WAWZ
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| Broadcast area | New York City and North–Central Jersey |
| Frequency | 99.1 MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | Star 99-1 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Contemporary Christian–Gospel |
| Subchannels |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner | Pillar of Fire International |
| History | |
First air date | August 22, 1954 |
Former call signs | WAWZ-FM (c. 1953 to October 8, 1984) |
Call sign meaning | W Alma White (founder of owner) Zarephath (community of license) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 52601 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 28,000 watts |
| HAAT | 200 meters (660 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 40°36′40″N 74°34′12″W / 40.611°N 74.570°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | www |
WAWZ (99.1 FM) is a Christian radio station licensed to Zarephath, New Jersey. The station is owned by non-profit Pillar Media, a division of the Pillar of Fire International.
The station maintains a studio in Warren, while its transmitter is located in Bridgewater.[2]
WAWZ's signal can be heard through portions of Central and Northern New Jersey and New York City and as far south as Ocean and Burlington counties, as well as Eastern Pennsylvania.[3]
History
WAWZ was founded in 1931 by Pillar of Fire, a small Christian denomination started in Colorado.[4]
It became the second station owned by the Pillar of Fire Church. KPOF in Denver, Colorado, was the first.
The station was first assigned a frequency of 1350 AM, sharing time equally with three other stations, WCDA, WBNX, and WMSG. In later years,[5] at 1380 AM, it shared time with WBNX in New York City.
In 1954, the station bought its spot on the FM dial for roughly $5,000. The modern value of that frequency is estimated to be more than $60 million.[4]
On September 1, 1984, WAWZ sold its part-time AM operation to New York station WBNX. On WAWZ's final day, they produced a special program recalling the station's 53 years of religious broadcasting and, via electrical transcriptions, once again featured the voice of Alma White.[6][7]
The call letters for WAWZ were chosen to honor Bishop Alma White, the founder of the Pillar of Fire Church, and Zarephath, its community of license.[8]
In the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, the organization was vocal in its support of the Ku Klux Klan, to an extent which was unique for a religious denomination. White prolifically spoke and wrote of both her and the Pillar of Fire Church's support of the Klan and many of the Klan's principles including anti-Catholicism, white supremacy, antisemitism, nativism, and temperance.[9][10][11][12]
On August 1, 2014, Pillar of Fire began a lease of WLIR-FM (107.1 FM) in Hampton Bays, New York, which brought WAWZ's programming to the East End of Long Island; appropriately, WLIR-FM was rebranded as "Star 107.1". The lease ended in April 2015, and WLIR-FM reverted to the Christian-formatted "Hope Radio" until early 2015, when the station was sold.
Format
WAWZ began airing its current format of Contemporary Christian/Gospel as "Star 99.1" in 2003.[4]
Previously, that station played traditional and classical music and church services.
Accolades
The National Religious Broadcasters honored WAWZ with "Station of the Year" awards in 2007[13] and 2008,[14] and the National Association of Broadcasters honored them with the 2008 "Crystal Radio Award" for community service.[15]
HD radio
WAWZ broadcasts in HD Radio with both its HD1, HD2, and HD3 channels, providing Artist Experience data, including song titles, artists, and albums on compatible radios. Over the years, 99.1 FM has hosted a variety of formats on its HD sub-channels. The current HD sub-channel formats are:
- HD2 - Gospel songs (replaced Christian teaching subchannel in early 2016)
- HD3 - The Energy (Christian Rock / Hip Hop) (Launched in 2007 and launched to coincide with the station-sponsored annual youth festival, "Autumn Blaze 2007"). The Energy ceased transmissions in 2014 but resumed in early 2015.
Previous sub-channels
- HD2 - Christian teaching (The eight-hour block of teaching programs, signing on first in April 2006, resembled the station's mid-1990s format, including the use of the former tagline, "WAWZ – Your Voice of Faith and Inspiration.")
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WAWZ". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "Antenna Structure Registration". FCC. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
- ^ "Loading Map... | Federal Communications Commission". www.fcc.gov. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
- ^ a b c Stein, Robin (May 11, 2003). "How One Radio Station Made the Conversion". The New York Times. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
- ^ The Founding and Operation of WAWZ Radio, V. Capolunghi, Masters Thesis, Kean University, 1977
- ^ "New Jersey AM Radio History - Page 8". Archived from the original on March 9, 2002.
- ^ "Call Sign History". licensing.fcc.gov.
- ^ Otterman, Sharon (September 15, 2017). "A Booming Church and Its Complicated, Ugly Past". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
- ^ Neal, Lynn (June 2009). "Christianizing the Klan: Alma White, Branford Clarke, and the Art of Religious Intolerance". Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture. 78 (2): 350–378. doi:10.1017/S0009640709000523. S2CID 162426152.
White's words and Clarke's imagery were combined in various ways as a means to spread a message of religious intolerance which was both persuasive and powerful.
- ^ Kandt, Kristen (2000). "Historical Essay: In the Name of God; An American Story of Feminism, Racism, and Religious Intolerance: The Story of Alma Bridwell White". Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law. Archived from the original on March 16, 2009. Retrieved September 16, 2009.
Alma White and the Pillar of Fire were unique, however, because of their public alliance with the Ku Klux Klan. In fact, the Pillar of Fire was the only religious group which publicly associated itself with the Klan.
- ^ Blee, Kathleen (1991). Women of the Klan. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-07876-5.
Bishop White's transformation from minister to Klan propagandist is detailed in voluminous autobiographical and political writings. [Bishop] White's anti-Catholic, anti-semitic, and racist message fit well into the Klan's efforts to convince white Protestant women that their collective interests as women. ... were best served by joining the Klan.
- ^ White, Alma (1928). Heroes of the Fiery Cross. The Good Citizen.
I believe in white supremacy.
- ^ "WAWZ, WAVA Are Honored by NRB". Radio World. January 26, 2007.
- ^ Peterson, Kevin. "WAWZ Wins NRB Award". Radio and Records.
- ^ Jones, Kristopher (April 15, 2008). "NAB CRYSTAL RADIO AWARD PRESENTED TO WAWZ-FM". NAB Press Release.
External links
- Star 99.1 FM's Official Website
- WAWZ in the FCC FM station database
- WAWZ in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
- FCC History Cards for WAWZ (covering 1953-1981 as WAWZ-FM)
- FCC History Cards for WAWZ (AM) (covering 1927-1978 as WBNY / WAWZ)