WVNJ

Previous use of the WVNJ call sign

The WVNJ calls were previously used on an AM station licensed to Newark, New Jersey -- owned by the Newark Evening News, New Jersey's largest newspaper -- operating on AM 620 from the 1948 until 1983. That station played adult standards as well until it was sold in 1983. That station became a Spanish-language station WSKQ in 1983, a Sports station in 1996, and a brokered station by 2003 known today as WSNR. The previous WVNJ was also co-owned with an FM station on 100.3 known as WVNJ-FM. That station played Beautiful Music. The WVNJ FM Transmitter was located on a tower at the intersection of Eagle Rock and Prospect Avenues in West Orange New Jersey. The Station operated with a 5 bay RCA antenna at 670 Ft. Although licensed in Newark, studios, sales offices and AM transmitter were located on Tower Road in Livingston, N.J. The AM antenna system was a 5 tower in line directional array,fed with 5kW day & night. The Studio/office building also housed a backup FM transmitter (RCA) with an antenna on one of the AM towers. They were also sold in 1983 and became a CHR station as WHTZ/Z100 which they still are today. 1160 WVNJ is not and never was in any way affiliated with the previous stations using these calls.

History

WVNJ began operation on AM 1160 in December 1993. The station initially offered an oldies format featuring mostly R & B music from 1955 to 1974. The format did not do well and in January 1996 WVNJ flipped to an adult standards format featuring the music of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Mills Brothers, Peggy Lee, Tommy Dorsey, Ray Charles, Nat "King" Cole, Johnny Mathis, Bing Crosby, McGuire Sisters, Bobby Darin, Perry Como, Glenn Miller, Sammy Davis Jr., and many others. The station stayed away from baby boomer pop with the exception of quazi-rock and roll artists like Ray Charles. The station became known as "The Station Of The Stars".

The station also added legendary former 1130 WNEW air personalities such as Ted Brown, Jim Lowe, Jim Harlan, Mike Prelee, Mike Myers & Bobby Ryan. Bill Gaghan was the PD during Ted Brown's tenure. Throughout 1996, 1997, and 1998 the station was very profitable but ratings were modest at best. With WQEW leaving the format after Christmas of 1998, it was hoped that WVNJ would pick up some of their advertisers and ratings. But Adult Standards became a tough format to sell in 1999. WVNJ was losing sponsors throughout 1999. At that point, WVNJ began automating evenings and overnights.

In 2002, WVNJ began selling blocks of evening time as well as blocks of weekend time to specialty programmers as well as for infomercials. By 2003, WVNJ added more infomercials to middays during the week as well in order to turn a profit. By 2006, WVNJ was down to only a few hours of music per week.

WVNJ "The Voice"

Starting in late 2006, WVNJ became " The Voice". When the format first began the station remained playing music furthermore more talk shows and infomericals were added as 2007 rolled in. WVNJ began to lose the standards music and added more talk and infomericals. Later on in 2007 WVNJ added its first morning talk show called "The Voice In The Morning" with Gary O'Neill and Kathleen Maloney of (WINS-AM]. The show was canceled in early November 2007 and replaced in January 2008 by another local morning show. The new morning show is a talk show hosted by Sam Greenfield (formerly of WEVD and WWRL) and long time WVNJ announcer Pete Buckey. The show airs currently 7:00-9:00am. WVNJ-1160 airs mostly health and money talk shows from the Business Talk radio network throughout the day and night. The only standard/big band show left on WVNJ is syndicated Big Band Jump, which airs 3pm-5pm Sundays. WVNJ is rarely in the local ratings and is Bergen County's only AM station. It can be heard during the day and night in North Jersey, Rockland County, New York, Westchester County, New York and New York City boroughs of Queens and the Bronx.