Entries in 2001 Category

January 2001:

• WSCG-FM 106.3 Lakeview switched its format from Country to News/Talk as part of the just-launched Michigan Talk Radio Network, which began service on January 1st. MTRN listed 11 stations on its affiliate list as service began.


• Gene Taylor of Oldies WOMC-FM 104.3 Detroit passed away at age 53


• Adult Contemporary WLDR-FM 101.9 Traverse City was sold to Fort Bend Broadcasting by Donald Witala for $3.6 million


• Country WKJF-FM 92.9 Cadillac was granted a construction permit to move its tower from Osceola county to Kalakaska county. The change would give the station better coverage of Traverse City.


• New owner 990 Investments took Sports WMAX-AM 1440 off the air in order to make upgrades to the facility. The station was expected back on the air later in the year with religious programming.


• WKBZ-AM 1520 Muskegon dropped its News/Talk format and was simply playing a loop of recorded music.


• Johnny Edwards and the rest of the Johnny in the Morning crew were let go from the morning drive slot at Modern AC WPLT-FM 96.3 Detroit


• WDOW-AM 1440 Dowagiac changed its format from News/Talk to Sports


• Cable TV station MSNBC announced that it would simulcast WJR-AM 760 Detroit's Mitch Albom Show from 3-5pm

February:

• WKBZ-AM 1520 Muskegon went silent and then later returned with Radio Disney. Owner WLC Broadcasting filed for
  bankruptcy protection.


• WGRY-AM 1230 Grayling dropped its simulcast of Adult Contemporary WQON-FM 101.1 in favor of Adult Standards


• WUPT-LP 49 Crystal Falls rejoined the UPN network


• Former WJBK-AM and WXYZ-AM Detroit DJ Ed McKenzie (Jack the Bellboy) passed away Monday from multiple illnesses at the age of 90


• Fort Bend Broadcasting acquired WJZZ-AM 1210 Kingsley from Radio One for about $225,000


• Top 40 WKPK-FM 106.7 Gaylord refocused as Adult Top 40


• Country WYCD-FM 99.5 Detroit raised over $1 million during a two-day radiothon for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital


• Modern Rock WLJZ-FM 94.5 Mackinaw City was granted a construction permit to upgrade its power from 18,500 watts to 40,000

March:

• WWCK-AM 1570 Flint dropped its simulcast of Top 40 WWCK-FM 105.5 in favor of Gospel programming


• Low power UPN affiliate WUPN-LP 49 Crystal Falls was granted a construction permit to move to channel 25 with Class A status


• After dropping its 'Planet' positioner earlier in the year, FM 96.3 Detroit changed its call sign from WPLT to WDVD


• WJZZ-AM 1210 Kingsley shifted from Oldies to Talk as part of the Michigan Talk Radio Network for most of the day. During afternoon drive the station airs the audio from CNN Headline News.


• Fort Bend Broadcasting announced the acquisition of Hot AC WBNZ-FM 99.3 Benzie from Crystal Clear Communications


• The Captain, Bill Vogel, announced his retirement from Top 40 WKHQ-FM 105.9 Charlevoix after about 20 years. He is currently the afternoon host on the Michigan Talk Radio Network.


• Business Talk WCAS-AM 1290 Saline switched its format to Adult Standards


• Modern Rock WAVC-FM 93.9 Mio switched from a simulcast of WJZJ-FM 95.5/WLJZ-FM 94.5 to a simulcast of Country WMKC-FM 102.9 St. Ignace


• Country WXIX-FM 94.1 Jackson switched its format to Classic Hits as WVIC-FM


• Radio Disney WKBZ-AM 1520 Muskegon went silent


• Silent WSRI-FM 92.1 Beulah returned to the air simulcasting Adult Contemporary WLDR-FM 101.9 Traverse City


• Silent WSRQ-FM 100.1 Bear Lake returned to the air simulcasting Hot AC WBNZ-FM 99.3 Benzie

April:

• WWJ-TV 62 Detroit launched its 11:00pm newscast on April 2nd


• WADW-FM 105.5 Pickford/Sault Ste Marie signed on the air with an Oldies format as Memories 105-5


• Bob Driscoll, owner of WION-AM 1430 Ionia, passed away unexpectedly. Before buying WION, Bob owned part of the Michigan Farm Radio Network.


• Classic Hits WEVS-FM 92.7 Saugatuck changed its call sign to WYVN and repositioned itself as 'The Van'


• WMPL-FM/AM 93.5/920 Hancock was sold for $237,000 by Copper Country Enterprises to Victor Corporation


• John Mason exited Urban WJLB-FM 97.9 Detroit. Mason had been the station's long time morning show host. He would reappear later in the year at Adult Urban WDMK-FM 102.7 Detroit


• WLEN-FM 103.9 Adrian was a winner of the National Association of Broadcasters Crystal Award- given to stations for their efforts "to improve the quality of life in their surrounding communities"


• The remaining 70% interest in WCUP-FM 105.7 L'Anse was sold from S & S Broadcasting to Keweenaw Bay Indian Community. Keweenaw Bay previously held 30% of the station- the deal pays off S & S Broadcaasting's current debt


• WMUS-AM 1090 Muskegon dropped its long-time simulcast of Country formatted sister station WMUS-FM 106.9 in favor of News-Talk programming as "NewsTalk 1090"

May:

• WZRZ-FM 93.7 Frankenmuth hit the air for the first time today with an 80's based Adult Contemporary/Pop format. It is believed the station is still in its testing phase


• Wilks Broadcasting has applied to change the city of license of WCEN-FM 94.5 from Mt. Pleasant to Hemlock


• Coltrace Communications sold to Clear Channel 4,900 watt Adult Standards daytime-only WHGR-AM 1290 Houghton Lake for $250,000. The station was later taken off the air to make way for upgraded facilities for Clear Channel owned WOOD-AM 1300 Grand Rapids


• Winstar Broadcasting has sold the construction permit for new TV channel 19 in Marquette to Montana Broadcasting Group (Equity Broadcasting)


• WXYT-AM 1270 Detroit applied to increase its daytime and nighttime power to 48,000 watts using a nine tower array from a site in Monroe county


• Longtime Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM 100.3 Detroit morning host Jim Harper exited the station and later in the year appeared at WMGC-FM 105.1, which changed its format to Adult Contemporary from Rhythmic Oldies in September

June:

• Northern Radio Network sold silent station WHST-FM 106.1 Tawas City to Northern Christian Radio


• WLQV-AM 1500 Detroit along with other 2 other stations on AM 1500 (WTOP Washington D.C. and KSTP St. Paul) have reached a deal on their nighttime operations that will be approved by the FCC. Each station will be able to gain local coverage at the expense of losing skywave protection.


• WHLS-AM 1450 Pt. Huron and simulcasting station WHLX-AM 1590 Marine City switched format from Oldies to Adult Standards


• WMPL-FM 93.5 and WMPL-AM 920 Hancock began simulcasting full time with new Talk and Sports programming. WMPL-AM previously aired mostly religious-based talk and WMPL-FM featured both religious and secular talk along with a Christian-based modern rock program nights.


• Oldies WOBE-FM 100.7 Crystal Falls increased its power to 100,000 watts


• Talk WSCG-FM 106.3 Lakeview/Greenville switched format to Classic Hit Country. The station was one of the first affiliates of the Michigan Talk Radio Network


• The Michigan Association of Broadcasters, in cooperation with the Michigan State Police, Michigan Sheriffs Association, and the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police, organized many of the TV and radio stations across the state and launched the Amber Alert of Michigan


• The Detroit Pistons signed a deal with Clear Channel-owned WDFN-AM 1130 Detroit to make that station the home for Pistons play-by-play over the next 5 seasons. The Pistons had previously been heard on Infinity's WWJ-AM 950


• Michigan's first low power FM station was granted a construction permit by the FCC: Prayer Tower Ministry received the CP for a station in Cassopolis at 97.1


• At 9:00am on the 30th, WGRV-FM 105.1 Detroit 'The Groove' switched format from Urban Oldies to Adult Contemporary. The station changed its call sign to WMGC-FM as 'Magic 105.1'

July:

• WDVD-FM 96.3 Detroit repositioned itself more towards Hot Adult Contemporary instead of Modern Adult Contemporary and began using on-air positioners incorporating its WDVD call sign


• Country WKJF-FM 92.9 Cadillac switched its format to Smooth Jazz as 'The Breeze' with new calls WJZQ. The station had previously been simulcasting much of its programming from sister station WTCM-FM 103.5 Traverse City. WKJF-FM plans to move its broadcasting tower north from its current location, resulting in better signal coverage to Traverse City


• Oldies/Adult Contemporary WUPY-FM 101.1 Ontonagon has switched format to Country as 'Y101 Superior Country'. The Superior Country positioner moves from WCUP-FM 105.7 L'Anse which remains country, but now as 'Eagle Country'


• WJOJ-FM 89.7 Harrisville/Alpena signed on with a Contemporary Christian format


• Wilks Broadcasting is expanding its Tri-Cities presence with the purchase of Urban WTLZ-FM 107.1 (Hot 107) from Cumulus Broadcasting for $3.75 million


• Adult Contemporary WCXT-FM 105.3 plans to downgrade its signal as the station's owner, Waters Broadcasting, will be paid $2.79 million by Salem Communications as part of an agreement that will bring a 105.3 FM online closer to Milwaukee, WI with more power than originally proposed


• Helen Hardy Brown passed away at age 98. Brown helped found WFBE-FM Flint along with the Flint Youth Theatre


• WHST-FM 106.1 Tawas City has returned to the air as part of the Northern Christian Radio network


• WNGE-FM 99.5 Negaunee/Marquette is on the air simulcasting AM sister station WIAN-AM 1240 Ishpeming


• Regent Broadcasting announced the purchase of two Michigan stations in seperate transactions worth $7 million total: Classical WFGR-FM 98.7 Grand Rapids is being sold by Haith Broadcasting and will be Regent's 5th station in the market. WZRZ-FM 93.7 Frankenmuth is being acquired from Frankenmuth Radio Company and will the the groups 4th Flint-area signal


• Hot Adult Contemporary WUPS-FM 98.5 Houghton Lake shifted its format to Rock AC


• News-Talk WOOD-AM 1300 Grand Rapids filed an application with the FCC to change its facilites to 20,000 watts directional both daytime and nighttime from 4 towers in northern Allegan county near Moline


• Classic Country WDEE-AM 1500 Reed City went silent


• Adult Standards WHGR-AM 1290 Houghton Lake went silent


• Midwest Communications purchased Classic Hits WYVN-FM 92.7 Saugatuck from Conrad Communications for $1.45 million. Midwest has been operating the station under a local marketing agreement since January

August:

• Fort Bend Broadcasting agreed to purchase the construction permit for 104.1 FM Pinconning from Russell LaFave for $250,000. The sale would later fall through


• WMPL-FM 93.5 Hancock dropped its Talk/Sports format in favor of Hot Adult Contemporary as 'Mix 93.5' - the station received a new call sign, WKMJ-FM.


• An agreement was reached to sell WAAM-AM 1600 Ann Arbor by Whitehall Enterprises to Clear Channel for $2 million. In 2002, the FCC balked on the deal due to the number of stations that would be owned by Clear Channel in Ann Arbor. Both parties then agreed to walk away from the sale.


• Northern Radio Network reached a deal to sell off WBMI-FM 105.5 West Branch to Independent TV Productions, headed by Richard Senninger, for $100,000. This will be Independent TV Productions' first radio station. WBMI's previous format was Oldies before going silent in November 2000.


• After nearly 40 years, Michigan Radio (WUOM-FM 91.7 Ann Arbor, WFUM-FM 91.1 Flint, and WVGR-FM 104.1 Grand Rapids) officially ended its play-by-play coverage of University of Michigan football. Longtime play-by-play announcer Tom Hemmingway retired after last fall's season.


• The license for WORB-FM 90.3 Farmington Hills was cancelled by the FCC. WORB was owned by Oakland Community College which voluntarily turned in the license for the station. Operations at WORB ceased on September 22, 1999.


• WZUU-FM 92.3 Allegan/Kalamazoo switched format from Classic Rock to Active Rock

September:

• Chris Merrill and Ron Robinson of Oldies WMTE-FM 101.5 Manistee put the wraps on setting a new world's record for longest broadcast by a duo earlier this morning at about 3:15am. The guys kicked off their marathon at 10am Thursday 8/30 and lasted for 112 hours- 27 more than the old record of 85.


• ABC affiliate WBKP-TV 5 Calumet began originating its local programming from the Marquette Mall in Marquette instead of Calumet


• Marathon Media agreed to sell all of its U.P. stations for $7.95 million to Northern Star Broadcasting. The 11 stations being sold include: WYSS-FM 99.5 and WKNW-AM 1400 Sault Ste Marie, WIMK-FM 93.1 and WMIQ-AM 1450 Iron Mountain, WIHC-FM 97.9 Newberry, WZNL-FM 94.3 Norway, and in the Marquette area- WJPD-FM 92.3, WUPK-FM 94.1, WNGE-FM 99.5, WIAN-AM 1240, and WDMJ-AM 1320


• Birach Broadcasting purchased Adult Standards WMJH-AM 810 Grand Rapids and Talk/Sports WMFN-AM 640 Zeeland from Cook Media for $1.9 million


• The FCC granted the American Family Association a construction permit for a new non-commerical FM station at 90.9 in Freeland


• David Hicks passed away at age 61. His expansive broadcasting career started as a student and as a co-host of a Saturday morning program on WFYC in his hometown of Alma. He then went on to work at WCER in Charlotte, WILS in Lansing and became Vice President/General Manager of WKFR, Kalamazoo and WKNR, Battle Creek. In 1985 he founded Hick Broadcasting Corporation, which included WKMI, WKFR, WRKR and WRBR in Indiana. In addition to his devotion to his community and to Michigan broadcasting, Mr. Hicks also served on the Michigan Association of Broadcasters' board from 1980-1981 and then as chairman of the Radio Board for the National Association of Broadcasters.


• WBMI-FM 105.5 West Branch returned to the air with a satellite-fed Adult Top-40 format


• WDIV-TV 4 weathercaster Chuck Gaidica was announced as the new morning show host at Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM 100.3 Detroit

October:

• News WNWZ-AM 1410 Grand Rapids switched its programming from a feed of CNN's Headline News to a lineup of talk programs as NewsTalk 1410 AM


• WHAK-AM 960 Rogers City returned to the air after being silent since November 2000. The station's format is talk with programming from MTRN. Before going silent, the station's format was Classic Country.


• The FCC granted WXYT-AM 1270 a construction permit to increase daytime power to 48,000 watts from 5,000. The new directional signal will broadcast from a 9-tower array in northeast Monroe county. The commission would later grant a similar construction permit for nighttime operations


• WGRI-FM 88.9 Flint joined the 'K-Love' network with new call sign WAKL, which features a Contemporary Christian format. The new programming replaced the station's previous Black Gospel format


• Adult Contemporary WFAT-FM 96.5 Kalamazoo changed its format to Classic Hits


• WCCW-AM 1310 Traverse City switched format from Adult Standards to Sports as "All Sports AM 13". Sister station WKJF-AM 1370 Cadillac continues to simulcast AM 1310


• WNGE-FM 99.5 Negaunee/Marquette dropped its simulcast of News/Talk/Sports WIAN-AM in favor of Oldies


• WJKN-AM 1510 Jackson returned to the air simulcasting owner Spring Arbor College's Religious WSAE-FM 106.9


• Country WCMM-FM 102.5 Gulliver/Manistique morning man Jay Scott passed away after a short battle with cancer at age 38


• The FCC granted the request of WCEN-FM 94.5 to modify its community of license from Mt. Pleasant to Hemlock, effective as of December


• Josh Lewin, who handled Detroit Tigers play-by-play for Fox Sports Net Detroit, stepped down


• LIN TV purchased ABC affiliate WOTV-TV 41 Battle Creek

November:

• UPN affiliate WUPT-CA 49 Crystal Falls moved to channel 25


• WJR-AM 760 Detroit evening host David Newman suffered a stroke and is off the air while recuperating


• WJR's Mitch Albom has offically pulled the plug on his afternoon show's TV simulcast on MSNBC, which had been preempted since Sept. 11


• Adult Contemporary stations WOOD-FM and WTRV-FM Grand Rapids both dropped regular programming to take on All-Christmas formats


• The FCC granted WWBN-FM 101.5 Tuscola a construction permit to move tower from near Millington in Tuscola County to near Otisville in Genesee County. Power will decrease to 1,800 watts from 6,000, HAAT to increase to 489 feet from 328, pattern will change from directional to non-directional. The change is being made to better cover the city of Flint

December:

• Active Rock WRXF-FM 103.1 and Sports WLSP-AM 1530 Lapeer were sold by Covenant Communications to Regent Broadcasting for $1.3 million. WRXF dropped its Active Rock format in favor of a simulcast of soon-to-be sister station Rock WWBN-FM 101.5 Tuscola


• Patricia MacDonald-Garber purchased the construction permit for WKAD-FM 93.7 Harrietta from Donald Noordyk


• The FCC granted Superior Communications, operator of Contemporary Christian station The Light (WLGH Lansing, WEJC Gladwin, WTLI Boyne City) a construction permit for a new non-commercial Class A FM station at 104.9 at Lake City


• Oldies WKNX-AM 1250 Bay City added talk programs to its weekday schedule


• The FCC granted Todd Stuart Noordyk (Great Lakes Radio) a construction permit for a new class A FM station to be licensed to Manistique. The frequency was won at auction in October 1999 for $196,000. The station will be 6,000 watts at 171 feet


• Rhythmic Oldies WKWM-AM 1140 Grand Rapids changed its format to Adult Standards


• Smooth Jazz WJZQ-FM 92.9 Cadillac began broadcasting from its new facilities in Kalkaska county. The station's old transmitter was located in northern Osceola county.

December 30:

* All Access reports that the new program director for Top 40 WKQI-FM 95.5 Detroit is likely to be Dom Theodore, who will be returning to his home town from Houston. An official announcement is expected soon. In the same report, it's noted that night jock Booker is reportedly headed off to New York City.

* Replaced: The Dr. Laura Slessinger program, formerly heard 3-6pm on WKMI-AM 1360 Kalamazoo by Sean Hannity, who's program takes the same time slot

December 28:

* Country WBCT-FM remained the top station in Grand Rapids for the Sept-Nov reporting period among all listeners age 12 and above. News/Talk WOOD-AM moved into second place followed by Top 40 WSNX-FM. Rounding out the top 5 were Classic Rock WLAV-FM and Active Rock WKLQ-FM.

December 26:

* WKWM-AM 1140 Grand Rapids has dropped its Rhythmic Oldies format in favor of Adult Standards. The programming is syndicated from Jones Satellite Networks' Music of Your Life feed- DX-midAMerica.com

* Smooth Jazz WJZQ-FM 92.9 Cadillac is now broadcasting from its new facilities in Kalkaska county, which results in a better signal over the Traverse City area. The station's old transmitter was located in northern Osceola county.

December 21:

* Dana McDaniel has been named as news director for WJBK-TV 2 Detroit. McDaniel had been in the job on an interim basis since the departure of Neil Goldstein in August- Detroit Free Press

* FCC Action: Granted Todd Stuart Noordyk (Great Lakes Radio) a construction permit for a new class A FM station to be licensed to Manistique. The frequency was won at auction in October 1999 for $196,000. The station will be 6,000 watts at 171 feet.

December 19:

* WHTC-AM 1450 Holland is once again operating 24 hours/day. The station is authorized for overnight operations, but since the mid-1980's has signed off at about midnight. The overnight shift will be staffed by Dani Richards. The station's morning show has new faces as well- Greg Borgman moves from Metro Traffic to the 5-9:30am shift, joining news director Gary Stevens who arrives from WFDF-AM 910 Flint. Christian talker WWJQ-AM 1260 Zeeland has added some secular talk to its lineup of mostly Christian-based programming. The station has affiliated with CNN and now features Larry King Live weeknights at 9pm- Grand Rapids Press

December 18:

* Taking over as morning co-host at Country WITL-FM 100.7 Lansing will be Banana Don Johnson. Johnson will be paired with Stephanie McCoy. Former morning co-host Scott Miller is no longer with the station- All Access

* New music and assistant program director at Classic Rock 94.7 WCSX Detroit is Laura Lee. She also will he heard on-air for fill-in duties. A Cleveland native, Lee arrives from Rockford, IL where she was program and music director for Classic Hits WYHY. She replaces Chris Herrmann, who left in August for WBOS Boston.

December 17:

* Format change for WKNX means more talk: WKNX-AM 1250 Bay City will change it's station name from Memories 1250 to Talk/Oldies 1250 effective December 19th when it begins all Christmas programming through Christmas day, from 6am till 5pm. The name change will promote programming changes that officially begin on Wednesday, December 26th, to include daily Talk programs between 9am and 6pm. WKNX has served the Saginaw Valley and Thumb area since 1947 and originally broadcast at 1210 kHz. John W. and Kathy (Libbey) Blehm, of Birch Run, own WKNX radio and have operated it through J&K Media Co. since 1994. The station moved into a new studio/office building, on Gabel Road in Saginaw, last January.

WKNX was Saginaw's original all music radio station and has featured Family Friendly Oldies for many years. According to General Manager John W. Blehm the wide variety of Oldies will not disappear, but Family Friendly Talk will be added.

The daily morning lineup will start with Ric Allen playing Oldies from 6 till 9am, a one hour talk program with veteran broadcaster Bob Dyer and a swap shop show with Casey Graves. Bob Dyer will feature more Oldies from 11am till 1pm followed by Focus on the Family with James Dobson. Janet Parshall's America will air at 2pm followed by the The Michael Medved Show at 4pm. SRN News, Business Briefs and Sports Headlines will be added along with more short features like The Cal Thomas Commentary.

The Family Friendly theme will continue in all programming with new talk shows that the whole family can listen to. Morning programs will be of a local nature with some nationally syndicated afternoon programs covering topics that affect families around the nation. The program guide on the station's website, http://www.wknx.com, will be updated when the changes take place. Most changes affect daily programming, but some weekend Talk will also be added. Blehm said "whether it's information or entertainment WKNX will continue to be the conservative voice for the families the Saginaw Valley".

* Released: DJ Marc Hunter from WMXG-FM 106.3 Stephenson/Escanaba. Hunter also hosted a Friday evening rock/metal program.

* Former Tigers catcher Lance Parrish will join Frank Beckmann as color analyst on WKBD-TV 50 Detroit's broadcast of Detroit Tigers baseball this summer- Detroit Free Press

December 14:

* Bill Anthony has been named program director of WBXX-FM 95.3 Battle Creek- All Access

* FCC Action: Granted the voluntary assignement of license for WOTV-TV 41 Battle Creek from Channel 41 Inc to WOOD License Company

December 13:

* Another round of Detroit-area radio layoffs- this time at News WWJ-AM 950: Let go due to 'rightsizing' were sports reporter Tom Balog, and midday co-host Pat Vitale, and overnighter Earle Dickinson. Afternoon co-host Jayne Bower will add some midday hours, she'll be on-air from noon-2pm and again from 3-6pm. WWJ and sister station Sports WXYT-AM 1270 will now share sportscasts.

December 12:

* Changes at Rock Hits WLLC-FM 106.7 Detroit include the release of night jock Scott Adams and midday host Carey Carlson moving to weekends only. The midday and evening shifts will be cyberjocked. The move to cut Adams and Carlson is part of Clear Channel's downsizing efforts.

* Also out of a job due to downsizing is WJLB-FM 97.9 afternoon traffic host Cheron Mann. In addition, WJLB has been instructed to release its programming assistant as part of Clear Channel's cutbacks- Inside Black Radio

December 11:

* News and talk stations WJR-AM and WWJ-AM continued to top the fall ratings trends for Detroit according to the numbers released today for September-November. Oldies WOMC-FM remained third followed by Smooth Jazz WVMV-FM and Urban WJLB-FM. Rocker WRIF-FM, which had been the 4th most popular station in the springtime, fell to a 10th place tie with Country WYCD-FM. WWJ enjoyed the biggest ratings gain since the first fall trend, moving from 5.9 to 6.4 for listeners age 12 and above.

December 10:

* Let go this week from Sports WDFN-AM 1130 Detroit due to downsizing by corporate parent Clear Channel were midday co-host Eric Pate and evening host Mike Bower (The Meat Shop). Brandon Tierney takes on the midday slot by himself- he's elevated from weekends; Greg Brady shifts from midday cohost to evenings.

* FCC Actions: Red-flagged the sale of WRXF-FM 103.1 and WLSP-AM 1530 Lapeer from Covenant Communications to Regent Broadcasting to further study ownership concentration in the Flint market; Granted WBUP-TV 10 Ishpeming a modification to its construction permit to increase tower height to 1394 feet from 1352

December 7:

* Longtime sports commentator Ron Cameron returns to the Detroit airwaves for weekend duty at Fox Sports Radio outlet WXDX-AM 1310. Cameron will be heard Saturdays and Sundays from 10am-noon and says he plans to "tell it like it is".

* Add WHLS-AM 1450 Pt. Huron and WHLX-AM 1590 Marine City to the list of stations with Christmas formats- the Westwood One Adult Standards stations began the yuletide programming on Thanksgiving Day.

* Michael Mannino has resigned his position as network director of affiliate relations for the Michigan Radio Network, effective at the end of the year- All Access

December 6:

* Talk WKMI-AM 1360 Kalamazoo has dropped its local morning show, Marci and Company, in favor of the syndicated Imus in the Morning show. This marks the I-man's second go-round at WKMI. There is no word on the status of former host Marci Persky. The move happens just days after the retirement of the station's long time president and general manager Ed Sackley, who also held the same role at sister stations Top 40 WKFR-FM 103.3 and Rock WRKR-FM 107.7.

* The ratings for Fox Sports Net Detroit continue to soar: Through 15 Red Wings telecasts this season an FSN, the average rating is 8.2 -that's a year-to-year increase of 116% (8.2 vs. 3.8). Coverage of the Pistons on FSN is being watched by twice the number of viewers from a season ago. The average rating is 3.4 over the first six telecasts, 100% better than the 1.7 at this stage in 2000. The channel also established all-time marks for its coverage of the 2001 MHSAA Football and Girls Basketball Flnals. The seven live football telecasts on Nov. 23-24 averaged a 1.5 rating, 114% better than the 0.7 average in 2000 and 50% better than the previous high-water mark of 1.0 in 1998. The Division 3 title game between Farmington Hills Harrison and Fruitport earned a 3.0 rating, the most-watched game in the four-year history of FSN's prep football coverage. The three live girls basketball telecasts on Dec. 1 averaged a 0.5 rating - 150% higher than last year's 0.2 average (4 live games) and 25% better than the previous best average rating of 0.4 in 1999 (3 live games).

* FCC Actions: Granted Superior Communications, operator of Contemporary Christian station The Light (WLGH Lansing, WEJC Gladwin, WTLI Boyne City) a construction permit for a new non-commercial Class A FM station at 104.9 at Lake City- power to be 1,600 watts @ 489 feet; Granted WHKB-FM 102.3 Houghton the following modification to its construction permit- power to 6,000 watts from 4,800, HAAT to 328 feet from 344

December 5:

* Patricia MacDonald-Garber will be purchasing the construction permit for WKAD-FM 93.7 Harrietta from Donald Noordyk. MacDonald-Garber will operate the station under the banner Cadillac Broadcasting; she already owns 6 other northern Michigan stations including WKHQ-FM, Lite FM (WLXV/WLXT), and 3 AM's- M Street Daily

* Tony LaBrie survives the Regent purchase of WRXF and is named as music director for Rock WWBN-FM 101.5 Tuscola. He'll also man the microphone from 2-6pm. Labrie had been program director at Radio X in addition to an on-air role- All Access

December 4:

* WRXF-FM 103.1 Lapeer (Radio X) has dropped its Active Rock format in favor of a simulcast of soon-to-be sister Rock station WWBN-FM 101.5 Tuscola (Banana 101.5). WRXF is being operated by Regent Communications as part of a local marketing agreement- Regent is in the process of purchasing the station, and sister station Sports WLSP-AM 1530, from Covenant Communications.

* Weekend anchor/reporter Meg Oliver is leaving Detroit TV stations WKBD 50 and WWJ 62 to take a job as the main anchor in Fresno, CA- Detroit Free Press

* FCC Action: Granted W201CF 88.1 Baldwin (translator of KAWZ-FM, Twin Falls ID) its license to cover for a new station

December 1:

* Active Rock WRXF-FM 103.1 and Sports WLSP-AM 1530 Lapeer have been sold by Covenant Communications to Regent Broadcasting for $1.3 million. Once the deal receives FCC approval, Regent will own 6 stations in the Flint area (WCRZ-FM 107.9 and WFNT-AM 1470 Flint, WWBN-FM 101.5 Tuscola, WZRZ-FM 93.7 Frankenmuth, plus WRXF and WLSP)- R&R Online

November 30:

* WODJ-FM Grand Rapids afternoon host and promotions director 'Big Magnussen' has left the station- All Access

November 29:

* Country WBCT-FM remained the top rated station in Grand Rapids according to today's Arbitrend 12+ report. Top 40 WSNX-FM, Classic Rock WLAV-FM, News/Talk WOOD-AM, and Adult Contemporary WOOD-FM round out the top five stations in the first trend of the fall ratings period. Visit the Michiguide.com ratings page for the numbers.

November 28:

* Chili Walker loses the interim tag on the role of program director at Modern Rock WWDX-FM 92.1 Lansing- All Access

* FCC Actions: Assigned the call sign WUVS-LP to LPFM at 103.7 Muskegon; Granted WMQT-FM 107.7 Ishpeming a construction permit for a minor change to move tower from southeast of Ishpeming to southwest of Marquette

November 23:

* The trend for radio stations to drop their regular format for all-holiday music continues. In the Detroit market, Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM 100.3 has switched to Christmas music for the long holiday weekend. AC rival WMGC-FM 105.1 also announced plans to be all-holiday music on Saturday and Sunday this weekend. Both stations will likely feature a hybrid of holiday and regular songs on Monday. Adult Standards CKWW-AM 580 has added Christmas music as of Thanksgiving and will gradually increase the number of holiday songs in their playlist until December 17th when the station will feature all-Christmas tunes through December 26th. As Christmas gets closer and closer, expect most area stations to heavily feature "songs of the season" as stations try to reflect the spirit of the country and the need to feel good again.

* FCC Actions: Granted the voluntary transfer of license from Gospel Radio International to Educational Media Foundation for WAKL-FM 88.9 Flint; Granted WKQS-FM 101.9 Negaunee a construction permit to increase HAAT from 535 to 1007 feet and change tower location from southeast to northeast of Ishpeming; Granted WFXD-FM 103.3 Marquette a construction permit to increase HAAT from 515 feet to 938 feet and change tower location from southwest of Marquette to northeast of Ishpeming (WKQS and WFXD will share a common tower)

November 21:

* New program director at Modern Rock WGRD-FM 97.9 Grand Rapids is Bobby Duncan, effective Dec 3- All Access

* Low power TV station W68CH (channel 68) Highland Park/Detroit is now simulcasting its signal on channel 33. The station has a construction permit for the channel 33 facilities and will eventually be required to turn off channel 68.

* FCC Action: Granted the West Michigan Community Help Network its construction permit for a new LPFM station at 103.7 in Muskegon

November 19:

* FCC Action: Granted WWBN-FM 101.5 Tuscola a construction permit to move tower from near Millington in Tuscola County to near Otisville in Genesee County. Power will decrease to 1,800 watts from 6,000, HAAT to increase to 489 feet from 328, pattern will change from directional to non-directional.

November 18:

* New program director and afternoon host at WOOD-FM 105.7 Grand Rapids is John Patrick, who moves from sister stations in Battle Creek- Grand Rapids Press

November 15:

* FCC Action: Granted the voluntary transfer of license for WZRZ-FM 93.7 Frankenmuth from Frankenmuth Radio Company to Regent Broadcasting

November 14:

* Toledo's WRWK-FM 106.5 ended its stunting and debuted its new format this afternoon- Modern Rock as 106-5 The Zone. The station previously was programmed with Active Rock.

November 13:

* News/Talk WJR-AM remained on top of the latest Detroit 12+ ratings trend released today, with All News WWJ-AM moving up to second place. Oldies WOMC-FM moved to third place, followed by Urban WJLB-FM, and Smooth Jazz WVMV-FM. Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM slipped to 6th place overall. Stations making strong gains include WOMC and Adult Contemporary WMGC-FM.

November 12:

* WOOD-FM 105.7 Grand Rapids has moved to an All-Christmas format effective today and repositioned itself as "The New Star 105.7", replacing Adult Contemporary "EZ-105.7". Robb Westaby remains in the morning slot, followed Mary Ellen Murphy middays. A permanent afternoon slot hasn't been announced, Delilah will continue for evenings. The station is making the move to All-Christmas this year in an effort to connect with listeners that desire the good feelings of the Holiday season.

* WTRV-FM 100.5 Grand Rapids also switched to All-Christmas this morning- dropping its Adult Contemporary format until after the Holiday season. WTRV has also restored its live web stream.

* Toledo's WRWK-FM 106.5 will apparently drop its Rock format in favor of something different starting Wednesday at 1:06pm. The station began stunting late last night and normal programming has not returned.

November 10:

* Former Detroit (WRIF-WCSX) morning show personality George Baier is now a full time member of the Captain and Crew show on the Michigan Talk Radio Network. Baier is best known for his characterizations of former wrestler Dick the Bruiser, Tiger broadcaster Ernie Harwell, and many other top Michigan celebrities. Baier has been a bit player in the program but now is a regular participant. The Captain and Crew program also features "The Captain" Bill Vogel, Coco Corey, WILX-TV Lansing's Darrin Rockcole, and Mike Fornes. New radio stations continue to sign up for the program. WPHM-AM 1380 Port Huron added the Captain and Crew program to its lineup yesterday. Other stations include WMIQ-AM 1450 Iron Mountain, WNBY-AM 1450 Newberry, WJML-AM 1110 Petoskey, WHAK-AM 960 Rogers City, WLDR-AM 1210 Traverse City, WNWZ-AM 1410 Grand Rapids, WMMI-AM 830 Mount Pleasant, and WFDF-AM 910 Flint.

* WJR-AM 760 Detroit evening host David Newman suffered a minor stroke earlier in the week and was off the air on Thursday and Friday. Newman is already out of intensive care and improving. Sub John McColloch will hold down the spot along with Warren Pierce and Foster Braun. In related news, Mitch Albom has offically pulled the plug on his afternoon show's TV simulcast on MSNBC. The show had been preempted every day since the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington- Detroit Free Press

November 9:

* Pax/WB affiliate WZPX-TV 43 Battle Creek has made inital repairs to its tranmsitter facilites and is now back on the air. The station went back at about 25% of its licensed power and hopes to jump to 50% sometime today. Completion date for all the repairs is not yet known.

* Dave B. Goode is named as program director at WHZZ-FM 101.7 Lansing. Goode previously held the role on an interim basis; TJ McKay exits middays at WVTI-FM 96.1 Grand Rapids, replaced by program director Jeff Andrews; Also leaving is WOOD-FM 105.7 Grand Rapids afternoon guy Michael Siriani. The changes at WVTI and WOOD-FM are a result of downsizing by parent Clear Channel- All Access

* FCC Actions: Granted the voluntary assignment of license from Marathon Media to Northern Star Broadcasting for WYSS-FM 99.5 and WKNW-AM 1400 Sault Ste Marie, WIMK-FM 93.1 and WMIQ-AM 1450 Iron Mountain, WUPK-FM 94.1 and WDMJ-AM 1320 Marquette, WJPD-FM 92.3 and WIAN-AM 1240 Ishpeming, WIHC-FM 97.9 Newberry, WNGE-FM 99.5 Negaunee, and WZNL-FM 94.3 Norway; Granted the voluntary assignment of license from Cook Media to Birach Broadcasting for WMFN-AM 640 Zeeland and WMJH-AM 810 Rockford.

November 8:

* The FCC has apparently approved the sale of Urban WTLZ-FM 107.1 Saginaw to Wilks Broadcasting from Cumulus. The Commission had previously 'red-flagged' the $3.75 million deal to study ownership and revenue concentration concerns. Jeff Wilks says, "WTLZ-FM is an exciting addition to our current cluster of four stations in Saginaw and will help us continue to leverage our strong group of stations in this market."- Radio Ink

November 7:

* New program director at Rock WRKR-FM 107.7 Kalamazoo is Danny Wright- All Access

* Hot Wings: Friday, Nov. 2 was a landmark night for FOX Sports Net's Detroit affiliate, as the largest audience in the four-plus years of the regional network tuned in to that night's Red Wlngs game. Immediately following the game, the Detroit Sports Report also had its most viewers in a single night during the 17 months of the regional news operation. Based on data received from Nielsen Media Research, the game registered a 9.7 household rating in the Detroit metro area, meaning an average of approximately 182,000 homes tuned in over the course of the telecast. The average rating for eight Red Wings games on FSN this season is 8.2, an increase of 118% compared to the first eight telecasts last season (8.2 vs. 3.6).

November 6:

* New production director at WJLB-FM 97.9 Detroit is Jason Alexander; he takes over from Kevin Collins- All Access

November 5:

* WZPX-TV 43 Battle Creek has been off the air since last Wednesday due to a fire at their transmitter site that damaged some essential equipement. The station is a primary affiliate of Pax and also carries programming from the WB network. Engineers are working on getting the station back on the air at reduced power as quickly as possible.

November 3:

* WUPT-CA 49 Crystal Falls, a UPN affiliate, has moved to channel 25. The low power TV station has a translator station on channel 43 in Republic Twp (Marquette County) and has cable coverage in many areas in the central Upper Peninsula.

* FCC Action: Changed the call sign of FM 88.9 Flint to WAKL from WGRI

October 30:

* CMU Public Radio (7 stations based out of WCMU-FM 89.5 Mt. Pleasant) raised over $174,000 during thier fall fundraiser, which wrapped up this past weekend.

* FCC Action: Granted WXYT-AM 1270 a construction permit to increase nighttime power to 48,000 watts from 5,000. The new directional signal will broadcast from a 9-tower array in northeast Monroe county. Earlier in the month, the FCC granted a similar construction permit for a boost to WXYT's daytime power.

October 29:

* LIN TV has apparently purchased ABC affiliate WOTV-TV 41 Battle Creek- an application has been filed with the FCC to transfer the license for the station from Channel 41 Inc to WOOD License Company- the LIN-owned company that owns NBC affiliate WOOD-TV 8 Grand Rapids as well as a series of UPN affiliated low power TV stations (WXSP) in West Michigan. WOOD-TV has been operating WOTV under a local marketing agreement since 1992.

* Morning show co-host Afentra is no longer with Country WYCD-FM 99.5 Detroit- All Access

* Former WDMK-FM 102.7 Detroit morning show host Frankie Darcell returns to radio by signing up for afternoons at Urban AC WMXD-FM 92.3 Detroit. O'Neal Stevens shifts from afternoons to nights to make room for Darcell who joins Mix 92.3 after being off the air since she was replaced by John Mason at WDMK. Darcell left afternoons at Mix 92.3 sister station WJLB-FM 97.9 in September 1999 for the 'DMK morning job- Inside Black Radio

* FCC Action: Granted new LPFM 97.1 Cassopolis the call sign WLWZ-LP; Granted WBKP-TV 5 Calumet a change to its digtal TV channel from 18 to 11

October 27:

* WDIV-TV 4 Detroit exec Henry Maldonado is heading to a sister station in Orlando to become president and general manager- Detroit Free Press

October 26:

* Public TV outlet WCMU-TV 14 Mt. Pleasant was knocked off the air yesterday due to problems with a power divider at their antenna site. The station has returned to the air today at about 10% of its licensed power and hopes to go back to full power within a couple of days if repairs are successful. Translator stations on channel 21 in Manistee (WCMW-TV) and channel 27 Cadillac (WCMV-TV) were also knocked off the air, but have since returned at their full power. WCML-TV 6 Alpena and two Traverse City area translator stations were unaffected by the problem.

* Country WBCT-FM remained on top of the Grand Rapids summer ratings for listeners age 12 and above- the stations number improved slightly over its spring finish. Rounding out the top 5 stations were Classic Rock WLAV-FM, Top 40 WSNX-FM, News/Talk WOOD-AM, and Modern Rock WGRD-FM. Adult Contemporary stations WLHT-FM and WOOD-FM finished in a tie for 6th place. Stations that improved their ratings by at least .5 of a point since spring included WLAV, WOOD-FM, Urban WJNZ-AM (which has moved from 1.0 to 2.5), Urban Oldies WKWM-AM (0.4 - 1.6), Classic Hits WYVN-FM, Ethnic WYGR-AM, and Classic Country WSCG-FM.

* WWDX-FM 92.1 Lansing morning show participant Guido wrapped up his stay inside a tent on a downtown parking garage today after helping generate two tons of food for the American Red Cross. Guido was at his post from Monday on- through all the severe weather this week- All Access

October 25:

* Josh Lewin, who handled Detroit Tigers play-by-play for Fox Sports Net Detroit, has stepped down from that position in order to take a yet-to-be announced job within the Fox Sports family.

* FCC Action: Granted West Branch Seventh Day Adventist Church a construction permit for a new Low Power FM station at 107.3 in West Branch

October 24:

* Marcel Thorton is leaving his job as afternoon jock and promotions director at Urban WTLZ-FM 107.1 Saginaw for a job in Dayton OH; Jeff Welling has left his role as program director for Modern Rock WWDX-FM 92.1 Lansing. Welling's former on-air afternoon role is now filled by music director/midday host Chili Walker who also is named as interim PD. Suzy Cole moves from nights to middays- All Access

October 22:

* The entry forms and all the details on the Michigan Association of Broadcaster's 2002 Broadcast Excellence Awards are on the MAB website at http://www.michmab.com/beawards.html. This information will also be mailed to stations in the weeks ahead. The awards program is open to all commercial and public stations in Michigan, and is used to award the MAB's "Station of the Year" Award. The awards program is one week earlier this year, so the deadline for entries has also been moved up to Jan. 7, 2002. Several changes have been made in the awards program for 2002. Questions can be directed to MAB's Sarah Beeskow at beeskow@michmab.com. Also, for college and high school stations, the MABF's annual awards program information and entry forms can be found at http://www.michmab.com/hscolawards.html. Deadline for entering this competition is December 11, 2001.

October 20:

* Congratulations to WKQI-FM 95.5 morning show co-host Spike and his wife Kris- they just became the proud parents to daughter Natalie.

October 19:

* Modern AC WDVD-FM 96.3 beefs up its morning show team with the addition of 2 more members: joining host Rocky Allen will be current WKBD-TV 50 reporter Leslie Lo Bue and Brian Whitman's comedy show service from KIIS-FM Los Angeles. Lo Bue will start on Monday and leave WKBD at the end of November. Lo Bue commented "I love everybody as a family and my experience here at UPN50, but it was time to make a change. I really want to do something different and fun!" Whitman will phone in with original characters and celebrity impressions.

* Dan Clark has left his role as program director at Modern Rock WGRD-FM 97.9 Grand Rapids- All Access

* Country WCMM-FM 102.5 Gulliver/Manistique morning man Jay Scott passed away on Wednesday after a short battle with cancer. Scott was 38- All Access

* FCC Action: Granted the request of WCEN-FM 94.5 to modify its community of license from Mt. Pleasant to Hemlock, effective December 3, 2001.

October 18:

* New to afternoons at Sports WBBL-AM 1340 Grand Rapids is Bill Simonson. He'll also be heard doing sports commentaries on sister stations WKLQ-FM 94.5 and WLAV-FM 96.9. Simonson, a Grand Rapids native, is also the host of ABC Radio's syndicated Speaking of Sports- Chicago Sun-Times

* Detroit Free Press columnist Steve Crowe passed away yesterday at the age of 47. Crowe wrote extensively about the close relationship between sports and broadcast media for the Free Press.

* Linda Danna has been named as vice president and general manager of Detroit's Viacom-owned CBS affiliate WWJ-TV 62 and UPN affiliate WKBD-TV 50- Electronic Media

* FCC Action: Assigned the call sign WWZP to new 90.9 FM Freeland

October 15:

* News/Talk WJR-AM Detroit has finished on top of its first quarterly ratings book in years, displacing Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM. The summer 2001 ratings show that WJR's rating improved to 6.6 from spring's 5.7. WNIC slid to 4th overall- its number falling to 5.3 from spring's 6.3. For the summer of 2000, the station carded a 7.9 rating as the number one station in the market. Finishing second among listeners age 12 and above was Urban WJLB-FM, followed by News WWJ-AM. Oldies WOMC-FM and Smooth Jazz WVMV-FM finished tied for 5th, followed by Rock WRIF-FM, Urban AC WMXD-FM, Country WYCD-FM, and Urban WDTJ-FM. The Top 40 battle is extremely tight- WDRQ-FM led WKQI-FM by only .1. Notable ratings gainers since spring included WJR, WJLB, WMXD, Alternative CIMX-FM, and Hot Talk WKRK-FM. WXYT-AM continued to lead the sports talk battle over WDFN, but the latter has cut the difference to .2- it was 1.6 for the fall 2000 book, just before 'XYT switched from talk to sports.

* Noted back on the air is Jackson's WJKN-AM 1510. The station is now simulcasting owner Spring Arbor College's Religious WSAE-FM 106.9 (Spring Arbor). WJKN had been silent since 9/29/2000 when former owner Coltrace Communications sold the land that the station's broadcasting facilities were located. Coltrace later donated the station's license to Spring Arbor College. WJKN returned to the air under special temporary authority from the FCC.

* Jeff Murri is the new vice president and general manager at Fox-owned WJBK-TV 2 Detroit. Murri also will have responsibility for sales and marketing at Fox Sports Net Detroit- Electronic Media

* FCC Action: Granted the voluntary assignment of license for WTLZ-FM 107.1 Saginaw from Cumulus Broadcasting to Wilks Broadcasting. The deal had previously been 'red-flagged' by the FCC; after review the sale was approved.

October 13:

* WKQI-FM 95.5 Detroit program director Tim Richards will be leaving the Top 40 station for the same role at Chicago Modern Rocker WQKX- All Access

* A proposal has been filed with the FCC to add a new Class A FM station at Roscommon, MI

* Sammie Jordan has been named as general manager of WFLT-AM 1420 Flint. Former GM Oren Osborne moves to an on-air role at the station- Inside Radio

October 10:

* Arbitron has revised its radio market listings based on new census data. Starting with the Fall 2001 book, here's how Michigan markets will rank:
- Detroit: 10 (was 7)
- Grand Rapids: 66 (66)
- Lansing: 120 (117)
- Flint: 124 (120)
- Tri-Cities: 129 (127)
- Ann Arbor: 145 (146)
- Kalamazoo: 179 (178)
- NW Michigan: 192 (198)
- Muskegon: 222 (220)
- Battle Creek: 252 (242)
Other nearby markets:
- Toledo: 81 (81)
- South Bend: 167 (165)

October 9:

* WNGE-FM 99.5 Negaunee/Marquette has dropped its simulcast of News/Talk/Sports WIAN-AM. The new format is Oldies, syndicated from Westwood One.

October 8:

* Throughout an entire day's worth of programming this coming Thursday October 11th, Detroit's WWJ-AM 950 will be offering an in-depth look at the impact of September 11th on the region and its residents. Detroit - One Month Later will air throughout the day in a variety of different forms. The station plans to extensively cover the effect of 9-11 on personal lives, how people live and work, our children, the view of the future, and local readiness. It will include interviews with leaders in government, public safety, and business. It also offer a chance for opinion leaders in our community to offer the personal reflections of how they look at the events of the last few weeks and how they see the future.

* WFAT-FM 96.5 Kalamazoo changed its format over the weekend- the station is now Classic Hits, which replaces Adult Contemporary. Replacing Rick Dees for mornings is Bob & Tom. New program director is Bill Martin who replaces Robb Rose. Rose heads to Wausau, WI sister station. Martin formerly was operations manager for Cumulus' Kalamazoo stations (WKFR-FM 103.3, WRKR-FM 107.7, and WKMI-AM 1360).

* WCCW-AM 1310 Traverse City has switched format from Adult Standards to Sports as "All Sports AM 13". Sister station WKJF-AM 1370 Cadillac continues to simulcast AM 1310. All Sports AM 13 is using programming from ESPN Radio.

* Syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh revealed to listeners that he has gone 100% deaf in his left ear and 80% deaf in his right- with the likelyhood of total loss soon. Limbuagh states the desire to continue with his program, even with his disability.

* WMAM-AM 570 Marinette, WI (Menominee, MI) has switched from Talk to Sports using ESPN Radio- WI Radio/DX Info

* Construction permit for TV 19 Marquette has been assinged the call sign WMQF

October 5:

* WNIC-FM 100.3 Detroit shifts WJBK-TV 2 Kam Carman's weather forecast features from the morning show to afternoons. The Detroit Free Press reports that this was done after an ultimatum from WDIV-TV 4's Joe Berwanger was issued regarding the availability of WDIV weathercaster Chuck Gaidica as WNIC's morning show host if Carman continued on with mornings.

* FCC Actions: Granted WNGE-FM 99.5 Negaunee its license to cover for a new station; Granted the voluntary assignment of license for WBMI-FM 105.5 West Branch from Northern Radio Network to Independent Television Productions of Michigan

October 4:

* WGRI-FM 88.9 Flint is now part of the 'K-Love' network, which features a Contemporary Christian format. The new programming started this past Monday and replaces the station's previous Black Gospel format. The M-Street Daily reports that the change is part of a Local Marketing Agreement between owner Jon Yinger (operating as Gospel Radio International) and the Educational Media Foundation. M-Street speculates that the LMA is a prelude to an outright sale of the station by Yinger to the Education Media Foundation for $450,000. The station will apply for new call letters WAKL.

* The Detroit Pistons announced yesterday that WDMK-FM 102.7 Detroit morning man John Mason will be the new public address announcer for the upcoming 2001-02 season. Mason replaces WCSX-FM 94.7 Detroit afternoon jock Ken Calvert, who has stepped down after working as PA announcer since 1985. "After nearly 18 years as the Pistons PA announcer, I felt it was time to let go and totally focus on my WCSX radio program," Calvert said. "This is, arguably, one of my toughest decisions ever."

* WCSX morning show hosts Jim Johnson & Lynne Woodison will kick off two new features that will involve metro Detroit area students beginning this Friday 10/5: At 7:50am, local elementary students will be featured reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Then beginning 10/11 Bragging Rights, a new segment that will feature calls from parents bragging about the exploits of their local high school sports stars, will begin. This feature will run every Monday following sports updates at 6, 7, and 8am.

October 3:

* WNWZ-AM 1410 Grand Rapids has switched its programming from a feed of CNN's Headline News to a lineup of talk programs as NewsTalk 1410 AM. The lineup features the following Michigan Talk Radio Network (MTRN) programs: Good Morning Michigan with Bob White 5-9am, Dave Barber 9-10am, The Captain and Crew 3-7pm, and the Best of MTRN from 1-5am. Also in the lineup are the Neal Boortz Show 10am-1pm, The Clark Howard Show 1-3pm, Michael Savage 7-10pm, and Peter Weissbach 10pm-1am. WNWZ is owned by Regent Broadcasting.

* WHAK-AM 960 Rogers City has returned to the air after being silent since November 2000. The station's format is talk with programming from MTRN. Before going silent, the station's format was Classic Country. WHAK-AM is owned by the Northern Radio Network.

* DJ Fresh joins Urban WTLZ-FM 107.1 Saginaw for nights and mix show director beginning 10/15. Fresh returns to WTLZ, where he was once an intern, from Alabama. 'Long' John, who is currently acting as the station's Program Director, moves to afternoons from nights- All Access

* FCC Action: Granted WXYT-AM 1270 a construction permit to increase daytime power to 48,000 watts from 5,000. The new directional signal will broadcast from a 9-tower array in northeast Monroe county.

October 2:

* WDWB-TV 20 Detroit owner Granite Broadcasting has put the WB affiliate up for sale. Granite currently owns 8 other TV stations across the country.

* FCC Actions: Granted the voluntary transfer of control for WFGR-FM 98.7 Grand Rapids to Regent Broadcasting from G.T. Leasing, Inc.; Granted WOLV-FM 97.7 Houghton a construction permit for changes: increase ERP to 2,400 watts from 880, decrease HAAT to 367 feet from 509, tower location change slightly closer to Houghton.

October 1:

* Arbitron has removed the embargo from the Grand Rapids ratings- the summer Phase 2 (June/July/August) top stations were Country WBCT-FM, Classic Rock WLAV-FM, Top 40 WSNX-FM, News/Talk WOOD-AM, and Active Rock WKLQ-FM. Stations enjoying noteable improvements since the last publicly released book (Winter 2001) are WBCT, WLAV, WKLQ, Oldies WODJ-FM, Urban WJNZ-AM, Country WMUS-FM, Urban Oldies WKWM-AM, Classic Hits WYVN-FM, and Classic Country WSCG-FM.

* Lance Panton has been named Vice President of Programming for Radio One's trio of Detroit stations- WDTJ-FM 105.9, WDMK-FM 102.7, and WCHB-AM 1200; Brian Hayes, Program Director at Active Rock WZUU-FM 92.3 Kalamazoo, adds the same role at sister Oldies WQXC-FM 100.9. Randy Rowley becomes Operations and Technical Director for both stations- All Access

* FCC Action: Granted WKAR-TV 23 Lansing its construction permit for digital facilities on channel 55

September 28:

* Beau Daniels adds the program director title to his afternoon on-air repsonsibilities at Flint's WWCK-FM 105.5. John Shomby, operations manager at Cumulus' Flint cluster, adds the same title at sister stations WKFR-FM 103.3, WRKR-FM 107.7, and WKMI-AM 1360 Kalamazoo- All Access

September 27:

* Steven Handrich has resigned his position on the Michigan Association of Broadcasters Board of Directors and has also resigned as General Manager for Marathon Media's Marquette stations (WJPD, WUPK/WIMK, WNGE, WDMJ, WIAN). Marathon is in the process of selling its 11 station Upper Peninsula cluster to Northern Star Broadcasting.

* FCC Action: Granted WVXM-FM 97.7 Manistee a construction permit for changes (ERP from 6,000 to 2,500 watts, HAAT from 100 to 157 meters)

September 26:

* Erin Weber has been let go from her midday role at WYCD-FM 99.5 Detroit. Mike Scott takes over the 10am-3pm shift on an interim basis.

September 24:

* WNIC-FM 100.3 made it official today and named WDIV-TV 4 weathercaster Chuck Gaidica as the station's new Breakfast Club morning show host. Gaidica hosted his first morning show today. Stacey DuFord, who rejoined WNIC earlier in the summer, program director Lori Bennett, and newsman Dave Lockhart stay with the program- Chris Edmonds moves back to his afternoon drive shift. Gaidica will continue his weather duties at WDIV in addition to his new responsibilites at WNIC.

* Detroit market veteran Dana Lundon signs on at WXYT-AM 1270 as an account executive- All Access

* FCC Actions: Granted WEUL-FM 98.1 Kingsford its license to cover for changes (ERP from 240 to 1000 watts, HATT from 482 to 466 feet); Granted WMJZ-FM 101.5 Gaylord a construction permit to change from Class A (6,000 watts @ 325 feet) to Class C2 (50,000 watts @ 492 feet) with new tower location; Granted WSYM-TV 47 Lansing its construction permit for digital facilities on channel 38

September 23:

* WBMI-FM 105.5 West Branch has returned to the air with a satellite-fed Adult Top-40 format from Jones Radio Networks. WBMI had been silent since November 2000 when its owner, Northern Radio Network, took the Oldies-formatted station off the air. A deal was recently reached to sell WBMI to Independent TV Productions.

* Ron Jolly has returned to the WTCM-AM 580 Traverse City morning show. Jolly left the station to host a midday talk show on the Michigan Talk Radio Network- Traverse City Record-Eagle

* With Kevin Wall moving from 10am to 6pm on WXYT-AM 1270 Detroit, Damon 'The Dog' Perry moves from part-time to Wall's old 10am-noon slot starting Monday (9/24)

September 21:

* As the Detroit Radio for Relief radiothon wrapped up this morning just past 9am, the 7 Detroit area stations that were participating had raised over $700,000 for the Clear Channel Relief Fund.

* Obituary: David Hicks
Life long friend of radio, David Hicks, recently died at his home after a battle with cancer. He was 61.

David was born October 4, 1939 in Alma, Michigan. He grew up in Alma and attended Ferris State University. His expansive broadcasting career started as a student and as a co-host of a Saturday morning program on WFYC in his hometown of Alma. He then went on to work at WCER in Charlotte, WILS in Lansing and became Vice President/General Manager of WKFR, Kalamazoo and WKNR, Battle Creek. In 1985 he founded Hick Broadcasting Corporation, which included WKMI, WKFR, WRKR and WRBR in Indiana.

In addition to his devotion to his community and to Michigan broadcasting, Mr. Hicks also served on the Michigan Association of Broadcasters' board from 1980-1981 and then as chairman of the Radio Board for the National Association of Broadcasters.

David is survived by his wife, Sally, his daughter Jane Johnson of California, Jynell Kristal of Martha's Vineyard, Jeffrey Hicks of Alexandria, VA, his mother Charlotte Vernon Hicks of Alma, his sister Carol Hicks Hannig of Holt, and five grandchildren.

Funeral services for Mr. Hicks will be held on Saturday, September 22 at 1:00pm at Stone Funeral Home in Petoskey. Visitation will be held on Friday evening from 6-8pm at Stone Funeral Home.

Memorial Contributions may be directed to Hospice of Little Traverse Bay, 416 Connable Ave., Petoskey, MI 49770.

* Listeners of Flint's WWCK-FM 105.5 kicked in over $20,000 for the Red Cross in less than an hour as the station sold 'Proud to be an American' t-shirts- All Access

* Former Detroit Pistons player Bill Laimbeer will take over color commentary from another former Piston, Kelly Tripucka, on WKBD-TV 50 Detroit's telecasts this season. Tripucka leaves the telecasts after 8 seasons for a full-time radio job with the New Jersey Nets.

September 18:

* 7 Detroit area stations (WMXD-FM 92.3, WKQI-FM 95.5, WJLB-FM 97.9, WNIC-FM 100.3, WLLC-FM 106.7, WDFN-AM 1130, and WXDX-AM 1310) will launch an unprecedented 24-hour fundraising simulcast beginning Thursday (9/20) at 6am. The event will be headquartered at Oakland Mall (corner of I-75 and 14 Mile Rd. in Troy). Titled Detroit Radio for Relief, the broadcast will raise money to aid the victims (and their families) of Tuesday's devastating attacks. All the stations involved in the broadcast are owned by Clear Channel Communications.

* News/Talk WJR moved back atop the Detroit area ratings among listeners age 12 and above during the past month. The former number one, Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM, slipped to 3rd overall behind Urban WJLB-FM. Rounding out the top 5 were All-News WWJ-AM and Rock WRIF-FM, which finished in a tie for 4th. The ratings battle between sports talkers WXYT-AM 1270 and WDFN-AM 1130 was closer than ever- the two stations finished just .1 point apart. The ratings game is likely to experience a major shakeup with future reports as the audience adjusts their listening to reflect the new awareness on national events related to the terroist attacks of Sept. 11

* New WOMC-FM 104.3 Detroit general manager will be Maureen Lesourd- she also holds the same role at Infinity sister stations WVMV-FM 98.7 and WYCD-FM 99.5

September 17:

* FCC Actions: Granted the American Family Association a construction permit for a new non-commerical FM station at 90.9 in Freeland; Granted WDCQ-TV 19 University Center its constuction permit for digital facilities on channel 18

September 14:

* WDVD-FM 96.3 Detroit officially announced today that Rocky Allen will take over the controls of the station's morning slot beginning Monday. Allen is a veteran of New York radio at WABC-AM and WPLJ-FM.

* Birach Broadcasting has purchased Adult Standards WMJH-AM 810 Grand Rapids and Talk/Sports WMFN-AM 640 Zeeland from Cook Media for $1.9 million. Birach presently owns Ethnic-Talk WNZK-AM 690 in Detroit and Classic Country WCXI-AM 1160 in Fenton/Flint.

* The FCC officially announced yesterday a plan to reorganize the Mass Media and Cable Services Bureaus in to one unit to be lead by current Cable Services chief Ken Ferree

* Frank Turner is returning to the anchor desk for WXYZ-TV 7 Detroit's 5pm newscast effective Monday. Turner, who held the same position with the station in the 1990's, has been anchoring weekend newscasts for the station. Mark Hayes, the current 5pm co-anchor, moves to an investigative reporter role. The move reunites the anchor team of Turner and Robbie Timmons, popular for most of the 1990's. Turner's initial tenure with WXYZ ended in 1998 after fallout from a phone sex scandal- he was rehired in April 2000 for weekend duties- Detroit Free Press

September 13:

* FCC Actions: Granted the voluntary assignemnt of license from Conrad Communications to Midwest Communications for WYVN-FM 92.7 Saugatuck; Granted the voluntary assignment of construction permit from Russell J. LaFave to Fort Bend Broadcasting for WSAG-FM 104.1 Pinconning

September 12:

* Big radio news in the Upper Peninsula: Marathon Media has agreed to sell all of its U.P. stations for $7.95 million to Northern Star Broadcasting. The 11 stations being sold include: WYSS-FM 99.5 and WKNW-AM 1400 Sault Ste Marie, WIMK-FM 93.1 and WMIQ-AM 1450 Iron Mountain, WIHC-FM 97.9 Newberry, WZNL-FM 94.3 Norway, and in the Marquette area- WJPD-FM 92.3, WUPK-FM 94.1, WNGE-FM 99.5, WIAN-AM 1240, and WDMJ-AM 1320. Northern Star currently owns 9 stations in the northern Lower Peninsula.

September 11:

* Radio and television stations across the state ended normal programming in the wake of today's World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks in order to provide comprehensive coverage of the terroist attacks that have likely killed thousands in New York City and Washington D.C. In Detroit by 10:00am, most FM stations switched from their normal programming to feeds of TV news from the local stations and/or local and national radio coverage. Many stayed with the coverage until past the dinner hour and at least two stations (WCSX and WOMC) continued their coverage into the night.

September 10:

* Mike Benson has left his role as program director and morning show host at WOOD-FM 105.7 Grand Rapids. Holding down the interim PD spot is assistant program director and morning news man Rob Westaby; Afternoon jock Chris Hatty gets the music director title at WZUU-FM 92.3 Kalamazoo- All Access

* 4 new FM allotments are under review by the FCC in the Thumb Area. Under the proposals, Caseville, Deckerville, Harbor Beach, and Port Sanilac would all receive a spot on the FM dial. Each of the allotments would be for a Class A (6,000 watts @ 328 feet HAAT maximum) station. All of the proposals were filed by Charles Crawford of Dallas, TX. The deadline for comments to the FCC on these proposals is October 29th.

September 9:

* WJOJ-FM 89.7 Harrisville/Alpena hit the air on July 4th with a Contemporary Christian format. The station is owned and operated by the same group that put WHYT-FM 89.1 Imlay City on the air in December of 2000. Known as 'Joy FM', WJOJ broadcasts with 31,000 watts from northern Alcona county. The group also has plans to put another Joy FM station on the air- WJOF-FM 88.1 Monroe is targeted for launch in Spring 2002.

September 7:

* WOMC-FM 104.3 Detroit general manager Elaine Baker is retiring from the station after nearly 20 years; WKBD-TV 50 / WWJ-TV 62 news director Tom Bell has resigned from the stations- Detroit News

* Chili Walker leaves the role of music director at WWBN-FM 101.5 Tuscola/Flint for the same role at WWDX-FM 92.1 St. Johns/Lansing- All Access

September 5:

* ABC affiliate WBKP-TV 5 Calumet will begin originating its local programming from the Marquette Mall in Marquette instead of Calumet beginning September 17th. Owner Scanlan Communications is working on getting a new full power station on the air in the Marquette area (WBUP-TV 10) sometime in early 2002- the move is in preparation for that event. Currently, WBKP retransmits its programming on a low-powered translator on channel 28 in Marquette. The stations' mall setup will include a studio with a window to the mall- allowing the public to watch a WBUP/WBKP newscast in person.

* Viewers of Detroit's WDWB-TV 20 kicked in over $1.5 million towards the $56.8 million raised by this year's Muscular Dystrophy Assocation Telethon- Detroit Free Press

* FCC Action: Granted WGTU-TV 29 Traverse City its construction permit for digital facilities on channel 31

September 4:

* Chris Merrill and Ron Robinson of Oldies WMTE-FM 101.5 Manistee put the wraps on setting a new world's record for longest broadcast by a duo earlier this morning at about 3:15am. The guys kicked off their marathon at 10am Thursday 8/30 and lasted for 112 hours- 27 more than the old record of 85. According to Judy Ouvry, director of operations for Lake Michigan Broadcasting's Manistee stations, "It was a most amazing feat - the entire community pulled for them, supported them, encouraged them, and helped them to achieve this tremendous goal. Our staff here at Lake Michigan Broadcasting, and the entire community, is so proud of their accomplishment." During the broadcast Merrill and Robinson raised money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association- a rough count puts the total raised at about $20,000. Congratulations to all involved!!

* Indiana RadioWatch reports that the morning team of Mike Shannon and Deb Millard have signed off WGTO-AM 910 Cassopolis and are now hosting mornings on an Internet-only station, http://www.goodtimeoldiesradio.com.

* Rogers Media has acquired 3 Sault Ste Marie, ON stations as part of larger deal that moves a total of 13 stations from Telemedia to Rogers. The Sault Stations are Adult Contemporary CHAS-FM 100.5, Country CJQM-FM 104.3 and Information CIRS-AM 530.

* The FCC has 'red flagged' two recent deals to sell stations in Michigan: Clear Channel's pending purchase of WAAM-AM 1600 Ann Arbor and Wilk's pending purchase of WTLZ-FM 107.1. The Commission will study ad-revenue and ownership-concentration concerns before deciding on approval of the deals.

August 31:

* Rob Sanford leaves his job as news director at WOOD-AM 1300 Grand Rapids for a job at Detroit's WXYT-AM 1270; Staffers from WLLC-FM 106.7 and WDFN-AM 1130 Detroit competed in what should be recognized as the longest softball game ever last weekend. When they wrapped up, the game had lasted 366 innings over 54 hours- All Access

* FCC Actions: Granted WMKG-LP 40 a modification to its construction permit to move to channel 38- a power increase from 13,500 watts to 33,800; Granted WJOJ-FM 89.7 Harrisville its license to cover for a new station

August 30:

* WZUU-FM 92.3 Allegan/Kalamazoo (The Zoo) switched format from Classic Rock to Active Rock yesterday. Program Director Brian Hayes hopes the move will fill an underserved niche in the Kalamazoo market. The Classic Rock genre is pretty well covered by Grand Rapids based stations WLAV (96.9) and WBFX (101.3) as well as by Kalamazoo's Mainstream Rock station WRKR (107.7)- moving in an Active Rock direction will position The Zoo towards a younger audience. The on-air lineup on The Zoo remains the same with Mike Machuta doing mornings along with co-host Hayes and newscaster Allison. Hayes will also continue middays, Chris Hatty handles afternoons and Allison is back on the air for nights.

* Ray Rajewski will take over as interim general manager of WKBD-TV 50 and WWJ-TV 62 Detroit, replacing Mike Dunlop- Detroit Free Press

* Catherine Black leaves her role as music director/program director at WYCE-FM 88.1 Grand Rapids- All Access

August 29:

* Communications Daily is reporting that the Mass Media and Cable Services Bureaus are poised to be merged in to one unit as soon as September 13th when the FCC holds an open meeting. This new bureau would also gain jurisidiction over direct broadcast satellites (currently under the responsibility of the International Bureau) and would be headed by current Cable Services Chief W. Kenneth Ferree. If this merging of bureaus comes to fruition, it will likely have a major effect on traditional radio and television broadcasters- dealing with an agency with broadened responsibilites instead of one focused on over-the-air broadcasting could prove to be much more challenging and time consuming.

* Employees of Metro/Shadow Networks Detroit office, which provides traffic and other information to most area radio and TV stations, have voted in favor of union representation from AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists). Of the 31 employees that voted, 21 cast in favor of unionization.

* FCC Action: Cancelled the license for WORB-FM 90.3 Farmington Hills. WORB was owned by Oakland Community College and voluntarily turned in the license for the station which ceased operations on September 22, 1999.

August 28:

* Sean Hannity coming to WJR Detroit? According to Matt Drudge, ABC Radio has struck a deal with the conservative Fox News Channel host for an afternoon drive program to be syndicated across the country from WABC-AM New York. The show is set to debut September 10th.

* After nearly 40 years, Michigan Radio (WUOM-FM 91.7 Ann Arbor, WFUM-FM 91.1 Flint, and WVGR-FM 104.1 Grand Rapids) will end its play-by-play coverage of University of Michigan football. Longtime play-by-play announcer Tom Hemmingway retired after last fall's season- leaving the University-owned stations without a comparable play-by-play broadcaster. The games can still be heard on a 27 station strong network under flagship WJR-AM Detroit.

* WTCM-AM 580 Traverse City has switched its afternoon syndicated programming from G. Gordon Liddy to Michael Medved

August 27:

* Former longtime WQRS-FM Detroit host Dick Wallace leaves Toledo's WGTE-FM to take on the program director role at Classical WIAA-AM 88.7 Interlochen- All Access

August 25:

* WSRQ-FM 100.1 Bear Lake has changed its call sign to WCUZ- previously the call sign for FM 101.3 Grand Rapids when that station had a Country format. WCUZ is currently simulcasting the Hot Adult Contemporary format of WBNZ-FM 99.3 Frankfort and is owned by Fort Bend Broadcasting.

August 24:

* Northern Radio Network has reached a deal to sell off another one of its silent stations- WBMI-FM 105.5 West Branch has been dealt to Independent TV Productions, headed by Richard Senninger, for $100,000. This will be Independent TV Productions' first radio station. WBMI's previous format was Oldies before going silent in November 2000.

* FCC Action: Granted WLJZ-FM 94.5 Mackinaw City its license to cover for changes (Class C2 40,000 watts ERP from Class C3 18,500 watts ERP)

August 23:

* WAAM-AM 1600 Ann Arbor has been sold by Whitehall Enterprises to Clear Channel, pending FCC approval. The sale price for the Full Service formatted station was $2 million and will give Clear Channel 5 signals in the Ann Arbor market as WAAM will join Sports WTKA-AM 1050, Standards WCAS-AM 1290, Country WWWW-FM 102.9, and AC/Oldies WQKL-FM 107.1. Clear Channel owns the largest number of stations across the U.S.A.- the deal to purchase WAAM pushes the company's station count to 1201 - 29 of them in Michigan.

* FCC Actions: Granted WZRZ-FM 93.7 Frankenmuth its license to cover for a new station; Granted WSHN-FM 100.1 Holton its license to cover for changes (ERP from 2,750 to 3,000 watts / HAAT from 295 to 302 feet)

August 22:

* Today's M-Street Daily reports that Infinity Broadcasting has issued a cease-and-desist letter to Pentwater's WWKR-FM 94.1 asking them to stop using the 'K-Rock' slogan. Infinity owns and operates several 'K-Rock' stations across the country and is apparently beginning to defend that slogan - even in markets where it doesn't operate.

* Call sign changes (effective 8/13):
- WLDR 101.9 Traverse City became WLDR-FM
- WJZZ 1210 Kingsley became WLDR

August 21:

* FCC Action: Granted Bedford Public Schools a construction permit for a new Low Power FM station at 107.9 in Temperance. The station has been assigned the call sign WMLZ-LP

August 20:

* The summer phase 1 (May-July) trend for Detroit was released today- Adult Contemporary WNIC continues to lead the pack followed by News/Talk WJR, News WWJ, Urban WJLB, and Rock WRIF.

August 16:

* New program director for WJLB-FM 97.9 Detroit is K.J. Holiday- All Access

* FCC Action: Granted WJRT-TV 12 Flint its construction permit for digital facilites on channel 36

August 15:

* The Michigan Talk Radio Network (MTRN) has added the Great Lakes Prep Roundup to its Friday lineup beginning August 24th in cooperation with the Michigan High School Athletic Association and the Michigan High School Sports Network. High School sports scores and features will be broadcast during the fall and winter sports seasons starting at 9:30pm and running to Midnight as part of MTRN's regular Michigan Sports Tonight program. The show is an enhanced and expanded verion of the Great Lakes Prep Roundup that was previously distributed by the Michigan High School Sports Network. Veteran high school sportscaster Jeff Hager again hosts the program that will provide scores and game reports from high school football and basketball games played all across Michigan. It will feature interviews with coaches, administrators, and personalities from around the state in all sports.

* Spring ratings were released last week for two more Michigan markets: Battle Creek and the Tri-Cities. In Battle Creek, Country WNWN-FM moved back ahead of Top 40 WKFR-FM into the top spot after falling to second last fall. Following WKFR was News/Talk WBCK-AM and Rock WRKR-FM which tied for third overall. Rounding out the top 5 was Rock WJXQ-FM. WNWN-FM, WRKR, and Rock Hits WVIC-FM had the biggest ratings gains since the fall among the top 10 stations.

In Saginaw/Bay City/Midland, Country WKCQ-FM was the number one station this spring followed by News/Talk WSGW-AM, Oldies WHNN-FM, Top 40 WIOG-FM, and Urban AC WTLZ-FM. This is the first publicly released ratings for the Tri-Cities since the summer 2000 book. Other Michigan markets with ratings embargoes include Grand Rapids, Lansing, Muskegon, and Northwest Michigan.

August 14:

* Back in May, Michiguide.com outlined several proposals before the FCC that could drastically modify the FM band in Northern Michigan (click here). On August 1st, the FCC published yet another proposal to modify FM allotments in the Northwest part of the state- this one was filed by Northern Radio of Michigan in an attempt to upgrade the facilities for its construction permit at 100.7 in Honor. Their proposal is as follows:
* Upgrade allotment for 100.7 Honor from Class A to Class C3
* Move WSRQ-FM 100.1 (A) Bear Lake to 106.1 (A)
* Move WKLA-FM 106.3 (A) Ludington to 98.7 (A)
* Move allotment of 98.9 (A) Walhalla to 106.5 (A)
It is possible that the FCC will make a ruling that fits two proposals- combining the one above from Northern Radio and the one from Fort Bend filed earlier in the year. Here is what the changes may look like:
* WKLA-FM 98.7 Ludington (A)
* WSRQ-FM 99.9 Bellaire (C1)
* WAIR-FM 100.7 Honor (C3)
* new 100.9 Manistique (A)
* new 106.1 Bear Lake (A)
* WHAK-FM 106.3 Rogers City (C2)
* new 106.5 Walhalla (A)
Once an FCC ruling is made, Michiguide.com will report on which station is going where.

* FCC Action: Granted WMKG-LP 38 Muskegon Class A status

August 13:

* WMPL-FM 93.5 Hancock has dropped its Talk/Sports format in favor of Hot Adult Contemporary as 'Mix 93.5' - the station will get new a new call sign, WKMJ-FM. The programming is via satellite (Jones).

* FCC Action: Granted the voluntary assignment of license from Crystal Clear Communications to Fort Bend Broadcasting for WBNZ-FM 99.3 Frankfort

August 9:

* Congratulations to WHTC-AM 1450 Holland's Julius Van Oss who will mark 50 years with the station tomorrow

* Word is that Rocky Allen will be the new morning show host effective Sept 4 on Detroit's WDVD-FM 96.3- All Access

* Former WXYT-AM 1270 Detroit talk show host John McCulloch has been named a permanent guest host on WJR-AM 760 Detroit- Detroit Free Press

* Flint ABC-TV affiliate WJRT plans to upgrade its current analog facilities and prepare for the launch of digital service and will be off the air for several hours at a yet to be announced time- ABC12.com

August 7:

* Chris Merrill and Ron Robinson of WMTE-FM 101.5 Manistee have announced plans to set a new radio marathon record beginning August 30th. When the duo wrap up their broadcast on September 4th, they will have been on the air for 120 hours- which would break the old record of 100 hours. The goal of the marathon is to raise awareness of muscular dystrophy- All Access

* Upper Peninsula updates:
- WNGE-FM 99.5 Negaunee is simulcasting WIAN-AM 1240 Ishpeming (carrying Milwaukee Brewers baseball)
- WMQT-FM 107.7 Marquette has dropped most of the gold tracks from its playlist and is now CHR-mainstream as 'Q107 WMQT The Hit Music Channel'
- WGLQ-FM 97.1 Escanaba adds the positioner 'Today's Hit Music' to its Magic 97 positioner
* WLSP-AM 1530 Lapeer has returned to the air, format remains Sports talk

* A couple syndicated programming notes: Gone from Classic Rock WZUU-FM 92.3 Allegan is the morning duo of Bob & Tom; Added to the evening lineup at WOOD-FM 105.7 Grand Rapids is Delilah

August 4:

* David Newman, nighttime host at WJR-AM 760 Detroit will be off the air indefinitely as he'll be having heart bypass surgury on Monday. Look for Warren Pierce to handle most of the fill in work while Newman convalesces- Detroit Free Press

August 3:

* Program director / morning co-host Jason Addams leaves WHZZ-FM 101.7 Lansing for a morning role in Austin, TX. WHZZ music director Dave B Goode will act as program director on an interim basis with Brooke Taylor handling the morning gig alone for now- All Access

August 2:

* Top 40 WKFR-FM remained atop the Kalamazoo rating book with a Spring rating of 12.8, down from 14.7 in the Fall. Rock WRKR-FM remained second with a 10.5 rating, Country WBCT-FM was third, Adult Contemporary WQLR-FM finshed fourth, with Country WNWN-FM rounding out the top 5 stations among listeners age 12 and above. WBCT saw the biggest ratings gain of any station, improving 3.2 points.

* New to weekends at WDFN-AM 1130 Detroit is Brandon Tierney- All Access

* FCC Action: Granted WDVD-FM 96.3 Detroit a construction permit for the following changes: ERP from 20,000 to 18,000 watts, HAAT from 240 to 233 meters, tower location change a couple miles northwest within Southfield

August 1:

* Fort Bend Broadcasting will be expanding its Michigan presence again with the purchase of the construction permit for 104.1 FM Pinconning from Russell LaFave. The sale price was $250,000. The station has been assigned the call sign of WSAG but is not yet on the air. Fort Bend has purchased 6 other Michigan stations/construction permits since March 1999.

July 31:

* Midwest Communications has purchased WYVN-FM 92.7 Saugatuck from Conrad Communications for $1.45 million. Midwest has been operating the station under a local marketing agreement since January- R&R Online

* Chris Herrmann leaves his role as assistant program director at WCSX-FM 94.7 Detroit for a gig in Boston- All Access

July 30:

* Back on the air is new WDMK-FM 102.7 morning host John Mason. The veteran morning drive host has been off the air for several months after leaving WJLB-FM 97.9

* WUPS-FM 98.5 Houghton Lake has shifted its format to Rock AC from Hot AC. The station now heavily features rock hits from the 70's - 90's.

* WOOD-AM 1300 Grand Rapids has filed an application with the FCC to change its facilites. The application is for 20,000 watts directional both daytime and nighttime from 4 towers in northern Allegan county near Moline.

* 2 more Michigan AM stations have fallen silent over the past few weeks: WDEE 1500 Reed City (was Classic Country) and WHGR 1290 Houghton Lake (was Adult Standards).

* Lisa D'Angelo is no longer with the morning show at WIOG-FM 102.5 Bay City. Weekender Lacey MacLeod takes the spot on an interim basis- All Access

July 27:

* Regent Broadcasting has announced that it is purchasing two Michigan stations in two seperate transactions worth $7 million: Classical WFGR-FM 98.7 Grand Rapids is being sold by Haith Broadcasting and will be Regent's 5th station in the market (WGRD-FM, WLHT-FM, WTRV-FM, and WNWZ-AM). WZRZ-FM 93.7 Frankenmuth is being acquired from Frankenmuth Radio Company. WZRZ is a relatively new station and hasn't been officially launched. Regent presently owns 3 other stations in the Flint area (WWBN-FM, WCRZ-FM, and WFNT-AM).

July 26:

* New program director at Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM 100.3 Detroit is Lori Bennett

July 25:

* Spring 2001 ratings for Flint released today find Urban WDZZ-FM continuing to lead all stations with listeners age 12 and over. Other top 5 stations were Adult Contemporary WCRZ-FM, Top 40 WWCK-FM, Country WFBE-FM, and Classic Rock WRSR-FM. WRSR, Top 40 WIOG-FM, rock WWBN-FM, and rock WRXF-FM were among the stations with the largest ratings gains since the Fall 2000 ratings book.

* FCC Actions: Granted the voluntary assignement of construction permit for new channel 19 Marquette to Montana Broadcasting Group from Winstar Broadcasting Corp; Granted WNMU-TV 13 Marquette its application for digital facilities on channel 33; Granted the voluntary assignment of license from Northern Radio Network to Northern Christian Radio for WHST-FM 106.1 Tawas City

July 23:

* WJR-AM continues to be the top station in Ann Arbor according to the just released Spring 2001 ratings report. The top 5 stations this spring were WJR, Top 40 WKQI-FM, Rock WRIF-FM, Country WWWW-FM, and Top 40 WDRQ-FM. W4 was the top Washtenaw county based station, followed by Gold-based Adult Contemporary WQKL-FM, News/Talk WAAM-AM, and Sports WTKA-AM.

* WHST-FM 106.1 Tawas City has returned to the air as part of the Northern Christian Radio network

* WNGE-FM 99.5 Negaunee/Marquette is on the air simulcasting AM sister station WDMJ-AM 1320 Marquette

* FCC Actions: Granted WGKL-FM 105.5 Gladstone its license to cover for power increase to 10,000 watts; Granted a construction permit for a low power FM station at 104.3 in Manistee to Manistee United Methodist Church

July 21:

* WCSX-FM Detroit's morning team of Jim Johnson and Lynne Woodison raised more than $243,000 during their recent Radiothon for the Children's Leukemia Foundation of Michigan

July 19:

* New to afternoons and taking the assistant program director role at WTCF-FM 100.5 Saginaw is Jeff Jacob- All Access

* FCC Action: Granted WMXD-FM 92.3 Detroit a construction permit for auxiliary facilities

July 18:

* Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM finished first in the Spring 2001 Arbitron ratings for Detroit, retaining the top spot for listeners age 12 and older. News/Talk WJR-AM was second, News WWJ-AM finished in third place, with Smooth Jazz WVMV-FM and Rock WRIF-FM rounding out the top 5. Stations with a .5 ratings gain or better included WVMV, Rock AC WLLC-FM, and Modern AC WDVD-FM.

* Helen Hardy Brown has passed away at age 98. Brown helped found WFBE-FM Flint along with the Flint Youth Theatre

* Jerry Hayes is now production/technical services directior at WLEN-FM 103.9 Adrian in addition to holding down the on-air afternoon shift. Taking over the public service director role from Jerry is program director and midday host Dale Gaertner- All Access

* FCC Action: Dismissed WFUM-TV 28 Flint's construction permit for power increase to 5,000,000 watts

July 16:

* More information on WCXT-FM 105.3 Hart's pending downgrade: The owners of the station, Waters Broadcasting, are being paid $2.79 million by Salem Communications as part of an agreement that will bring a 105.3 FM online closer to Milwaukee, WI with more power than originally proposed- M Street Journal

* New program director at WWWW-FM 102.9 Ann Arbor (W4 Country) is Barry Mardit. Barry previously was PD at W4 at 106.7 Detroit; No longer with WIHC-FM 97.9 Newberry/Sault Ste Marie (Hot Country) is morning man and program director Charlie Popcorn- All Access

July 11:

* Wilks Broadcasting is expanding its Tri-Cities presence with the purchase of Urban WTLZ-FM 107.1 (Hot 107) from Cumulus Broadcasting, pending FCC approval. Wilks' cluster will be 6 stations strong with the addition of WTLZ which will join Country WCEN-FM, Hot AC WTCF-FM, AC WGER-FM, News/Talk WSGW-AM, and the silent WCEN-AM. The sale price was $3.75 million.

* Program director Terri McCormick adds the title of operations manager at WTWR-FM 98.3 Monroe; Stacey Scott adds music director responsibilites to her evening on-air role at WHZZ-FM 101.7 Lansing- All Access

July 9:

* FCC Action: Granted WBKP-TV 5 Calumet its construction permit for digital facilities on channel 18

July 8:

* WUPY-FM 101.1 Ontonagon has switched format from Oldies/Adult Contemporary to Country as 'Y101 Superior Country'. The 'Superior Country' positioner moves from WCUP-FM 105.7 L'Anse which remains country as 'Eagle Country'. WCUP was recently purchased from WUPY owner S&S Broadcasting by the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community.

* Aaron Adams, afternoon guy at WIOG-FM 102.5 Bay City, is promoted to assistant program director from production director. Picking up the production direction duties is Jim Baade- All Access

July 2:

* New call sign for FM 92.9 Cadillac is WJZQ to go with new Smooth Jazz format

* FCC Action: Granted WCXT-FM 105.3 Hart a construction permit for changes: Class C1 to Class C2, Effective Radiated Power from 100,000 watts to 28,000, and Height Above Average Terrain from 650 feet to 659

July 1:

* WKJF-FM 92.9 Cadillac has switched its fromat from Country to Smooth Jazz as 'The Breeze'- the station had previously been simulcasting much of its programming from sister station WTCM-FM 103.5 Traverse City. WKJF-FM has a construction permit to move its broadcasting tower north from its current location- which will result in better signal coverage to Traverse City.

* At 9:00am on Saturday (6/30), WGRV-FM 105.1 Detroit 'The Groove' switched format from Urban Oldies to Adult Contemporary. The station takes on the new call sign WMGC-FM as 'Magic 105.1, The Best Hits of Yesterday and Today'. The station's new lineup will feature former WNIC-FM morning man Jim Harper in morning drive, former WWWW-FM 106.7 morning man Jim (who'll go on-air as Michael) Bosh middays, former WHYT-FM 96.3 jock Jim Sherwood afternoons, Delilah evenings, and former WOMC-FM 104.3 and WDMK-FM 102.7 personality Jeff Jennings overnights.

* WDVD-FM 96.3 Detroit (96.3 'DVD) has repositioned itself more towards Hot Adult Contemporary instead of Modern Adult Contemporary and is now using on-air positioners incorporating its WDVD call sign. The station is using the liner 'Today's Best Variety'.

* At Fairfied Broadcasting's Kalamazoo cluster (WKZO-AM 590, WKLZ-AM 1470, WQSN-AM 1660, and WQLR-FM 106.5) Ken Lanphear has been promoted to vice president of operations, Dennis Martin moved from general sales manager to vice president of sales, and Melissa Richard takes on the role of controller- All Access

* FCC Action: Granted the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jackson a construction permit for a new low power FM station at 95.9 in Jackson

June 28:

* FCC Action: Granted Muskegon Training & Education Center a construction permit for a new low power FM station at 106.1 in Muskegon

June 27:

* Kramer and Twitch (recently fired from a station in Dallas after starting a false rumor about Britney Spears) will replace the Ed Tyll show on WKRK-FM 97.1 Detroit beginning July 9th. The program will air from noon-3pm weekdays.

* Michigan's first low power FM station has been granted a construction permit by the FCC: Prayer Tower Ministry has received the CP for a station in Cassopolis at 97.1

* Back on the air with religious (Catholic) programming is WMAX-AM 1440 Bay City

June 24:

* Taking over the morning show at WJLB-FM 97.9 (FM 98) Detroit will be Ed Lover; Kris Kelly takes over control of programming and operations at WJLB on an interim basis- All Access

* FCC Action: Granted the voluntary assignment of license from Coltrace Communications to Clear Channel Broadcasting for WHGR-AM 1290 Houghton Lake

June 21:

* The Detroit Pistons have signed a deal with Clear Channel-owned WDFN-AM 1130 Detroit to make that station the home for Pistons play-by-play over the next 5 seasons. The Pistons had previously been heard on Infinity's WWJ-AM 950.

June 20:

* The Michigan Association of Broadcasters, in cooperation with the Michigan State Police, Michigan Sheriffs Association, and the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police, has organized many of the TV and radio stations across the state to launch the Amber Alert of Michigan. The system is a statewide notification program to help locate abducted and endangered children. Currently, more then 1900 children are listed missing in Michigan. The Amber Alert program is designed to save children by locating abducted or endangered children within the first 24-hours which are the most critical hours in an abduction. The power of free, over-the-air electronic media is the best way to quickly reach Michigan citizens who may have information leading to the return of a missing or abducted child. Through the Amber Alert program, listeners and viewers will become the eyes and ears for police, and hopefully aid in the return of the child. If you're a broadcaster and have yet to join this program, please contact the MAB today.

* R&R Online's Street Talk reports that WGRV-FM 105.1 Detroit will drop its Rhythmic Oldies format on July 1

June 19:

* Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM moved back ahead of News/Talk WJR-AM in the just-released May Arbitrend report, moving the station back on top after only one month out of that spot. WJR finished in second place overall, followed by All-News WWJ-AM. Fourth place was a three-way tie between Top 40 WDRQ-FM, Urban WJLB-FM, and Smooth Jazz WVMV-FM. Rounding out the top ten among listeners age 12 and over was Rock WRIF-FM, Oldies WOMC-FM, Urban AC WMXD-FM, and in another 3-way tie Country WYCD-FM, Top 40 WKQI-FM, and Urban WDTJ-FM.

* Congrats to Troy Hanson, winner of the Active Rock Music Director of the Year Achievement Award from Radio & Records

* Kudos also to WSJM-AM 1400 St. Joseph for winning an Edward R. Morrow Award for small market web site

* Michael Saunders, VP of operations and programming at sister stations WMXD-FM 92.3 (Mix 92.3) and WJLB-FM 97.9 (FM 98) Detroit has exited; Jeff Lesson has stepped down from his role as program director at WXYT-AM 1270 Detroit (Team 1270). Lesson remains with the station in an on-air role- All Access, Inside Radio

June 18:

* WSCG-FM 106.3 Lakeview/Greenville switched format from Talk to Classic Hit Country on Saturday evening (6/16). Replacing programming from the Michigan Talk Radio Network (MTRN) is the biggest hits from the biggest stars of country music from the 1970's and 80's. "This is a natural move for us," said Tim Little, General Manager of WSCG Radio. "For years WCUZ was one of the most popular stations in this area. When they changed their format to Bob and Tom and Classic Rock that left a big void that we want to fill. We have talked with members of the community and conducted a small survey and it's clear that this music has been missed," Little said. WSCG-FM was one of the first stations in the state to join MTRN and was the first station to go on the air with the new network. "We are proud of our involvement with MTRN and I wish everyone there much success. While MTRN did not meet with the success we had hoped for in our coverage area, I still believe it will be an important part of Michigan radio," said Little. Before the January switch to Talk, the station's previous format was Country.

* FCC Actions: Granted WGVU-TV 35 Grand Rapids its construction permit for digital facilities on channel 11; Granted a modification of construction permit for WNGE-FM 99.5 Negaunee (ERP from 1,850 to 3,600 watts, HAAT from 182 to 131 meters)

June 15:

* R.J.'s Late Night Entertainment, licensee of WHPR-FM 88.1 Highland Park/Detroit has been admonished but not fined by the FCC for airing commercials. WHPR is licensed as a non-commercial educational station.

June 13:

* FCC Action: Granted WAAQ-FM 88.3 Onsted a construction permit for minor changes (ERP from 100 watts to 250, HAAT from 56 meters to 23, and a slight location change)

June 10:

* WOBE-FM 100.7 Crystal Falls is on the air at or near its construction permit power of 100,000 watts. The station is programmed with Oldies as 'B100'

June 8:

* DX-midAMerica checks in with a change in Houghton/Hancock: WMPL-FM 93.5 and WMPL-AM 920 are now simulcasting full time with new programming: Mornings are local with Telephone Talk, afternoons feature Rush Limbaugh and Chuck Harder and nights/overnights are sports from Sporting News Radio. WMPL-AM previously aired mostly religious-based talk and WMPL-FM featured both religious and secular talk along with a Christian-based modern rock program nights. The stations were recently purchased by Victor Corporation.

* Stacey DuFord has returned to co-host the WNIC-FM 100.3 morning show on a temporary basis. DuFord originally left the show in January 1998 but has kept an on-air presence by doing parttime work at WXYZ-TV 7 and fill in duties at WRIF-FM- Detroit Free Press

* FCC Action: Granted WKJF-FM a modification to its construction permit (ERP from 72,000 to 100,000 watts)

June 7:

* Grand Rapids and Lansing join the Tri-Cities as Michigan radio markets with embargoed Arbitron 12+ ratings trends. Trade publications are not permitted to print ratings numbers in markets where the ratings are embargoed. The normal cause of a ratings embargo is when a station or group of stations in the market end their Arbitron subscription.

* FCC Actions: Approved the voluntary transfer of control from Roberts Broadcasting to Badger Communications for WJMS-AM 590 and WIMI-FM 99.7 Ironwood; Granted Pensacola Christian College a modification to a construction permit for an FM translator of KAWZ-FM in Benton Harbor- frequency change from 91.5 to 91.1 as W216BX, ERP from 10 watts to 80 watts (V)

June 6:

* WGRV-FM 105.1 Detroit afternoon drive host Sonny Andre leaves the station for mornings in Virginia; Robb Rose is now program director at WFAT-FM 96.5 Kalamazoo- All Access

* FCC Actions: Granted WLQV-AM 1500 Detroit a construction permit for 5,000 watt 9 tower nighttime operations; Granted the voluntary assignment of license from L'Anse Broadcasting to Keweenaw Bay Indian Community for WCUP-FM 105.7 L'Anse; Granted WHPR-FM 88.1 Highland Park a construction permit to change power from 11 watts to 9 watts with a tower height increase to 112 ft from 105 ft

June 5:

* Doc Reno has left WGRV-FM 105.1 Detroit (The Groove). Reno had been the morning host- it was announced last week that Jim Harper will be taking over that role beginning July 2- Detroit Free Press

June 4:

* WHLS-AM 1450 Pt. Huron and simulcasting station WHLX-AM 1590 Marine City have switched format from Oldies to Adult Standards. WHLS and WHLX are owned by Liggett Communications.

June 3:

* Joining Jim Harper at WGRV 105.1 Detroit on July 2nd as part of the move from WNIC-FM 100.3 will be Linda Lanci, Cynthia Canty and Jim Bradley. Remaining at WNIC will be newsman Dave Lockhart and WJBK-TV weathercaster Kam Carman. Carman is currently on maternity leave from both WJBK and WNIC after giving birth to twins earlier in the week. WNIC afternoon driver Chris Edmonds moves to the morning role on an interim basis starting Monday

June 1:

* WXYT-AM 1270 Detroit (Team 1270) has applied to increase its daytime power from its current 5,000 watts to 48,000 watts. This application is in addition to a previous application to also increase the station's nighttime power from 5,000 to 48,000 watts. The Infinity-owned station is applying for these power boosts as part of the deal that landed play-by-play broadcast rights for Detroit Tigers baseball and Detroit Red Wings hockey.

* Northern Radio Network has reached a deal to sell one of its silent stations- WHST-FM 106.1 Tawas City will be purchased by Northern Christian Radio pending FCC approval. Northern Christian currently owns WPHN-FM 90.5 in Gaylord and simulcasts programming on sister-station WOLW-FM 91.1 Cadillac and on an FM translator in Newberry. The sale price for this transaction was not disclosed.

* Mort Crim, longtime TV anchor at WDIV-TV Detroit and current host of radio's syndicated Second Thoughts, plans on adding a daily 5 minute syndicated newscast at 7:30am beginning July 2nd. According to the program's website, the broadcast is described this way: "In the tradition of Paul Harvey, Mort hooks and holds drivetime listeners with a hearty blend of today's headlines, useful information and lighthearted features."

* M Street Daily is reporting that WLQV-AM 1500 Detroit along with other 2 other stations on AM 1500 (WTOP Washington D.C. and KSTP St. Paul) have finally reached a deal on their nighttime operations that will be approved by the FCC. Each station will be able to gain local coverage at the expense of losing skywave protection. Specifically for WLQV, this means the station will increase its nighttime power to 5,000 watts from its current 3,000 watts. WLQV's current nighttime operations are under special temporary authority from the FCC that allows the station to operate at this power using a 9 tower array- 3 less than what the station was licensed for (the land where the other 3 towers were located was sold to a retail store).

* New creative services director for Citadel's Tri-Cities cluster (WKQZ-FM, WHNN-FM, WIOG-FM, WYLZ/WILZ-FM) is Jim Baade who moves from creative services/production director at Cumulus' Flint cluster (WDZZ-FM, WWCK-FM/AM, WRSR-FM, WFDF-AM)- All Access

May 31:

* Ty the Nite Guy has left his role at WWDX-FM 92.1 St. Johns/Lansing (The Edge) in order to pursue higher education. All Access reports Ty will keep an on-air presence doing parttime/swing shifts at WWCK-FM 105.5 Flint (CK-105.5)

May 29:

* Bill Vogel, 'The Captain', has returned to the airwaves of northwest lower Michigan- his 3-7pm Michigan Talk Radio Network program is now heard on WJZZ-AM 1210 Kingsley/Traverse City and WJML-AM 1110 Petoskey. Vogel was the longtime morning host at WKHQ-FM 105.9 Charlevoix before retiring from that role earlier this year.

May 25:

* Jim Harper, longtime morning host at Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM 100.3 (Detroit's Nicest Rock) is apparently leaving the station to accept a morning role at Urban Oldies WGRV-FM 105.1 (The Groove) beginning July 1st.

* FCC Actions: Approved the voluntary transfer of licenses for WMPL-FM/AM 93.5/920 Hancock from Copper Country Enterprises to Victor Corporation

May 22:

* A surprise atop the newest Arbitrend ratings for Detroit that were released today: Adult Contemporary WNIC has fallen from the number one slot - a position it has held in every trend and ratings book since 1998. The February-April 12+ trend (Spring Phase 1) finds News/Talk WJR-AM moving up to the top spot and WNIC in second. Contemporary Hits WDRQ-FM moved up to third place followed by All-News WWJ-AM in fourth. Urban WJLB-FM and Rock WRIF-FM finished in a fifth place tie. Stations with .5 or better ratings gains since the Winter 2001 book were WDRQ and Rock Hits WLLC-FM. Stations losing .5 or better included WNIC and WWJ.

* FCC Action: Approved a construction permit for WHKB-FM 102.3 Houghton to increase power from 1,050 watts to 4,800 watts. Height above average terrain will be reduced to 105 meters from 169 and the antenna location will change from south of Houghton to north of Houghton. Note: WHKB also has a construction permit to increase power to 36,000 watts at 150 meters from its current site.

May 21:

* Notable: WXYT-AM 1270 Detroit (Team 1270) has applied to increase its nighttime power to 48,000 watts using a nine tower array (AM towers are used to 'custom fit' the pattern- preventing interference to other stations). The station plans to use a site about 5 miles west of the current location of WWJ-AM 950's nighttime site in Monroe county. No application has been filed to date proposing a change to the stations current daytime license (5,000 watts).

* FCC Action: Granted WFUM-TV 28 Flint a construction permit for its digital facilites on channel 52

May 17:

* Adult Contemporary WLHT-FM 95.7 Grand Rapids (W-Lite) has switched syndicated evening shows- gone is Delilah in favor of Friday Epley's Heart to Heart show.

* FCC Actions: Granted the voluntary assignment of license for WJZZ-AM 1210 Kingsley from Radio One to Fort Bend Broadcasing; Granted WCML-TV 6 Alpena its construction permit for digital facilities on channel 57; Granted the license to cover for Great Lakes Broadcasting's FM translator on 89.7 in Columbia Twp. (SE of Jackson)

* Notable: Winstar Broadcasting has filed with the FCC for the voluntary transfer of the construction permit for new TV channel 19 in Marquette to Montana Broadcasting Group

May 16:

* WWCK-FM 105.5 Flint raised over $140,000 last weekend during its Children's Miracle Network radiothon; the money raised goes to Hurley Medical Center; Leaving WDVD-FM 96.3 Detroit is Dash, who held the role of director of creative imaging- All Access

May 14:

* Will the FM dial be changing soon in Northern lower Michigan? Possibly! Here's a summary of a proposal and two counter proposals currently before the FCC:
- Initially, Escanaba Radio Company proposed a new Class C2 allocation in Cheboygan at 99.9 FM, forcing Northern Radio Network's WHAK-FM 99.9 (C2) Rogers City to move to 106.3 (C2).
- A counter proposal was filed by Northern Radio Network that would leave WHAK-FM at 99.9, but create two new FM allocations: 106.3 C2 Onaway and 98.7 C3 Cheboygan.
- Another counter proposal was then filed by Fort Bend Broadcasting. This one is the most complicated, but creates the most new allocations:
* Move WSRQ-FM 100.1 (A) Bear Lake to FM 99.9 (C1) Bellaire
* Move WHAK-FM 99.9 (C2) to 106.3 (C2)
* Change allotment of 98.9 (A) Walhalla to 106.5 (A)
* New allotment at 99.7 (A) Rapid River
* New allotment at 106.1 (A) Bear Lake
* Change allotment of 99.9 (A) Manistique to 100.9 (A)
* Move WKLA-FM 106.3 (A) Ludington to 98.7 (A)
Using history as a rule, the FCC generally likes to approve proposals that ultimately create new allocations for cities without a current radio service. The Fort Bend plan adds 3 new allocations (1 in the U.P., 2 in the Northwest lower peninsula).
Michiguide.com will report on where your favorite station might be moving after the FCC makes its ruling(s).

* FCC Action: Granted WWMT-TV 3 Kalamazoo its construction permit application for digital facilities on channel 2

May 11:

* Sold: By Coltrace Communications to Clear Channel- 4,900 watt Adult Standards daytime-only WHGR-AM 1290 Houghton Lake for $250,000. This purchase marks Clear Channel's first entry into northern Michigan. Coltrace retains WUPS-FM 98.5- R&R Online

May 10:

* WKHQ-FM 105.9 Charlevoix night host Tammy Paige moves behind the scenes for a sales position. Taking over the shift is Phillipe Chiccini who moves from a swing role at WKQI-FM 95.5 Detroit- All Access

* WSJM-AM 1400 Benton Harbor and WCSG-FM 106.3 Lakeview add the Internet Insider with David Radin Saturday afternoons from noon-2pm

* Correction: WADW-FM 105.5 Pickford/Sault Ste. Marie is airing a local-based Oldies format (previously reported as Adult Standards). The locally-programmed station has been on the air since late January and has a broad playlist- at times airing songs common to an Adult Standards format

* FCC Action: Assigned WMSQ to new FM 89.3 Marlette

May 7:

* Arbitron Winter 2001 ratings for Lansing were released today. Adult Contemporary WFMK-FM continued to hold the top spot among listners age 12 and above. Contemporary Hits WHZZ-FM and Country WITL-FM tied for second place, with Oldies WJIM-FM and Rock WJXQ-FM finishing up the top 5. WFMK's ratings rose from 9.8 in the fall to an 11.6 rating for the winter, making it station with the biggest ratings gain. Other stations with large gains were WJXQ (6.5 - 7.9) and News/Talk WJIM-AM (3.3 - 4.6). Urban station WQHH-FM suffered the biggest ratings drop (6.0 - 2.9) Also of note, FM Sports talker WQTX overtook similarly-formatted WVFN-AM in the winter book.

May 4:

* WZRZ-FM 93.7 Frankenmuth hit the air for the first time today with an 80's based Adult Contemporary / Pop format. It is believed the station is still in its testing phase. WZRZ is licensed to the Frankenmuth Radio Company.

* Arbitron 12+ Winter 2001 ratings for Grand Rapids were released today. Country WBCT-FM remained first overall, but saw its winter ratings drop to 8.7 from 10.4 in the fall. Contemporary Hits WSNX-FM, News/Talk WOOD-AM, and Classic Rock WLAV-FM also maintained their positions from the fall, finishing in places 2 through 4 respectively. WSNX was the biggest ratings gainer in the group, up to 8.4 from 7.9. There was a three-way tie for 5th place this winter- Adult Contemporary stations WOOD-FM and WLHT-FM tied with Alternative Rock station WGRD-FM. Noteable ratings improvements since the fall book were experienced at Rock WKLQ-FM (4.8 - 5.4) and Classic Rock WBFX-FM (2.8 - 3.8).

* Lia, syndicated from Jones Networks, is set to debut on Country WBCT-FM 93.7 (B93) Grand Rapids on May 14th. The show will occupy the 7pm-Midnight slot- Radio Ink

* FCC Ruling: The FM table of allotments will be modified to allow WIDL-FM 92.1 to move from a Class A station licensed to Caro to a Class C3 station licensed to Cass City, effective 6/18/01. The station will remain at 92.1 FM.

* Wilks Broadcasting has applied to change the city of license of WCEN-FM 94.5 from Mt. Pleasant to Hemlock (in northwestern Saginaw County).

May 3:

* On April 23rd WMUS-AM 1090 Muskegon dropped its long-time simulcast of Country formatted sister station WMUS-FM 106.9 in favor of News-Talk programming as "NewsTalk 1090". The station's current programming lineup features Dr. Laura, Rush Limbaugh, and Dave Ramsey along with AP News. Some of the weekend programs include On the Garden Line and At Home with Gary Sullivan. WMUS-AM is a 1,000 watt daytimer, owned by Clear Channel.

May 2:

* WTCF-FM 100.5 Saginaw (Mix 100.5) program director Mike McDonald has left the station. Bud Ford, PD at sister station WCEN-FM 94.5 (The Moose) will fill in for now- All Access

April 28:

* New program director for Classic Rock trimulcasters WGFN-FM 98.1 Glen Arbor / WGFM-FM 105.1 Cheboygan / WCKC-FM 107.1 Cadillac (The Bear) is Ray Bauer, replacing the outgoing Greg Fletcher- All Access

April 26:

* Michigan State University has agreed to a 4-year deal with Infinity Broadcasting that will put Spartans basketball on WWJ and football on WXYT beginning next fall- Detroit News

* Weekend and swing shifter Mike Scott adds the role of program coordinator at WYCD-FM 99.5 Detroit; Nick Craig lands parttime on-air and behind the scenes roles at WKQI-FM 95.5 Detroit- Nick was previously at WTWR-FM 98.3 Monroe and sister station WWWM-FM 105.5 Toledo- All Access

April 25:

* WLEN-FM 103.9 Adrian was a winner of the National Association of Broadcasters Crystal Award- given to stations for their efforts "to improve the quality of life in their surrounding communities".

* Sold: The remaining 70% interest in WCUP-FM 105.7 L'Anse from S & S Broadcasting to Keweenaw Bay Indian Community. Keweenaw Bay previously held 30% of the station- the deal pays off S & S Broadcaasting's current debt- R&R Online

April 23:

* Leamington Ontario's CHYR-FM 96.7 (Cheer-FM) switched its format over the weekend from Country to Adult Contemporary. The station can be received up across much of the Metro Detroit area.

* Winter 2001 ratings for Detroit were released today. Among listeners age 12 and above, Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM continues to hold its spot as Detroit's most listened to radio station. News/Talk WJR-AM improved to 2nd place overall- up from 3rd in the Fall ratings. All-news WWJ-AM finished third with Urban WJLB-FM ending in 4th spot. 5th place was a three-way tie between Oldies WOMC-FM, Rock WRIF-FM, and Top-40 WDRQ-FM. Stations with a ratings improvement of .5% or better since the fall included: WDRQ (3.9 - 4.9), Urban AC WMXD-FM (3.7 - 4.2), and Top 40 WKQI-FM (3.5 - 4.1). Stations with large drops included Smooth Jazz WVMV-FM (5.1 - 4.5), Country WYCD-FM (4.9 - 4.0), Urban WDTJ-FM (4.7 - 3.9), the now Sports WXYT-AM (3.0 - 2.3), and Talk WKRK-FM (2.2 - 1.6).

* FCC Action: Approved construction permit for WEUL-FM 98.1 Iron Mountain to increase power to 1,000 watts @ 466 ft from current 240 watts @ 482 feet, city of license changed to Kingsford

April 16:

* John Mason announced today that he will not be returning to Urban WJLB-FM 97.9 Detroit as its morning host. Mason's contract with the Clear Channel owned station expired April 1st, he has been off the air ever since after spending 17 years at FM 98. According to a statement released by Mason earlier today, he plans on reviewing all his options before making any kind of announcement as to his future plans.

April 12:

* Sold (pending FCC approval): WMPL-FM/AM 93.5/920 Hancock for $237,000 by Copper Country Enterprises to Victor Corporation- R&R Online

* FCC Action: Granted WHYT-FM 89.1 Imlay City its license to cover for a new station

April 11:

* On the heels of Clear Channel pulling the plug on all of its stations' webcasts due to concerns over legal and financial issues, many other broadcasting groups are following suit today. At least 50 Michigan radio stations are no longer streaming their signals on the Internet- in addition to Clear Channel, Citadel, ABC/Disney, and others have turned off web streaming.

* Call sign change: On April 5th, WSRI 92.1 Beulah became WOUF

April 10:

* Rachel Geddes moves from overnights to marketing director at WIOG-FM Bay City/Saginaw- All Access

* FCC Actions: Granted WHTV-TV 18 Jackson its license to cover (200,000 watts ERP, 899 ft HAAT, directional); Granted Great Lakes Community Broadcasting a construction permit for a new non-commercial educational radio station at 89.3 FM in Marlette (100 watts ERP, 98 ft HAAT)

April 9:

* WYVN-FM 92.7 Holland has relaunched itself as 'The new 92.7, The Van'. The station's format remains Classic Hits focused- the same as before it began stunting on Friday by reading names out of the local telephone book with the prefix 'Van' added to each one.

* Infinity Broadcasting and the Detroit Lions have agreed on a new four year contract for radio coverage worth $16 million. The new deal calls for WWJ-AM 950 to simulcast WXYT-AM 1270 for all games- previously WWJ only simulcast games starting after 4:00pm.

* Roberts Broadcasting, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Badger Communications, has been essentially merged together with its parent company in a stock transfer valued at $3 million. 2 Michigan stations, Ironwood's WIMI-FM 99.7 and WJMS-AM 590, were involved in the transaction. Roberts will remain the licensee of the stations.

April 7:

* WYVN-FM 92.7 Holland has dropped its classic hits programming and is stunting towards a 5pm Monday format switch

* Lansing phase 2 ratings trends were released yesterday- The top 5 stations this time were Adult Contemporary WFMK-FM, Top 40 WHZZ-FM, Oldies WJIM-FM, Rock WJXQ-FM, and Classic Rock WMMQ-FM. Former number 1 station Country WITL-FM has slipped to 6th place overall.

April 6:

* The second phase of winter ratings for Grand Rapids were released yesterday- Country WBCT-FM, Top-40 WSNX-FM, News/Talk WOOD-AM, and Classic Rock WLAV-FM remained the top 4 stations with listeners age 12 and above. Adult Contemporary WOOD-FM edged up into a 5th place tie with Rock WKLQ-FM.

* Reporter Jeff Defran leaves WJR-AM Detroit for morning co-host duties at Sports WTKA-AM 1050 (The Ticket) Ann Arbor- The Oakland Press

* FCC Actions: Granted the voluntary transfer of control for WLDR-FM 101.9 Traverse City from Donald Witala to Fort Bend Broadcasting; Granted the modification of construction permit for WOBE-FM 100.7 Crystal Falls (Class A to Class C1, ERP to 100,000 watts from 350, HAAT to 653 feet from 121, plus a location change)

April 5:

* Northern Michigan University and Great Lakes Radio have signed a deal that will bring many NMU sporting events to listeners across the Upper Peninsula

* Music director Mark Feurie adds the program director title at WKLQ-FM 94.5 Grand Rapids; Former WEEG-FM 97.3 Bay City morning man Jim Ellis lands at WFDF-AM 910 Flint for the morning role, program director/morning man Gary Ratski exits- All Access

* Call sign change: FM 92.7 Saugatuck/Holland has changed its calls from WEVS to WYVN

April 4:

* Bob Driscoll, owner of WION-AM Ionia, has passed away unexpectedly. Before buying WION, Bob owned part of the Michigan Farm Radio Network.

* FCC Action: Granted WTCU-FM 95.9 Fife Lake's application for minor change to construction permit- change from Class A (6,000 watts @ 322 ft) to Class C3 (25,000 watts @ 328 ft) plus slight location change

April 2:

* WWJ-TV 62 Detroit will launch it's 11:00pm newscast tonight- it will air sometime after 11 due to coverage of the NCAA men's championship basketball game

* WADW-FM 105.5 Pickford (south of Sault Ste Marie) is on the air with an Oldies format as "Memories 105-5". The station was first issued a construction permit in about 1991- it is licensed for 55,000 watts at about 108 feet and owned by Seaway Broadcasting.

March 31:

* WSRI-FM 92.1 Beulah and WSRQ-FM 100.1 Bear Lake have returned to the airwaves in Northwest lower Michigan after being silent since about November 1999. Now owned by Fort Bend Broadcasting, both stations are currently duplicating the programming of other Fort Bend owned stations: WSRI 92.1 is simulcasting WLDR-FM 101.9 Traverse City (Adult Contemporary) and WSRQ 100.1 is simulcasting WBNZ-FM 99.3 Frankfort (Hot Adult Contemporary).

* WKBZ-AM 1520 Muskegon, which was airing Radio Disney, has gone silent. The station's owner, WLC Broadcasting, is apparently bankrupt and creditors are in the process of seizing the assests of the station.

March 30:

* FCC Actions: Granted W210BB 89.9 Benton Harbor its license (translator of WPCS-FM Pensacola, FL); cancelled the license for the long-silent WOPR-FM 90.3 Oak Park

March 28:

* There will be no free access this year for fans of the Detroit Tigers looking to hear Internet webcasts of the games. Major League Baseball and Real Networks have reached a deal to charge fans $9.95 for the season to access game webcasts for all of the major league teams. Local stations that regularly stream their signal will not be allowed to webcast the play-by-play feed.

* WBFX-FM 101.3 Grand Rapids (The Fox) afternoon guy Aris Hampers has added the role of music director- All Access

* Call sign action: FM 93.7 Frankenmuth has been assigned WZRZ

* FCC Actions: Granted W48CL Grand Rapids Class A status; Granted the voluntary assignment of license from Good News Television to Wiegel Broadcasting for WYBN-LP 25 Berrien Springs

March 27:

* WXIK-FM 94.1 Jackson/Lansing (Kix 94.1) dropped its Country format at about 11:25pm last night, replacing it with Classic Hits this morning. The station is using the WVIC call sign which has moved from sister station 92.7 Charlotte. The station is positioning itself as 'Rockin Hits 94.1 WVIC'. During its heyday, WVIC was located at 94.9 FM in Lansing- during the 1980's and early 90's was one of the county's highest rated stations playing Top 40 music. The last song played by Kix was What about Now by Lonestar- the station then ID'd as WXIK Jackson/Lansing and fell silent until this morning. Artists heard in the 9:00am hour include Foreigner, Elton John, Great White, Huey Lewis & the News, Journey, The Police, and Bob Seger. FM 92.7 Charlotte's new call sign is WQTX.

* FCC Action: Granted WPXD-TV 31 Ann Arbor its license to cover for changes (increase in ERP)

March 26:

* Northern Star Broadcasting has changed the format of WAVC-FM 93.9 Mio- it is now Country, simulcasting sister station WMKC-FM 102.9 St. Ignace (Big Country). The station was previously airing Northern Star's Modern Rock 'The Zone' format, which is also heard on FM 94.5 Mackinaw City (WLJZ) and FM 95.5 Glen Arbor/Traverse City (WJZJ). The Alpena translator of 93.9 (98.1 W251AD) is believed to still be rebroadcasting 93.9's signal, of course now with Country programming.

* Winter phase 2 Arbitrend 12+ ratings for Detroit were released today- the top 5 stations in the phase 1 trend held their spots: Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM stayed on top, followed by News WWJ-AM, News/Talk WJR-AM, Urban WJLB-FM, and Oldies WOMC-FM.

* No longer with WSGW-AM 790 Saginaw is morning co-host Terry Lenz. Lenz, a 23-year veteran of the station, will be replaced by Art Lewis and Charlie Rood- Saginaw News

* Brad Morgan, formerly of WCEN-FM 94.5 Mt. Pleasant/Saginaw, has landed swing and weekend duty at Flint's WCRZ-FM 107.9

* FCC Actions: Granted the voluntary assignment of license for the silent WJKN-AM 1510 Jackson from Coltrace Communications to Spring Arbor College Communications; Granted the voluntary assignment of license for W18BT Alpena from Thunder Bay Broadcasting to Trinity Broadcasting Network; Granted WDWO-LP 18 Detroit its license to cover for changes

March 24:

* WCAS-AM 1290 Saline/Ann Arbor switched its format from Business News/Talk to Adult Standards yesterday. The station is currently owned by Clear Channel- its previous call sign was WYBN.

March 23:

* Charlie Langton fans can still catch his program on WXYT-AM 1270 Detroit (Team 1270)- he's been given an early morning spot (6-8am) Sundays; new general sales manager at WOMC-FM 104.3 Detroit (Oldies 104.3) is Steve Wright; Bob Dutko is the new permanent 1-4pm host on WMUZ-FM 103.5 Detroit (The Light)

March 22:

* The Captain has announced his retirement from WKHQ-FM 105.9 Charlevoix/Traverse City after nearly 20 years at the station. He'll still be heard around the state on his 3-7pm Michigan Talk Radio Network program- All Access

March 21:

* Sean Kelly joins WIOG-FM 102.5 Bay City/Saginaw for nights; WGRD-FM 97.9 Grand Rapids assistant music director and afternoon co-host Michael Grey adds the promotions director role in place of APD, Remy loses the promotions director gig in favor of becoming nighttime events coordinator, and morning co-host Stephanie Webb adds promotion coordinator tasks; WVTI-FM 96.1 Holland/Gd Rapids afternoon jock TJ McKay moves to 10am-3pm and adds web responsibilites, Ken Evans swaps on-air positions with McKay, moving to afternoons- All Access

March 20:

* Chris Nichols has been named music director at WFAT-FM 96.5 Kalamazoo; Cooper, formerly of WTCF-FM 100.5 Saginaw during its Pirate Radio days, lands at WBTI-FM 96.9 Lexington/Pt. Huron for nights- All Access

March 19:

* WJZZ-AM 1210 Traverse City is now airing primarily a Talk format. Most of the programming is from the Michigan Talk Radio Network. The station airs a simulcast of CNN Headline News afternoons from 3-7pm.

* According to the Traverse City Record-Eagle, Fort Bend Broadcasting is continuing its expansion in Northwest Lower Michigan by purchasing WBNZ-FM 99.3 Benzie from Crystal Clear Communications.

* WOOD-FM 105.7 Grand Rapids (EZ-105.7) raised over $143,000 during its Children's Miracle Network radiothon this past weekend- All Access

March 16:

* WXYT-AM 1270 Detroit has added One-on-One sports weekends and overnights- the station is now all-sports with the exception of Don Imus' program weekday mornings and Glenn Haege's Ask the Handyman weekend show. Gone from the lineup are Jimmy Barrett and Charlie Langton.

* FCC Actions: Granted WWCM-FM 96.9 Standish its application for modification of license; granted WAIR-FM 100.7 Honor a modification to its construction permit (ERP from 4,100 to 4,700 watts, HAAT from 328 to 367 feet, modification of tower location closer to Traverse City); granted W247AM 97.3 Kalamazoo its license to cover

March 15:

* FCC Actions: Granted WMRX-FM 97.7 its application to modify its license (increase ERP from 2,000 to 4,100 watts); Granted WMHW-FM 91.5 Mt. Pleasant its application for a minor change (slight change in tower location)

March 14:

* 96.3 Detroit has switched call sign from WPLT to WDVD

March 13:

* Oldies WOMC-FM 104.3 Detroit general sales manager Jack Johnson exits the station- All Access

* FCC Actions: Granted Class A status to Low Power TV stations WOGC-LP 25 Grand Rapids and WUPT-LP 25 Crystal Falls; Granted WUPT a construction permit to move from channel 49 to channel 25

March 11:

* Memories 1250, WKNX Saginaw/Bay City recently moved into a new office/studio facility in Saginaw. The new building is located on 13 acres at 2850 Gabel Road, east of Sheridan, where WKNX's three 400 foot broadcasting towers and transmitter have been since 1957. This is the fifth studio location for WKNX since it went on the air in 1947. The station is owned and operated by John W. and Kathy (Libbey) Blehm, of Birch Run and has 12 full and part-time employees. With the recent consolidation of many radio stations WKNX is one of the few remaining "mom and pop" stations in the area. The studios had been located in a rented building in Frankenmuth since 1984. After looking at several options they decided to take advantage of the property already owned by WKNX and build a new facility there. An open house is being planned for late spring or early summer to give listeners a chance to tour the new WKNX studios.

* Program director and afternoon jock Mike Tinnes has left Classic Rock station WZUU-FM 92.3 Kalamazoo; Lynn Roberts moves from Top 40 WIOG-FM 102.5 Bay City where she was promotion director and midday personality to sister station Oldies WHNN-FM 96.1 as morning show co-host; JJ Shades moves from Flint Top 40 WWCK-FM 105.5 to WIOG to take the vacant midday slot- All Access

* Lansing's winter first phase ratings have Adult Contemporary WFMK-FM keeping its top spot, followed by Top 40 WHZZ-FM, Oldies WJIM-FM, Country WITL-FM, and Classic Rock WMMQ-FM. WITL dropped a position again this trend- its ratings have fallen from 12.2 in the Summer of 2000 to 7.4 this time out.

March 9:

* WWCK-AM 1570 Flint has dropped its simulcast of Top-40 WWCK-FM 105.5 in favor of satellite-fed Gospel programming

* Brad Morgan, evening air talent and production assistant of WCEN-FM 94.5 and WTCF-FM 100.5, has resigned to work for Premiere Radio's Mediabase 24/7. Morgan had worked at WCEN since 1995, and served as production director/air talent, under the Sommerville Broadcasting ownership. After the sale to Wilks Broadcasting, he became Assistant Production Director for the Wilks' cluster in Saginaw. Morgan has previously worked at WGER-FM, and Flint's CARS 108, respectively.

* The first phase of winter ratings for Grand Rapids find the same four stations at the top- Country WBCT-FM, Top-40 WSNX-FM, News/Talk WOOD-AM, and Classic Rock WLAV-FM. Moving into the top five was Rock WKLQ-FM.

March 8:

* New call sign for AM 1290 Saline is WCAS, replacing WYBN

March 7:

* WNSX-FM Muskegon/Gd Rapids nighttime host Broadway Billy Macc is upped to music director and nights, replacing Brad Newman- All Access

March 6:

* Brian Figula (Fig) has left his role as weekender/swing at Lansing's WWDX-FM for a fulltime role in Springfield, IL. Before WWDX, Fig was was in Flint at WWBN/WCRZ/WFNT as promotions director/on-air.

* FCC Action: Granted WQBX-FM 104.9 Alma's application for modification of license to increase power to 6,000 watts from 3,000

March 5:

* Terry Arnold moves from WDTJ-FM Detroit to the station manager role at Detroit sister stations WJLB-FM and WMXD-FM. Peter Connolly gives up the same role at WJLB and WMXD, but keeps the title for WLLC-FM, WDFN-AM, and WXDX-AM; Newscaster Paul Miller will be leaving WJR-AM for a role outside radio- Detroit Free Press

* Jack Lawson is the new vice president / general manager for Fort Bend Broadcasting's Traverse City cluster of stations (WLDR-FM, WJZZ-AM, WSRQ-FM, WSRI-FM, WTCU-FM). Lawson was previously operations manager for the Tri-Cities WKQZ-FM and WYLZ/WILZ-FM.

* Mort Crim, former WDIV-TV Detroit anchor man and current host of the syndicated Second Thoughts commentary, will launch a live radio daily newscast on July 2nd titled News You Care About. It'll be scheduled to air at 7am on weekdays- All Access

February 28:

* FCC Action: Granted WLJZ-FM 94.5 Mackinaw City's application for the following minor change: upgrade in facilities from Class C3 (18,500 watts) to Class C2 (40,000 watts).

February 27:

* The first phase of winter ratings for Detroit find Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM continuing its run on top with News WWJ-AM moving up to second place followed by News/Talk WJR, Urban WJLB-FM, and Oldies WOMC-FM.

February 26:

* Friday's Radiothon for the Salvation Army's Bed and Bread Club raised over $864,000. Congrats to the staff at Detroit's WOMC-FM 104.3 Detroit.

February 23:

* No sale: WQBH-AM 1400 Detroit will remain in the hands of the daughters of the late Martha Jean Steinberg. Reports earlier in the week had the station possibly being sold to Crawford Broadcasting for about $5 million.

* WJR-AM 760 Detroit will introduce a new show this Saturday at 6:00pm. Titled "Digital Hour", the show, hosted by WJR's Foster Braun and local venture capitalists Jeffrey and Richard Sloan, will focus on Michigan's growing digital economy. The program will also feature a look at arts and culture, as well as a call-in segment for listeners to propose new business ideas and get feedback- The Oakland Press

February 21:

* WKBZ-AM 1520 Muskegon is Michigan's first Radio Disney outlet, station launched Feb. 5th; Carolina National Communications is aquiring the station from WLC Broadcasting.

* Viacom has completed the complete acquisition of Infinity Broadcasting. Prior to today's $12 billion transaction, Viacom held 63% of Infinity.

* FCC Action: Granted the voluntary assignment of license for WVIC-FM 92.7 Charlotte to Rubber City Radio from BB Broadcasting

February 16:

* WYCD-FM 99.5 has dropped 'Young' from its 'Young Country' moniker and is now identifying the station as 'Country 99.5'. The station raised a record $1,004,655 during its recent two day St. Jude's Cares for Kids Radiothon.

February 15:

* WWJ-TV 62 Detroit plans to launch an 11:00pm local newscast starting April 2 and also move its operations from Detroit to Southfield.

February 14:

* WIDL-FM 92.1 Caro has proposed to the FCC the following allotment change: Changing the city of license from Caro to Cass City with an upgrade from a Class A (max 6,000 watts) to a Class C3 (max 25,000 watts).

February 13:

* New morning host at WIOG-FM 102.5 Bay City effective 2/16 will be Demas, who moves from nights. He's replacing Man @ Large who heads for Dallas. Current morning show producer and overnighter Buzz moves to Demas' night shift with weekender Rachel Geddes moving to the overnight slot.

* Look for WSRI-FM 92.1, WTCU-FM 95.9, and WSRQ-FM 100.1 Bear Lake to all simulcast Adult Contemporary WLDR-FM 101.9 once they return to the air / sign on- Traverse City Record-Eagle

February 11:

* WJZZ-AM 1210 has returned to the air once again with an Oldies format that is likely temporary. The station is on the list of Michigan Talk Radio Network (MTRN) affiliates (with the call sign WLDR)- look for the station to add at least some MTRN programming soon.

* WKPK-FM 106.7 Gaylord (The Peak) has migrated away from Top 40 towards Hot Adult Contemporary. Gone from the playlist are most rhythmic/hip-hop titles in favor of more music of the 80's and 90's.

February 9:

* WVTI-FM Grand Rapids (I-96) midday jock Ken Evans is upped to assistant program director with nighttimer Alex Caruso adding Evans' former role as music director. Eric O'Brien gives up the APD role at I-96 to concentrate on his other APD job at sister station WSNX-FM- All Access

* FCC Actions: Granted the voluntary assignment of license from Saginaw Bay Broadcasting to 990 Investors for WMAX-AM 1440 Bay City; Granted the application for minor modification of license for WTCF-FM 100.5 Carrollton

February 8:

* Fort Bend Broadcasting has aquired its 5th station in Northwest Michigan, purchasing WJZZ-AM 1210 Kingsley from Radio One for about $225,000. The rights to the call sign WJZZ will be retained by Radio One for future use- All Access

February 7:

* Brandon Edwards takes over as music director and midday jock at WIOG-FM 102.5 Bay City effective 2/16, replacing Brent Carey. Carey will be heard doing swing work at Detroit's WDRQ-FM 93.1 while he pursues a teaching degree at EMU- All Access

* Michael Kronley is leaving his roles of station manager and vice president at Detroit's WXYZ-TV 7 on March 5th to become general manager and vice president of Scripps sister station KJRH-TV Tulsa- Detroit Free Press

February 6:

* Country WTCM-FM once again tops the Northwest Michigan Arbitron ratings for listeners age 12 and over. Rock combo WKLT/WKLZ remained the second most popular station, with the Classic Rock combo 'The Bear' finishing in third place. News/Talk WTCM-AM remained fourth and Oldies WCCW-FM improved to fifth overall, up from ninth place in the Spring. Top 40 competitors WKPK-FM and WKHQ-FM finished tied for 6th place.

* WDMK-FM 102.7 Mt. Clemens/Detroit morning co-host Daryl Fitzpatrick (Big Daddy Fitz) passed away Saturday from an apparent heart attack. Fitzpatrick, who was 37, was added to the WDMK morning program just last week and was also a regular on Detroit's stand-up comedy circuit- Detroit Free Press

* Former WJBK-AM and WXYZ-AM Detroit DJ Ed McKenzie (Jack the Bellboy) passed away Monday from multiple illnesses at the age of 90.

* Doug Karsch has left Ann Arbor's WTKA-AM 1050 in order to co-host WXYT-AM 1270 Detroit's noon-3pm show with Art Regner starting in March- Inside Radio

* WPHM-AM 1380 Pt. Huron raised over $205,000 during the station's 44th annual "Jail'n'Bail". Proceeds went to the Thumb Area March of Dimes All Access

* FCC Action: Granted WGER-FM 106.3 Saginaw its application for a minor modification to its license (note: the FCC engineering database is once again out of date; however this is probably for an increase in ERP from 2,005 to 4,400 watts. The antenna would change from non-directional to directional)

February 5:

* WUPT-LP 49 Crystal Falls has re-added UPN programming to its lineup. The station also keeps some AIN shows.

* Keith Nixon, who went by the on-air name 'Biff' as the morning co-host at Jackson's WXIK-FM 94.1 (Kix), was killed in a car accident Saturday. Nixon, 44, was with WXIK until June 2000 as half of the 'Bryan and Biff Show'.

February 3:

* Top 40 WKFR-FM remained atop the latest Kalamazoo 12+ ratings, which were released yesterday. Positions two through five were held by Rock WRKR-FM, Country WBCT-FM, Country WNWN-FM, and Adult Contemporary WQLR-FM. Stations improving their numbers significantly since the Spring book included WKFR, WNWN-FM, News/Talk WKZO-AM, and Urban AC WNWN-AM.

* Ty Donakowski (Ty the Night Guy) adds the music director role to his evening jock duties at Lansing's WWDX-FM 92.1 (The Edge)- All Access

February 2:

* FCC Action: Granted WAAQ-FM 88.3 Onsted its application for license to cover

February 1:

* WKBZ-AM 1520 Muskegon is reported off the air pending being sold- DX-midAMerica

* WGRY-AM 1230 Grayling has dropped its simulcast of Adult Contemporary sister station WQON-FM 101.1 Roscommon in favor of satellite fed Nostalgia from Jones- DX-midAMerica

* FCC Actions:
- Granted Class A status to the following LPTV stations: WOHO-LP 33 Holland, WOKZ-LP 50 Kalamazoo, WOLP-LP 27 Grand Rapids, WOMS-LP 29 Muskegon, WXSP-LP 15 Grand Rapids.
- Granted WKBD-TV Detroit its license to cover for digital facilites on channel 14
- Granted W09AJ a minor modification to its license to move to channel 43 as W43BY

January 31:

* Midday host Jeff Jennings has left WDMK-FM 102.7 Mt. Clemens/Detroit. Donnie James is currently sitting in- Detroit Free Press

* Fall 2000 ratings were released yesterday for Muskegon and Battle Creek. In Muskegon, Top 40 WSNX overtook Country WMUS for first place among listeners age 12 and above. Following secnd place WMUS was Classic Rock WMRR-FM, Rock WKLQ-FM, and Oldies WLCS-FM. WKLQ increased its 5.1 Spring rating up to 9.3. Other notable ratings gainers were Urban Oldies WEFG-FM, Country WBCT-FM, News/Talk WGN (Chicago), and Oldies WODJ-FM.

Another Top 40 station took first place in Battle Creek with WKFR-FM displacing Country WNWN-FM which fell to second. News/Talk WBCK-AM, Oldies WWKN-FM, and Rock WJXQ-FM maintained their third through fifth positions respectively. Battle Creek Adult Contemporary station WBXX-FM rebounded with a strong fall book- its rating came in at 6.9 (up from 2.9 in the Spring) putting the station in a fifth place tie with WJXQ. Other stations with big ratings gains were WKFR, WJXQ, Rock WRKR-FM, and Classic Rock WMMQ-FM.

January 29:

* Tim Kiesling has resigned as Program Director/PM Drive air personality at 99.1 WFMK-FM 99.1 Lansing. His last day is Feb 22. Tim has been hired as Director of Marketing for Clear Channel Communications' cluster in San Antonio, Texas. His first day in the Lonestar State is Feb 26. WFMK finished #1 12+, 25-54, and 18-49 (among several key demos) in the Fall 2000 Arbitron ratings.

* FCC Action: granted the voluntary assignement of construction permit from Barbara J. Unger to MS Communications for W31BI Petoskey

January 27:

* Fall ratings were released yesterday for Lansing and Grand Rapids. Country WBCT-FM repeated its summer performance by coming in on top of all other stations. Top 40 WSNX-FM moved from 4th to 2nd, News/Talk WOOD-AM was up 2.1 points and improved to 3rd from 8th, Classic Rock WLAV-FM dropped to 4th from 3rd, and Adult Contemporary WLHT-FM moved from 6th to 5th overall. Stations with a 1.0 or better ratings increase from the Summer included WSNX, WOOD-AM, Nostalgia WMJH-AM, and Adult Contemporary WTRV-FM.

There's a new number one station in Lansing with Adult Contemporary WFMK-FM moving to the top spot ahead of Top 40 WHZZ-FM and former number one Country WITL-FM. WFMK's 2.2 point gain moved it from 4th in the summer up to the top among listeners age 12 and above. Oldies WJIM-FM and Classic Rock WMMQ-FM round out this periods top 5 stations. Along with WFMK, notable gainers included Urban WQHH-FM and Nostalgia WILS-FM.

January 26:

* Will WDRQ-FM Detroit night jock Tik Tak be back next week? He's threatening to walk away from the station if the City of Redford follows through with plans to fire 11 teachers due to budget issues. Tik Tak is trying to raise $250,000 to pay the salaries of these teachers- if he doesn't do it by 12:01AM Saturday, he may be gone from 'DRQ- All Access

* WJR-AM Detroit newscaster Michael Barr is headed for New York to be part of the ABC Radio News team- Detroit Free Press

* FCC Actions: Granted WDWO-LP 18 Detroit its license to cover for changes; Granted the voluntary assignment of license from Thunder Bay Broadcasting to Trinity Broadcasting for W18BT Alpena

January 25:

* The morning team at WGTO Cassopolis/South Bend remains in place, but is renamed as 'The Big Beat with Shannon in the Morning and Deb' and features the best of the 50s, Do-Wop and early 60s complete with original commercials, jingles and fun.

January 24:

* Scott Miller, formerly of WOMC-FM Detroit and more recently WJMK-FM Chicago, joins WGRV-FM Detroit for weekends- Detroit Free Press

* Remy loses the interim of his title of promotions director at WGRD-FM Grand Rapids- All Access

January 23:

* WKBD-TV Detroit raised over $500,000 during last weekend's telethon for the Michigan Humane Society- Detroit Free Press

* FCC Action: Granted the voluntary assignement of license from Crystal Radio Company to Results Broadcasting of Iron Mountain for WOBE-FM 100.7 Crystal Falls

January 22:

* WPLT-FM 96.3 Detroit has dropped "Planet" from its slogan and is now using "96.3, Modern Hits of the 80's, 90's and Today". The Modern AC playlist appears to be unaffected by this change.

* FCC Actions: Granted the voluntary transfer of license from Cumulus to Clear Channel for the following Muskegon area stations- WMRR-FM 101.7, WMUS-FM/AM 106.9/1090, WSHZ-FM 107.9, WMHG-AM 1600; Granted WADW-FM 105.5 Pickford its license to cover.

January 21:

* Cable station MSNBC will carry Mitch Albom's 3-5pm weekday radio show from the WJR-AM studios in Detroit- Detroit Free Press

January 20:

* WDOW-AM 1440 Dowagiac is now all-sports affiliated with Fox Sports Radio. The change was made January 1st.

* Kirk Montgomery has left the news team at WLAJ-TV Lansing/Jackson.

January 19:

* Out at WPLT-FM Detroit is the "Johnny in the Morning" show. The contracts of Johnny Edwards, Hadji, and Chris Zito expired today and were not renewed by station management after continued disappointing ratings. Current overnighter Allyson will hold down mornings while station brass perform a national search for a replacement show- All Access

* Fort Bend Broadcasting hopes to complete its acquistion of two more Traverse City stations by the end of March, bringing its station total to 5 in Northwest Michigan. WLDR-FM 101.9 (Sunny 102) is being purchased from Don Witala for $3.6 million, making it the highest-priced single station deal to date in Northern Michigan. Fort Bend is also expected to announce the acquistion of WJZZ-AM 1210 from Radio One and plans to operate WLDR, WJZZ, and its 3 other properties (WSRI-FM 92.1, WSRQ-FM 100.1, and a construction permit for WTCU-FM 95.9- none of which are currently on the air) from one location in Traverse City- Inside Radio

* Art Renger has officially left his role as late morning host at Sports WDFN-AM for new Sports talker WXYT-AM effective next Wednesday. Regner will immediately take over as the in-studio host for Red Wings broadcasts and add midday (noon-3pm) chores once the Rush Limbaugh program moves off WXYT in March. WDFN maintains the naming rights to the show Ice Time, which will now be hosted by Sean Baligian.

January 18:

* Alex Caruso is the new assistant music director and night personality at WVTI-FM Holland/Gd Rapids- All Access

January 17:

* WKBZ-AM 1520 Muskegon has dropped its News/Talk format, which included both local and syndicated programming, and is currently airing taped music. The station may announce future plans, including a possible sale, later this week. The station is currently owned by WLC Broadcasting.

* Urban WDZZ-FM continued to lead the Flint market in the Fall 2000 12+ ratings released today. Adult Contemporary WCRZ-FM was second, followed by Top 40 WWCK-FM, Country WFBE-FM, and Oldies WHNN-FM. WRSR-FM, which switched from Adult Contemporary to Classic Rock improved to 6th place overall, up from 15th in the Spring (1.5 rating to 4.4).

* FCC Actions:
-- Granted the voluntary transfer of the following construction permits for LPTV stations to MS Communications:
* from Marie Johnson in Sault Ste. Marie: W36BV, W39BY
* from Dean Johnson in Sault Ste. Marie: W48BZ, W50CA, W52CB, W56DI, W58CO
* from Denise Aakre in Sault Ste. Marie: W32BN
* from Alfred Adkins in Petoskey: W57CP
* from Scott D. Nisbet in Petoskey: W53BN, W55CL

-- Granted licenses to cover for WJML-AM 1110 Petoskey and WMHG-AM Muskegon

January 16:

* Citadel Communications has been sold to buyout firm Forstmann Little & Company in a deal worth about $2 billion

* Fall 2000 ratings for Ann Arbor were made available today. News/Talk WJR-AM continues to be the top overall station in the market, followed by Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM, Top 40 WKQI-FM, Gold-based Adult Contemporary WKQL-FM, and in a three-way tie for 5th overall, Country WYCD-FM, Top 40 WDRQ-FM, and Rock WRIF-FM. WKQL led all Washtenaw County stations with its 4th place finish- Full Service WAAM-AM made an impressive jump to 8th place overall, improving its rating from 2.1 in the spring to 3.5 in the Fall. Other Washtenaw stations: Country WWWW-FM 15th/1.9, and Sports WTKA-AM 22nd/1.3.

* In a decision released this afternoon, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in favor of the appeal brought by the state broadcasters associations in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, challenging as unconstitutional the broadcast affirmative action regulations adopted by the Federal Communications Commission early last year. The Court overturned those regulations in their entirety.

* New to mornings at WWCK-FM Flint effective Monday will be Andrew Z., promotion director Scott Mansell adds midday duties; Bill Elliott has left WMMQ-FM Lansing after 11 years for a role as program director in New Jersey- All Access

January 15:

* WMAX-AM 1440 Bay City has been taken off the air by its new owners (990 Investments) for equipment upgrades. The station should return to the air sometime during the Spring with its new Religious (Catholic) format.

* Leaving the Mornings @ Large program on Bay City's WIOG-FM is Man at Large as he heads for a job in Dallas beginning at the end of February; Chris West has left WFAT-FM Kalamazoo, leaving open his former positions as afternooner, music director and assistant program director- All Access

* The FCC has made two new allocations for Class A FM stations in Michigan: 103.9 Pentwater and 96.3 Ludington

January 12:

* Rep. Fred Upton (R) from Michigan's 6th District (Kalamazoo & SW Michigan) has been selected as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications by Billy Tauzin (R-LA), House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman. The Subcommittee on Telecommunications is charged with interstate and foreign telecommunications- including, but not limited to all telecommunication and information transmission by broadcast, radio, wire, microwave, satellite, or other mode. In a nutshell, this means that Upton will chair the committee that oversees the Federal Communications Commission.

* The first of the Fall 2000 Arbitron ratings books for Michigan markets was released yesterday. On top of the ratings pile once again in Detroit was Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM. Urban WJLB-FM moved back into second place overall, followed by News/Talk WJR-AM, News WWJ-AM, and Smooth Jazz WVMV-FM. 3 Infinity-owned stations, Country WYCD-FM, and talkers WKRK-FM and WXYT-AM were among the biggest winners since the Summer book- WYCD improved from 3.6 to 4.9, moving it into a 6th place tie with Rock WRIF-FM for listners age 12 and older. Sister station WKRK-FM improved from 1.5 in the Summer to 2.2, and the then Conservative Talk WXYT-AM scored a 3.0 rating for 13th place overall. The talk stations likely benefited from the November presidential election controversy.

* Rich Fisher and Amyre Makupson replace Rich Mayk and Vickie Thomas as hosts of WWJ-TV's "InDepth Detroit" newsmagazine- Detroit Free Press

January 11:

* WKZQ-FM 93.3 Midland/Saginaw Assistant Program Director Todd Kangas gives up the title to Rebel who is also the station's music director. Rebel also moves to afternoon drive, with Kangas moving all of his focus to his morning show duties- All Access

* WLDR-FM 101.9 Traverse City has filed an application with the FCC for the voluntary transfer of control of the station from current owner Donald Wiitala to Fort Bend Broadcasting.

* WKRK-FM has modified its weeknight lineup, adding more local programming. Rob Parker and Mark Wilson will host "Sports Night with Parker & The Man" from 10pm-1am starting Monday. The change moves the show from its previous slot on weekends and drops one of Mancow's two daily taped delayed programs out of the lineup- that show will now only run 3-6am, with a short live segment from about 11-am to noon (between the end of Howard Stern and the start of Ed Tyll)- The Oakland Press

* FCC Actions:
-- Granted WKJF-FM 92.9 Cadillac a construction permit for the following changes:
* Location change from southeast of Cadillac (in Osceola county) to northeast of Cadillac (in Kalkaska county)
* Class change from C to C1 (ERP from 100,000 to 72,000 watts, HAAT from 311 to 278 meters)
These changes will enable WJKF-FM to better cover the Traverse City area

-- Granted WMTE-FM 101.5 Manistee its application for modification of license

January 9:

* FCC Action: Granted WDQV-FM 88.5 Mackinaw City its license to cover for a new station.

January 8:

* Gene Taylor, who wrote much of the content for and also produced Dick Purtan's morning show on Oldies WOMC-FM 104.3 Detroit, passed away suddenly late Saturday night from complications of asthma. Taylor, 53, was at a northern Michigan resort over the past weekend when he was struck with an asthmatic attack from which resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful. Taylor also portrayed "The Bagman" and had been friends with Dick Purtan for over 35 years.

January 6:

* Flint's WTRX-AM 1330 adds Dave Barber's talk show from the Michigan Talk Radio Network starting Monday. Barber returns to WTRX - where his radio career started in 1971 - and to Flint where his last show, on WFDF-AM 910, was heard in July 2000. Barber and WFDF parted ways after allegations of harassment were made by a female employee. WTRX will also be adding an affiliation with Fox Sports Radio in February, dropping One on One Sports and the Sports Fan Network.

* Windsor's CKLW-AM 800 will be on board when Art Bell returns to the airwaves on Feb. 5. Bell's show will begin at 1am on CKLW- Detroit Free Press

January 5:

* WXYT-AM Detroit is set to unveil its newest local sports-talk host: Kevin Wall host the "Wall-to-Wall" show from 10am - noon beginning Monday- The Oakland Press

January 4:

* Tim Snodgrass is the new sales manager at 4 of Midwest Family's Southwest Michigan stations (WCSY-FM, WGMY-AM, WYTZ-FM, WYTC-FM)- Inside Radio

* WCSX-FM Detroit morning show hosts Jim Johnson and Lynne Woodison will host their January 19th program from the Washington DC offices of US Rep. Joe Knollenberg. The duo will also provide reports for Saturday's presidential inauguration- The Oakland Press

January 3:

* Program director of WVIC-FM Charlotte-Lansing (92-7 The Ticket) is Jason Hamilton. He reports the station is now on-air with its full-time programming featuring Fox Sports Radio with Jim Rome. The station will also be carrying play-by-play for the following Detroit pro teams: Red Wings, Tigers, and Lions. Look for The Ticket to also carry play-by-play for events such as the Super Bowl, Pro Bowl, and NHL All Star Game.

* Mark Scott and John McCulloch have been let go by WXYT-AM Detroit in advance of sports programming scheduled to kick off January 5th.

* Detroit's WWJ-AM has reached a new 4-year labor agreement with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). The deal, which covers all full-time and part-time anchors, reporters, writers and editors at the station, provides for 3 percent annual salary increases and and improvements in holiday pay, overnight premium pay and health insurance and retirement contributions- Detroit Free Press

* Lisa Knight adds morning news duties to her midday role at Charlevoix's WKHQ-FM, Tammy Paige lands the night gig at the station- All Access

January 2:

* Way FM (WAYK Kalamazoo / WAYG Gd Rapids) program director Jason Wert has resigned in order to move back to Missouri- All Access

* FCC Actions: Granted WTVS-TV 56 Detroit its license to cover for digital facilites on channel 43; Granted WICA-AM 91.5 Traverse City its license to cover for a new station

January 1:

* The Michigan Talk Radio Network (MTRN) went live today with a total of 11 stations that will be at least partial affiliates. This number includes two Upper Peninsula stations yet to sign on (WHTO 106.7 Iron Mountain and a new station in Manistique). Expected soon is an affiliate in the Flint market.

* As part of the roll-out of MTRN, Lakeview station WSCG-FM 106.3 switched its format from Country to Talk as the main affiliate of the new network. The station is using the on-air positioner "106.3 The Source". WSCG-FM/AM were recently purchased by Stafford Communications Group.