WMMS

WMMS
City of license	Cleveland, Ohio
Broadcast area	Greater Cleveland Northeast Ohio
Branding	100.7 WMMS: The Buzzard
Slogan	Cleveland's Rock Station
Frequency	100.7 (MHz) 100.7 HD for Rock[1] 100.7-2 HD2 for Alternative[1]
First air date	28 September 1968 (as WMMS)
Format	Hot talk/Rock
ERP	34,000 watts
HAAT	183 meters
Class	B
Facility ID	73273
Callsign meaning	We'reMetroMediaStereo[2] and later WhereMusicMeansSomething[3]
Former callsigns	1948-1968 WHK-FM 1947-1948 WHKX 1946-1947 W8XUB
Owner	Clear Channel Communications
Sister stations	WAKS WGAR WMJI WMVX WTAM
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	WMMS.com

WMMS (100.7 FM) is a radio station in Cleveland, Ohio, with a rich history of broadcasting both locally and nationally. Since April 1974, the station's longtime promotional mascot has been The Buzzard; although briefly retired in 2007, the station has since brought back the widely-recognized mascot. At the station's peak of popularity in the 1970s and 80s, it had a stable of personalities that was fundamentally unchanged for many years, and attained a dominant market share in the local ratings, often posting market-record high figures in the overall 12+ category.^[4]

The station is currently owned by Clear Channel Communications and features a hot talk/rock format.^[5] WMMS serves as the flagship station for Rover's Morning Glory;^[6] the Cleveland affiliate of Loveline;^[7] and the FM flagship station for the Cleveland Browns (shared with AM sister station WTAM).^[8]

The WMMS callsign once referred to former owner MetroMedia: We're MetroMedia Stereo;^[2] later, the station was billed as the place Where Music Means Something.^[3]

History

Early years

In August 1946, WHK received one of the earliest experimental FM licenses, under the call W8XUB, broadcasting at 107.1 MHz. Upon receipt of a commercial license, the station became WHKX at 100.7 MHz, and eventually WHK-FM. Both WHK AM/FM were sold to Metropolitan Broadcasting (soon renamed Metromedia) in 1958. Not unlike any other early FM station of this period, WHK-FM simulcast the air signal of WHK (which carried a popular Top-40 format) for virtually this entire period.

In 1968, the FCC mandated that FM sister stations could no longer duplicate their AM sister's programming, in order to make the medium more commercially viable. Seeing a small but significant groundswell of support for the medium in the market, WHK-FM adopted a new progressive rock format. WHK-FM became one of a handful of commercial stations in the country to try that format, and one of several that Metromedia owned. To firmly establish a separate identity, and in keeping with the station's ownership, the call sign of WHK-FM was changed to WMMS on September 28, 1968.

Progressive rock radio years

Even though Metromedia found major success with progressive rock on sister stations KMET in Los Angeles, KSAN-FM in San Francisco, WNEW in New York and WMMR in Philadelphia, the format went away from WMMS on July 1969. Low ratings and revenue made Metromedia turn first to adult standards (not dissimilar to the format WHK aired at the time) and then to the Drake-Chenault "Hit Parade '69", an automated tape system that was heavily oriented towards pop and Top 40 fare.

WMMS reverted to progressive rock less than a year later, but ended up briefly battling with Nationwide Communications' WNCR-FM for listeners, as WNCR had filled the void caused by WMMS' initial absence in the rock scene. It was a battle that didn't last long, as some key WNCR personnel - including former WMMS personalities Martin Perlich ("The Perlich Project") and Billy Bass - abruptly quit that station one day, then hired by WMMS the next, taking most of their audience with them.

In November 1972, both WHK and WMMS were sold to Malrite Communications, a Michigan-based firm that relocated to Cleveland upon purchase. Under Malrite ownership, WMMS would become an album-oriented rock (AOR) stalwart much in the same vein as its former Metromedia progressive rock siblings.

Achievements

Under the leadership of Station Manager Billy Bass and Program Director Denny Sanders (who came to WMMS from Boston in 1971), WMMS helped break many new rock artists nationally, most notably David Bowie, who along with the Spiders from Mars, kicked off his American tour in Cleveland, based on the market's huge sales figures for the Bowie album, primarily due to WMMS airplay.

WMMS sought very early on to make the Buzzard the single most recognized logo in Greater Cleveland

In July 1973, John Gorman joined WMMS as music director and was promoted to program director and operations manager two months later where he remained for 13 years. During this time, with Denny Sanders as his creative services director and Rhonda Kiefer as programming assistant, WMMS broke all Cleveland ratings and revenue records. In 1985, Gorman added WHK to his programming duties and changed its format to rock and roll oldies.

The Buzzard,
as drawn by co-creator
David Helton

Partially inspired by an annual event at Hinckley Township, the tenuous economic state of the city, and the creature's reputation as a "bird of prey," WMMS adopted a buzzard as its mascot, a co-creation of Gorman, Sanders and local artist David Helton. From the onset, Helton's streamlined artwork resulted in an aggressive, yet family-friendly symbol for the station that endured for 35 years. "The Buzzard" became synonymous with WMMS, Cleveland radio and the city itself, spawning a series of T-shirts so numerous that they are now impossible to catalog, many with the slogan "Where Music Means Something and Ruler of the Airwaves."

Poster promoting Springsteen's 1978 show at the Agora, broadcast live on WMMS

Others acts broken by WMMS included Rush and Roxy Music. Of special note was the early support of Bruce Springsteen by disc jockey Kid Leo and others, from even before Born to Run came out. For the station's tenth anniversary in 1978, WMMS hosted and broadcast a live Springsteen concert at the Agora Theatre and Ballroom independent of his concert tour. Heavily bootlegged, the concert further cemented the relationship between the two in fans' minds, and well into the 2000s Cleveland remains one of Springsteen's strongest bases. From right up until his departure from the station in 1988, Kid Leo played Born to Run as his signature sign-off song on Friday nights.

WMMS was the first radio station to employ full-time promotion and marketing directors: Dan Garfinkel and his successor, Jim Marchyshyn.

Through the mid 1980s, WMMS was directly influenced by then (and current) sister station "Z100," WHTZ in New York, which rose to the top of the ratings books immediately after installing a Contemporary hit radio (CHR) format. Among the more significant moves taken by WMMS was the formatting of the "morning zoo" concept created by WHTZ's Scott Shannon onto the show Jeff Kinzbach and Ed "Flash" Ferenc were already hosting. Kinzbach and Ferenc had already been a morning team—with sidekicks—since 1976, seven years prior to adopting the "morning zoo" label, so the basic structure had already been in place.

The music structure also was modified at this time as artists such as Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Prince soon found airplay on WMMS. This change was done for many reasons; first as a nod to the sudden influence WHTZ's format had on the Malrite group, in addition to Gorman and Sanders' intention to stay with the current music trends (as the Album-oriented rock (AOR) format was, even then, in a state of decline), and also as a means to attract a female audience. By 1984, WMMS had been classified as either a CHR/AOR hybrid or as a CHR outlet, though the station also started to devote weekend programming towards the classic rock format.

With its rock and roll format and its popular "Buzzard Morning Zoo" morning show with Jeff and "Flash," WMMS was long the top-rated station in Cleveland. In the station's heyday, from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, the station was one of the highest rated major market rock stations in the country, often achieving 13 and 14 share ratings in the overall 12+ total listenership category.

Airstaff

Cleveland Scene clip featuring the WMMS morning show with longtime regulars Jeff and Flash

A major contributor to the ratings success was that the airstaff remained fundamentally unchanged for much of the period featuring—along with Kid Leo and Jeff and Flash—Matt the Cat, Denny Sanders, Betty Korvan, Bill "BLF Bash" Freeman, Len "Boom Boom" Goldberg, Ruby Cheeks, T.R. and Dia Stein.

Of all the personalities that worked at WMMS, Len "Boom Boom" Goldberg was there the longest. He joined the station in early 1972 before its sale to Malrite, and stayed in different capacities until 2004. He was best known as the voice for the station's top of the hour IDs, music segues and sweepers, and commercials for WMMS, and was also a member of the "morning zoo" in the mid '80s. He died on December 27, 2006.

Other achievements

WMMS, at the time, was also broadcasting a remarkable amount of live concert broadcasts, many of which originated in Cleveland and were produced by WMMS itself. The station's Coffee Break Concert was a weekly music-interview show broadcast live from the station's studio (and later with an audience at The Agora Ballroom). Warren Zevon, John Mellencamp, Lou Reed, Peter Frampton, and a host of others performed on the program, recordings of which are widely available as bootlegs. The Coffee Break Concerts were booked by Denny Sanders and hosted by Len "Boom Boom" Goldberg and later, Matt the Cat.

In the mid-1980s, WMMS was an important contributor in organizing a campaign (along with former Cleveland ad agency president Edward Spizel and author-deejay Norm N. Nite) which brought the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to Cleveland. John Gorman, Denny Sanders and Kid Leo organized the original campaign with Tunc Erim, an assistant to Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegun.

The station was named in Rolling Stone's reader poll as best station several consecutive years, until 1988, when it was revealed that they were stuffing the ballot box over the previous two years. The "ballot box stuffing" revelation is still controversial, with some upset with the deception, while others claim that all stations in every city did their share of "stuffing".

"The Buzzard: The Next Generation"

By the late 80s, most of the original staff members had departed: John Gorman and Denny Sanders left in 1986 to launch upstart station WNCX, and CBS Records hired Kid Leo in 1988. Four different program directors, including Rich Piombino and Michael Luczak, came and went with varying levels of success. DJ additions included longtime engineer Ric Bennett as Rocco the Rock Dog, WMMS music director Brad "Scooter" Hanson, and Lisa Dillion. Ratings steadily increased during the time of the first Gulf War, but The Howard Stern Show was soon picked up by a struggling WNCX. Stern's ratings exploded and this — along with a growing urgency from management not to compete with or mention Stern on the air — led to a sudden and steep ratings decline for The Buzzard Morning Zoo. Unable to service its growing debt, Malrite chose to leave radio and sold off all its remaining properties in 1992. WMMS and WHK went to Shamrock Broadcasting, Roy Disney's broadcasting firm. Management ordered a change to the Buzzard by giving it a flat-top and mullet. The station continued to decline, culminating with the depature of Jeff Kinzbach and Ed "Flash" Ferenc in 1994; WMMS was sold yet again in April of that year.

Under OmniAmerica ownership, WMMS veteran John Gorman returned as Vice-President and redesigned WMMS as an Alternative station. The station was re-billed as "The Buzzard: The Next Generation" to emphasize the change. Gorman also brought back the original Buzzard design, now drawn by David Helton's successor Brian Chalmers. While the change in programming alienated many longtime listeners — many of whom switched to WNCX and their full-time classic rock format — WMMS ratings were boosted for the first time in years, achieving the highest post-classic WMMS ratings to that point. Gorman hosted a series of sold-out BuzzardFests at Blossom Music Center, featuring many of the new up and coming artists WMMS was playing.

Morning troubles

Since the 1994 exit of Jeff and Flash — enjoying a run of nearly twenty years — WMMS has been beset by a roster of thirteen different morning shows in as many years. The Brian and Joe Radio Show was moved to afternoons in 1996 after a change in ownership brought the addition of shock jock Liz Wilde. Her firing — less than a year later — sparked a successful lawsuit against both the station and then owner Nationwide Communications. Danny Czekalinski and Darla Jaye were teamed up in late 1997 with Liz Wilde holdover Cory Lingus until the takeover by Jacor Communications in 1998. Also at this time, Brian and Joe left for sister station WMVX. Matt Harris was the new morning host in the interim until WMMS hired Dick Dale from Tampa. His tenure also lasted only one year.

In 2001, the station turned to Wolf and Mulrooney from sister station WPYX in Albany, New York. The show was simulcast from Albany, marking the first time that a morning show on WMMS did not originate in Cleveland. The team later relocated to Cleveland, lasting several months until an acrimonious high-profile breakup forced the station to look elsewhere. Other shows, like The Rick and Tom Megalis Show and The Shawn, Christie and Hunter Show, came and went in quick succession. The Bob and Tom Show aired from 2006 through early 2008, the only time since becoming a rock station that WMMS carried a syndicated program in that time slot with no connection to the station.

Later years

New version of "The Buzzard" (used 2005-07)

Yet, despite these promising moments, WMMS and WMJI were sold again to Nationwide Communications in 1996. WHK was then sold by OmniAmerica three days later to Salem Communications months later - marking the first time in fifty years that WMMS and WHK weren't under common ownership. John Gorman departed for CBS Radio/Detroit and independent media consulting, and the new management hired consultant Lee Abrams and reverted back to old programming formulas, which by then had become dated and ineffective.

Nationwide was bought out by Jacor Communications in 1998. Following Jacor's takeover, WMMS had a "death of the Buzzard" month-long stunt in October 1998; it was geared as a format change to CHR as "100.7 KISS-FM", but was instead suddenly reversed at the last-minute by management and ended up to be a change in programming philosophy. (The "KISS" format and name did end up several months later on sister station WAKS, which Jacor bought several weeks later.)

A new airstaff was assembled, including Tim Slats in afternoons and Seth "The Barbarian" Williams (who replaced Bill "BLF Bash" Freeman) in overnights. Slats helmed the afternoon drive shift for many years before being replaced by Maxwell (Benjamin Bornstein) in late 2004. In the years ever since, WMMS is still a rock station, playing a mix of old and new, although hot talk programming was added to the programming mix starting in 2006.

On the weekend of Labor Day 2007, the station quietly retired the Buzzard mascot and mention of the WMMS call letters (save for the FCC mandated top of the hour legal ID), instead referring to the station as simply "100.7." Artist Brian Chalmers left the station several years earlier, and would work for WKYC-TV. WMMS debuted a new logo in March 2008. The logo features orange "wings" on both sides of a U.S. Route shield-style sign, paying tribute to "The Buzzard" and the station's great past. As of the 2008 Summer Season, The official website and the radio station itself have been re-re-branded with "The Buzzard" and the "WMMS" Call Signs. Rover has been heard saying "WMMS, The Buzzard."

At this point, the station has not again achieved the #1 total listenership audience spot which they held continuously, more or less, from 1975 to 1991. Additionally, WMMS now carries eleven hours per day of all-talk programming with Rover's Morning Glory in mornings, The Alan Cox Show in afternoons and Loveline nights. Regardless, WMMS remains one of the most important rock stations in the history of FM broadcasting. Most recently, WMMS won the Radio and Records Industry Achievement Award of "Rock Station of the Year Markets 1-25" in both 2005 and 2006.

Morning show

Rover's Morning Glory, broadcasting weekday mornings from 6-11AM, is the current morning show on WMMS. Rover began in Cleveland at WMMS rival WKRK (92.3 FM) in 2003, but in what was considered "a big blow" to that station and "a coup" for WMMS, Rover moved his syndicated program over in April of 2008. WMMS also now serves as the Rover's Morning Glory flagship station.^[6]

Afternoon show

Radio personality Alan Cox debuted the The Alan Cox Show on December 16, 2009. It airs weekdays from 3-7PM.^[9] Cox replaced former afternoon host Maxwell (Benjamin Bornstein) — on air with The Maxwell Show from 2004 until being abruptly pulled off on November 20th, 2009 — after contract renewal negotiations fell through between Bornstein and the station.^[10] Charlie from Rover's Morning Glory joined Cox as cohost for the first day. Cox has since gone solo.

Sports coverage

Starting with the 2001 NFL season, WMMS has been the FM flagship station for the Cleveland Browns,^[8] a distinction it had shared for many years in the 1970s and 1980s with WHK. WTAM (the AM flagship) will carry all Browns games that do not conflict with Cleveland Cavaliers and Cleveland Indians games (as WTAM is the flagship station for both teams), but will offer separate pre- and post-game shows.

WMMS also serves as the "backup" station for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Cleveland Indians, carrying select games of each team when there are conflicts on WTAM. If the Cavaliers are in the playoffs, all conflicted Indians games air on WMMS, while the Cavaliers playoff games air on WTAM. Conversely, regular season Cavaliers games will air on WMMS while Indians games will air on WTAM.

References

Further reading

• Keith, Michael C. (1997). Voices in the Purple Haze: Underground Radio and the Sixties. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger. ISBN 978-0-27595-266-2. 
• Adams, Deeana R. (2002). Rock and Roll and the Cleveland Connection. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press. ISBN 978-0-87338-691-3. 
• Olszewski, Mike (2003). Radio Daze: Stories from the Front in Cleveland's FM Air Wars. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press. ISBN 978-0-87338-773-6. 
• Gorman, John; Tom Feran (2007). The Buzzard: Inside the Glory Days of WMMS and Cleveland Rock Radio — A Memoir. Cleveland, Ohio: Gray & Co. ISBN 978-1-88622-847-4.  Sample chapter

External links

• Official website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WMMS
• Radio Locator information on WMMS
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WMMS
• WMMS on MySpace
• RateTheMusic WMMS page
• Rover's Morning Glory
• Loveline
• Cleveland Broadcast Radio Archives WMMS timeline