WIOT began as WTOL-FM in October 1949. WIOT was Toledo's first FM rock station when it went on the air December 25, 1972, replacing a beautiful music/classical format. WIOT's call letters came about from doodle using the frequency numbers 1-0-4-7. In Spring of 1972, newly appointed operations manager Chuck Schmidt was trying to derive the calls from the frequency number. 1=I 0=O and 7=T. W-I-O-T. "W" because the station is East of the Mississippi. The origins of the calls and what they mean are hotly contested. Longtime WIOT engineer Dennis P Moon confirms this. Moon was present when Schmidt created the calls in 1972. He is still the chief engineer as of 2019. The call letters were in the past WTOL-FM and WCWA-FM. Buck and O'Connor hosted mornings in the early 1980s. Buck McWilliams and Chris O'Connor. They left WIOT to Milwaukee and then Minneapolis. Other on air personalities at that time...Terry Sullivan one half of the Sullivan and O'Connor show. Lee Randall. Joan Major. Done Jardine. Never could forget Pat Still. Jane Perry. Pat and Jane. In the late 1980s The Bob and Brian morning show became the next Toledo favorite. The show left for Milwaukee where they remain to this day, currently at WHQG. The next morning team that created an impact was The Dawnbusters. Jeff provided all of the voices and skits, while Mark kept the shows pace. The show was a major success. Other DJs during this time were: Program Director Lyn Casey, Michael Young, Don Davis, Dave Duran, Beckey Shock, Dennis O'Brian, Beth Daniels, & Will Worster. In 1994 The station hired the "new" Dawnbusters Carlson and Mckenzie. They brought a new life in morning radio for Toledo. Carlson and Mckenzie drew large morning numbers. After about 2 years Carlson and Mckenzie left for Boston and new owners Enterprise Media hired back Jeff and Mark. In 1998 the station was bought by Jacor Media where they tweaked the format and they inked a deal with syndicated morning show The Bob and Tom Show where it airs to this day. Around this time new jocks were introduced to the listeners. Susan Gates, Troy Michaels and overnights with Grizzly Brown. Darrin Arrens became the PD. Darrin and Susan left in 1999. Don Davis left in 2001 and was replaced by Dave Rossi as PD. WIOT began to return to its major stranglehold on the Toledo rock ratings. Rossi left in 2003 to head back to South Carolina. Troy Michaels took over afternoons and Grizzly moved up to evenings. WIOT's broadcast studio is at the iHeartRadio building at South Superior. The station's transmitter is located at North Wynn and Cedar Point Roads in Oregon, Ohio. In September of 2019 WIOT's transmitter site was named the Dennis P Moon Transmitter Site, in honor of engineer Denny Moon's 50 years at the station. Prior to its home on South Superior, the station was located on the third floor of Fort Industry Square. WIOT's beginnings were at 604 Jackson Street, the site of the former News-Bee building and what is now One Government Center. Their longtime owner was Reams Broadcasting, begun by Fraser Reams Sr. and later by his son, Fraser Junior. Reams also owned WCWA and WTOL-TV and WCWA-FM's transmitter was on WTOL-TV's tower. WIOT is licensed for HD Radio operations. Its HD2 programming consists of a simulcast of WCWA-AM's Fox Sports Radio format.
Broadcast area
The station serves Toledo and northwest Ohio, but its signal also reaches downtown Detroit, the southern and western suburbs as well as most of Essex County, Ontario, including Windsor, Ontario and Leamington, Ontario. Under exceptionally good conditions, the station's signal can reach Chatham, Ontario. The signal reaches as far south as Marion, Ohio and Bucyrus, Ohio and into Michigan as far north as Flint, Michigan, Lapeer, and Port Huron, Michigan before it starts to interfere with Woodstock, Ontario's CIHR-FM, which is also on 104.7 FM. The station also experiences regular interference from Geneva, Ohio's WKKY, which is also on 104.7, near the Wheatley, Ontario and Comber, Ontario areas. During 2011, WIOT was also experiencing interference from Detroit repeater W284BQ, which was simulcasting WGPR's The Oasissmooth jazz subchannel on 104.7 MHz. In May 2011, WIOT filed a complaint with the FCC, saying that W284BQ interferes with WIOT in the Michigan portion of their broadcast area. WIOT had also solicited comments and reception reports from listeners in the affected area. Martz Communications Group, which owns the repeater and programs The Oasis, would soon after establish a website, http://www.savetheoasis.com/, which explains the station's position on the issue, stressing that WIOT should not get special treatment on the grounds that it is an Ohio radio station that serves no part of Detroit, though the statement is not exactly true. WIOT's protected contour does serve parts of the Detroit area, in part due to its grandfathered status. On October 18, 2011, the FCC sided with Clear Channel on the issue, and ordered W284BQ to cease operation immediately. Martz would later apply with the FCC to relocate W284BQ to 93.9, potentially interfering with Windsor, Ontario stationCIDR-FM, then later to 93.5, before giving up on the concept altogether.
