WJER

WJER

Dover-New Philadelphia, Ohio
Broadcast area	Tuscarawas County, Ohio
Frequency	1450 kHz
Branding	WJER
Programming
Format	Full service/soft rock/oldies/adult contemporary
Affiliations	Compass Media Networks United Stations Radio Networks Premiere Networks Cavaliers AudioVerse Cleveland Browns Radio Network Cleveland Guardians Radio Network Columbus Blue Jackets Radio Network Ohio State Sports Network
Ownership
Owner	Kevin Gray (WJER, LLC)
History
First air date	February 22, 1950
Call sign meaning	Jerimiah E. Reeves, the father of the first owner
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	73134
Class	C
Power	1,000 watts unlimited
Translator(s)	100.9 W265DL (Dover-New Philadelphia)
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	wjer.com

WJER (1450 AM "The Voice of the Valley") is a commercial radio station. Licensed to the area of Dover-New Philadelphia, Ohio, it serves the Tuscarawas County area. It first began broadcasting in 1950, and had an FM sister station (101.7 WJER-FM) that operated from 1969 to 2006, which is today WHOF. The station was temporarily owned by Clear Channel Communications in a reverse LMA by owner Gary Petricola, who repurchased the AM station in 2007. In February 2016, WJER returned to the FM band with a translator operating on 100.9 MHz.

FM translator

WJER programming is relayed to an FM translator.

Broadcast translator for WJER

Call sign	Frequency	City of license	FID	ERP (W)	Class	FCC info
W265DL	100.9 MHz FM	Dover-New Philadelphia, Ohio	157042	250	D	LMS

History

Origins of WJER

Jeremiah E. Reeves, for which WJER is named, was a member of one of the most influential families in Tuscarawas County, starting several major industries, banks and hotels in the Dover-New Philadelphia area. After his death in 1920, the Reeves family continued the leadership traditions begun by Jeremiah.

Following World War II, the United States government saw the need to increase radio reach to citizens in rural as well as urban population centers, and many new AM stations were created. Jeremiah's daughter, Agnes (Reeves) Greer, filed for ownership of a new radio station for Dover, Ohio and was granted the license in 1949. As a tribute to her father, she requested the call letters for the station that were her father's initials, Jeremiah E. Reeves, or "JER".

On Wednesday, February 22, 1950 at 6 a.m., WJER Radio began broadcasting operations in the present studio facility at 646 Boulevard, a parcel of land that was part of the Reeves family estate. The 175-foot "original" tower was erected on land with five miles of copper wire buried beneath its surface.

WJER-FM was granted a license and began broadcasting in 1969 on 101.7. Originally, the FM station programmed "beautiful music" and was popular in doctor's offices and in elevators. As time went by WJER put more emphasis on the FM station, going "live" full-time by 1992. Both stations were locally-owned by Gary Petricola until 2003, when he sold them to Clear Channel Communications. Petricola, however, continued to operate WJER-AM-FM in a reverse LMA with Clear Channel.

In 2006, Petricola's WJER Radio, LLC later repurchased the AM from Clear Channel for $200,000.

Relocation of the FM signal

On April 14, 2006, the Federal Communications Commission approved Clear Channel's request to move WJER-FM's community of license to North Canton, Ohio[1]. The new location allowed the station to increase its power from 3,000 watts ERP to 6,000 watts ERP after the move.

In a gradual process, the stations began simulcasting for most of the broadcast day, a process which completed in December 2006.

WJER-FM signed off on December 27, and the license was transferred to North Canton, Ohio under the new callsign WHOF the next day. WJER continued to broadcast the original Dover/New Philadelphia-based programming.

Clear Channel signed on WHOF as adult contemporary-formatted "My 101.7" serving the Akron/Canton area on January 16, 2007.

Effective June 1, 2022, WJER and translator W265DL were sold to Kevin Gray's WJER, LLC for $300,000.

Sports

WJER is the local affiliate for the following teams:

• The Cleveland Browns
• The Cleveland Cavaliers
• The Cleveland Guardians
• The Ohio State Buckeyes

On-air personalities

• Eric St. John
• Rosko Roscolini
• Paul Tiratto
• Kelly Kyle
• Steve Kelly
• Michele Spring

External links

• Official website
• Facility details for Facility ID 73134 (WJER) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• WJER in Nielsen Audio's AM station database

FM translator

• Facility details for Facility ID 157042 (W265DL) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• W265DL at FCCdata.org