WJZ (AM)

WJZ (1300 kHz) is a commercial radio station in Baltimore, Maryland, owned by Audacy, Inc. WJZ broadcasts a sports betting radio format, via the BetMGM Network during the day and evening, with Infinity Sports Network heard nights and weekends. Its studios are on Clarkview Road in Baltimore, off Jones Falls Expressway (Interstate 83).

WJZ is powered at 5,000 watts, using a directional antenna with a five-tower array. Its transmitter site is on Clays Lane in Windsor Mill. Programming is simulcast on FM translator W285EJ at 104.9 MHz in White Marsh, Maryland. It is also heard on 106.5 WWMX's HD2 digital subchannel.

Federal Communications Commission records list the station's "First License Date" as November 3, 1924, reflecting the date an initial license was issued for the station as WFBR. However, the station has traditionally traced its history to a predecessor station, the Baltimore American newspaper's WEAR, which was first licensed in 1922.

Effective December 1, 1921, the U.S. Department of Commerce, in charge of radio at the time, adopted a regulation formally establishing a broadcasting station category, which set aside the wavelength of 360 meters (833 kHz) for entertainment broadcasts, and 485 meters (619 kHz) for farm market and weather reports. On June 3, 1922, the Baltimore American & News Publishing Company was issued a license for a new station on the shared 360-meter "entertainment" wavelength. The station's call letters, WEAR, were randomly assigned from a sequential roster of available call signs.

WEAR was the third broadcasting station licensed in the state of Maryland, following two earlier Baltimore grants: WKC, which had been licensed the previous March, followed by WCAO in May.

WEAR's June 8 inaugural program included a speech from Mayor William F. Broening and live musical performances. On June 14, 1922, U.S. President Warren G. Harding's speech at the dedication of the Francis Scott Key Monument at Fort McHenry was broadcast by the station. This is generally considered the first time a President of the United States gave a speech over a civilian radio station.

In 1924 WEAR was reassigned to 1150 kHz. The station was deleted on October 27, 1924.

Equipment formerly used by WEAR was acquired to establish another station. On November 3, 1924, the Fifth Regiment of the Maryland National Guard received a license for a station on 1180 kHz. The new station's call letters, WFBR, were also randomly assigned from the sequential list of available call signs; other new stations licensed the same month included WFBK (Hanover, New Hampshire), WFBL (Syracuse, New York), WFBM (Indianapolis, Indiana), WFBN (Bridgewater, Massachusetts), WFBQ (Raleigh, North Carolina), WFBT (Pitman, New Jersey) and WFBU (Boston, Massachusetts). A tradition later developed that WFBR could be rendered as "World's First Broadcasting Regiment". Another slogan, also derived from the call letters, was "First Baltimore Radio".