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| Broadcast area | |
| Frequency | 104.7MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | 104.7 WIOT |
| Programming | |
| Format | Mainstream rock |
| Subchannels | HD2:Sports (WCWA) |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | October 1949 (1949-10) |
Former call signs |
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| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 19628 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 50,000 watts |
| HAAT | 165 meters (541 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 41°40′23″N83°25′31″W / 41.67306°N 83.42528°W /41.67306; -83.42528 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (viaiHeartRadio) |
| Website | wiot |
WIOT (104.7FM) is a commercialradio station licensed toToledo, Ohio, United States, and serves bothNorthwest Ohio andMonroe County, Michigan. Owned byiHeartMedia, it features amainstream rock format. WIOT's studios are located inDowntown Toledo while the transmitter resides in the Toledo suburb ofOregon.[2] In addition to a standardanalog transmission, WIOT broadcasts over twoHD Radio channels[3] and is available online viaiHeartRadio.[4][5]
In October 1949, the station signed on as WTOL-FM.[6] It was the FM simulcast of WTOL (nowWCWA), owned by the family of Toledo prosecutorFrazier Reams. The two stations wereABC Radio affiliates; when network programming shifted from radio to television, WTOL-AM-FM began airing afull service,middle of the road format of popular music, news and sports.
By the 1960s, WTOL-FM had its own format ofbeautiful music with someclassical shows on nights and weekends. As a beautiful music station, WTOL-FM played quarter hour sweeps of mostly soft instrumentalcover versions of popular hits. In 1965, it changed its call letters to WCWA-FM to match its AM counterpart. Theeasy listening format ended on Christmas Day in 1972. The station switched toprogressive rock as WIOT and has played some format of rock music since.
The station'scall sign came about from doodles using the frequency numbers 1-0-4-7. Newly appointed operations manager Chuck Schmitt was trying to derive the call letters from its dial position, with 1=I 0=O and 7=T. W-I-O-T. The initial "W" is because the station is east of theMississippi River. It took longtime WIOT engineer Dennis P. Moon to confirm the origin of the call letters. Moon was present when Schmitt created the call sign in 1972 as a derivative on the word "Riot" but with a "W" instead.
"Buck and O'Connor" hosted mornings in the early 1980s, Bucky "Buck" McWilliams and Christopher O'Connor. They left WIOT to go toMilwaukee atWZUU and thenMinneapolis atKDWB. Other WIOTdisc jockeys during the '80s were Terry Sullivan, one half of the Sullivan and O'Connor show, Lee Randall, Joanie Major, Johnny Ballantine, Mohammed, "Larry Wyatt"-Larry Weseman, Donald "Don" Jardine, and WIOT's first male and female morning duo Pat & Jane (Patrick Still and Janet Perry).
In the late 1980s, Bob and Brian became the next morning team. They also too left for Milwaukee for work atWLZR. The next morning duo was The WIOT's Dawnbusters A.K.A. Jeffrey Lamb and Mark Benson. Jeff provided all of the voices and skits while Mark was the straight man. Other WIOT DJs during this time in the '90's were Program Director Lyn Casey, Michael "Party!" Young, Don Davis, Dave Duran, Rebecca "Becky" Shock, Dennis O'Brian, with Beth Daniels, and the one and only Will Worster. In 1994, The station introduces the second version of the WIOT Dawnbusters: Karlson and McKenzie. After about two years at WIOT, Karlson and McKenzie left forBoston atWZLX. With their departure, WIOT's new owner Enterprise Media rehired the first WIOT's Dawnbusters team, Jeff and Mark.
In 1998, the station was bought byJacor Media. The new owners tweaked the format a bit, adding more hard rock. Management signed a deal with asyndicated morning show. "The Bob and Tom Show" fromWFBQIndianapolis began airing on WIOT and continues to this day.
In the 1990s, the DJ staff included Susan Gates, Troy Michaels, and Grizzly Brown, while Darrin Arrens was the Program Director. Longtime WIOT DJ Don Davis left the station in 2001 and was replaced by Dave Rossi as PD fromWAVF (Wave-FM) inCharleston, South Carolina. Rossi left in 2003 to head back to South Carolina, Troy Michaels took over the afternoon shift and Grizzly Brown moved up to the evening shift.
In September 2019 WIOT's transmitter site was named the Dennis P Moon Transmitter Site, in honor of engineer Denny Moon's 50 years at the station. Prior to its home on South Superior, the station was located on the third floor of Fort Industry Square.
The station's early studios were at 604 Jackson Street, the site of the former News-Bee building and what is now One Government Center. The longtime owner of WIOT and WCWA was Reams Broadcasting, begun by Fraser Reams Sr. and later by his son, Fraser Junior. Reams also owned WTOL-TV. WTOL-FM's tower was shared withWTOL-TV Channel 11.
At 50,000 watts on a tower 541 feet (165 meters) inheight above average terrain (HAAT), WIOT is slightly overpowered. At that height, the power should be around 45,000 watts but WIOT isgrandfathered at the higher power. The station serves Toledo andNorthwest Ohio. But with a good radio its signal also reachesDowntown Detroit, along with Detroit's southern and western suburbs, as well as most ofEssex County, Ontario, includingWindsor andLeamington.
The signal reaches as far south asMarion, Ohio andBucyrus, Ohio and intoMichigan as far north asFlint, Lapeer, andPort Huron before it starts to interfere withWoodstock, Ontario'sCIHR-FM, which is also on 104.7FM. WIOT also experiences some interference fromGeneva, Ohio'sWKKY, which is also on 104.7, near theWheatley, Ontario and Comber, Ontario areas (mostly in the southeastern corner of Essex County).
During 2011, WIOT was also experiencing interference fromFM translator W284BQ in Detroit, which was simulcastingWGPR'sThe OasisSmooth Jazz subchannel. The translator was on 104.7, the same frequency as WIOT. In May 2011, WIOT filed a complaint with theFCC.[7] The complaint said that W284BQ interferes with WIOT in the Michigan portion of their broadcast area. WIOT had also solicited comments and reception reports from listeners in the affected area.[8]
Martz Communications Group, which owned the translator station and programsThe Oasis, soon established a website.http://www.savetheoasis.com/ It explained the station's position on the issue, stressing that WIOT should not get special treatment on the grounds that it is an Ohio radio station which does not serve Detroit. However, WIOT's protected contour does serve parts of theDetroit area, in part due to its grandfathered status.
On October 18, 2011, the FCC sided with Clear Channel on the issue, and ordered W284BQ to cease operation immediately.[9] Martz would later apply with the FCC to relocate W284BQ to 93.9. But that potentially would interfere with Windsor, Ontario stationCIDR-FM, ending that plan. It later attempted to move to 93.5[10] before giving up on the concept altogether.[11]
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