe]

At what point in its history was channel 61 a pay TV outlet? I remember a friend's parents had the service. For all or part of the day, 61's signal was scrambled and it was like HBO, with movies and few or no commercials. I do not remember if they sent customers a physical decoding device or if it was addressable over the air. How long did that last? When did the station go Hispanic and was it Home Shopping before that?
I remember the original Kaiser channel 61 has its studios on St. Clair near Collinwood as I knew people who worked there.

 

[Firebird61]

At what point in its history was channel 61 a pay TV outlet? I remember a friend's parents had the service. For all or part of the day, 61's signal was scrambled and it was like HBO, with movies and few or no commercials. I do not remember if they sent customers a physical decoding device or if it was addressable over the air. How long did that last? When did the station go Hispanic and was it Home Shopping before that?
I remember the original Kaiser channel 61 has its studios on St. Clair near Collinwood as I knew people who worked there.

Prevue was on WCLQ from March 3, 1981 to August 31, 1983. Balaban Studios built state of the art facilities for the new station, but neglected to buy any programming other than old reruns and some movie packages that were played over and over again during the daytime.

 

[skiwest]

After Prevue was discontinued, WCLQ aired free programs in the evening, I don't remember what it was, probably a mix of sitcoms, dramas and movies. They even aired the CBS late night programming - WJW was instead airing late night movies Soon thereafter, when channels 55 and 19 came on the air, there were now 4 independent channels competing for viewers. At that point WCLQ threw in the towel and sold the station to Barry Diller who switched it to home shopping. Not sure when Univision purchased 61, it might have been late 90s or early 00s.

 

[snowdog88]

Prevue was on WCLQ from March 3, 1981 to August 31, 1983. Balaban Studios built state of the art facilities for the new station, but neglected to buy any programming other than old reruns and some movie packages that were played over and over again during the daytime.

Preview was supposedly part of WCLQ's plans during its construction, and that it would help bring in additional revenue for the station.

 

[snowdog88]

After Prevue was discontinued, WCLQ aired free programs in the evening, I don't remember what it was, probably a mix of sitcoms, dramas and movies. They even aired the CBS late night programming - WJW was instead airing late night movies Soon thereafter, when channels 55 and 19 came on the air, there were now 4 independent channels competing for viewers. At that point WCLQ threw in the towel and sold the station to Barry Diller who switched it to home shopping. Not sure when Univision purchased 61, it might have been late 90s or early 00s.

There is a detailed write up on the WQHS Wikipedia article as to why they sold the station to the owners of HSN.

Univision took over WQHS in early 2002. Prior to that, the former owner (USA Broadcasting) had plans to discontinue the HSN feed and convert the station into a general entertainment format. They already did this with 2 or 3 other stations in other markets, but the results were not up to expectations, so they decided to put their entire station group up for sale. ABC almost ended up buying WQHS, but was outbid by Univision. Part of me wonders what WEWS would have done if ABC ended up owning WQHS and yanked the ABC affiation from them. Personally, I wanted PAX to end up on WQHS, as they had some decent shows at the time, but my reception of WVPX was horrible, and I would probably have watched more of them if that wasn't the case.

 

[MediaLover]

Today (September 3) officially marks 30 years since the switch happened between WJW and WOIO.

Any thoughts and memories?

 

[skiwest]

Today (September 3) officially marks 30 years since the switch happened between WJW and WOIO.

Any thoughts and memories?

I'm trying to think of the popular Fox network shows at the time that switched from 19 to 8. There was the Simpsons, Married With Children, Melrose Place, Baywatch and X Files.

 

[MediaLover]

I'm trying to think of the popular Fox network shows at the time that switched from 19 to 8. There was the Simpsons, Married With Children, Melrose Place, Baywatch and X Files.

There was also 90210, Martin, Living Single, Cops and America's Most Wanted.

 

[vjm]

I'm trying to think of the popular Fox network shows at the time that switched from 19 to 8. There was the Simpsons, Married With Children, Melrose Place, Baywatch and X Files.

Baywatch was syndicated.

There was also 90210, Martin, Living Single, Cops and America's Most Wanted.

Party of 5, Sliders, and NY Undercover all debuted on Fox in 1994 and had solid runs.

Fox also had a number of one-and-done flops in the 94-95 season:

*Hardball - a baseball centered sitcom
*House of Buggin - a sketch comedy show
*Get Smart - a revival of the original with Don Adams as now CONTROL chief Maxwell Smart, Barbra Feldman as 99 (now a congresswoman), and Andy Dick as their son Zack, now the main CONTROL agent
*Models Inc. - a Melrose Place spinoff taking place at a modeling agency
*VR 5 - a sci-fi program