WKNR
WKNR – branded as 850 ESPN Cleveland – is a commercial sports radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland. Owned by Good Karma Brands, WKNR is the Cleveland affiliate for ESPN Radio and the AM flagship station for the Cleveland Browns Radio Network; the Cleveland affiliate for the Ohio State Sports Network, and the radio home of Je'Rod Cherry and Tony Grossi. The WKNR studios are currently located in the East Bank of The Flats in Downtown Cleveland, while the transmitter resides in the Cleveland suburb of North Royalton. WKNR's daytime signal can be heard as far as Mansfield, and even as far as Newark and Zanesville. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WKNR is available online.
WKNR originated as WLBV in Mansfield in 1926. After adopting the WJW call letters in 1929, the station relocated twice, first to Akron in 1932 and again to Cleveland in 1943. During the early 1950s, disc jockey Alan Freed began to popularize the term "rock and roll" as a name for the music genre both through his late-night radio show, and by what is often considered the first major rock and roll concert: the WJW-sponsored Moondog Coronation Ball. WJW also served as an early home for Dorothy Fuldheim, Soupy Sales, and Casey Kasem.
Under Storer Broadcasting ownership from 1952 to 1977, WJW sported a beautiful music format throughout the 1960s. After Art Modell's Lake Erie Broadcasting purchased WJW, the format transitioned into middle of the road in 1978, and again to talk radio in 1982. Relaunched as WRMR in 1985, the station became best known as an adult standards outlet from 1988 to 2001 featuring Bill Randle.
A complex series of asset swaps resulted in the transfer of WKNR's all-sports format and call sign from WHKW| to on July 3, 2001. Since 2007, WKNR has been under the ownership of Craig Karmazin's Good Karma Brands.
WLBV (1926–1929)
Mansfield origin
What is today known as WKNR launched at midnight on December 31, 1926, from the Southern Hotel in Mansfield, Ohio, under the WLBV call sign. Founded by John F. Weimer and D.A. Snick, WLBV was the first radio station to operate in Mansfield, transmitting with on. Weimer had been fascinated with electronics since the age of 7 when growing up in Tuscarawas County, and after his family moved to Mansfield, established his first wireless station in 1911 and progressed to aural transmissions by 1913. Helping run a family butcher shop after his father's death, Weimer ceasing operations of those stations during World War I, but resumed hobbyist work after the war. The Southern Hotel studios were temporary, by March 1, 1927, WLBV relocated to the nearby Chamber of Commerce building. The station quickly progressed under Weimer's watch, which also saw a frequency shift to on May 1, 1927. Initially criticized for a "tin-pan" air sound, the fidelity improved near the end of 1927 and earned the praise of Westinghouse Broadcasting executives as "an unusual station" for such a small city. One notable program on the station was presented with inmates of the Mansfield Reformatory, with armed guards surrounding the studios.WLBV briefly found itself in jeopardy after Weimer struggled to raise money to renew its audio performance rights license with the Composers, Authors and Publishers Association at the end of March 1928, prompting the station to announce a forthcoming closedown, but found enough financial support from area businesses to remain operational. The station initially operated without a chain broadcasting link, but was admitted into the Federated Broadcasting System upon that network's 1929 launch. Listener reception for WLBV was overwhelmingly positive, with thousands of complementary letters by April 1928 and no complaints. The station received phone calls from New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Chicago, and one long-distance reception report as far west as Des Moines. A secondary studio was also constructed at the Charles M. Zitzer music store by January 1929.
WJW (1929–1985)
The Federal Radio Commission General Order 40 saw WLBV reassigned again to on November 11, 1928, with a power increase to by December 14. In order to better identify with Mansfield, WLBV management applied for a call sign change request to WMO, which was granted by the FRC on May 14, 1929. Two days later, the FRC abruptly changed the station's calls again to WJW after a clerical error by the agency failed to account for callsign WMO's existing usage on another station, the rename to WJW was made retroactive to May 9. Despite the random selection by the FCC, the WJW calls also ended up reflecting John Weimer's initials.Aided by income from sponsored programming, WJW moved their facilities once again to the ninth floor of the Richland Trust Building when it was completed on November 2, 1929, one week after Black Monday occurred. Two large radio towers were erected on top of the building, visible for several miles and was thought to the highest point in Ohio for a transmitter; at the time of the move, WJW operated for one hour in late mornings and during the early evenings, but Weimer promised an expanded broadcast lineup.
Move to Akron
John F. Weimer—d/b/a the Mansfield Broadcasting Association—filed a request with the FRC on February 12, 1932, to relocate WJW to Akron maintaining the same frequency and power output. In testimony before FRC examiner R. H. Hyde, the operators for both Zanesville's WALR and Columbus's WSEN supported the move as it would reduce interference for their stations, while Weimer promised to have multiple Akron civic organizations on WJW and emphasized the benefits of moving to a larger city. WADC was Akron's lone radio station licensed to serve the city, and had been as such after WFJC was consolidated with a Springfield station to form WGAR on December 15, 1930, and moved out of Akron to sign on in Cleveland. Examiner Hyde recommended denying the application, citing a lack of evidence to support another Akron radio station, but the FRC reversed his findings and gave full approval on September 8, 1930.After a "swan song" final broadcast from Mansfield on October 5, 1932, WJW's transmitter was dismantled and transported to Akron for an October 15 sign-on; all on- and off-air personnel were retained. A Mansfield News piece on the station after the move noted Mansfield listeners were now unable to receive WJW due to interference from WSEN. Still broadcasting at with, WJW's transmitter and studios were located at 41 South High Street in downtown Akron. Weimer incorporated WJW on January 31, 1933, becoming the station's president. Among the stakeholders for WJW, Inc. were William F. Jones, who founded WADC in 1925 and owned WFJC from 1927 until 1930, while Weimer held a 20 percent stake. Sam L. Townsend, a former manager for WFJC, also assumed the same position at WJW.
Along with three associates, Weimer founded the "WMAN Broadcasting Company" in early 1935 and applied to the Federal Communications Commission for a replacement station in Mansfield. During the hearings, Weimer disclosed that he held stock in WALR and a gold mine, and claimed to have no immediate cash on hand, having relied on family to provide the money for his investments. The FCC rejected the application on October 23, 1935, citing uncertainty with the group's financial viability in addition to objections raised by Fort Wayne's WGL.
Monetary issues revealed themselves again when WJW joined WADC in objecting to a 1937 application by S. Bernard Berk for a full-time high-fidelity radio station at, claiming that Akron could not support more than two stations. During the three-year-long legal fight with Berk, WJW's legal counsel stated in a 1939 hearing that the station operated at a loss since 1936, and the majority of any profits went directly to employee salaries. A second attempt at a new Mansfield station did succeed when the FCC awarded a license for WMAN on June 7, 1939, with Weimer as secretary-treasurer and chief engineer. Prior to WMAN's sign-on, Weimer was involved in a July 5, 1939, vehicular collision that killed a 15-year-old pedestrian; Weimer was ultimately ordered to pay $3,500 to the victim's estate.
While WJW had operated as an independent for most of their early existence, the station finally obtained an affiliation with the Transcontinental Broadcasting System, which had a proposed launch date of January 1, 1940. Despite WJW scheduling a local "salute" to TBS and having rearranged local shows to accommodate the new chain, TBS's launch was abruptly canceled with one hour's notice after their two largest sponsors "repudiated" all programming contracts. William M. O'Neil, Jr. purchased a majority of shares in WJW on June 25, 1940 for $41,500 and assumed control on July 1. This transaction occurred after Weimer and Townsend divested their shares while Jones sold his shares directly to O'Neil, with one of the two other remaining shareholders being M. F. Rubin, who also held a stake in WMAN. O'Neil was the son of William F. O'Neil, president of Akron-based General Tire and Rubber Co.—which also entered broadcasting in 1943 with the purchase of a station group in New England—but operated WJW independently from the tire manufacturer. Weimer was forced to divest his WMAN shares in 1942 after admitting on a witness stand to falsifying financial statements submitted to the FCC that helped secure that station's license. Despite helping build and sign-on Canton's WCMW in 1946, Weimer never worked in broadcast radio again.
Move to Cleveland
One of William M. O'Neill's first moves as WJW's new owner was to link the station up with the Mutual Broadcasting System on September 22, 1940, bringing that network's programming to Akron for the first time. Coupled with S. Bernard Berk signing on WAKR as an NBC Blue outlet the following month and WADC's extant Columbia affiliation, WJW's Mutual link gave Akron three radio network affiliates at the end of 1940 after beginning the year with only one. Of particular note was Mutual's array of live music and sports, including the World Series; Mutual's nightly dance music program extended WJW's broadcast day to 1 a.m. nightly. Despite being an independent, WJW previously fed their coverage of the All-American Soap Box Derby nationally over Mutual in 1939 and 1940, and did so again on August 16, 1941. The station also helped celebrate Barberton's golden jubilee on June 29–30, 1941, by carrying much of the outdoor festivities live. WJW and the United States Navy originated a live remote broadcast from Goodyear's K-3 blimp during a flight over the region on September 11, 1941, relaying it over Mutual.WJW changed its frequency on March 29, 1941, with implementation of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement, moving to while retaining output. O'Neil filed paperwork in late August 1941 proposing that WJW move to with fulltime, while having to share nighttime skywave with Boston's WHDH and Denver's KOA. The FCC gave O'Neil the construction permit on January 21, 1942, but construction of a new transmitter site in Botzum was delayed due to challenges procuring materials for construction and finding an engineer. Meanwhile, WHK's switch from NBC Blue to Mutual in the fall of 1942 left Cleveland without a Blue affiliate, prompting O'Neil to requesting an alteration to the construction permit allowing WJW's operations to move to Cleveland. The proposal centered on WJW becoming that market's new Blue station, with studios at the NBC Building that housed NBC-owned WTAM and a new transmitter site in Cuyahoga County. The transmitter WJW had set up at Botzum but never activated was simply transported up to North Royalton.
While the FCC approved the proposal on December 4, 1942, O'Neil requested another modification on June 23, 1943, for WJW to remain in Akron using the current facilities under a new licensee name "The Akron Broadcasting Company", concurrent with the new Cleveland station signing on. Buckeye Broadcasting Co. would then purchase the license, renamed WAJV, with the WJW name affixed to the new facilities. This request was denied after WGAR successfully petitioned for a frequency move of their own to, in effect rendering WJW's facilities unusable. WJW continued operating in Akron until the move to Cleveland at 2:30 p.m. on November 14, 1943, following a special celebratory program; an advance station schedule supplied by WJW to the Beacon Journal ended with, "SORRY GONE TO CLEVELAND." The first Blue program to air following the move was General Tire-sponsored Thanks to America, with WJW becoming a primary Blue affiliate the following day. The majority of staff moved up from Akron to Cleveland; announcer Marvin Cade signed on the station and was the evening news announcer. Competing station WGAR collaborated with WJW for a special broadcast on both stations the day of the move, WGAR also took out advertisements in Cleveland's three daily newspapers "welcoming" the station into Cleveland.
With facilities in the Guardian Building, WJW became Cleveland's fifth radio station after co-owned WHK and WCLE, WTAM and WGAR; the number of stations would be reduced back to four in May 1945 when WCLE moved their station operations to Akron as WHKK. To help recruit and develop on-air talent, O'Neil launched an agency in early 1945 dubbed "The WJW Bureau", with radio actor Gene Carroll as president. "Broadcast Melodies" was another subsidiary launched in 1946 to provide background music for area businesses to help boost morale and improve productivity, holding a local franchise for the World Broadcasting System's transcription library. WJW also added broadcast rights to Cleveland Rams NFL football for the 1945 season; announced by Earl Harper, it was the last season played prior to the Rams' relocation to Los Angeles. Harper was succeeded by Jimmy Dudley in late 1946 as the station's lead sportscaster.
The station began airing daily commentaries by Dorothy Fuldheim as part of their Newspaper of the Air program in June 1944. In addition, Fuldheim hosted Young America Thinks, a weekly public affairs program produced with the Cleveland Board of Education. WJW hired Fuldheim on her reputation as a public speaker but her broadcast experience previously included programs over WTAM and the NBC Red Network as the first female news analyst in network radio. In addition, WJW assigned Fuldheim to attend the San Francisco Conference that established the United Nations. Fuldheim's tenure at WJW ended when Scripps-Howard hired her for WEWS-FM and, in turn, WEWS-TV upon their December 17, 1947, sign-on as the first female news anchor in American television.