WENZ (107.9 FM) is a commercial mainstream Hip-Hop, R&B radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio. Owned by Urban One since 1999, its studios are located along the Euclid Avenue Corridor in Cleveland's eastside, while the station transmitter resides in Russell Township in Geauga County. Besides a standard analog transmission, WENZ broadcasts over two HD Radio channels, and is available online. History Early years The station debuted on April 5, 1958 as WNOB; it was started by Northern Ohio Broadcasting, whose principals were several people from WNEW in New York. When the companion AM license was not granted, the station found itself in a precarious position, because standalone FM stations in the 1950s did not make money. In 1961, the station filed for bankruptcy. A machine operator, Phillip Kerwin, purchased WNOB for $16,000. In 1963, WNOB became one of the first FM stations in the US to broadcast in stereo. In 1968, the signal was upgraded; the station purchased a new transmitter and antenna system. Two years later, in 1970, Multicom Inc. (owner of WELW AM 1330 in Willoughby, Ohio) purchased the station for $330,000. The call letters were then changed to WELW-FM. WELW played a top 40 Drake type format for almost two years, then switched to country music. Disco 108 WDMT/FM 108 WDMT Your Power Station In 1975, Beasley Broadcast Group purchased the station from Multicom for $550,000, and changed the call letters to WDMT (which is short for "We're DynoMite!", "Dynomite!" being a well-known catchphrase by comic and actor Jimmie "Kid Dynomite" Walker on the popular TV sitcom Good Times). The next year, the station switched to the then-popular Disco format and took the moniker "Disco 108 WDMT." But by 1978, WDMT evolved to a hybrid CHR/UC format also known as "CHUrban" (which would be the forerunner to what is now known as Rhythmic contemporary) as "FM 108 WDMT Your Power Station". WDMT was Cleveland's first-ever CHUrban radio station. During the WDMT era the station aired "The WDMT's Club Style", where street DJs from Cleveland received opportunities to mix live on the air. Caroline Ford, Freddie James, Steve Szabo, Brenda & Michael Love, Matthew Morgan, Lady Skill, Hot Rod See, with Dean Rufus, and the legendary Ronnie "The Ghoul" Sweed were popular WDMT DJs during this period. In 1985, the entire WDMT air staff appeared with Arsenio Hall on