N.B.: This profile has not been updated in several years, and may contain significant inaccuracies.

The Rochester Radio Dial: WEZO(AM)

Ownership

WBBF, Inc.
(Entercom)

Address

Studio:
500 B. Forman Building
Rochester, NY 14604
Transmitter:
2670 South Clinton Avenue
Rochester, NY 14618

Phones (+1 716)

Receptionist: 423 2900

Format

Satellite-fed standards

Network Affiliations

CNN Radio

Technical Parameters

WEZO operates with 1000 Watts, directional with different patterns day and night, from a 4-tower array on South Clinton Avenue at the junction of I-390 and I-590 in Brighton, N.Y. The four self-supporting towers are arranged in a T-shape, and most of the signal goes north to protect stations in Utica, Chicago, and Philadelphia on the same frequency.

Program Highlights

Adult standards 24 hours daily, plus Amerks hockey and Raging Rhinos soccer.

Station History

WEZO signed on in 1947 as WARC, one of several Rochester stations to take the airwaves in the years after World War II. In 1953, WARC was granted a TV construction permit for WARC-TV (Channel 15), which was never built. Later that year, the station was sold to the Forman department-store family, which renamed the station WBBF, for Ben B. Forman.

In the 1960s and 1970s, WBBF was Rochester's dominant top-40 radio station, with Jack Palvino in morning drive and a roster of DJs that included Jessica Savitch, who would later go on to NBC News fame. For two decades, "95 BBF" was the place Rochester teenagers tuned for the latest hits, often pulling 20+ shares in the ratings despite having the weakest signal in town.

By 1982, the glory days of "95 BBF" long gone, the station switched to an all-talk format, followed in later years by oldies, adult standards, country, and back to adult standards. LIN Broadcasting, which bought WBBF from the Forman family, sold the station to Heritage Media in 1986 along with co-owned WBEE-FM.

In the years that followed, WBBF became an all-satellite operation, running local programming only for sporting events such as the Rochester Americans hockey team and the Rochester Raging Rhinos soccer team.

In 1998, Pennsylvania-based Entercom bought WBBF and sister stations, and the WBBF calls moved to FM (the former WKLX 98.9). After 55 years, AM 950 changed call letters to WEZO, the heritage calls previously heard on 101.3 FM (now WRMM), 990 AM (now WDCZ), and Avon's 93.3 FM (now WQRV, and now a sister station to WEZO under Entercom.)

See Also


The Upstate NY Radio Archives
This profile was written by scott@fybush.com but he doesn't have anything to do with the station. Please send comments about this profile to archives@bostonradio.org. Mail sent to this address will not reach the station.