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{{Infobox radio station
| name = WDCZ
| imageabove = File:Simulcasts [[WDCX-FM]] logo.pngBuffalo
| logo =
| city = [[Buffalo, New York]]
| area = [[Western New York]]
| branding = WDCXTruth 99.5
| frequency = 970 [[kHz]]
| slogan =
| translator = 94.1 W231EA (Buffalo)
| frequency = 970 [[kHz]]
| airdate = October 14, [[1924 in radio|1924]] (as WEBR)
| format = [[Christian radio|Christian]]<br>''(simulcast of [[WDCX-FM]])''
| power = 5,000 [[watt]]s
| class = B
| facility_id = 27668
| callsign_meaning = disambiguationinitials of <br>[[WDCX-FM]]owner Donald Crawford
| former_callsigns = [[WEBR]] (1924-19931924–1993)<br />[[WBFO|WNED]] (1993-20121993–2012)
| owner = [[Crawford Broadcasting]]
| licensee = Kimtron, Inc.
| sister_stations = [[WDCX-FM]], [[WDCX (AM)|WDCX]]
| webcast =
| websitewebcast = {{urllistenlive|httphttps://wwwlive.wdcxradiomystreamplayer.com/WDCXFM}}
| website = {{url|https://www.wdcxradio.com/}}
| licensing_authority = [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]
}}
 
'''WDCZ''' is an(970 [[UnitedAM Statesbroadcasting|AmericanAM]]) is an American [[radio station]] in [[Buffalo, New York]] broadcasting at 970&nbsp;kHz.
 
WDCZ has not originated any programming of its own since 2012. The station operated as a commercial station from its launch in 1924 until 1975, then operated as a [[public radio]] station from 1975 to 2012. In its later years, much of its programming was duplicating that of competing FM station [[WBFO]], which eventually prompted the two stations to merge operations (using WBFO's frequency) in 2012. After several months of simulcasting WBFO, the 970 facility was sold off to the owners of religious-formatted [[WDCX-FM]], who in turn switched 970 to a simulcast of WDCX, a status it has held ever since.
 
==History==
The broadcast license currently used by WDCZ was launched on October 14, 1924 as WEBR, licensed to H. H. Howell at 51 Niagara Street.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Radio service bulletin / Bureau of Navigation, Department of Commerce no.69-92 (1923-24). |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.319510008420265?urlappend=%3Bseq=415 |access-date=2024-01-27 |website=HathiTrust |language=en}}</ref> These call letters were randomly assigned from a sequential roster of available call signs, and the station adopted the slogan "We Extend Buffalo's Regards".<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Youth's companion v.99(1925). |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiug.30112125158938?urlappend=%3Bseq=349 |access-date=2024-01-27 |website=HathiTrust |language=en}}</ref>
WDCZ was launched on October 14, 1924 as WEBR. [[Fran Striker]], later famous for co-creating the [[Lone Ranger]], worked for the station in the early 1930s. From 1936 to 1944, WEBR was an affiliate of the [[Blue Network]] (later the [[American Broadcasting Company]]) and then with the [[Mutual Broadcasting System]].<ref>http://www.buffalohistoryworks.com/broadcasters/hist_webr.asp</ref> The station was a commercial operation for its first five decades on air, competing (generally with a measure of success, despite the weakness of its highly directional signal) against competing Buffalo stations. At at least two points in its history it was a sister station to [[WBEN (AM)|WBEN]], during the times when regulatory rules allowed it.
 
WDCZ was launched on October 14, 1924 as WEBR. [[Fran Striker]], later famous for co-creating the [[Lone Ranger]], worked for the station in the early 1930s. From 1936 to 1944, WEBR was an affiliate of the [[Blue Network]] (later the [[American Broadcasting Company]]) and then with the [[Mutual Broadcasting System]].<ref name=history-of-webr-970>{{cite web |title=The Buffalo Broadcasters: History of WEBR Radio, AM-970 |url=http://www.buffalohistoryworks.com/broadcasters/hist_webr.asp |website=buffalohistoryworks.com}}</ref> The station was a commercial operation for its first five decades on air, competing (generally with a measure of success, despite the weakness of its highly directional signal that is aimed directly at [[Toronto]]), against competing Buffalo stations. At at least two points in its history it was a sister station to [[WBEN (AM)|WBEN]], during the times when regulatory rules allowed it.
The station changed formats and owners (one of which was the ''[[Buffalo Courier-Express]]'') in the early 1970s until the Western New York Public Broadcasting Association, who had owned [[WNED-TV]] since 1959, bought WEBR and sister station WREZ-FM (now [[WNED-FM]]) in 1975. WEBR adopted an (almost) all-news format a year later (although an evening and overnight jazz program, Jazz In The Nighttime with Al Wallack, remained on the air). In 1993 the station was assigned the WNED calls and all non-news programming was dropped.<ref>Buffalo Broadcasters website [http://www.buffalobroadcasters.com/hist_webr.asp History of WEBR/WNED 1924 to 1998] ''Buffalo Broadcasters Association'' Retrieved 29 December 2012</ref>
Unlike its counterpart, WBFO which still had music programming overnight and on the weekend; WNED focused entirely on news and talk programming. Several of the programs on WNED and WBFO (specifically both [[drive time]] programs, ''[[Morning Edition]]'' and ''[[All Things Considered]]'') overlapped with different production teams for local inserts, each with its own hosts. (In addition, the weekend ''[[A Prairie Home Companion]]'' aired on both WNED-AM and WNED-FM, an arrangement that continues as of 2013 with WBFO and WNED-FM.)
 
Throughout much of the 1940s, WEBR broadcast on [[1340 AM|1340 kilocycles]]. On April 4, 1948,<ref>[https://www.facebook.com/BroadcastingHistory/posts/pfbid027YJFLA9s5egGfhCFZirZPvEHVFCrUGcWAPsvf8xdgURiRv9bfaQT7nGsueJWsYMQl Buffalo Broadcasting Landmarks Today: 1936 Blaw-Knox Tower In The Larkin District]. ''Buffalo Broadcasters Association''. April 13, 2024. Retrieved April 14, 2024.</ref> the station moved to its current frequency of 970,<ref name=history-of-webr-970/> clearing the 1340 allocation for two new local service stations in Western New York, [[WLVL|WUSJ]] in [[Lockport, New York|Lockport]]<ref>[https://wlvl.com/about/history-of-wlvl History of WLVL]. Retrieved April 14, 2024.</ref> and [[WKSN|WJOC]] in [[Jamestown, New York|Jamestown]].
Until March 1, 2012, WNED was one of two [[National Public Radio]] affiliates in Buffalo. The remaining affiliate is [[WBFO]], formerly operated by the University of Buffalo. WBFO was purchased from the State of New York by the Western New York Public Broadcasting Association, the parent organization of WNED, [[WNED-TV]] and [[WNED-FM]] in July 2011.<ref name="buffalonews.com"/>
With WNED's takeover of WBFO, the duplication of programming was expected to end;<ref>http://www.buffalonews.com/entertainment/article674904.ece</ref> there had been speculation (which turned out to be accurate) that WNED would be sold despite strong support in the local market for differentiated jazz, blues, news and talk programming.<ref>http://blogs.artvoice.com/avdaily/2011/10/05/wbfo-wned-get-earful-from-public/</ref>
 
The station changed formats and owners (one of which was the ''[[Buffalo Courier-Express]]'') in the early 1970s until the Western New York Public Broadcasting Association, who had owned [[WNED-TV]] since 1959, bought WEBR and sister station WREZ-FM (now [[WNED-FM]]) in 1975. WEBR adopted an (almost) all-news format a year later (although an evening and overnight jazz program, Jazz In The Nighttime with Al Wallack, remained on the air). In 1993 the station was assigned the WNED calls and all non-news programming was dropped.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Buffalo Broadcasters website [History of WEBR/WNED 1924 to 1998 |url=http://www.buffalobroadcasters.com/hist_webr.asp History|access-date=December of29, WEBR2012 |website=buffalobroadcasters.com}}</WNEDref> 1924(The to 1998[[WEBR]] call sign, history and Wallack''Buffalos Broadcastersjazz Association'program would later be acquired by local taxicab company owner Bill Yuhnke and assigned to the former WJJL on AM 1440 in 2020; in addition to Wallack, former WEBR midday jock Jack Horohoe was brought out of retirement to resume his show.<ref>{{Cite web |date=7 July 2020 |title=He's Retrievedback 29on Decemberthe 2012radio after a 49-year hiatus |url=https://www.wkbw.com/news/local-news/hes-back-on-the-radio-after-a-49-year-hiatus |website=wkbw.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=19 June 2020 |title=WEBR-AM Returns to Airwaves |url=http://www.buffalobroadcasters.com/webr-am-returns-to-airwaves/ |website=buffalobroadcasters.com}}</ref>)
On March 1, 2012, WNED ceased independent operations and began simulcasting WBFO. This led to much of the news and information programming that had aired on the weekend by WNED being replaced by NPR entertainment programs, such as [[Wait Wait Don't Tell Me]] and [[Car Talk]] (some of the displaced programs later returned after ''[[Talk of the Nation]]'' was canceled). WNED, which had not aired music since 1993, now aired blues programming Saturday and Sunday evenings, but in return, WBFO (and, with it, the entire Buffalo market) was stripped of all of its jazz programming.<ref>http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wbfo/guide.guidemain?action=viewGuide</ref>
 
Unlike its counterpart, WBFO, which still had music programming overnightin midday, at night and on the weekend;, WNED focused entirely on news and talkspoken-word programming. Several of the programs on WNED and WBFO (specifically both [[drive time]] programs, ''[[Morning Edition]]'' and ''[[All Things Considered]]'') overlapped with different production teams for local inserts, each with its own hosts. (In addition, the weekend ''[[A Prairie Home Companion]]'' aired on both WNED-AM and WNED-FM, an arrangement that continues as of 2013 with WBFO and WNED-FM.)
On August 29, 2012, [[Crawford Broadcasting]], a [[Denver]] based firm, announced its intention to buy the then-WNED for $875,000. A spokeswoman for WNED said a closing date for the sale depended on approval by regulators. Donald B. Crawford, the Crawford Broadcasting president said that he expected his company to take over the station and begin programming it around January 1, 2013.<ref name="Robinson">{{cite web|url=http://www.buffalonews.com/business/article1028685.ece|title=WNED-AM being sold to Denver company|last=Robinson|first=David|date=29 August 2012|work=The Buffalo News|accessdate=29 August 2012}}</ref> The WBFO simulcast continued until midnight November 30, 2012.<ref name="buffalonews.com">http://www.buffalonews.com/entertainment/article743568.ece</ref> The owner at that time had announced at 10 pm that it would cease operations at midnight. The station was silent for an entire month which gave those who enjoy trying to receive distant stations an opportunity to receive distant signals at or near that frequency that they would not otherwise have.<ref>Chernos Saul Mon, 03 Dec 2012 19:01:56 -0800 Reporting the open frequency as a benefit for those wishing to receive long distance reception. [http://www.mail-archive.com/irca@hard-core-dx.com/msg59454.html 970 WNED NY Buffalo off-air] ''International Radio Club of America'' Retrieved 10 December 2012.</ref> The station returned to the air as WDCZ on January 1, 2013 as a simulcast of [[WDCX-FM]] (99.5). This is a second station for Crawford in the Buffalo market as it is the long time owner of WDCX, whose programming it planned to simulcast in order to further its reach into southern Ontario (this despite WDCX already having one of the strongest signals in the entire country and one that easily covers Southern Ontario), further perpetuating the same type of duplicity that had prompted the previous owners to sell the station in the first place.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.buffalonews.com/business/article1030682.ece|title=WNED-AM to broadcast religious programming|last=Robinson|first=David|date=30 August 2012|work=The Buffalo News|accessdate=30 August 2012}}</ref> The finalization of the sale took place at midnight November 30, 2012, through licensee Kimtron, Inc; the station's call sign was changed the same day to WDCZ.
 
<ref>Jane Kwiatkowski [http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121129/LIFE/121129210/1057 WNED-AM sale to Crawford Broadcasting finalized] ''buffalonews.com'' Retrieved 6 December 2012.</ref>
Until March 1, 2012, WNED was one of two [[National Public Radio]] affiliates in Buffalo. The remaining affiliate is [[WBFO]], formerly operated by the University of Buffalo. WBFO was purchased from the State of New York by the Western New York Public Broadcasting Association, the parent organization of WNED, [[WNED-TV]] and [[WNED-FM]] in July 2011.<ref name="buffalonews.com"/> With WNED's takeover of WBFO, the duplication of programming was expected to end;<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.buffalonews.com/entertainment/article674904.ece| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120114144453/http://www.buffalonews.com/entertainment/article674904.ece| archive-date = 2012-01-14| title = WNED eager to take over WBFO - Entertainment - The Buffalo News}}</ref> there had been speculation (which turned out to be accurate) that WNED would be sold despite strong support in the local market for differentiated jazz, blues, news and talk programming.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://blogs.artvoice.com/avdaily/2011/10/05/wbfo-wned-get-earful-from-public/ |title=WBFO, WNED Get Earful from Public &#124; Artvoice Daily |access-date=2012-03-18 |archive-date=2011-10-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006201216/http://blogs.artvoice.com/avdaily/2011/10/05/wbfo-wned-get-earful-from-public/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> WNED was also chosen as the station to be divested because, as it was later revealed in 2020, its [[directional antenna|directional signal]] had a strong signal over the city of [[Toronto]], but the stations had minimal listenership there; this is in contrast to their television station [[WNED-TV]], which has a strong audience in the city.<ref name="bn-buffalotorontopublicmedia">{{cite news |last1=Pergament |first1=Alan |title=A brand change for Buffalo's public broadcasting stations embraces Canada |url=https://buffalonews.com/2020/02/04/a-brand-change-for-buffalos-public-broadcasting-stations-embraces-canada/ |access-date=February 4, 2020 |work=[[The Buffalo News]] |date=February 4, 2020 |language=en-us}}</ref>
 
On March 1, 2012, WNED ceased independent operations and began simulcasting WBFO. This led to much of the news and information programming that had aired on the weekend by WNED being replaced by NPR entertainment programs, such as [[Wait Wait Don't Tell Me]] and [[Car Talk]] (some of the displaced programs later returned after ''[[Talk of the Nation]]'' was canceled). WNED, which had not aired music since 1993, now aired blues programming Saturday and Sunday evenings, but in return, WBFO (and, with it, the entire Buffalo market) was stripped of all of its jazz programming.<ref>{{Cite web |title=This site can’t be reached |url=http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wbfo/guide.guidemain?action=viewGuide |access-date=January 26, 2024 |website=publicbroadcasting.net}}</ref>
 
On August 29, 2012, [[Crawford Broadcasting]], a [[Denver]] based firm, announced its intention to buy the then-WNED for $875,000. A spokeswoman for WNED said a closing date for the sale depended on approval by regulators. Donald B. Crawford, the Crawford Broadcasting president said that he expected his company to take over the station and begin programming it around January 1, 2013.<ref name="Robinson">{{cite web|url=http://www.buffalonews.com/business/article1028685.ece|title=WNED-AM being sold to Denver company|last=Robinson|first=David|date=29 August 2012|work=The Buffalo News|accessdate=29 August 2012}}</ref> The WBFO simulcast continued until midnight November 30, 2012.<ref name="buffalonews.com">{{Cite web |url=http://www.buffalonews.com/entertainment/article743568.ece |title=20 radio programs disappear in merger - Entertainment - the Buffalo News |access-date=2012-03-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302202132/http://www.buffalonews.com/entertainment/article743568.ece |archive-date=2012-03-02 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The owner at that time had announced at 10 pm that it would cease operations at midnight. The station was silent for an entire month which gave those who enjoy trying to receive distant stations an opportunity to receive distant signals at or near that frequency that they would not otherwise have.<ref>Chernos{{Cite Saulweb Mon,|title=[IRCA] 03970 DecWNED 2012NY 19:01:56Buffalo off-0800air Reporting(and theCJRN open710 frequencyupdate) as a benefit for those wishing to receive long distance reception. [http|url=https://www.mail-archive.com/irca@hard-core-dx.com/msg59454.html 970 WNED NY Buffalo off|access-air]date=2024-01-27 ''International Radio Club of America'' Retrieved 10 December 2012|website=www.mail-archive.com}}</ref> The station returned to the air as WDCZ on January 1, 2013 as a simulcast of [[WDCX-FM]] (99.5). This is a second station for Crawford in the Buffalo market as it is the long time owner of WDCX, whose programming it planned to simulcast in order to further its reach into southern Ontario (this despite WDCX already having one of the strongest signals in the entire country and one that easily covers Southern Ontario), further perpetuating the same type of duplicity that had prompted the previous owners to sell the station in the first place.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.buffalonews.com/business/article1030682.ece|title=WNED-AM to broadcast religious programming|last=Robinson|first=David|date=30 August 2012|work=The Buffalo News|accessdate=30 August 2012}}</ref> The finalization of the sale took place at midnight November 30, 2012, through licensee Kimtron, Inc; the station's call sign was changed the same day to WDCZ.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kwiatkowski |first=Jane |title=WNED-AM sale to Crawford Broadcasting finalized |url=http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121129/LIFE/121129210/1057 |access-date=December 6, 2012 |website=buffalonews.com}}</ref>
[[File:WDCX logo.png|thumb|Previous logo]]
 
==See also==
Line 49 ⟶ 56:
 
==External links==
{{AM station data|27668|WDCZ}}
*[http://www.wnedblog.blogspot.com/ WNED Dialogues Blog; this has links to the station's past which may be of interest]
*[https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getimportletter_exh.cgi?import_letter_id=52012&.pdf FCC History Cards for WDCZ]
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[[Category:Radio stations in Buffalo, New York|DCZ]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1924]]
[[Category:Christian radio stations in New York (state)|DCZ]]