WEDR

Infobox Radio station
name = WEDR
city = Miami/Fort Lauderdale


area = South Florida
branding = "99 Jamz"
slogan = "South Florida's #1 Station for Hip Hop and R&B"
airdate = 1960s
frequency = 99.1 (MHz)
format = Mainstream Urban
erp = 100,000 watts
class = C1
owner = Cox Broadcasting
sister_stations = WEDR, WFLC, WHDR, WHQT
website = http://www.wedr.com/
callsign_meaning = Eurith D. Rivers (former Georgia Governor, same person WGOV Valdosta, Georgia is named for)|

WEDR (99.1 FM, "99 Jamz") is an urban-formatted radio station serving the South Florida region and licensed to Miami, Florida. WEDR has an unusually wide music selection for a mainstream urban-formatted radio station that ranges from typical hip-hop and R&B to reggaeton. This is because South Florida is a very diversified region that has various music tastes. WEDR is owned by Cox Broadcasting alongside sister stations WHQT and WFLC, and has their studios located in Hollywood, Florida.

WEDR has an unusually shaped coverage area due to the station moving its antennae from a class C to a class C1 on a new tower. The main reasoning behind this so that the station's signal doesn't interfere with the close frequencies that serves southwestern Florida. It also began broadcasting in IBOC digital radio, using the HD Radio system from iBiquity in Summer 2005.

History

1960s -- The WEDR call letters have been in South Florida since the 1960s when the station's then owner Ed Rivers acquired them from an AM radio station in Birmingham, Alabama. WEDR-FM had rock and country music formats.cite news |first=Tananarive |last=Due |title=Call WEDR Black--And Successful |url= |work=Miami Herald |date=1993-04-11 |accessdate=2007-08-18]

1970 -- WEDR adopts a black format. The station had a weak signal that couldn't cover all of Dade county, but it fared well because it was the only black station in the market.

1988 -- WQHT drops its pop/dance format and adopts an Urban Contemporary format. According to the Miami Herald, "WEDR dipped to a low ranking of 24th in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market, and was eulogized as an outmoded, black-run David squashed beneath the foot of a corporate white Goliath."

1990 -- WEDR changed slogans from "Starforce 99" to "99 JAMZ"", an Urban Contemporary with a notoriously wide variety playlist that ranged from R&B, Soul, and rap to Reggae on the weekends.cite news |first=Sharony |last=Andrews |title=More Listeners Dial WEDR; Station Making Gains Among Blacks |url= |work=Miami Herald |date=1990-07-08 |accessdate=2007-08-18]

April 21, 1990 -- The station's signal was increased from 16,000 watts to 100,000 watts. 99 Jamz now become a factor in the West Palm Beach-Boca Raton market. The signal reaches as far as the Caribbean.

1992 -- 99 Jamz becomes the top rated station in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale market. [cite news |first=Tom |last=Jicha |title=WEDR Takes Over Top Spot In Radio |url= |work=Sun-Sentinel |date=1992-04-29 |accessdate=2007-08-18]

2003 -- Program Director and morning drive host, James T, migrates to sister station WHQT. James T. had been at WEDR for twenty years. WEDR began to skew more towards current format being a Mainstream Urban with the slogan "99 JAMZ, South Florida's Only Station for More of Today's Hip Hop and R&B", to compete with it new crosstown rival, Clear Channel-owned WMIB, "103.5 the Beat". But they do still play slower R&B and Classic Soul songs during "Night JAMZ" show in the overnight hours. As of October 2006, WMIB has since modified its format to Urban AC to compete with WHQT, leaving WEDR to compete with Rhythmic Hip Hop/R&B rival WPOW.

Programming

Notable programming includes "The Rickey Smiley Morning Show" with Ebony Steele, Gary, Headkrack, Sister Sondra, Rock T, and Special K on weekday mornings. Other notable weekday programming includes mid-days with Shelby Rushin & DJ Suicide, afternoons with Lorenzo "Ice Tea" Thomas & DJ KD/DJ Irie/DJ Entice, "The Take Over" with K. Foxx & DJ Khaled on nights, "Night JAMZ" with Kim Bell on overnights, and an early-morning "Gospel JAMZ" hour.

Special Friday night programming includes "The Basement Explosion" with King Waggy Tee and Patrick Ewing (The Hype Man). Notable weekend programming includes "Community Voices" with Cheryl Mizell on Saturday mornings and "Sunday Morning Gospel" with Dallas Manuel.

References

External links

* [http://wedr.com WEDR official website]
*FMQ|WEDR
*FML|WEDR
*FMARB|WEDR