WHTZ (100.3 FM) is a commercial contemporary hit radio station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, and broadcasting to the New York metropolitan area.

In addition to a standard analog transmission, WHTZ broadcasts in the HD Radio format, and streams online via iHeartRadio.

The station, which now had the call sign WHTZ, went back on the air at 6:08 am on August 2, with new program director and morning jock Scott Shannon.

[10][11] Within 74 days of signing on, in autumn 1983, WHTZ had climbed from last place to first in the New York Arbitron ratings book.

[12] Steve Kingston assumed programming/operations manager duties, Frankie Blue became assistant programming director, and Brian Wilson took over mornings.

[13] On August 28, 1987, Epic Records sued WHTZ for playing Michael Jackson and Siedah Garrett's song "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" the day before it was supposed to debut.

[15][16][17] On June 6, 1991, WHTZ was accused of making sexist and racist comments when Steve Kingston told listeners to "be a JAP (Jewish-American princess) for a day".

While The Anti-Defamation League criticized The Morning Zoo for their anti-semitic and sexist comments, Kingston defended the station by saying the statements were harmless.

[18] By 1991, the Top 40 format nationwide was in an identity crisis due to the rise of alternative rock, hip-hop and country.

Z100 responded to this by adding some older songs and introducing an evening talk show called "Love Phones", which began on November 2.

[21][22] Also that year, Z100 dropped the older songs and began mixing in a moderate amount of rock music which wasn't normally being played on Top 40 stations.

By the end of 1994, the majority of the station's music consisted of alternative rock with only a few non-modern-rock-based songs per hour (mostly the big current hits).

During this time, the station also underwent numerous airstaff and management changes; Frankie Blue left in 1995, and Sam Milkman moved up to his position.

Morning host John Lander left in November 1995, due to his contract not being renewed, with more airstaff gradually leaving the station shortly thereafter.

Initially, at that point, Z100 dropped all non-modern rock titles and began playing strictly pop alternative.

Despite having shared the post with other hosts (such as Elliot Segal, now at WWDC) through the years, Duran remains the "Head Zookeeper" to this day.

In October 2007, after years of hovering near the top, Z100 once again became the highest-rated station in New York City, scoring a 5.1 rating in persons 12+ in the Summer book.

That marked the first number-one finish for the station since the 1980s, according to Clear Channel New York programming guru Tom Poleman.

On September 16, 2014, Clear Channel, WHTZ's owners, renamed themselves to their current name of iHeartMedia after its increasingly successful iHeartRadio Internet radio platform.

In 2017, Mark Medina, program director of WHTZ, was named top pop programmer of the year by Billboard.

[26] On June 18, 2020, SiriusXM removed the WHTZ simulcast from its satellite radio service, continuing to offer the station on streaming packages.

The station is the New York home for Premiere Networks' American Top 40, which is also hosted by Seacrest and airs Sunday mornings.

As of 2020, the morning show includes Elvis Duran, Danielle Monaro, Gandhi, Froggy, Skeery Jones, David Brody, "Straight Nate" Marino, producer Sam, Garrett, Scotty B, Coaster Boy Josh, Diamond, and Producer Jake.

The show began syndication on May 22, 2006, starting with WHYI in Miami, followed by WIOQ in Philadelphia on July 23, 2008, and Cleveland's WAKS on August 25, 2008.

[26] The station annually holds popular concerts featuring the world's top-name acts: "Z100's Jingle Ball" at Madison Square Garden in Midtown Manhattan during the winter holiday season, and Z100's Zootopia in late Spring (which was last held in 2009).

It drew in the biggest stars in the world including Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, David Guetta, Pitbull, and LMFAO.