WNVZ

Infobox Radio Station
name = WNVZ


area = Norfolk/Virginia Beach
branding = "Z104"
slogan = "The 757's Party Station"
airdate = 1967
frequency = 104.5 (MHz) HD Radio
format = Rhythmic Top 40
erp = 50,000 watts
class = B
former_callsigns = WQRK, WTID
owner = Entercom
sister_stations = WPTE, WVKL, WWDE
webcast = [http://webclust1.liquidcompass.cc/entercom/video_gateway.php?id=wnvz Listen Live]
website = [http://www.z104.com Z104's homepage]
callsign_meaning = Norfolk
Virginia's
Z104

WNVZ, also known as Z104, is a Rhythmic Top 40 outlet serving the Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Portsmouth-Hampton-Newport News radio market. The Entercom communications outlet broadcasts at 104.5 MHz with an ERP of 50 kW. Its COL and studios are in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

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, which is now separately owned Religious outlet WTJZ.

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 automated Top 40,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 "Nightime America".

1982 to Present WNVZ "Z104"

But 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 "Q104 1/2" 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 "Nightime 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 "Today's Best Music" 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.

WNVZ HD2

On April 25, 2006 Entercom announced that WNVZ's HD2 subchannel will offer an all-comedy format, which debuted in June.

The Z Morning Zoo

Personalities

There are three people who run the morning show, Nick Taylor, Tricia, and Shaggy.

Podcast

There is a Z Morning Zoo Podcast that can be accessed on iTunes and their website. Visit the External Links section to access these podcasts

External links

* [http://www.z104.com Z104, TODAY'S BEST MUSIC!]
*fmq|WNVZ
*FML|WNVZ
* [http://www.stevemcvie.com Steve McVie's Hot Hits tribute] , with airchecks of "Z104" during its "Hot Hits!" phase in 1983-1984
* [http://z104.com/pages/253080.php Z 104 Podcast Page] Use this link if you do not use iTunes for your podcasting.
* [http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=137052843 Z 104 iTunes Podcast Link] Use this link ONLY if you have iTunes. This link will open iTunes music store and bring up a list of all the Z Morning Zoo Episodes. There will be no charge on your iTunes account for using this service, but an account with the iTunes Music Store may be needed.