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|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater Philadelphia (Delaware Valley) |
| Frequency | 107.9MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | Classix 107.9 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Urban oldies |
| Subchannels | HD2:Urban gospel "Praise 107.9 HD2" |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| WRNB | |
| History | |
First air date | March 1, 1948 (77 years ago) (1948-03-01) |
Former call signs |
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Former frequencies |
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Call sign meaning | "Philadelphia Praise" (former branding and format now on HD2) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 12211 |
| Class | A |
| ERP | |
| HAAT | 276 meters (906 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 39°57′9.4″N75°10′3.6″W / 39.952611°N 75.167667°W /39.952611; -75.167667 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | |
| Website | |
WPPZ-FM (107.9MHz) is a commercialradio station licensed to servePennsauken, New Jersey, in thePhiladelphiaradio market. The station is owned byUrban One, through licensee Radio One Licenses, LLC, and broadcasts anurban oldiesformat. Studios are located inBala Cynwyd and the broadcast tower used by the station is located atopOne Liberty Place inCenter City, Philadelphia, at (39°57′9.4″N75°10′5.0″W / 39.952611°N 75.168056°W /39.952611; -75.168056).[3]
WPPZ-FM usesHD Radio, and broadcasts anurban gospel format on its HD2 subchannel branded asPraise 107.9 HD2.
On March 1, 1948, the station signed on at 98.9 MHz as WSNJ-FM inBridgeton, New Jersey, a farming community about 35 miles south of Philadelphia.[4] It was owned by Eastern States Broadcasting Company. At first, itsimulcast itsAMsister station,WSNJ. In the early 1960s, it became anaffiliate of theWQXR Classical Network, During hourly news, based inNew York City.
In the 1961, WSNJ-FM's frequency moved to 107.7 MHz, after a frequency swap with thePhiladelphia Bulletin's WPBS, and the station resumed simulcasting themiddle of the road format of popular music and news on 1240 WSNJ. In 1971, WSNJ-AM-FM were sold to Cohanzick Broadcasting, which held the license until the station's move to the Philadelphia suburbs.[5]
In February of 2004, the station's frequency and city of license were changed to allow it to move into the more lucrative Philadelphia market. To clear space on the FM band for the new operation, high school stationWHHS was moved from 107.9 to 99.9 MHz and a Philadelphia translator of classical stationWWFM was taken off the air. During transmitter testing, 107.9 used the call sign WPPZ and broadcastgospel music; owner Radio One eventually gave that call sign and format a permanent home in the market on 103.9 FM. (Before WRNB went on the air in 2004, the call sign was used for a Radio One-owned sister station in Dayton, Ohio, now calledWROU-FM.) The new permanenturban AC format as WRNB went on the air on February 4, 2005. Radio One paid $35 million for the "move-in" FM station, which was now able to attract Philadelphia listeners and advertisers.[6]
On September 1,2011, Radio One moved WRNB's programming to 100.3, and theurban contemporary format of WPHI-FM (which moved away fromrhythmic contemporary earlier that year) moved to the weaker signal 107.9 FM as "Hot 107.9" (after stunting that weekend as "Michael Vick Radio" and "Rickey Smiley Radio") on September 4 at 5 p.m.. The first song on "Hot" wasHot In Herre byNelly.[7][8]
On November 6, 2014, at 7 p.m., WPHI dropped the "Hot" format and became the fourth classic hip-hop station in the United States (followingKNRJ inPhoenix,KDAY/KDEY inLos Angeles and sister stationKROI inHouston) as "Boom 107.9".[9] The last song on "Hot" wasI Like It bySevyn Streeter, while the first song on "Boom" was99 Problems byJay-Z.
On September 27, 2016, at midnight, WPHI and WPPZ swapped formats and call signs with "Boom" moving to 103.9 FM, and the "Praise" gospel format moving to 107.9 FM. (With the change, WPHI's classic hip hop format shifted tourban contemporary, returning the format to the 103.9 frequency for the first time since 2002 and marking the fourth attempt by Radio One to compete against long dominantWUSL.)[10]
On December 10, 2018, WPPZ flipped tourban oldies branded as "Classix 107.9"; the "Praise" programming was moved to the HD2 subchannel.[11]