The station is presently running its “Countdown to Christmas” with holiday-themed music. After that ends, though, the sound will switch. Sources did not know the new format, or the fates of on-air staff, but rumors have centered around a possible switch to country.
This would be the second format change in 10 years. In 2009, the station abandoned smooth jazz for alternative and adult rock under its former owner, Elyria-Lorain Broadcasting. But smooth jazz returned two years later, when Rubber City Radio Group bought the station in 2011.
The Wave regularly programmed singles from area musicians, such as flautist Herb Wilborn Jr., and pianists Lafayette Carthon, and Rodney Hubbard.
Longtime local radio personality Delvis Valentine says he heard about the new format earlier this month. He says the change would be a “death blow“ for local artists because other commercial stations are so difficult to break into.
“Radio still matters; it gives you cachet” says Valentine, an on-air personality for community station WOVU 95.9.
Valentine hopes a “community groundswell” will keep the station on air, as is, even if the station changes hands again “Keep the format, but sell the station.”
This article appears in Nov 27 – Dec 3, 2019.
Just what Cleveland needs…no jazz at all because the bean counters think jazz fans are old and dying off…and yet another mindless and bland country music station that is not really “country” at all (Thank you, Ken Burns!)
What used to be known as “smooth jazz” (they call it something else now) has always had a heavily urban black audience, and what passes for “country” today is mostly suburban and white.
So it’s not merely about the green…they appear to want to change the “tone” of the station.But I’m wise enough not to go any further down that heavily-mined road. Use your imagination.
Are you kidding me??? Why would they do this??? We DON’T WANT ANOTHER COUNTRY STATION!!! The Wave is the only unique station around here!!!
Why are you all messing with the only decent radio station??? Just leave it alone, find a jazz, soul fusion DJ and leave it alone!!!!!
The reported change is stumbling into an already saturated format — but the northeast Ohio market has been a vast wasteland of idiotic generic programming for decades.
The Wave brings important diversity to terrestrial radio and supports local artists more than any other station. Why does the market need more duplication?
They appear to be aiming at a younger, whiter, more suburban audience, with a lot more money to spend. That’s the demographic advertisers cater to, and they are the tail that wags the radio dog. Listeners? Jazz lovers? Screw them…they are older, more minorities, more city dwellers, and poorer. So they get kicked to the curb…again.
Whhhhhhyyyyy????? No need to fix something that’s NOT broken🤷🏽♀️….This station calms a lot of nerves while out there on the road with “the crazies “…. Please let’s speak up and out and save this station🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽
Why would you change from smooth jazz to country when your sister station 94.9 WQMX is already an award winning country station in the same geographic market?
I grew up listening to this station, and still do. I love jazz!!! Please keep it the way it is!!! We need to keep jazz alive in northeast Ohio!!!
So sorry to hear about this potential disaster of a change. Smooth jazz is all I listen to. 107.3 just lost a listener.
Apparently the lesson was not learned from the last time this idiotic mistake was made, We need smooth jazz in our life, Wake up Rubber City radio!
I play the WAVE in my store and in my car. The only Smooth Jazz station around, sorely disappointed. Do not want to listen to country in the store or car or anywhere. Forcing me to go to Sirius or Pandora. Shame.
I am from another state. I love jazz. This is the worst move ever.The wave has just ignored a fan base that got them where they are.
I can’t believe The ignorance of the people who run 107.3 did Anyone there stop to think To ask their listeners who have supported this station for all these years what they thought I think not sorry to see you go just lost another listener.
N Stallman
Goodby 107.3….. So very disappointed with your decision to go country. Really poor choice. Obviously, poor management as well. The WAVE and smooth jazz were the best and we listened to it everyday.
I loved the smooth jazz and listened everyday, This is such a loss to music lovers. I will remove 107.3 from every preset i have. You have totally let us down.
No idea why there has to be ANOTHER Country radio station in the Cleveland/Akron listening area. Smooth jazz was unique, the radio personalities and the promotions/support for jazz artists was outstanding. Yes, formats change occasionally, but this is a dumb decision.
WHY??? I was sad when they left in 2009 and now again today. The WAVE never disappointed me or my family. Yes, it is a dumb decision.
WOW….There is waaaaayyyyy too much country out there. Smooth Jazz is all i listen to. This is very disappointing. I suffered thru the last format change in 2009 and i’m not looking forward to it again. At least i have options(pay to play unfortunately)this time but this absolutely sucks!!!!
I hate this change!!!!! I need smooth jazz in my life. There are plenty of stations out there that play country. Leave my smooth jazz alone. Who ever thought this was a good idea YOUR FIRED!
I am a white suburban senior citizen who loathes country music but loves jazz. Advertisers on country stations won’t be getting any of my $$$.
Rubber City radio needs a psychological evaluation to make the same illiterate, unethical, dysfunctional FORMAT DISRUPTION to WNWV’s much beloved jazz oasis! Whatsa matter, think another country station wont make people suspect this is a “redneck trash” insult to the musicians & music lovers community ? SHAME SHAME SHAME!
Very disappointed in this move. Have loved this station for years. Best station to listen to when I’m working. My husband is in sales and loves to listens to it when the traffic is making him crazy. What a shame. Obviously they did not survey those that listen.
What a disappointment it was to turn on my car and home radios to 107.3 and to hear COUNTRY MUSIC…………..NO WAY…………
Smooth jazz is such a great tone of music. You all need to bring it back…Rick Braun, trumpet player who I met several times made a comment the last time he was in town, that he was pleased that they brought 107.3 back to the area….so if a popular musical missed it what does that say for the rest of us listeners????
You all need to get it together…….some of us enjoy the relaxation mode it brings!!!!!!!!!
Bring the wave back right now, no more country and western👎👎👎👎👎👎
You have destroyed my life!!! This is the ONLY station I listen to regularly. I spend a lot of time in my car and as soon as I turn the key in the ignition, the very next action is to turn on The Wave!! My car won’t run without it. As one of the comments above mentioned, it literally calms me down after a long, frustrating, hectic day at work, not to mention easing me into the morning. There are multitudes of country stations but only one smooth jazz station. BRING BACK THE WAVE!!
I hate country music!!! I loved smooth jazz. PLEASE bring jazz back.
What the hell is wrong with you? Bring it back, you idiots !
I loved listening to smooth jazz during the workday & on my way home from work especially on Friday evenings to help me wind down for he weekend. I was very disappointed when I turn the radio on to get C&W music on 107.3. I thought something had gone haywire in my car radio. Please consider bringing smooth jazz back to NE Ohio.
This is the only Jazz station left in the morning. Bad move. I listen to this every day. It relaxes me after a stressful day.
I usually wake up to 107.3 The Wave smooth jazz helps me start my day. When my clock radio woke me up to the sounds of County music I wanted to kill myself!!!!
OMG, what are you doing!! Please bring back my favorite station!
Let Me Be As Succinct as I can…. I HAVE LOST all respect for the “powers that be”, at your STUPID change of format. You may be the MOST OUT OF TOUCH management group of all time! Living in Cleveland,where the WORST Managed Professional Sports Franchises are,and Taking my life into my own hands driving on the insane highways with all of the “REDNECK NASCAR DRIVERS , Listening to relaxing smooth jazz,WAS the ONLY good thing in this mess of a city. FAREWELL 107.3….PISS OFF!
So what station is going to be for the jazz listeners. Every station should not play the same thing and try to steal listeners. The Wave has its own following and this is some trash so who ever pitched this idea should really reconsider who they are truly trying to reach because the station in its entirety will lose to satellite radio or one of these music apps. Please reconsider this
Nice marketing strategy … abandon the only genre of it’s kind in NE Ohio with a reasonable size audience … and become a me-too station which will never compete with the established ones! Probably the last radio station I would consider actually paying to listen too … 107.3 The Wave!!! Bet we see and hear her again!
We remember the debacle in 2009. Thank goodness the powers to be made the right decision to bring back the smooth jazz format two years later (What took you so long?!). Anyway, a decision was made without any research, surveys, or communiques of any kind to loyal listeners. It is obvious from reading comments that I am one of many who totally disagree with the change of format. Let’s do the right thing management, let the Smooth Jazz format continue for many years to come.
At first I was confused. And then I thought I didn’t understand. And then I said I’m done. Bring back what we’ve enjoyed listening to all these years. Don’t fix what ain’t broke.
107.3 opened my already eccentric mind to more music. It put a smile on my face to hear fresh ideas, new musicians and explore even more music. Which I have done since music became a huge part of my life in my early teens ( 43 now ) I found about everyone from Paul Hardcastle to even hearing comedian Wayne Brady doing music. From Mindi Abair to Gabriela Anders. I became a HUGE Boney James fan because of 107.3. Its sad people like us have been pushed aside for pop culture majority… who listen to their Spotify and streaming services anyway. This is a sad day for pure music lovers.
This is my chill out station. It is the place I go to calm down and de-stress after a long day of work. I got a rude shock when they went and started playing the dreaded Christmas “carols” 24/7. Then I tuned in and found Country. Yuck! Bring back the Jazz and change your advertising strategy. Seriously, Funeral homes and such is not good advertising for your demographic. I am a white woman in my 50s and don’t really need anything quite like that yet. Try getting some restaurants in there or some cool trendy shops. I really hated your ads, but loved the music.
I was horrified that you changed the Wave to country music!
The Wave is the only station I ever listened to. The nice easy listening music calmed me
on my way to and from work, and I am extremely dissapointed in what you have done.
Shame on you!!
This is extremely disappointing. Horrible decision……
Im 63 years old,black,live in suburbs,financially secure and always listen to the wave. I would like to know what idiot,who should be fired,made this stupid decision. You are dumb and stupid. Going to fail and soon. Somebody please bring back the wave
You just lost a listener, actually 2. I am not interested in adult pop, country, etc. You had been a wonderful place of enjoyment with smooth jazz. Not only have to taken that away from the public, but you have replaced it with sh*t.
They are shooting themselves in the foot trying to make unessessay changes. I will be looking for another smooth jazz radio station or I’ll just go to Pandura. So long Rubber City radio or whatever you call yourselves.
They lost me as a listener in 2009 when they switched from smooth jazz to what I considered head banger music (?) – so now they’ve lost me again. I LOVED all the radio personalities as well as the music. Always knew I could put it on without having something offensive (lyrics or irritating sounds that some call music) blast in my ear. There is NO OTHER choice in the Cleveland market for this kind of music. Shame on RCRG for not asking their listeners for their input. Hope the smooth sounds will return soon but for now they have been deleted from my radio buttons at home and in the car. Maybe Dan, Carmen, Mark can pool their resources and buy a station. There is obviously a want and need for it.
My uncle is 98 years old as loves the sound the of 107.3 the wave. All of his family is gone the one thing he looks foward to throughout the whole day is having 107.3 set on the radio for all day pleasure and now you’ve taken it away. No warning nothing. Very rude and rubber city is not for the people who have supported the wave for years. Businesses have the station set. When shopping its a great experience. When driving stuck in traffic or just getting ready for work or getting off work the wave has a way of calming down the environment. As a driver When youre waking up as i do at 3am or 4am depending on the time of my run theres nothing that gets the day right coffee and the wave. Now once u get your coffee you have to be rattled that time of moring with whatever that is playing you will spill your coffee and juat be totally discombobulated because theres nothing smooth about the new music being played on this station. I have disabled and mental health people i transport the only thing that leeps them calm on the ride is the wave the other music has them screaming throwing stuff and me trying to get control and im need to be focused on my driving. When the baby is crying you’re trying to put her to sleep is just loud and not calming at all. Baby is screaming. Our smooth jazz artists wont be heard anymore so theyve been cut out of the game. RTA plays the wave throughout all their rapid station depots. Now along with the loud trains and people we have to listen to loud un calming music because why again? What was wrong with one of the most perfect station that had its uniqueness that gives people a choice. What happened to Grace and Dan and the others?
I turned the station on this morning and WAS SHOCKED!!! I had turned the channel weeks earlier due to the Christmas music I was not wanting to listen to..but new year, back to the Wave and I thought “where is Dan & Grace”? Now where do I go to listen to jazz? Cleveland radio is pure junk anymore. No one cutting edge.. same ol’, same ol’. You lost a loyal listener!
WTF!
Complain to the advertisers? Yuk then I have to listen! Call I heart?
It is a shame that Mark Ribbins inadvertently called this move. He was conducting an interview and the entertainer said he ‘loved coming to Cleveland because it had a jazz station and no other city did. Mark’s reply, ‘ enjoy us while you can’. It’s hard to believe that our city no longer jazz At all. Probably Trump supporters! Hey
107.3 was relaxing, classy, music at its best. Miss this station.
Bad change. I was a loyal listener. You had a nice choice of music. Now you are just another station. You have lost another listener.
Bring Smooth Jazz back! Right now 107.3 is awful! Came back home I though my radio was broken!!
in my younger years i would retreat to a high spot i knew, set up a telescope and spend the night listening to the wave “after dark.” this experience can never be replaced.
The radio station WNWV 107.3 The Wave was a nice station, bring it back, because in my opinion if it’s not broken don’t fix it. There is nothing wrong with smooth jazz.
Robert, a concerned radio listener.
So sad to no longer have good light jazz to listen to…! I so miss it and have no need for country. Poor decision, as everyone else also has repeated.
The only Jazz station in town and you pull the plug? Are you insane? Who wants to listen to this teeny bopper music? This is the same crap you can find on six other radio stations. This is not adult music, Smooth jazz is adult music. This is what teenagers listen to. Its terrible and I want my smooth jazz back.
You’ve lost another 107.3 FM listener. The Smooth Jazz format was awesome. So long. I guess I ‘“” have to listen to Sirius Radio’s Watercolors.
I was always glad I could turn to 107.3 Smooth Jazz if Sirius Radio wasn’t available to me.
So long!
Lar Bear on the Northcoast
Greetings from Chicago where we’ve been without a Smooth Jazz Station since 2012. I was so thrilled to hear that 107.3 The Wave was still at it when I visited fall 2019. I just called it up on Google Play and was so heartbroken that it changed formats. Cleveland you were so lucky to still have smooth jazz on your radio. I weep with you. 🙁
Ill miss 107.3 the wave as a since High school and before that jazz lover you were the only station on all 12 of FM1 and FM2 radio station buttons on my radio in my 7 year old Kia. Before that on all my other cars as well. I am 54 now and the new format that doesnt sound country to me is not on any of my radios anymore . You will be missed! Good luck, youll need it.
This gets me sick…I went through it last time and…..I am an old white woman and have many many white friends whop LOVE THE JAZZ MUSIC….jazz belongs to all of us but the thing that pisses me off is that we can write 10,000 posts to bring old foremat back and nothing is going to change these money mongers’ minds…I hope they all go bankrupt.
My brother ask me what happen to the WAVE Whoever is in charge of that decision needs therapy Totally loved 107.3. So many problems in the world and you just added another. Totally hate hate the new format!!!