WDOK

Infobox Radio Station
name = WDOK


city = Cleveland, Ohio
area = Greater Cleveland
branding = Soft Rock 102.1 WDOK
slogan = Today's Soft Rock
airdate = 1950
frequency = 102.1 (MHz) HD Radio
format = Soft AC
erp = 12,000 watts
haat = 306 meters
class = B
facility_id = 28525
owner = CBS Radio
webcast = [http://cbsplayer.streamtheworld.com/index.php?CALLSIGN=WDOKFM Listen Live]
website = [http://www.wdok.com www.wdok.com]
former_callsigns = WDOK-FM (1950-1965)
WEWS-FM (1950)
sister_stations = WKRK-FM, WNCX, WQAL
callsign_meaning = emphasis on "OK"

WDOK is a commercial FM radio station in Cleveland, Ohio broadcasting at 102.1 MHz with an adult contemporary format. Studios are located at One Radio Lane (at St. Clair Avenue, between 26th and 30th Streets) along with CBS Radio sister station WQAL, and its transmitter is located in Parma on a tower that it shares with WQHS-TV channel 61. On-air personalities include "Trapper Jack" Elliot in morning drive and the syndicated Delilah in the evenings.

History

WDOK began on April 30, 1950 as WDOK (AM), an AM radio station at 1260 kHz. The station functioned as a middle of the road radio station playing adult standards, with blocks of ethnic programming on Sundays and classical music in the evenings.

Wayne Mack left WGAR Radio to help start the station with fellow WGAR staffers Frederick C. Wolf and chief engineer Morris Pierce (who became station president). Mack presented his imaginary "Hometown Band Concerts," a weeknight "Candlelight Concert" and a program called "Waltz Palace".

WDOK-FM was established as an adjunct to the AM outlet in the 1950s, simulcasting the AM programming. Eventually, WDOK-FM originated its own programming and featured a beautiful music format.

On December 12, 1965 WDOK (AM) became WIXY, adopting a Top 40 format. WDOK-FM continued as simply WDOK. The station was branded as "Stereo Cleveland: Beautiful Music for the Land of the Western Reserve," with personalities like Wayne Mack (the founder of WDOK-AM, who stayed at WDOK-FM until 1980) and Tom Armstrong (previously the morning host at WGAR 1220-AM in the 40's and 50's.)

By the 1980s, WDOK had come under common ownership with WWWE (AM), and both stations were sold on November 30, 1987 by Lake Erie Radio Company (owned by Art Modell and Al Lerner) to the Independent Group Limited partnership (owned by Tom Embrescia, Larry Pollock, and Tom Wilson).

While WDOK's beautiful music format did well in ratings, it attracted mostly older listeners in advertiser-unfriendly demographics and not the younger audiences courted by advertisers, and so WDOK switched to an adult contemporary format in 1987. The station promoted its new AC format with TV commercials announcing that it was "coming out of the elevator" (as in "elevator music"). WDOK initially positioned itself as a soft AC, midway between beautiful music and the mainstream AC format played on WLTF and WMJI, but eventually the format evolved into the current "soft rock" approach.

Traditionally, the station goes to an all Christmas music format from Thanksgiving week until right after Christmas.

External links

* [http://www.wdok.com WDOK Official Web Site]
* [http://www.cleve-radio.com/index2.htm#WDOK-AM WDOK Timeline from Cleveland Broadcast Radio Archives]
*FMQ|WDOK
*FML|WDOK
*FMARB|WDOK