WKNR

Infobox Radio Station
name = WKNR


area = Greater Cleveland
city = Cleveland, Ohio
branding = ESPN 850 WKNR
slogan = The Voice of The Fan
airdate = November 13, 1926
frequency = 850 kHz
affiliations = ESPN Radio
Premiere Radio Networks
Westwood One
CBS Radio
format = sports/talk
power = 50,000 watts (daytime)
4,700 watts (nighttime)
class = B
owner = Good Karma Broadcasting, LLC.
website = [http://www.espncleveland.com www.espncleveland.com]
former_callsigns = WRMR (1985-2001)
WJW (1928-1985)
WLGV (1926-1928)
sister_stations = WWGK
callsign_meaning = none, a disambiguation and nod to WGAR

WKNR is an AM all-sports station in Cleveland, Ohio, broadcasting at 850 kHz with its transmitter in North Royalton, Ohio and studios at the Galleria at Erieview. The station is the successor to two legendary stations, have began broadcasting on July 13, 1990 on the 1220 kHz frequency formerly WGAR-AM. In 2001, after a massive trade/purchase swap, WKNR switched frequencies to 850 kHz—originally the home of WJW (AM), and later to WRMR.

WKNR is the Cleveland affiliate of ESPN Radio and The Jim Rome Show, and features local sports talkers Tony Rizzo, Mark "Munch" Bishop, Kenny Roda, Greg Brinda, and Michael Reghi on weekdays. The station airs local pre-game and post-game shows around Browns games.

WKNR is the flagship station (along with sister station WWGK) for the Cleveland Gladiators of the Arena Football League and the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League. "ESPN 850" also serves as the Cleveland affiliate for Ohio State Buckeyes football and basketball.

The station – and sister station "AM 1540 KNR2" WWGK – is owned by Good Karma Broadcasting, LLC. Good Karma is headed by Craig Karmazin, son of Sirius Satellite Radio CEO Mel Karmazin.

History

WJW Radio

Early years

WJW (AM) began broadcasting as WLGV in Mansfield, Ohio, on November 13, 1926 under the ownership of John F. Weimer. In 1928, the call letters were changed to WJW, reflecting the owner's initials. [cite news
last = Dyer
first = Bob
coauthors =
title = Mystery of WJW Call Letters solved: Grandfather's initials Launched Station, Woman says
work =
pages = B2
language =
publisher = Akron Beacon Journal
date = August 7, 1988
url = http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_docid=0EDF49D1370B857D&p_docnum=95&p_queryname=NaN&p_product=NewsBank&p_theme=aggregated4&p_nbid=T73J5ASVMTE3Nzg2ODM3NC45NzAxNjU6MTo2Om5jZGNwbA
accessdate = 2007-04-29 ] By 1931, the station had been sold to Mansfield Broadcasting Association, and it was broadcasting at 1210 kHz with 100 watts.

WJW moved to Akron in 1932. By 1936, the station was owned by WJW, Inc., with studios located at 41 South High Street. [ [http://www.nrcdxas.org/qsl/0001/wjw0934.jpgLetter of reception to a listener in Connecticut.] Attributed to station president John Weimer. From the National Radio Club website. Retrieved on 2007-04-29.] On March 29, 1941, WJW, like most stations around the country changed its frequency with the implementation of the North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement. By 1942, the station was broadcasting at 1210 kHz with 250 watts.

On November 13, 1943, William M. O'Neill purchased the station and moved it to Cleveland, with facilities in the Guardian Building (now the National City–East 6th Building at 619 Euclid). WJW became Cleveland's fifth radio station (after WHK, WTAM, WGAR and WCLE). The frequency was moved to 850 kHz, and power was increased to 5,000 watts. The station became an affiliate of the Blue Network, soon to be ABC. WJW also brought the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts to Cleveland. The station also featured news commentary by Dorothy Fuldheim, and for a short period in the early 1950s was home to a disc jockey called Soupy Hines, later known as Soupy Sales.

WJW opened an FM outlet WJW-FM at 104.1 MHz in 1948 [http://members.aol.com/jeff560/1948fm.html] .The new FM station went on the air just as the Cleveland Indians began their world championship season. WJW was the flagship of a six-station Ohio network that carried the games in 1947 and 1948. However, the full games were often carried on WJW-FM, since the AM outlet did not have available air time due to its ABC network commitments. As a result, Cleveland became an FM hot bed, and more FM radio sets sold in Cleveland than in any other market in the country in 1948 [http://ech.cwru.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=R] .

O'Neil sold WJW to Storer Broadcasting on November 17, 1954. Storer also purchased television station WXEL and changed the call letters to WJW-TV. Within two years, radio and television operations were consolidated at new studios at 1630 Euclid Avenue, near Playhouse Square, in a remodeled Georgian building that formerly housed the Esquire Theater. WJW dropped its ABC Radio Network affiliation in 1957, and became an independent station, although the station later had a brief affiliation with NBC before becoming independent again. By 1959, WJW broadcast with 10,000 watts daytime, and 5,000 watts at night - which would last for the next forty years.

Alan Freed

A young disc jockey named Alan Freed joined WJW in 1951 from WAKR in Akron, Ohio. Shortly thereafter, Alan began making broadcasting history with his shows in which he was known as the "Moondog." Freed played rhythm-and-blues music by black artists for a largely white teen-age audience. He is purported to have given the music the name by which it is known today—rock and roll.

In addition to his radio program, Freed also organized local concerts by early rock artists, called the Moondog Coronation Ball, which many consider to be the first rock concert in American history. The concert on March 21, 1952 at the Cleveland Arena turned into a riot when far too many listeners filled the hall, causing Freed to apologize on the air the next day.

Freed left WJW in September 1954 for WINS New York, but he had established WJW as the premier rock and roll outlet [http://www.alanfreed.com/biography.html] .

Pete “Mad Daddy” Myers

In January 1958, Pete "Mad Daddy" Myers joined the station from WHKK 640 AM in Akron. His "Mad Daddy" persona later was adapted by Ernie Anderson for his "Ghoulardi" character on sister station WJW-TV in 1963. Myers' show was heard nightly from 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Myers had a brief but meteoric career at WJW, lasting only until May 13, 1958, when he resigned to go to Metromedia's WHK which was establishing itself as the new Top 40 powerhouse in Cleveland.

WJW enforced a 90-day noncompete clause, and "Mad Daddy" could not be heard on WHK until August 10. To keep his name in front of the public while he was off the air, Myers concocted a publicity stunt on June 14, 1958, parachuting from a Piper Cub 2200 feet over Lake Erie, and composing a poem on his way down.

He was fished out the waters shortly thereafter, and handed out copies of the 45 record "Zorro" to hundreds of fans who greeted him when he got to shore. Some iniital reports of the stunt incorrectly stated that Myers did not survive the jump, but they were quickly revised.

"Mad Daddy" reached the peak of his popularity at WHK, hosting record hops and live after-midnight shows dressed in a Dracula costume. In July 1959 he moved to WHK's sister station in New York, WNEW 1130 AM, where "Mad Daddy" was not well received. He played it straight as Pete Myers there until 1963, when he moved to WINS and resumed the "Mad Daddy Show." This show was syndicated to other stations until WINS changed format to all-news in 1965.

As again just Pete Myers, he returned to WNEW once more. Myers lived until November 4, 1968, when he took his own life in New York City, shortly after he had been let go at WNEW [http://www.cleve-radio.com/index2.htm#WJW-AM] .

Later years

WJW abandoned its Rock and Roll format and settled into a format featuring news, talk and middle-of-the-road music during the 1960s, featuring personalities such as Ed Fisher during the morning hours. In the late 1960s, WJW-FM was spun-off to become WCJW, and now operates today as adult-contemporary WQAL.

In the fall of 1976, Storer sold WJW radio (then known on-air as "JW Radio 85") to Lake Erie Broadcasting, which was headed by Cleveland Browns owners Art Modell and Al Lerner. Storer retained WJW-TV whose calls were changed to WJKW. The new owner continued the format highlighting talk shows and adult popular music.

WJW was sold to Booth American Broadcasting in 1985, and its news/talk format moved over to WWWE, which Lake Erie simultaneously acquired from Gannett in the process. As a condition of the sale, the WJW calls were exchanged in favor of WRMR on June 11, 1985. [cite news
last = Dyer
first = Bob
coauthors =
title = Dial's on Radio Changes
work =
pages = C7
language =
publisher = Akron Beacon Journal
date = June 12, 1985
url = http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_docid=0EB62804C8C5C231&p_docnum=30&p_queryname=NaN&p_product=NewsBank&p_theme=aggregated4&p_nbid=S5BE4BXHMTE3NDMyOTM3OC4zMTc4OTA6MToxMjo2Ni4yMTMuMTUuMTU
accessdate = 2007-04-29 ] With the abandonment of the historic three-letter call sign by the AM outlet, the television station was able to change its call letters from WJKW to just WJW.

WRMR

: "For the complete history of WRMR's intellectual property, see WRMR."The new music format for WRMR was initially middle of the road, aimed at the 40 to 49 year-old age group. Eventually, it evolved into "Music of Your Life," a mixture of 1940s, 50s and 60s ballads, standards and big band music, sprinkled with newer artists such as Harry Connick, Jr., and Diana Krall. Cleveland radio vet Jim Davis (formerly at WBBG 1260AM) served as the station's Program Director and an on-air host from 1988 through 1996 when the format was the 'Flagship' station for the "Music of Your Life" format, with Davis also serving as the Director of Operations for the nationally syndicated Al Ham format from 1991 to 1996. Other on-air talent included, at one time or another, Bill Randle, Carl Reese, Ted Hallaman, Ronnie Barrett, Chris Daniels, Ray Marshall and Ted Alexander On May 15, 1999, WRMR upgraded its daytime signal to 50,000 watts with a new transmitter pattern built at the old WJW/WRMR site in North Royalton. The station's daytime signal is dominant in much of northern Ohio, but it must protect the signal of WNTJ AM 850 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, imparing the signal to the south and as close in as Cuyahoga Falls and Akron [http://www.fybush.com/sites/2004/site-040212.html] .

On August 12, 1998, Chancellor Media Corporation of Texas announced its purchase of WRMR and WDOK from Independent Group Ltd., along with its purchase of five other Cleveland radio stations, WZJM 92.3-FM, WZAK 93.1-FM, WQAL 104.1-FM and WJMO 1490-AM, for $275 million [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9907E5D9123AF930A2575BC0A96E958260] .It was, at the time, the largest radio deal in Cleveland broadcasting history.

Then, on July 13, 1999, Chancellor Media merged with WKNR 1220-AM owner Capstar Broadcasting to form AMFM Inc., at that time the nation's largest radio station owner with 465 stations. AMFM then sold WRMR and WKNR to Salem Communications and WDOK to Infinity Broadcasting on July 20, 2000 as part of a required divestiture when AMFM merged with Clear Channel Communications [http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2000/July/415at.htm] .

Under Salem ownership, Jim Davis returned to the programming chair, as well as an on-air shift and WRMR started to segue into playing more contemporary ballads, which were billed on the air as "easy-listening oldies." WRMR also started to air long blocks of brokered talk shows in the evenings and weekends, most of which were carried over from brokered talk station WERE 1300-AM.

In May 2001, Salem officially announced plans to move the WHK calls and religious format from 1420 kHz to 1220 kHz, and the WKNR calls and sports talk format were to move from 1220 kHz to 850 kHz. In turn, the standards format on WRMR was set to sign off, with the brokered talk shows in the evenings to be carried over to WKNR. A last-minute arrangement by Salem Communications and WCLV parent company Radio Seaway led to WRMR's intellctual property being traded to WCLV for an undisclosed amount, and the format ended up moving to the 1420 kHz signal.

WKNR

The call letters WKNR (formerly used in the 1960s for a Top-40 formatted station in Dearborn, Michigan as "Keener 13") were introduced to Cleveland on July 13, 1990, when Douglass Broadcasting acquired WGAR 1220-AM and Nationwide Communications used the WGAR call letters exclusively to identify its FM outlet at 99.5 MHz. WKNR slowly assembled several blocks of locally-based sports talk shows, starting in January of 1991. Within a few months, the new station gradually adopted a sports talk format, and lured the Cleveland Indians broadcasts away from long-time flagship WWWE, starting with the 1992 season.

For several years in the mid 1990s, WKNR was home to Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Browns, and Ohio State football and basketball broadcasts. At this time, the station was owned by Cablevision Systems Corp, but was sold to Jacor Communications on August 19, 1997. [cite press release
title = Jacor: Acquires Sports Leader WKNR, Cleveland
publisher = Jacor Communications, Inc.
date = August 19, 1997
url = http://www.cfonews.com/jcor/c081997a.txt
accessdate = 2007-01-01] . Jacor, which also owned WTAM, ended up moving the Cleveland Indians broadcasts back to WTAM beginning with the 1998 season. In addition, the Cleveland Browns rights were then transferred to WMJI and WTAM for the 1999 season, leaving significant holes in WKNR's programming.

Jacor then swapped WKNR with Capstar Broadcasting’s WTAE in Pittsburgh in 1998 as part of the Justice Department settlement when Jacor purchased Nationwide Communications— coincidentally, the same people who sold WGAR (AM) in 1990 and still owned WGAR-FM. [cite press release
title = Justice Department Requires Jacor to Sell Eight Radio Stations as Part of Nationwide Communications Inc. Acquisition
publisher = U.S. Department of Justice
url = http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/1998/August/362at.html
date = August 10, 1998
accessdate = 2007-01-01] . On July 13, 1999, Chancellor Media merged with Capstar Broadcasting to form AMFM Inc., at that time the nation's largest radio station owner with 465 stations. AMFM sold WKNR to Salem Communications on July 20, 2000 as part of a required divestiture when AMFM merged with Clear Channel Communications [http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2000/July/415at.htm] .

Following WKNR's move to the 850 kHz location, it inherited much of WRMR's brokered talk show lineup in morning drive, evenings, and much of the weekends for several months. Otherwise, WKNR's sports hosts included the midday team of Greg Brinda and Kendall Lewis (the former moved from morning drive due to the brokered programming situation), Jim Rome, Kenny Roda, Bruce Drennan (who ended up taking the morning slot in late August), the late John Antus, Bob Karlovec and Ken Silverstein. The station's program director at the time was Steve Legurski, who had held the post since 1999.

A series of budget cutbacks by Salem in January 2004 led to the dismissal of Brinda, Lewis, Silverstein, Legurski and several other staffers, with Micheal Luczak taking over as program director. Bruce Drennan was reassigned to the midday slot, while ESPN Radio's flagship program Mike and Mike in the Morning took Drennan's place. Greg Brinda was brought back to the station one week after his dismissal to do fill-in work and host several specialty shows, but wound up taking Drennan's slot following his sudden (and controversial) departure in October 2004.

A number of divestures and format changes with other Salem-owned sports talk stations in the past few years (such as WBOB in Cincinnati and KHHO in Tacoma, which was LMA'ed to Clear Channel) left WKNR the only remaining sports station in Salem Communications' portfolio.

On July 2006, ESPN Radio cancelled its affiliation with WKNR with a 90-day notice effective that October 8, following Beaver Dam, Wisconsin-based Good Karma Broadcasting's purchase of daytime-only station WABQ and new affiliation deal. With that change, WKNR became the Cleveland affiliate for Fox Sports Radio that October, [cite news
last = Brown
first = Roger
coauthors =
title = With Rosburg, Browns are special
work =
pages = 4
language =
publisher = The Plain Dealer
date = 2006-10-06
url = http://www.cleveland.com/sports/plaindealer/roger_brown/index.ssf?/base/sports/1160123448197870.xml&coll=2&thispage=4
accessdate = 2006-10-08 ] while WABQ relauched as "ESPN Radio 1540" WWGK. Several weeks later, Good Karma would end up purchasing WKNR for $7 million weeks later on December 4, 2006, which now formed a two-station duopoly. [cite news
last =
first =
coauthors =
title = BREAKING NEWS: Major Local Radio Station Sale
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = Ohio Media Watch
date = 2006-12-04
url = http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com/2006/12/breaking-news-major-local-radio.html
accessdate = 2006-12-27 ] [cite news
last = Booth
first = John
coauthors =
title = Good Karma buys WKNR
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = Crain's Cleveland Business
date = 2006-12-04
url = http://www.crainscleveland.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061204/FREE/61204019/1025
accessdate = 2006-12-27 ] A local marketing agreement immediately began for WKNR, with the deal officially being closed that January.

On February 23, 2007, it was made official that WKNR would regain it's former ESPN Radio affiliation and be rebranded as "ESPN 850 WKNR." As a result, Fox Sports Radio switched over to WWGK, now known as "Cleveland's AM 1540 KNR2," a play on ESPN2 [cite news
last = Thomas
first = George M.
coauthors =
title = New beginning for sports talk radio station
work =
pages = 4
language =
publisher = Akron Beacon Journal
date = 2007-02-24
url = http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/entertainment/columnists/george_thomas/16774459.htm
accessdate = 2007-02-27 ] . Since then, the station has made a series of schedule overhauls, adding WJW-TV sports anchor (and former WHK show host) Tony Rizzo in the late morning slot, WMMS/WMJI sports director Mark "Munch" Bishop in afternoon drive, and former Cavaliers TV play-by-play voice Michael Reghi to host their post-game call in show.

The studios for WKNR and WWGK were officially moved from WKNR's former transmitter site in Broadview Heights, Ohio on October 29, 2007 under a $500,000 combined facility at The Galleria at Erieview [cite news
last = Booth
first = John
coauthors =
title = Good Karma for downtown
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = Crain's Cleveland Business
date = 2006-12-26
url = http://www.crainscleveland.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061226/FREE/61226009/1025&Profile=1025
accessdate = 2007-01-04 ] , effectively ending 30 years of continuious use by WKNR and by WGAR-AM.

Programming

Because of its' ESPN Radio affiliation status, WKNR carries a majority of programming from the network, including Mike and Mike in the Morning, GameNight and AllNight with Jason Smith. The station also airs "The Jim Rome Show" and local shows such as "Rizzo on the Radio" (Tony Rizzo with Aaron Goldhammer and Josh Sabo), "Munch on Sports" (Mark "Munch" Bishop with Darryl Ruiter) and "In the Zone" (Kenny Roda with Chris Fedor).

WKNR will also air "The 10th Inning with Greg Brinda" or "KNR Overtime with Michael Reghi" following conclusions of either Indians or Cavaliers games. (In the event of afternoon weekday Indians games, "The 10th Inning" will air instead on WWGK.) Otherwise, the station will switch back to ESPN Radio programming after 9pm. During the Cleveland Browns season, the station will air a five-hour local pregame show as well as "Browns React with Michael Reghi" after the games.

On Sundays, WKNR will air Bob Costas' talk/interview show Costas on the Radio from 6am-8am, as well as local talk shows hosted by either Greg Brinda, Kenny Roda, Mark "Munch" Bishop, Jordan Sherwood, Chris Fedor or Aaron Goldhammer. Excluding any play-by-play commitments, WKNR will air "The 10th Inning" or "KNR Overtime" following conclusions of either Indians or Cavaliers games. In the case of a major sporting event airing on WKNR, said post-game shows will air on WWGK.

The station is the flagship for Cleveland Gladiators arena football and Lake Erie Monsters hockey (both shared with sister station WWGK), and is the Cleveland affiliate for Ohio State football and basketball (the basketball coverage is shared with WWGK). During the Ohio State football season, WKNR airs a local pre-game and post-game show before and after network programming, hosted by Kenny Roda, Mark "Munch" Bishop and Jordan Sherwood.

WKNR (along with WWGK) also carries Sunday and Monday Night Football from the NFL on Westwood One package, NCAA basketball from Westwood One, Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio, The NBA on ESPN Radio, and NASCAR coverage from PRN.

Logos

References

* [http://www.cleve-radio.com/index2.htm#WJW-AM The Cleveland Broadcast Radio Archives]

External links

* [http://www.wknr.com/ WKNR Official Site]
* [http://www.airchexx.com/markets/cleveland/pete-mad-daddy-myers-last-show-on-whk-cleveland-april-25-1959 Aircheck recording of Pete “Mad Daddy” Myers on WHK on April 25, 1959]
* [http://www.keener13.com/ Keener 13 Tribute Site]
*amq|WKNR
*aml|WKNR----