WEDR

WEDR

Miami/Fort Lauderdale
Broadcast area	South Florida
Frequency	99.1 (MHz)
Branding	99 Jamz
Programming
Format	Mainstream Urban
Ownership
Owner	Cox Broadcasting
Sister stations	WFLC, WHDR, WHQT
History
First air date	1960s
Call sign meaning	Eurith D. Rivers (former Georgia Governor, same person WGOV Valdosta, Georgia is named for)
Technical information
Facility ID	71418
Class	C1
ERP	100,000 watts
HAAT	280 meters
Links
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	http://www.wedr.com/

WEDR (99.1 FM, "99 Jamz") is an urban-formatted radio station serving the South Florida region and licensed to Miami, Florida. WEDR has an unusually wide music selection for a mainstream urban-formatted radio station that ranges from typical hip-hop and R&B to reggaeton. This is because South Florida is a very diversified region that has various music tastes. WEDR is owned by Cox Broadcasting alongside sister stations WHQT and WFLC, and has their studios located in Hollywood, Florida.

WEDR has an unusually shaped coverage area due to the station moving its antennae from a class C to a class C1 on a new tower. The main reasoning behind this so that the station's signal doesn't interfere with the close frequencies that serves southwestern Florida. It also began broadcasting in IBOC digital radio, using the HD Radio system from iBiquity in Summer 2005.

History

1960s -- The WEDR call letters have been in South Florida since the 1960s when the station's then owner Ed Rivers acquired them from an AM radio station in Birmingham, Alabama. WEDR-FM had rock and country music formats.

1970 -- WEDR adopts a black format. The station had a weak signal that couldn't cover all of Dade county, but it fared well because it was the only black station in the market.

1988 -- WQHT drops its pop/dance format and adopts an Urban Contemporary format. According to the Miami Herald, "WEDR dipped to a low ranking of 24th in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market, and was eulogized as an outmoded, black-run David squashed beneath the foot of a corporate white Goliath."

1990 -- WEDR changed slogans from "Starforce 99" to "99 JAMZ", an Urban Contemporary with a notoriously wide variety playlist that ranged from R&B, Soul, and rap to Reggae on the weekends.

April 21, 1990 -- The station's signal was increased from 16,000 watts to 100,000 watts. 99 Jamz now become a factor in the West Palm Beach-Boca Raton market. The signal reaches as far as the Caribbean.

1992 -- 99 Jamz becomes the top rated station in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale market.

2003 -- Program Director and morning drive host, James T, migrates to sister station WHQT. James T. had been at WEDR for twenty years. WEDR began to skew more towards current format being a Mainstream Urban with the slogan "99 JAMZ, South Florida's Only Station for More of Today's Hip Hop and R&B", to compete with it new crosstown rival, Clear Channel-owned WMIB, "103.5 the Beat". But they do still play slower R&B and Classic Soul songs during Night JAMZ show in the overnight hours. As of October 2006, WMIB has since modified its format to Urban AC to compete with WHQT, leaving WEDR to compete with Rhythmic Hip Hop/R&B rival WPOW.

Programming

Notable programming includes The Rickey Smiley Morning Show with Ebony Steele, Gary, Headkrack, Sister Sondra, Rock T, and Special K on weekday mornings. Other notable weekday programming includes mid-days with Shelby Rushin & DJ Suicide, afternoons with Lorenzo "Ice Tea" Thomas & DJ KD/DJ Irie/DJ Entice, The Take Over with K. Foxx & DJ Khaled on nights, Night JAMZ with Kim Bell on overnights, and an early-morning Gospel JAMZ hour.

Special Friday night programming includes The Basement Explosion with King Waggy Tee and Patrick Ewing (The Hype Man). Notable weekend programming includes Community Voices with Cheryl Mizell on Saturday mornings Sunday Morning Gospel with Dallas Manuel and The number one rated "Sunday School Hip Hop Session" with DJ Griot.

External links

• WEDR official website
• WEDR in the FCC FM station database
• WEDR in Nielsen Audio's FM station database