WZNE

WZNE
City	Brighton, New York
Broadcast area	Rochester metro area
Frequency	94.1 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding	94.1 The Zone
Programming
Format	Alternative rock; HD2: Indie rock
Ownership
Owner	Stephens Media Group ; (Stephens Media Group Rochester, LLC)
Sister stations	WFKL, WRMM-FM
History
First air date	April 11, 1997
Former call signs	WAQB (1997)
Call sign meaning	We're in the ZoNE
Technical information
Facility ID	6859
Class	A
ERP	1,800 watts
HAAT	124 meters
Transmitter coordinates	43°08′7.00″N 77°35′7.00″W / 43.1352778°N 77.5852778°WCoordinates: 43°08′7.00″N 77°35′7.00″W / 43.1352778°N 77.5852778°W
Links
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	thezone941.com

WZNE (94.1 FM) – branded 94.1 The Zone – is a commercial alternative rock radio station licensed to Brighton, New York, serving the Rochester metro area. WZNE is owned by the Stephens Media Group, and serves as the local affiliate for The Jubal Show. Its studios are located in Rochester and its transmitter is located on Pinnacle Hill in Brighton. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WZNE broadcasts over two HD Radio channels, and is available online, but not on the Western half of Monroe County.^[1]

History[]

94.1 FM signed on the air in March 1997 under the originally assigned calls of WAQB, and with a stunt of instrumentals of rock songs while testing its signal. At 5:35 p.m. on April 11, 1997, 94.1 would officially launch with its current call letters and a Modern AC format as "94.1 the Zone". The first song on "The Zone" was "Stayin Alive" by Bee Gees.^[2]^[3] The station was first under the ownership of American Radio Systems, which would be bought out by Infinity Broadcasting in September 1997 (Infinity became CBS Radio in December 2005). In March 2001, WZNE would evolve to its current format.

When Entercom Communications closed on its purchase of WZNE and its cluster of sister stations from CBS on November 30, 2007, the company ended up with eight FM radio stations in Rochester, which was three stations over the FCC-mandated single-market ownership limit of five FM radio stations in a medium-to-large radio market. As a result, Entercom put WZNE, along with WFKL and WRMM-FM, back on the market. In early May 2008, the Stephens Media Group of Tulsa, Oklahoma agreed to purchase the three stations, subject to FCC regulatory approval. Shortly after the acquisition was announced, Stephens took over the operation of the three stations through a time-brokerage agreement. The deal closed on July 14, 2008.

Bonzai[]

Bonzai is the Zone's Annual summer festival Show. The Show was started in 2009 at The Riverside Festival Grounds in downtown Rochester, where it stayed for two years. In 2011 The Show moved to the larger venue of the Monroe County Fairgrounds. In 2012 it was held at the Highland Bowl. In 2013 it was held at the Main Street Armory, with two stages, one indoors and one outside. In 2014 it was held at Sahlen's Stadium. In 2015 it was moved back to the Main Street Armory. For unknown reasons, Bonzai was discontinued after 2015.

Bonzai 2009 Lineup: The Gay Blades, Smile Empty Soul, Sick Puppies, Street Sweeper Social Club, Sevendust, Framing Hanley, and Tantric
Bonzai 2010 Lineup: New Politics, Crash Kings, Flyleaf, Ed Kowalczyck, Sick Puppies, Hollywood Undead, and Cage The Elephant
Bonzai 2011 Lineup: Airborne Toxic Event, Bayside, Bush, Hollywood Undead, Manchester Orchestra, Puddle of Mudd, and Sleeper Agent
Bonzai 2012 Lineup: Oberhofer, Walk the Moon, The Gaslight Anthem, Eve 6, Our Lady Peace, and The Offspring
Bonzai 2013 Lineup: 10 Years, Crash Kings, Diamond Youth, Dropkick Murphys, Family of the Year, , Panic! At The Disco, Pepper, Sick Puppies, Reel Big Fish
Bonzai 2014 Lineup: Chevelle, A Day To Remember, J Roddy Walston and the Business, Big Data, Tove Lo, and Joywave
Bonzai 2015 Lineup: Rise Against, Meg Myers, Islander, and Night Riots

Rover's Holiday Hangover[]

The Zone and Rover's Morning Glory's annual winter concert at the Main Street Armory which began in 2012.

Current programming[]

Mornings: Music, The station dropped long running morning show, Rovers Morning Glory effective November 16, 2020. They announced they were going to a "music focused morning", before announcing on November 23, they were going to pickup the syndicated Jubal Show.

Middays: Music

Afternoon Drive: Kobe from 3pm-7pm

Nights: Music

Zone DJ's include: Cory "Kobe" Fargo,

Weekend Specialty programming includes: Nothing special

References[]

External links[]

Official website
Corporate List of Stations
WZNE in the FCC FM station database
WZNE on Radio-Locator
WZNE in Nielsen Audio's FM station database

[1] ttp://ibiquity.com/hd_radio/hdradio_find_a_station?state=NY&thisBeColorOver=ff920f&thisBeColorOut=11839d&theCity=74#stationlist

[2] ttp://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1997/RR-1997-04-18.pdf

[3] WAQB Becomes 94.1 The Zone

[1]

[2]

[3]