WJER

Infobox_Radio_station
name = WJER


city = Dover, Ohio
area = Tuscarawas County, Ohio
branding = 1450 AM WJER
slogan = The Voice of the Valley
airdate = February 21, 1950
frequency = 1450 (kHz)
format = full service/soft rock/oldies
power = 1,000 watts
class = C
callsign_meaning = Jerimiah E. Reeves, the father of the first owner
owner = WJER Radio, LLC
website = [http://www.wjer.com www.wjer.com]

WJER (1450 AM "The Voice of the Valley") is a commercial radio station. Licensed to the suburb of Dover, Ohio, it serves the Tuscarawas County area. It first began broadcasting in 1950, and had an FM sister station (WJER-FM) that operated from 1969 to 2006, which is today WHOF. The station had been owned by Clear Channel Communications in a reverse LMA by former owner Gary Petricola, who repurchased the AM station in 2007.

History

Origins of WJER

Jeremiah E. Reeves, of which WJER had been named for, was a member of one of the most influential family in Tuscarawas County, starting several major industries, banks and hotels in the Dover-New Philadelphia area. After his death in 1920, the Reeves family continued the leadership traditions begun by Jermiah.

Following World War II, the United States government saw the need to increase radio reach to citizens in rural as well as urban population centers, and many new AM stations were created. Jeremiah's daughter, Agnes (Reeves) Greer, filed for ownership of a new radio station for Dover, Ohio and was granted the license in 1949. As a tribute to her father, Ms. Greer requested the call letters for the station that were her father's initials, Jeremiah E. Reeves, or "JER".

On Tuesday, February 21, 1950 at 6 a.m., WJER Radio began broadcasting operations in the present studio facility at 646 Boulevard, a parcel of land that was part of the Reeves family estate. The 175 foot "original" tower was erected on land with 5 miles of copper wire buried beneath its surface.

WJER-FM was granted a license and began broadcasting in 1969 at 101.7. Originally, the FM station programmed "beautiful music" and was popular in doctor's offices and in elevators. As time went by WJER put more emphasis on the FM station, going "live" full-time by 1992. Both stations were locally-owned by Gary Petricola until 2003, when he sold them to Clear Channel Communications. Petricola, however, continued to operate both 101.7-FM and 1450-AM in a reverse LMA with Clear Channel.

Relocation of the FM signal

after the move.

In a gradual process, the stations began simulcasting for most of the broadcast day, a process which completed in December 2006.

WJER-FM signed off on December 27, and the license was transferred to North Canton, Ohio under the new callsign WHOF the next day. WJER-AM continued to broadcast the original Dover/New Philadelphia-based programming.

Clear Channel signed on WHOF as Adult contemporary-formatted "my 101.7" serving the Canton area on January 16, 2007.

Petricola's WJER Radio LLC repurchased WJER-AM from Clear Channel for $200,000. He has announced that the AM station will remain in Dover.

External links

* [http://www.wjer.com WJER]
* [http://www.ontheradio.net/radiostations/wjerfm.aspx Information on WJER]
*AMQ|WJER