The station maintains a studio in Warren, while its transmitter is located in Bridgewater.[2]
WAWZ's signal can be heard through parts of Central and Northern New Jersey and New York City, reaching as far south as Ocean and Burlington counties, as well as Eastern Pennsylvania.[3]
The station was first assigned a frequency of 1350 AM, sharing time equally with three other stations: WCDA, WBNX, and WMSG. In later years,[6] at 1380 AM, it shared time with WBNX in New York City.
In the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, the organization was vocal in its support of the Ku Klux Klan, which was unique for a religious denomination. Alma White extensively spoke and wrote about both her and the Pillar of Fire Church's support of the Klan and many of its principles, including anti-Catholicism, white supremacy, antisemitism, nativism, and temperance.[7][8][9][10]
In 1954, the station purchased its spot on the FM dial for approximately $5,000. The modern value of that frequency is estimated to be more than $60 million.[4]
On September 1, 1984, WAWZ sold its part-time AM operation to New York station WBNX. On WAWZ's final day, they produced a special program recalling the station's 53 years of religious broadcasting and, via electrical transcriptions, once again featured the voice of Alma White.[11][12]
WAWZ began airing its current format of contemporary Christian music and gospel as "Star 99.1" in 2003.[4] Previously, the station played traditional and classical music and church services.
On August 1, 2014, Pillar of Fire began leasing WLIR-FM (107.1) in Hampton Bays, New York, bringing WAWZ's programming to the East End of Long Island. WLIR-FM was rebranded as "Star 107.1". The lease ended in April 2015, and WLIR-FM reverted to the Christian-formatted "Hope Radio" until early 2015, when the station was sold.
WAWZ broadcasts in HD Radio with its HD1, HD2, and HD3 channels, providing Artist Experience data, including song titles, artists, and albums on compatible radios. Over the years, 99.1 FM has hosted various formats on its HD sub-channels. The current HD sub-channel formats are:
HD2 - Gospel songs (replaced Christian teaching subchannel in early 2016)
HD3 - The Energy (Christian rock and hip hop) (Launched in 2007 to coincide with the station-sponsored annual youth festival, "Autumn Blaze 2007"). The Energy ceased transmissions in 2014 but resumed in early 2015.
Previous sub-channels
HD2 - Christian teaching (The eight-hour block of teaching programs, which first signed in April 2006, resembled the station's mid-1990s format, including the use of the former tagline, "WAWZ – Your Voice of Faith and Inspiration.")
^The Founding and Operation of WAWZ Radio, V. Capolunghi, Masters Thesis, Kean University, 1977
^Neal, Lynn (June 2009). "Christianizing the Klan: Alma White, Branford Clarke, and the Art of Religious Intolerance". Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture. 78 (2): 350–378. doi:10.1017/S0009640709000523. S2CID162426152. White's words and Clarke's imagery were combined in various ways as a means to spread a message of religious intolerance which was both persuasive and powerful.
^Blee, Kathleen (1991). Women of the Klan. University of California Press. ISBN978-0-520-07876-5. Bishop White's transformation from minister to Klan propagandist is detailed in voluminous autobiographical and political writings. [Bishop] White's anti-Catholic, anti-semitic, and racist message fit well into the Klan's efforts to convince white Protestant women that their collective interests as women. ... were best served by joining the Klan.
