Entries in 2002 Category

January 2002:

• Adult Standards/Religious WOAP-AM 1080 Owosso applied for a major change to its facilites. The station's owners proposed moving the station from Owosso to Waverly (Lansing) along with an increase in daytime power from 1,000 to 50,000 watts. In addition, the application proposed nighttime operations at 4,500 watts. Both the daytime and nighttime patterns would aim primarily north from a 6 tower array


• LIN Television Corp. reached a deal with STC Broadcasting to manage and operate NBC affiliate WEYI-TV 25 Saginaw and Fox affiliate WUPW-TV 36 Toledo. LIN already owns/operates WOOD-TV 8 Grand Rapids (NBC), WOTV-TV 41 Battle Creek (ABC), and WXSP-LP Grand Rapids (UPN)


• Recent sign-on WZRZ-FM 93.7 Frankenmuth launched regular programming under new owner Regent Communications. The station is running an Urban leaning Rhythmic Contemporary Hits format as 'Club 93-7, Today's Hottest Jamz'


• After being silent since November 2000, Wilks Broadcasting requested that the license for WCEN-AM 1150 Mt. Pleasant be cancelled


• Fox Sports Net Detroit named Mario Impemba as the new play-by-play man for Tigers' baseball


• On the air: FM 100.7 Honor, simulcasting Northern Radio sister station Adult Top 40 WKPK-FM 106.7 Gaylord. FM 100.7 changed its call sign to WKVK from WAIR

February:

• The FCC created a new Class A FM allotment at McBain (Missaukee County) for 107.9


• Country WIHC-FM 97.9 Newberry/Sault Ste. Marie switched its format to Classic Rock as part of "The Bear" simulcast which also includes WGFM-FM 105.1 Cheboygan / WGFN-FM 98.1 Glen Arbor / WCKC-FM 107.1 Cadillac


• Adult Urban WGPR-FM 107.5 Detroit tweaked its format by adding more jazz selections to its playlist


• Top 40 WKQI-FM 95.5 Detroit repositioned from 'Q-95.5' to 'Channel 9-5-5'


• WSHN-FM 100.1 Holton switched its format from Country to Adult Top 40


• Oldies WEFG-FM 97.5 Whitehall switched format to Country as "Kickin' Country"


• Hot AC WTCF-FM 100.5 Saginaw repositioned from 'Mix 100' to 'The Fox'


• LIN TV announced the purchase of 6 stations from Sunrise Television, including NBC affiliate WEYI-TV 25 Saginaw and Fox affiliate WUPW-TV 36 Toledo, OH. LIN previously had taken over day-to-day operations of those stations in an agreement that started at the beginning of the year. WEYI becomes the third full-power Michigan station for LIN- joining WOOD-TV 8 Grand Rapids and WOTV-TV 41 Battle Creek.


• WRXF-FM 103.1 Lapeer dropped its simulcast of Rock WWBN-FM 101.5 Tuscola in favor of a stand-alone Classic Rock format as 'U.S. 103.1, The Classic Rock Channel'


• Detroit Tigers radio play-by-play broadcaster Ernie Harwell announced his retirement at the conclusion of the 2002 baseball season. Harwell has broadcast Tigers baseball either on radio or TV since 1960

March:

• The FCC granted WNFR-FM 90.7 Sandusky a construction permit for these changes: Change in class from B1 to B, ERP to increase to 50,000 watts from 18,000, HAAT increase to 492 feet from 328, tower location change from northwest of Sandusky to north of Port Huron (near Sanilac/St. Clair county line), pattern to change to directional


• Jack Hood, former broadcaster at WJR Detroit, WCEN Mt. Pleasant, WTRX Flint, among other stations, passed away at the age of 60


• Michigan's first Low Power FM station hit the airwaves in Muskegon as WUVS-LP 103.7 is now broadcasting an Urban targeted format


• WLXV-FM 96.7 Cadillac ended its simulcast of sister station Adult Contemporary WLXT-FM 96.3 Petoskey (W-Lite) in favor of its own programming as Hot Adult Contemporary 'Mix 96, the best music from the 80's, 90's, and today'


• Fox Sports Net Detroit agreed to a deal with the Detroit Red Wings that results in the cable station having exclusive rights to regular season Wings' games beginning with the 2003-04 season


• The FCC granted a construction permit for a new FM station at 98.7 to be licensed to Hancock. Lyle R. Evans, is the owner of permit for the station which is to be 100,000 watts at 522 feet from a transmitter located near Houghton


• WIMK-FM 93.1 Iron Mountain and WUPK-FM 94.1 Marquette, which had been simulcasting each other with a Rock format as 'K-Rock', have switched their format to Classic Rock as 'The Bear' under new owner Northern Star Broadcasting. The stations air the Bob & Tom morning show. The move expands Northern Star's Classic Rock 'Bear' stations across much of the Upper Peninsula. Earlier in the year, WIHC-FM 97.9 Newberry dropped its Country format for the programming, joining WGFM-FM 105.1 Cheboygan, WGFN-FM 98.1 Glen Arbor/Traverse City, and WCKC-FM 107.1 Cadillac. WIMK and WUPK continue to simulcast each other and are programmed separately from the other 'Bear' stations


• WMLZ-LP 107.9 Temperance became Michigan's second low power FM station to hit the air


• Marquette's Country WJPD-FM 92.3 repositioned from 'The Giant' to 'Big Country 92.3' under new owner Northern Star Broadcasting. Although the name is the same as Northern Star's WMKC-FM 102.9 St. Ignace and WAVC-FM 93.9 Mio, programming is separate


• A construction permit for a new FM station at 103.7 licensed to Harbor Beach has been granted by the FCC to Jennifer and Edward Czelada. The permit is for 50,000 watts at 440 feet (directional) from a tower in Huron County southeast of Bad Axe


• The FCC granted Soul's Harbor Assembly of God Church a construction permit for a new Low Power FM station at 104.3 to be licensed to Roscommon


• WWBN-FM 101.5 Tuscola/Flint (Banana 101.5) shifted its format from Mainstream Rock to Active Rock by dropping most of its Classic titles


• Benedek Communications, owner of Lansing NBC affiliate WILX-TV 10, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection


• WWKK-AM 750 Petoskey dropped its Oldies programming from its weekday schedule in favor of expanded Talk programming, much of it from the Michigan Talk Radio Network


• Upper Peninsula ABC affiliate WBKP-TV 5 Calumet dropped all of its local newscasts

April:

• Benedek Broadcasting was purchased by Grey Communications for $500 million. Benedek had owned Lansing NBC affiliate WILX-TV 10


• The FCC granted a construction permit to Northern Christian Radio for 102.3 Sault Ste Marie. The new non-commercial educational allotment will be a Class C3 station (22.5 kW @ 105 meters)


• ABC reached a deal to purchase News/Talk WFDF-AM 910 Flint from Cumulus for $3 million


• Harold Gross, founder of Lansing radio and TV stations WJIM-FM, WJIM-AM, and WJIM-TV (now WLNS-TV) passed away in Arizona at the age of 100


• Country WKKM-FM 92.1 Harrison was sold by longtime owner David Carmine to Xavier University for $270,000


• Adult Contemporary combo WLKM-FM/AM 95.9/1510 Three Rivers was sold by Voice of Three Rivers to Impact Radio


• WRFK-LP 107.7 Mt. Pleasant signed on with a religious format

May:

• News WWJ-AM 950 Detroit began using its 50,000 watt daytime signal on a permanent basis


• Cumulus Broadcasting agreed to purchase the following Tri-Cities area stations from Wilks broadcasting: News/Talk WSGW-AM 790, Country WCEN-FM 94.5, Hot AC WTCF-FM 100.5, Adult Contemporary WGER-FM 106.3, and Adult Urban WTLZ-FM 107.1. The price tag on the entire deal was $55.6 million. The deal would fall through in September.


• Don Noordyk filed to acquire the assets of the bankrupt Pyramid Broadcasting- Oldies WLCS-FM 98.3, Country WEFG-FM 97.5, and Standards WUBR-AM 1490 all in the Muskegon area


• Sports WLSP-AM 1530 changed format to News/Talk


• WWKM-AM 1540 Harrison was sold by David Carmine to Laurie Foster for $10


• The FCC granted News/Talk WOOD-AM Grand Rapids a construction permit for the following modifications: Change daytime and nightime ERP from 5,000 to 20,000 watts, modify directional patterns (will be same day and night), modify tower location to south of Grand Rapids near Dorr. Completion of construction permit is contingent on owner Clear Channel surrendering the license for the now silent WHGR-AM 1290 Houghton Lake

June:

• New website http://www.keener13.com launched. It's a retrospective on former Detroit Top 40 powerhouse WKNR-AM


• The FCC granted First Pentecostal Church of God in Christ a construction permit for a new low power FM station to be licensed to Battle Creek at 99.5


• Country WBCH-1220 AM Hastings changed its format to Talk from the Michigan Talk Radio Network. The station had been simulcasting sister station WBCH-FM 100.1


• The University of Michigan merged together its public radio and television operations under the name of Michigan Public Media. The new organization, to be headed by Donovan Reynolds, will oversee the operations of WUOM-FM 91.7 Ann Arbor, WFUM-TV 91.1 Flint, WVGR-FM 104.1 Grand Rapids, and WFUM-TV 28 Flint


• Stephen Clark was hired as reporter and parttime anchor at WXYZ-TV 7 Detroit. Also, Carolyn Clifford has been named as the station's permanent morning co-anchor, replacing JoAnne Purtan who shifts to the role of health reporter


• WODJ-FM 107.3 Greenville-Grand Rapids relaunched its Oldies format as 'Oldies Radio, the New 107-3; The Greatest Hits of all Time'. The station changed morning shows and began syndicating the Rich Michaels program from Citadel sister station WJIM-FM 97.5 Lansing


• Three Detroit-area ‘Mr. Fix It’ guys will be changing stations. Murray Gula, whose “Home Improvement Doctor” program had been airing on Christian Talk WLLZ-AM (560) Sunday mornings, will sign a deal with News-Talk WJR-AM (760) to bring the program to that station’s weekend lineup starting as early as next weekend. Meanwhile WJR “Appliance Doctor” host Joe Gagnon will be moving down the dial to Sports WXYT-AM 1270 where he’ll fill the slot formerly held by “Ask the Handyman” host Glenn Haege. Heage show would move to Sports WDFN-AM 1130.

July:

• Country WKKM-FM 92.1 Harrison switched format to Public Radio as a member of the X-Star Network from Cincinnati, OH based Xavier University


• WCAS-AM 1290 Saline/Ann Arbor switched format from Adult Standards to 50s-70s Oldies with new sign WHNE as "Honey Radio"


• County WYTC-FM 103.7 Hartford/South Haven dropped the format and its simulcast of sister station WYTZ-FM 97.5 Bridgman in favor of an Urban AC format with new call sign WZBL


• Oldies WHNN-FM 96.1 Bay City morning show co-host Jody McHugh won over $100,000 on NBC-TV's Weakest Link game show


• ABC affiliate WLAJ-TV 53 Lansing/Jackson dropped its 11:00pm newscast/talkshow


• Classic Rock WDTW-FM 106.7 Detroit added the syndicated "Bob and Tom Show" for mornings and repositioned from Alice 106.7 to The Drive


• The Michael Radio Group (dba Blue Moose Broadcasting)purchaed the FM construction permit at 104.1 (WSAG) Pinconning. Last year, there was a deal for Fort Bend Broadcasting to purchase the permit however this deal fell through. Current owner Russell LaFave will receive $195,000 for the property once the deal is approved by the FCC. The previous deal with Ft. Bend was worth $250,000


• WPHM-AM 1380 Port Huron morning show host John Hill announced his retirment after 35 years with the station, the last 27 as its morning host. Hill exited the business with 40 years experience overall.


• WJKN-AM 1510 Jackson was noted as silent

August:

• The FCC granted Donald James Noordyk a construction permit for a new FM station to be licensed to Newaygo. The CP is for a Class A station at 92.5 with an ERP of 6,000 watts at 328 feet from a tower located near the southwest corner of Newaygo County


• WFDF-AM 910 Flint dropped its News/Talk format in favor of Radio Disney


• Michigan broadcasters provided $328 million in community service during 2001


• The FCC granted Superior Communications a construction permit for a new non-commercial educational FM station to be licensed to Goodland Twp (Lapeer County). The Class A station would be at 88.1 with 2,000 watts (vertical) @ 499 feet from a tower located north of Imlay City

September:

• News-Talk WJML-AM 1110 and Talk-Oldies WWKK-AM 750 were sold by Rick Stone to Basic Licensing for $900,000


• Classic Country WSDS-AM 1480 Ypsilanti changed its format to Talk during the week. Its weekend programming remained intact- it's Classic Country format went to the Internet as a feed on the station's web site


• WTAC-FM 89.7 Burton signed on with a Contemporary Christian format


• Talk WNBY-AM 1450 Newberry changed its format to Classic Country


• The FCC ruled that the sale of WAAM-AM 1600 Ann Arbor to Clear Channel from Whitehall Enterprises would likely give Clear Channel too much control over the Ann Arbor market. After assigning the deal to court for an evidentiary hearing, both Clear Channel and Whitehall agreed to walk away from the sale


• The FCC modified the allotment of FM 98.3 from Monroe to Luna Pier. The frequency is occupied by WTWR-FM.


• LPFM outlet WFPM-LP 99.5 Battle Creek signed on with black gospel and religious programming


• Comerica Park's press box was named the Ernie Harwell Media Center in honor of the broadcaster's career, which he retired from at the end of the month

October:

• Adult Standards WSCG-AM 1380 Greenville changed its format News using CNN Headline News


• WXDX-AM 1310 Detroit flipped from sports talk to mainstream talk as 'Talk Radio 1310, The X'


• Adult Contemporary WOOD-FM 105.7 Grand Rapids, one of Michigan's 'superpowered' grandfathered FM stations, applied to change its engineering specifications such that the station would lose its grandfathered status. The application is to reduce power from its current non-directional 265,000 watts @ 810 feet to a directional 50,000 watts @ 446 feet with the transmitter/tower moving off the stick it currently shares with WOOD-TV 8 near Middleville in Barry County to a location in Kent County just east of Caledonia. The station withdrew the application in 2003.


• The FCC granted two more construction permits for new low power FM stations in Michigan: Oceana Broadcasters was granted 100.5 to be licensed to Hart (Oceana County), and Maranatha Bible and Missionary Conference was granted 100.9 to be licensed to Norton Shores (Muskegon County)


• WDMK-FM 102.7 Detroit shifted its Adult Urban Contemporary to all 'Old School' Rhythm and Blues by dropping most current music


• Fox affiliate WSMH-TV 66 Flint launched a 10pm newscast


• Starboard Broadcasting agreed to purchase three Upper Peninsula stations in two separate deals worth a total of $1.6 million. First, Starboard will acquire Country WYKX-FM 104.7 and Full Service WDBC-AM 680 Escanaba from KMB Broadcasting for $850,000. The second deal will add Oldies WADW-FM 105.5 Pickford/Sault Ste. Marie to Starboard's new Michigan cluster for $750,000. Seaway Broadcasting was the owner/seller of WADW


• WMSH-AM 1230 Sturgis dropped its simulcast of sister station Oldies WMSH-FM 99.3 in favor of Sports from ESPN Radio

November:

• NextMedia Group announced the acquisition of Wilks Broadcasting Tri-Cities cluster of radio stations for $55.5 million. The stations in the deal are Country WCEN-FM 94.5, Adult Contemporary WGER-FM 106.3, Hot Adult Contemporary WTCF-FM 100.5, Urban Contemporary WTLZ-FM 107.1 and News Talk WSGW-AM 790


• WDHS-TV 8 Iron Mountain returned to the air with religious programming. The station had been silent for at least one year


• Waters Broadcasting (owner of Adult Contemporary WCXT-FM 105.3) and Synergy Media (owner of Classic Rock WWKR-FM 94.1) proposed to the FCC changing the FM table of allotments as follows: WCXT would change its city of license from Hart to Coopersville and WWKR would change its city of license from Pentwater to Hart to maintain FM service to Hart


• Robert Schoch, aka Bob Scott, who was an announcer at WJRT-TV 12 Flint from when the station first signed on to his retirement in 1989, has died at his retirement home in Tennessee


• Religious WLQV-AM 1500 Detroit (Victory 1500) began operating on its new 50kW day and 10kW night patterns


• WSAG-FM 104.1 Pinconning signed on with an Oldies format


• Several radio station across the state dropped their regular formats in favor of All-Christmas music. Some of stations included Grand Rapids' WOOD-FM and WTRV-FM and Detroit's WNIC-FM


• Viacom, owner of WWJ-TV 62 and WKBD-TV 50 Detroit, announced that it has dropped the 11pm newscast on channel 62 and hired the resources of crosstown WXYZ-TV 7, owned by Scripps-Howard, to produce the 10pm newscast for channel 50


• Urban Old School WDMK-FM 102.7 Detroit began broadcasting its in-band on-channel digital signal, becoming the first Michigan radio station - and the first commercial broadcaster in the USA - to move offer digital broadcasts on a full-time permanent basis


• WDIV-TV 4 Detroit became the first television station in Michigan to broadcast a local program in high definition (HDTV), and one of the first few stations in the country to produce and air a live HDTV event. The station covered Detroit's Thanksgiving Parade on Thanksgiving morning

December:

• The FCC granted WLKM-AM 1510 Three Rivers a construction permit to move to AM 1520 and add nighttime service


• LPFM station WAWP-LP 107.3 West Branch signed on the air with religious programming


• The FCC granted Spring Arbor University a construction permit for a new Class A FM non-commercial educational station at 89.3, ERP 2,500 watts (vertical) @ 272 feet to be licensed to Spring Arbor


• Dan Dickerson was named as the lead play-by-play announcer for the 2003 Detroit Tigers season


• WJOF-FM 88.1 Monroe signed on the air with a Contemporary Christian format using the moniker 'Joy FM'


• The construction permit for FM 98.7 Hancock (WGLI, 100,000 watts @ 522 feet) was sold by Lyle Robert Evans to the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community for $650,000


• The FCC granted American Family Association and Great Lakes Broadcast Academy a swap of construction permits for 88.1 (now owned by GLBA) and 91.7 (now owned by AFA) Muskegon


• The construction permit for WHTO-FM 106.7 Iron Mountain (1,700 watts @ 623 feet) was sold from Donald Noordyk to Todd Noordyk for $10,000

December 31:

* The National Labor Relations Board has served an unfair labor practices complaint against Infinity Broadcasting in Detroit, stating that reasonable cause exists to believe that the employer's actions have violated the National Labor Relations Act, which guarantees the right of employees to organize and to bargain collectively with their employers

* Assigned: Call sign WJKN-FM to construction permit for 89.3 Spring Arbor

December 30:

* The second fall ratings trend for Grand Rapids was released today. Country WBCT remained the number 1 station among listeners age 12 and above, followed by Classic Rock WLAV-FM, Top 40 WSNX-FM, Adult Contemporary WLHT-FM, and News-Talk WOOD-AM. The station with the biggest gain over the first fall trend was AC WTRV-FM, up to 4.1-3.5.

* FCC Action: Cancelled the $10,000 fine issued to Thomas A. Brothers for operating an unlicensed radio station at 88.3 FM in Berkley. The Commission determined that the fine would have caused undue financial hardship to Brothers.

* Stratford, ON will be getting a new FM station. Earlier this month the CRTC approved an application by Raedio Inc to operate an English-language station at 107.7. According the the application, the station would provide an Adult Contemporary format offering mostly Pop, Rock, and Dance music. Raedio currently owns CJCS-AM 1240 in Stratford.

December 27:

* New to nights at Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM 100.3 Detroit is Glenn Hollis, who is also heard on Clear Channel sister station WASH-FM Washington D.C. Hollis' program, titled "After Hours", airs 7pm-midnight and is very similar to WNIC's former "Pillow Talk" evening show hosted by longtime Detroit-area personality Alan Almond. Almond was let go from the station in November when regular programming was dropped in favor of all-Christmas music. WNIC resumed its regular AC format yesterday.

* Grand Rapids Active Rock WKLQ-FM 94.5 has moved Howard Stern's morning show to Sports WBBL-AM 1340 while the program is airing "best of" shows. It's expected that Stern will return to 'KLQ on January 6th.

* Talk WNWZ-AM 1410 Grand Rapids is announcing on-air that it will shift to a full-time Spanish Contemporary format on or near January 1st. The move will displace the Michigan Talk Radio Network's main Grand Rapids affiliate.

* Sold: Construction permit for WHTO-FM 106.7 Iron Mountain (1,700 watts @ 623 feet) from Donald Noordyk to Todd Noordyk for $10,000. Todd Noordyk's Great Lakes Radio also owns WHCH-FM 98.3 and WQXO-AM 1400 Munising, WFXD-FM 103.3 and WKQS FM 101.9 Marquette, as well as a CP for a new station to be licensed to Manistique (WPIQ-FM 99.9).

* WDIV-TV 4 Detroit weathercaster Kim Adams is now on maternity leave after delivering daughter Ava on Christmas Eve. Adams is not scheduled to return to the air until at least early February. Over at crosstown WJBK-TV 2, morning weather and traffic host Rhonda Walker has exited- Detroit Free Press

December 26:

* FCC Action: Granted American Family Association and Great Lakes Broadcast Academy a swap of construction permits for 88.1 (now owned by GLBA) and 91.7 (now owned by AFA) Muskegon

December 24:

* Sports WXYT-AM 1270 Detroit expects to begin broadcasting using its new 48,000 watt transmitter located in northern Monroe county on about February 14th. The station currently transmits from Southfield with 5,000 watts.

* New station manager at WFUM-TV 28 Flint is Jay Nelson, who exits his job at WTVS-TV 56 Detroit after 21 years.

* Sold: Construction permit for FM 98.7 Hancock (WGLI, 100,000 watts @ 522 feet) by Lyle Robert Evans to the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community for $650,000. Keweenaw Bay already owns Country WCUP-FM 105.7 L'Anse.

December 22:

* Christian WJQK-FM 99.3 Holland begins broadcasts of some dayparts from a studio in Holland mall- Grand Rapids Press

December 20:

* Last night's (Dec 19) Detroit Red Wings-Dallas Stars hockey game on Fox Sports Net Detroit earned a 9.7 household rating in metro Detroit, tying for the highest rated Red Wings game in the regional network's six-year history. The 9.7 rating equals approximately 184,300 households tuned in throughout the game. The rating peaked at an 11.4 (approximately 216,600 households) during the 3rd period. The other Red Wings telecast to earn a 9.7 was Nov. 2, 2001 vs. the New York Islanders (former Wings' goalie Chris Osgood's return).

* Fox Sports Net Detroit will televise its first Ontario Hockey League game on Friday Dec. 27th

* FCC Action: Allotted channel 23 to Traverse City for noncommercial digital TV broadcasts

December 18:

* On-air: WJOF-FM 88.1 Monroe with a Contemporary Christian format using the moniker 'Joy FM'. The station is the 3rd Joy FM station owned by Ed Czelada, the others being WHYT-FM 89.1 Imlay City and WJOJ-FM 89.7 Harrisville/Alpena.

* Fox Sports Net Detroit has announced the hiring of former Major League player and coach Rod Allen as the new analyst for the regional network's coverage of Detroit Tigers baseball

December 17:

* Michigan Talk Radio Network host Dave Barber re-ups for another year and has had his timeslot expanded. Barber has shifted to 2-6pm from 1-4pm- all 4 hours are now carried on Detroit affiliate Talk WXDX-AM 1310. The "Captain and Crew", which had cleared the 4-8pm timeslot, has been cancelled. Hosts Bill "The Captain" Vogel and George Baier have been let go as a result of the change

December 16:

* Stephen Clark will take over anchor duties from Guy Gordon for the 6pm newscast on WXYZ-TV 7 Detroit effective January 2nd. Gordon will remain on the anchor desk for the 11pm report. The station has also added Mike Bowersock to its roster of reporters- he was previously at WKBD-TV 50 / WWJ-TV 62.

* FCC Action: Granted WMSH-FM 99.3 Sturgis its license to cover for changes (2,150 watts @ 387 feet to 3,000 watts @ 328 feet directional)

December 14:

* WDIV-TV 4 Detroit has announced that Kim Adams has become the newest member of the station's weather team

* Rick Jagger has left his role as news man at FM Talk WKRK-FM 97.1 Detroit

December 13:

* The "Handyman Show with Glenn Haege," has won an Award of Excellence in the 2002 Communicators Awards Audio competition. Heard in Detroit on sports WDFN-AM 1130 on weekends, the show was selected for this award out of 1,250 professional entrants worldwide. Last year, the program was honored with the Communicator Awards 2001 Award of Distinction. The Communicator Awards is an international competition that recognizes outstanding work in the communications field. The prestigious Award of Excellence is presented to those whose ability to communicate makes them the best in their field. "It is always nice to receive such high honors from communications professionals and my colleagues in the talk radio broadcast industry," said Haege. "Recognition should also go to all the people who work hard on the broadcast and to our listening audience." The award-winning "Handyman Show with Glenn Haege" is the most popular home improvement show on radio and is syndicated nationally by Troy, Mich. based Handyman Productions, LLC, and can be heard on 175 radio stations nationwide each weekend.

* FCC Action: Granted WCZW-FM 107.9 Charlevoix a construction permit modification from 3,600 watts @ 417 feet directional to 5,000 watts @ 164 feet nondirectional

December 12:

* News-Talk WJR-AM has reclaimed the top spot in the latest Arbitrend for Detroit. Oldies WOMC-FM finished in 2nd place followed by News WWJ-AM, and Urban WJLB-FM. There was a three-ay tie for 5th place between Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM, Smooth Jazz WVMV-FM, and Adult Urban WMXD-FM. WWJ and Classic Rock WCSX-FM enjoyed the biggest ratings jump between the first and second fall trends with each up .5 share. The final fall numbers will be released in January.

* Here's a broadcast that's really remote: The Classic Rock WCSX-FM 94.7 Detroit morning team of Jim Johnson and Lynne Woodison will broadcast tomorrow's show live from the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt as it sails in an undisclosed location on the Atlantic Ocean

* More digital TV stations have officially signed on: CBS affiliate WNEM-TV 5 (DT ch. 22) Bay City and Fox/UPN affiliate WFQX-TV 33 (DT ch. 47) Cadillac

December 10:

* Dan Dickerson has been officially named as the lead play-by-play announcer for the 2003 Detroit Tigers season. Jim Price will remain as the color analyst and handle one inning of play-by-play duty.

* Fox Sports Net Detroit adds Big Ten woman's basketball to its lineup

December 9:

* Active Rock WWBN-FM 101.5 Tuscola/Flint helped raised $6,500 in cash and toys this past weekend during the 21st Annual Whaley Christmas Jam. Proceeds benefit the Whaley Children's of Flint, which houses severely abused kids and works to get them placed in foster homes- All Access

December 8:

* WOTV-DT Battle Creek signed on the air using channel 20 with their DTV maximized authorized power. High definition programming will start by the first of the new year- cuurently the programming is a simulcast of channel 41's analog transmissions. With DTV operations underway, WOBC-LP (simulcast of WXSP-LP Grand Rapids) has moved from channel 20 to channel 14.

* Joining the roster at Sports WDFN-AM 1130 Detroit is Clarence Black for fill-in duties. Fans of CBS-TV's "Survivor: Africa" will recognize Black as a former contestant.

December 6:

* Marc 'Shaffee' Abraham officially lands weekends and remotes for Rock WRIF-FM 101.1 Detroit. Shaffee is the former night host at Rock WJXQ-FM 106.1 Jackson and had been working for WRIF for the past couple of months- All Access

December 5:

* Sports WXYT-AM 1270 Detroit evening and Lions pre/post game host Kevin Wall will exit the station at the beginning of January

* New public affairs director at WWJ-TV 62 and WKBD-TV 50 Detroit is Tara Wall, replacing Amyre Makupson. Wall had been a reporter for the now defunct news operation at the stations.

* On the air: LPFM station WAWP-LP 107.3 West Branch with religious programming. The station is owned by the West Branch Seventh Day Adventist Church

* FCC Action: Granted Spring Arbor University a construction permit for a new Class A FM non-commercial educational station at 89.3, ERP 2,500 watts (vertical) @ 272 feet to be licensed to Spring Arbor. A mutually exclusive application by Great Lakes Community Broadcasting was dismissed

December 4:

* Jamillah Muhammad has been named as program director at Adult Urban WMXD-FM 92.3 Detroit, effective Feburary 2003. Muhammad arrives from Milwaukee where she is currently PD of WKKV- Radio and Records

* New sports director at ABC-affiliate WZZM-TV 13 Grand Rapids is Henry Wofford, effective January 2003. Wofford will make the move to West Michigan from Reno- WZZM-TV

* FCC Action: Granted the voluntary transfer of license for WADW-FM 105.5 Pickford from Seaway Broadcasting to Starboard Broadcasting

December 3:

* Retiring: WKBD-TV 50 and WWJ-TV 62 anchor Amyre Makupson. Makupson had been a mainstay at channel 50 since 1977- Detroit Free Press

December 2:

* Adult Contemporary WLXT-FM 96.3 Petoskey has switched to an all-Christmas format for the holiday season. The station dropped its regular programming during the Thanksgiving weekend.

* FCC Actions: Granted WLKM-AM 1510 Three Rivers a construction permit to move to AM 1520 and add nighttime service; Granted W211BI (FM 90.1) Ann Arbor its license to cover (translator of WAAQ-FM 88.3 Onsted)

November 27:

* WXYZ-TV 7 Detroit will begin producing the 10pm newscast on WKBD-TV 50 beginning December 4th. Weekend anchors on the channel 50 newscasts will be Heather Catallo and Ray Sayah, with Jay Berry sports and Shay Ryan weather.

November 26:

* Country WBCT-FM was the top station among listeners age 12 and above in the first fall trend for Grand Rapids. WBCT increased its lead over second place Top 40 sister WSNX-FM (10.4 to 7.0). WSNX was down from an 8.1 share in the summer book. The remainder of the top 5 stations were Classic Rock WLAV-FM, Modern Rock WGRD-FM, and News-Talk WOOD-AM. In the Adult Contemporary battle, WLHT-FM was up 4.6 to 5.3 to finish ahead of WOOD-FM which was flat at a 4.9 share.

* Longtime Detroit TV and radio personality Teresa Tomeo will host a new issues and interviews radio show starting next month. Called the "Catholic Connection," the hour-long show will air 8-9 a.m. weekdays on WDEO-AM 990 Ypsilanti. Tomeo is a former reporter and anchor for WKBD-TV 50 and WXYZ-TV 7.

November 25:

* Urban Old School WDMK-FM 102.7 Detroit began broadcasting its in-band on-channel digital signal this past weekend, becoming the first Michigan radio station to move offer digital broadcasts on a full-time permanent basis.

* New reporter and weekend anchor at WXMI-TV 17 Grand Rapids is Pat McConigle- Grand Rapids Press

* John Boyle has been named as program director at Modern Rock WWDX-FM 92.1 Lansing effective next Monday. Boyle arrives from Akron, OH where he was promotions coordinator for Rubber City Radio sister station WONE-FM. Former WWDX PD Chili Walker lands in Albany, NY for program director and midday duties- All Access

* Adela Uchida has been named as co-anchor for the 6 and 11pm weekday newscasts at WILX-TV 10 Lansing. Uchida shifts from her role as co-anchor of the 5-7am weekday newscasts for the station- Lansing State Journal

November 22:

* FCC Action: Granted WHST-FM 106.1 Tawas City non-commercial educational status

November 21:

* Congratulations to Oldies WOMC-FM 104.3 Detroit morning man Dick Purtan on being nominated for induction into the Radio Hall of Fame in Chicago

* All 5 of Wilks' Tri-Cities stations (WSGW-AM, WCEN-FM, WTCF-FM, WGER-FM, and WTLZ-FM) were knocked off the air yesterday afternoon for about 90 minutes due to a power outage caused by birds that flew into a substation and caused fuses to fail- Saginaw News

* Metro Networks has named Amy Watson as its new assistant director of operations in Grand Rapids

* FCC Actions: Granted WJRT-TV Flint (DTV channel 36) and WWMT-TV Kalamazoo (DTV channel 2) licenses to cover for thier digital facilities

November 20:

* Viacom, owner of WWJ-TV 62 and WKBD-TV 50 Detroit, has confirmed that it will cancel its 11pm newscast on channel 62 and hire the resources of crosstown WXYZ-TV 7, owned by Scripps-Howard, to produce the 10pm newscast for channel 50. Look for news to disappear on 62 by the end of the month and the WXYZ newscast to debut on 50 as early as the first week of December as UPN Detroit Action News. Channel 50's 10pm report will be 60 minutes long weekdays and 30 minutes long on weekends. The weekday program will be anchored by Frank Turner and Christine McDonald with Jerry Hodak on weather and Don Shane on sports. There is no word on the future of current staffers at WWJ/WKBD in regards to the new operation- Detroit News, Detroit Free Press

* Longtime Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM 100.3 Detroit evening host Alan Almond has been let go from the station as of yesterday when holiday music took over the airwaves. Almond's show Pillow Talk had been a mainstay at the station for years.

* Phil Hendrie makes his debut tonight Talk WXDX-AM 1310 Detroit and will be heard live weeknights from 9-11PM

* MC Serch joins the morning show at Urban WJLB-FM 97.9 Detroit- Detroit Free Press

* Bill Walters has returned to Active Rock WKLQ-FM 94.5 Grand Rapids for afternoons after spending a year doing swing and weekends at Rock WRIF-FM 101.1 Detroit. Christie Cantle moves back to nights from afternoons at 'KLQ with former nighttimer Tom 'The Wiz' moving to swing duties.

November 19:

* Multiple industry reports state that CBS affiliate WWJ-TV 62 Detroit will soon drop its 11:00pm newscast and that UPN-affiliated sister station WKBD-TV 50 will keep its 10:00pm news program, albeit using the resources of crosstown WXYZ-TV 7 (ABC affiliate). A formal announcement on the future of news at 62 and 50 could come as soon as tomorrow- Detroit Free Press

* Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM 100.3 Detroit has switched to an all-Christmas format as of this morning. The "Sounds of the Season" runs through Christmas Day.

* Kudo's to Modern AC WDVD-FM 96.3 Detroit on helping raise 402 bikes and nearly $165,000 in last Thursday and Friday's fundraiser for Variety- The Children's Charity.

November 18:

* WSAG-FM 104.1 Pinconning has recently signed on the air for the first time with an Oldies format. The station is owned by Blue Moose Broadcasting.

November 15:

* New to mornings at Country WNWN-FM 98.5 Coldwater/Battle Creek is Chris St. John- All Access

November 14:

* Adult Contemporary WOOD-FM 105.7 Grand Rapids (Star 105.7) was the first Michigan station to flip to All-Christmas this morning at 9:00. Cross-town AC competitor WTRV-FM (The River) joined the all-Yule fray shortly after at about 9:45. Ho! Ho! Ho!

* Religious WLQV-AM 1500 Detroit (Victory 1500) is now successfully operating on its new 50kW day and 10kW night patterns. The final negotiations with KSTP-AM 1500 Minneapolis/St. Paul and WTOP-AM 1500 Washington D.C. called for those stations to pay for the WLQV modifications and legal fees, plus reimbursement of other related expenses. Station owner Jon Yinger reports that while the 50kW day signal is somewhat close to the old pattern (the new one has a bit more power to the west), improvements to the new night signal are dramatic. WLQV is currently in program test authority. The deal between WLQV and the other 2 stations on AM 1500 came about because both KSTP and WTOP desired better nighttime signals and needed WLQV's agreement to accept more skywave interference at night.

* The FCC has red-flagged the sale of Wilks 5 station Tri-Cities cluster to NextMedia- as it did with the sale of the same stations from Wilks to Cumulus that eventually was called off by Cumulus. The FCC had given the green light on the Wilks-Cumulus deal and the same can be expected for the Wilks-NextMedia transaction.

November 12:

* Oldies WOMC-FM held the top spot in the first fall ratings trend for Detroit. The remainder of the top 5 stations among listeners age 12 and above were News/Talk WJR-AM, Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM, Smooth Jazz WVMV-FM, along with Rock WRIF-FM and News WWJ-AM which tied for 5th place. WNIC had its strongest month since the dubut of AC rival WMGC-FM- WNIC's ratings share lead over WMGC increased to 5.2 - 3.3. Top 40 WDRQ-FM also pulled ahead of its rival WKQI-FM 4.0 - 3.0. Urban AC WMXD enjoyed the biggest ratings jump over the summer book moving up to 4.3 from 3.5.

November 11:

* Robert Schoch, aka Bob Scott, who was an announcer at WJRT-TV 12 Flint from when the station first signed on to his retirement in 1989, has died at his retirement home in Tennessee- Flint Journal

November 8:

* Waters Broadcasting (owner of Adult Contemporary WCXT-FM 105.3) and Synergy Media (owner of Classic Rock WWKR-FM 94.1) have proposed to the FCC changing the FM table of allotments as follows: WCXT would change its city of license from Hart to Coopersville and WWKR would change its city of license from Pentwater to Hart to maintain FM service to Hart.

* FCC Actions: Dismissed the application for voluntary transfer of license for WAAM-AM 1600 Ann Arbor from Whitehall Enterprises to Clear Channel at the request of the applicants; Granted licenses to cover for digital facilites for WADL-DT 39 Mt. Clemens and WZPX-DT 44 Battle Creek; Granted WQBX-FM 104.9 Alma a construction permit to change its antenna HAAT from 302 to 328 feet

November 7:

* The CFCO-AM 630 Chatham repeater at FM 92.9 has received approval from the CRTC to boost power from 50 to 250 watts

* John Pellegrini has been named as creative services director for Regent Broadcasting's Grand Rapids cluster of radio stations (WLHT-FM 95.7, WGRD-FM 97.9, WFGR-FM 98.7, WTRV-FM 100.5, WNWZ-AM 1410)- All Access

November 5:

* Janet G. exits as progam director at Adult Urban WMXD-FM 92.3 Detroit; New to afternoons at Country WYTZ-FM 97.5 Bridgman is Shaun Kelly- All Access

* 100000watts.com reports that WDHS-TV 8 Iron Mountain is back on the air with religious programming from the Eternal World Television Network (EWTN). The station has been off the air for at least two years. Although the station has been licensed for full power operations (316,000 watts visual) as of January 2002, reports from the area indicate the station is currently operating at less than full power.

November 4:

* Christian WJQK-FM 99.3 Zeeland has opened a remote studio and merchandise center at Holland's Westshore Mall. The station plans to have live broadcasts at the store from 10am-3pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays- Grand Rapids Press

November 1:

* NextMedia Group has announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Wilks Broadcasting Tri-Cities cluster of radio stations. Sale price is $55.5 million. The stations to be acquired include Country WCEN-FM 94.5, Adult Contemporary WGER-FM 106.3, Hot Adult Contemporary WTCF-FM 100.5, Urban Contemporary WTLZ-FM 107.1 and News Talk WSGW-AM 790. The $55.5 million dollar price tag is only slightly below the $55.6 million deal between Wilks and Cumulus Broadcasting for the same stations that fell through in September. The acquistion will mark the entry into Michigan by Denver-based NextMedia.

* WCWA-AM 1230 Toledo has changed its format from Adult Standards to Talk as 'Seaway 1230, Toledo's Talk Station'. The station's lineup will include syndicated programming from Dr. Laura, Sean Hannity, and others weekdays. Overnights will be sports from Fox Sports.

* Modern Rock WWDX-FM 92.1 Lansing morning host Mojo moves into a grocery store parking lot next week as the station kicks off its 'Stuff a Bus' campaign. Mojo broadcasts live all week while collecting food for the American Red Cross Food Distribution Center- All Access

October 30:

* Jerry O'Donnell exits the morning drive role after 16+ years at Adult Contemporary WGER-FM 106.3 Saginaw to take over mornings at Top 40 WWCK-FM 105.5 Flint. In addition, O'Donnell has been named as operations manager for Cumulus sister stations Urban WDZZ-FM 92.7, Classic Rock WRSR-FM 103.9, and Gospel WWCK-AM 1570. Taking over the mic at WGER will be Jim Johnson who moves from WCRZ-FM 107.9 Flint and WJSZ-FM 92.5 Ashley. Michelle Langley and Bill Anders will remain with the WGER morning show- Saginaw News

October 29:

* Broadway Billy Macc exits as night jock from Top 40 WSNX-FM 104.5 Grand Rapids; Clear Channel/Muskegon market manager Jeff Morton exits to take the director of sales role at Citadel/Grand Rapids- All Access

* Noted: Top 40 WTWR-FM 98.3 Monroe has applied for its new facilites with COL change to Luna Pier. The application with the FCC is to change power from 1,400 watts @ 466 feet non-directional to 3,400 watts @ 440 feet directional to the northeast. The tower location would move to Lucas County, OH from Monroe County using the same facilities as sister-station WKKO-FM 99.9.

October 28:

* Country WBCT-FM returned to the number one spot among listeners age 12 and over in Grand Rapids over the summer ratings period. Top 40 WSNX-FM, which had been on top in the spring, finished second. The remainder of the top 5 stations were Classic Rock WLAV-FM, Modern Rock WGRD-FM, and Active Rock WKLQ-FM. WGRD was the book's big winner - up from a 4.4 share in spring to 6.4 for the summer.

* Former Northern Michigan University broadcaster Joe Blake has had the Berry Events Center press box named after him- Marquette Mining Journal

October 27:

* Brook Taylor joins Christian WAYK-FM 89.9 Grand Rapids as morning co-host. Taylor arrives from Top 40 WHZZ-FM 101.7 Lansing- Grand Rapids Press

October 25:

* Upper Midwest Broadcasting reports that Country WYKX-FM 104.7 Escanaba will be spun off by Starboard once its purchase of the station from KMB Broadcasting is complete. The eventual owner is likely to be Lyle Evans-- who also currently owns Top 40 WMXG-FM 106.3 Stephenson and a construction permit at 98.7 FM (WGLI) Hancock.

* FCC Actions: Granted the voluntary assignment of licenses from Stone Communications to Basic Licensing for WWKK-AM 750 and WJML-AM 1110 Petoskey; Granted the voluntary assignment of licenses from Joseph E. Cohen to Unity Broadcasting for WUBR-AM 1490 and WEFG-FM 97.5 Whitehall, and WLCS-FM 98.3 N. Muskegon; Granted WDWO-LP 18 Detroit Class A status

October 24:

* Chili Walker will exit Modern Rock WWDX-FM 92.1 Lansing effective November 24th. He'll be leaving open the afternoon drive and program director positions- All Access

* FCC Action: Granted WFYC-AM 1280 Alma a construction permit to increase its nighttime power to 56 watts from 45

October 23:

* Starboard Broadcasting has agreed to purchase three Upper Peninsula stations in two separate deals worth a total of $1.6 million. First, Starboard will acquire Country WYKX-FM 104.7 and Full Service WDBC-AM 680 Escanaba from KMB Broadcasting for $850,000. The second deal will add Oldies WADW-FM 105.5 Pickford/Sault Ste. Marie to Starboard's new Michigan cluster for $750,000. Seaway Broadcasting is current owner and seller of WADW. Programming is likely to shift to religious once the deals close as Starboard currently operates Catholic-based stations across much of Wisconsin and is in the process actively expanding the reach of its programming. Both the WADW and WYKX/WDBC deals are subject to FCC approval.

* Nick Taylor exits as morning co-host at Top 40 WKFR-FM 103.3 Battle Creek/Kalamazoo to head for South Bend at fellow Top 40 outlet WNDV-FM 92.9- All Access

* WMSH-AM 1230 Sturgis has dropped its simulcast of sister station Oldies WMSH-FM 99.3 in favor of Sports from ESPN Radio- 100000watts.com

* WILX-TV 10 Lansing anchor Melissa Proffitt has left the TV business to join Top 40 radio outlet WHZZ-FM 101.7 for mornings- Lansing State Journal

* Clear Channel Ann Arbor plans on completing its move out of the Domino's Farm complex this week and into new facilities near Briarwood Mall. The new home for WWWW-FM 102.9, WKQL-FM 107.1, WTKA-AM 1050, and WHNE-AM 1290 will feature all new equipment and 10 studios- 1 each for WWWW, WQKL, and WHNE, 2 each for WTKA and production work, 1 for voicetracking, and 2 auxiliary studios.

* FCC Action: Granted WOGC-LP 25 Holland its license to cover for changes (move to Holland from Grand Rapids)

October 22:

* WDMK-FM 102.7 Detroit has shifted its Adult Urban Contemporary to all 'Old School' Rhythm and Blues by dropping most current music. The station is still using its 'Kiss' moniker as '102.7 Kiss-FM'. WDMK is owned by Radio One, which also owns Detroit stations WDTJ-FM 105.9 and WCHB-AM 1200.

* Fox affiliate WSMH-TV 66 Flint is set to launch a 10pm newscast beginning Monday (Oct 28th). WSMH will serve as the test site for owner Sinclair, which plans on rolling out a hybrid local-national newscast to 30 of its stations. The WSMH newscast will be anchored by former WNEM-TV 5 Saginaw anchor/reporter Jim Kiertzner.

* FCC Action: Granted WSAG-FM 104.1 Pinconning the following change to its construction permit- power to 6,000 watts @ 213 feet from 4,100 watts @ 367 feet and a change in tower location north into Arenac county

* WCAR-AM 1090 Livonia/Detroit has applied for the following change: daytime power to 1,000 watts from 250, nighttime power to 800 watts from 500, and add critical hours licensing at 1,000 watts. The application specifies using the station's current nighttime 6 tower array for all patterns- current the daytime signal uses 4 of the 6 towers.

* The American Family Association and the Great Lakes Broadcast Academy have applied to trade their Muskegon construction permits. AFA's current CP at 88.1 (WPQZ, 580 watts @ 344 feet) would be traded for GLBA's 91.7 CP (6,000 watts @ 328 feet) if approved by the FCC

October 20:

* FM Talk WKRK-FM 97.1 Detroit evening co-host Rob Parker has been named as host of a new 30 minute weekly sports/music program titled "Sports Rap" that will premiere at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 9, on WWJ-TV 62. Joining Parker will be Urban WJLB-FM 97.9 jock "Reggie Reg" Davis and former Detroit Lions player Ron Rice- Detroit News

October 17:

* Added to the lineup at Talk/Oldies WKNX-AM 1250 Bay City is Sean Hannity

* FCC Action: Granted W33BY LPTV ch. 33 Detroit its license to cover (move from ch. 68 at new tower location)

October 16:

* Kirk Gibson, Sports WXYT-AM 1270 afternoon drive co-host and Fox Sports Net Detroit analyst for Tigers' broadcasts, leaves those roles to join the Detroit Tigers as bench coach. Also exiting his broadcast role to become a coach for the Tigers is Lance Parrish who steps down from the analyst position for WKBD-TV 50's Tigers' coverage. Each of the media outlets for Tigers' baseball will have new voices next year- the radio outlet (WXYT) needs a play-by-play man with the retirement of Ernie Harwell and both TV outlets are now looking for new color analysts.

October 15:

* Dom Theodore, already program director for Top 40 WKQI-FM 95.5 Detroit, adds the responsibility of operations manager for the station as well as two sister stations, Talk WXDX-AM 1310 and Sports WDFN-AM 1130. Rona Danziger adds the role of program director at WDFN to her responsibility as PD at WXDX. WKQI marketing and promotions director Rebecca Falk will now oversee marketing and promotions at all 7 Clear Channel-owned stations in Detroit (WKQI, WDFN, WXDX, plus WMXD-FM 92.3, WJLB-FM 97.9, WNIC-FM 100.3, and WDTW-FM 106.7)- Radio and Records

* Exiting as weathercaster at WXYZ-TV 7 Detroit is Mary Kay Kleist as she accepts a role at WBBM-TV Chicago. Shay Ryan, who had been doing fill-in and weekend work at WXYZ will take over the spot vacated by Kleist. Ryan has left WNEM-TV 5 Bay City.

October 14:

* There was a new ratings leader in Detroit during the summer: Oldies WOMC-FM jumped ahead of News-Talk WJR-AM among listeners age 12 and above. Both stations saw their ratings share increase since the spring book- WOMC moved to 6.5 from 5.2 and WJR was up to 6.4 from 6.1. The remainder of the top 10 included Smooth Jazz WVMV-FM, News WWJ-AM, Rock WRIF-FM, Urban WJLB-FM, Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM, Urban WDTJ-FM, and Top 40 outlets WDRQ-FM and WKQI-FM. Along with WOMC's big gain since spring, WNIC had a sizeable gain up to 4.9 from 3.5, putting itself confortably ahead of AC rival WMGC which carded a 3.2 in the summer. WKQI also improved nicely, up to 3.8 from 3.1. The sports battle between WDFN-AM and WXYT-AM remained tied, but down in overall ratings since spring.

* WTRC-AM 1340 Elhart, IN (South Bend) is set to move into new studios on Wednesday of this week. The station drops its music programs and shifts to fulltime News-Talk as NewsRadio 1340.

October 11:

* FCC Action: Granted WJOF FM 88.1 Monroe a modification to its construction permit: From Class B1 10,000 watts vertical @ 246 feet directional to Class A 910 watts @ 144 feet nondirectional. The station's tower will be located in Monroe instead of near Ida.

October 10:

* As expected, the FCC has given the green light for in-band on-channel technology for digital radio

* Valerie Roberts has joined LIN TV’s WEYI-TV 25 Saginaw/Flint as news director.

* WLEW AM-1340 Bad Axe morning host Jack Thomas recently celebrated 40 years in radio. This January 16th he'll mark 30 years of broadcasting from the Thumb. Thomas is currently heard on AM 1340 playing country music intermixed with a lot of local information, from 5:30-9am. He also voicetracks the midday shift on sister station WLEW-FM 102.1 (Cruise 102).

* 100000watts.com reports that channel 69 Lansing has completed its move to channel 27 as W27CN. The LPTV station simulcasts programming from WAQP-TV 49 Saginaw.

October 9:

* Modern Rock WGRD-FM 97.9 Grand Rapids launched its new morning show today with midday jock Michael Grey and production director Dave Justus joining Stephanie Webb and Rovin' Ralph who are holdovers from the 'Rick and Scott' show. Grey continues as the station's music director while Justus gives up his production role. Former co-host Scott Winters exits, following the previous exit of Rick Beckett.

* Top 40 WIOG-FM 102.5 Bay City night jock Mason loses the 'interim' off the title of music director- All Access

October 8:

* WDIV-TV 4 Detroit will become the first television station in Michigan to broadcast a local program in high definition (HDTV), and one of the first few stations in the country to produce and air a live HDTV event. Local 4's coverage of The Parade Company's America's Thanksgiving Parade will air live from downtown Detroit on WDIV channel 4, and on HDTV channel 45 Thanksgiving morning.

* The FCC has granted two more construction permits for new low power FM stations in Michigan:
- Oceana Broadcasters was granted 100.5 to be licensed to Hart (Oceana County)
- Maranatha Bible and Missionary Conference was granted 100.9 to be licensed to Norton Shores (Muskegon County)

* FCC Action: Granted WMQF-TV 19 Marquette the following modification to its construction permit: ERP from 5,000 kW @ 646 feet nondirectional to 500 kW @ 814 feet directional. The tower location will change from southwest of Marquette to northwest of Marquette using the same location as WKQS-FM 101.9 and WFXD-FM 103.3

October 7:

* As expected, WXDX-AM 1310 Detroit flipped from sports talk from Fox Sports Radio to more mainstream talk featuring handyman Glenn Haege middays and programming from the Michigan Talk Radio Network along with other syndicated fare. The station is still using its 'X' moniker as 'Talk Radio 1310, The X'. The station will also continue to carry sports programming, including Plymouth Whalers hockey, Central Michigan University football, and NASCAR racing.

* Adult Contemporary WOOD-FM 105.7 Grand Rapids, one of Michigan's 'superpowered' grandfathered FM stations, has applied to change its engineering specifications such that the station would lose its grandfathered status. The application is to reduce power from its current non-directional 265,000 watts @ 810 feet to a directional 50,000 watts @ 446 feet with the transmitter/tower moving off the stick it currently shares with WOOD-TV 8 near Middleville in Barry County to a location in Kent County just east of Caledonia.

* Classic Rock WCSX-FM 94.7 Detroit raised $204,000 during last week's radiothon for the Children's Leukemia Foundation. The station has helped raise over $1.9 million over the past 12 years.

October 3:

* WSCG-AM 1380 Greenville has changed its format from Adult Standards to News using CNN Headline News

* WMFN-AM 640 Zeeland/Grand Rapids adds play-by-play for the Chicago Bears. The deal is for the remainder of this season and also for next year.

October 2:

* Former WLLC-FM 106.7 Detroit (now WDTW) evening jock Scott Adams lands the role as morning driver at just-launched Top 40 WYOK-FM (Hot 104) Mobile, AL.

October 1:

* Gregg Henson has exited Sports WDFN-AM 1130 Detroit and has accepted the role of program director at crosstown Sports WXYT-AM 1270. His start date at 'XYT has yet to be determined. Current WXYT PD Rob Sanford will remain with the station and take on different responsibilities. Henson had been the operations manager at both 'DFN and sister station WXDX-AM 1310 in addition to co-hosting WDFN's morning show. No word yet from WDFN as to the direction of the morning show or who might take over as operations manager for the station.
* Classic Rock WDTW-FM 106.7 Detroit has changed its presentation of the Bob & Tom Show mornings. The program now runs 'full strength' instead of being on an edited one hour delay.

September 30:

* Inside Radio reports that Ann Arbor is the 2nd lowest market in the country in terms of the level of radio listening. Only 10.9% of the 12+ population is listening to radio in any given quarter-hour. The lowest level goes to another college town- Lafayette, IN with 10.6%. Tops was Miami, FL which has a 17.1% listening level. Average listenership across the country is 14.55%. The numbers were based on the Spring 2002 Arbitron book.

* Beginning Sunday (Oct 6), the Detroit Symphony Orchestra radio broadcasts will return for a third season to Adult Standards CKWW-AM 580 Windsor/Detroit. Hosted by Dick Cavett, the DSO's General Motors "Mark of Excellence" radio broadcasts are recorded live from Detroit's famed Orchestra Hall. The series runs for 26 weeks and will air on CKWW every Sunday from 9-11am.

September 28:

* More of the likely programming for WXDX-AM 1310 Detroit when it switches from sports to talk on Oct 7th has been revealed. In addition to Glenn Haege's midday show and other daytime programming from the Michigan Talk Radio Network, it's expected the station will air syndicated evening and overnight programs from Phil Hendrie and Art Bell. WXDX took on its current Sports format - primarily a feed of Fox Sports Radio - in November 2000.

September 27:

* Sports WXDX-AM 1310 Detroit will change its format to news-talk beginning on Monday October 7th. The long-rumored switch will feature 'The Handyman Show', hosted by Glenn Haege, from noon-2pm. The rest of the daytime schedule will consist of programming from the Michigan Talk Radio Network, including mornings with Dave Scott and Laurel Hess, the Don Chiodo Show, the Dave Barber Show, and 'The Captain & Crew'. Former WRIF-FM and WCSX-FM morning co-host George Baier (Dick the Bruiser) returns to the Detroit airwaves as part of 'The Captain & Crew' along with co-host Bill Vogel.

* A few changes to note about the Michigan Talk Radio Network (MTRN): New to the morning show is television broadcast journalist Laurel Hess. Her resume includes experience with WDIV-TV 4 Detroit, WOOD-TV 8 Grand Rapids, WLNS-TV 6 Lansing in addition to hosting 'Comcast Newsmakers' on CNN Headline News on all Michigan Comcast cable systems and she is the Midwest corespondent for NBC News Channel. Effective October 7th, the times for the MTRN lineup will change:
Dave and Laurel: 6-9am
Don Chiodo: 9am-1pm
Dave Barber: 1-4pm
The Captain and Crew: 4-8pm
The Best of MTRN: 8pm-6am
In addition to adding WXDX Detroit as an affiliate, WBRN-AM 1460 Big Rapids, WPHM-AM 1380 Port Huron, and WKYO-AM 1360 Caro have all added the MTRN morning show to their lineups. Recently WSDS-AM 1480 Ypsilanti also joined the list of affiliates and now clears all MTRN programming Monday-Friday.

* The second phase of Grand Rapids ratings trends for the summer period was released today. Tied for the number one spot among listeners age 12 and above were Top 40 WSNX-FM and Country WBCT-FM, followed by Classic Rock WLAV-FM, Active Rock WKLQ-FM, and Modern Rock WGRD-FM.

* Josh and Holly exit mornings at Hot AC WTCF-FM 100.5, "100.5 The Fox," for afternoons at Top 40 WSTO-FM Evansville, IN. In addition to their on-air roles at WSTO, Holly will serve as promotions director and Josh will take over as the station's music director.

* Michigan Representative Paul DeWeese presented Contemporary Christian WLGH-FM 88.1 Lansing (The Light) with a tribute from the Michigan Legislature and Governor Engler recognizing the radio station’s service to the community.

* FCC Action: Granted WUPK-FM 94.1 Marquette a construction permit for changes- ERP from 4,500 watts @ 377 feet to 4,400 watts @ 381 feet with a slight change to tower location

September 26:

* Adult Top 40 simulcasters WKPK-FM 106.7 Gaylord and WKVK-FM 100.7 Honor move more towards a Hot Adult Contemporary sound and have added the positioner 'The Best Hits of the 80's, 90's, and Today' to its 'The Peak' moniker. WKPK began moving away from Mainstream Top 40 in Feburary of 2001 when it shifted to an Adult Top 40 sound. New night jock at the stations is Andrew Daily, who was elevated from swing, replacing Goose- All Access

* New Clear Channel Detroit operating manager Darren Davis also gets the role of regional vice president of programming from the Detroit area- All Access

September 25:

* Clear Channel and Whitehall Enterprises will both walk away from the deal that would have moved WAAM-AM 1600 Ann Arbor to Clear Channel after the FCC's announcement that the deal was set to be reviewed at a hearing. No other buyer has been identified for the station, which will remain under the ownership of Whitehall.

* Joining Tony Magoo as co-host at Country WFBE-FM 95.1 Flint will be Diane Grey who makes the move from Allentown, PA; Nikki Lane joins Contemporary Christian WLGH-FM 88.1 Lansing for morning co-host and news chores. She'll be partnered with current co-hosts Tim and Tiana. Lane moves to WLGH from crosstown Top 40 WHZZ-FM 101.7- All Access

September 24:

* Added to the lineup this week at Religious WLLZ-AM 560 Monroe/Detroit was the mainstream talk program The Radio Factor with Bill O’Reilly. WLLZ had planned on airing O’Reilly when the program was introduced earlier this year but at the last minute failed to reach an agreement with the program’s syndicator. The show airs from noon-2pm.

* Darren Davis has been named as operations manager for Clear Channel's Detroit cluster (WMXD-FM 92.3, WKQI-FM 95.5, WJLB-FM 97.9, WNIC-FM 100.3, WDTW-FM 106.7, WDFN-AM 1130, and WXDX-AM 1310). He arrives from Houston to begin his new job September 30th

September 23:

* Comerica Park's press box has been named Ernie Harwell Media Center in honor of the broadcaster's amazing career- Detroit Free Press

* Toledo's WTVG-TV 13 has changed its antenna pattern and is now omni-directional. The change results in better coverage in southeast Michigan.

September 22:

* Observed on the air is low-power FM outlet WFPM-LP 99.5 Battle Creek. The station was airing black gospel and religious programming as 'The Miracle Station'. WFPM-LP is owned by the First Pentecostal Church of God in Christ

September 20:

* The FCC has modified the FM table of allotments effective Nov. 4 2002 as follows: removed 98.3 from Monroe and added 98.3 to Luna Pier. WTWR-FM is required to file an application to its license to reflect the community of license change

September 18:

* The FCC has ruled that the proposed sale of Full Service WAAM-AM 1600 Ann Arbor from Whitehall Enterprises to Clear Channel must enter into an evidentiary hearing as the commission has determined that "based on Year 2001 revenue estimates from the BIA database, the five stations that Clear Channel proposes to own (in Ann Arbor) account for a 94.9 percent revenue share in the Ann Arbor metro. Post-consummation (of the sale of WAAM), Clear Channel and Ave Maria Foundation (owner of WDEO-AM 990) would collectively control 99.0 percent of the advertising revenue in the Ann Arbor metro. These figures indicate that Clear Channel essentially would have a monopoly position in the Ann Arbor metro." Clear Channel disputes this by suggesting that the Ann Arbor market is really part of the larger Detroit area and advertising revenues for Detroit-area stations that also serve Ann Arbor should be considered. Whitehall and Clear Channel initially reached the deal for Clear Channel to acquire the station for $2 million in August 2001 and has been handling sales for the station since December 2001.

* New night shift jock at Top 40 WKHQ-FM Charlevoix is John Foxx- All Access

September 17:

* Summer phase 2 ratings (Jun-Aug) for Detroit were released today. News-Talk WJR-AM continued to lead all stations among listeners age 12 and above, followed by Smooth Jazz WVMV-FM and Oldies WOMC-FM which tied for second. News WWJ-AM and Urban WJLB-FM rounded out the top 5 stations. The station with the biggest change from the first summer trend was Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM which jumped back into the top 10 stations improving its share from 3.6 to 4.3.

* Jim Kiertzner exits WNEM-TV 5 Bay City and will land at WSMH-TV 66 Flint as that stations lead anchor as it prepares to launch a 10pm newscast in October- Flint Journal

* Classic Hits WVIC-FM 94.1 Jackson/Lansing jock Kim Foster-Stewart moves on for a midday role in Youngstown, OH at WQXK; Former Top 40 WQKI-FM 95.5 Detroit afternooner and music director J. Love lands in Providence, RI at WWKX-FM as program director and midday host- All Access

* Call sign assigned to construction permit for FM 98.7 Hancock: WGLI

September 16:

* New lineup at Country WWWW-FM 102.9 Ann Arbor: Mornings (5:30-10am) are now in control of Bubba, formerly of WNWN-FM 98.5 Coldwater. The former morning team of Tom Baker and Andie Lynne shift to other dayparts with Baker moving back to afternoon drive (3-7pm) and Lynn taking middays (10am-3pm). Syndicated shows fill the rest of the schedule with Lia 7pm - midnight and After Midnight running overnights.

* Interim WWCK-FM 105.5 Flint morning show host Brian Figula, "Fig" will leave September 20th to take over nights and the role of music director at heritage CHR WDBR-FM Springfield, IL.

* A format update courtesy of DX-midAMerica.com:
- WNBY-AM 1450 Newberry has dropped programming from the Michigan Talk Radio Network in favor of satellite fed Classic Country as "Country Gold 1450"

* New to mornings at Hot AC WCNF-FM 94.9 Benton Harbor is Robb Rose- All Access

September 13:

* Public outlet WDET-FM 101.9 Detroit adds ravis Smiley for a one-hour show 9-10am weekdays starting Sept. 30.

* New morning show co-host at Top 40 WIOG-FM 102.5 Bay City is Andrew Zepada (Andrew Z) who teams with Lacey McCloud. Andrew was last at Top 40 WWCK-FM 105.5 Flint as its morning show host. As the station had previously announced, Demas moves from mornings to afternoons- All Access

September 12:

* Active Rock WWBN-FM 101.5 Tuscola/Flint has moved its tranmsitter from Tuscola County (near Millington) to Genesee County (near Otisville). The new pattern and location results in better coverage across southern Genesee county. Program director Brian Beddow comments, "The early returns are encouraging. We have been able to fill our signal in the southern end of the county, and I am already noticing the station on in businesses in the mid-county area (Burton, south Flint etc) that were unable to get us in the past".

* An update from DX-midAMerica.com:
- WDBC-AM 680 Escanaba is using the "Music of Your Life" Adult Standards satellite feed in addition to talk during some dayparts

* The FCC has cancelled the license for the 1,000 watt FM booster for WBYC-FM 92.5 in Petoskey (WBYC-FM1) at the request of owner Northern Radio. WBYC's main transmitter is licensed to Atlanta at 92.5 and is simulcast on WBYB-FM 94.3 Leland/Traverse City.

September 10:

* WTAC-FM 89.7 Burton/Flint will become part of the network of Contemporary Christian stations in Michigan using 'The Light' moniker once it becomes fully operational. Program director Mike Couchman comments that the new station has been on the air intermittently for testing as the station prepares to launch. WTAC was granted its license on September 3rd. The Light currently consists of 3 stations: WLGH-FM 88.1 Lansing, WEJC-FM 88.3 Gladwin, and WTLI-FM 89.3 Boyne City.

* Noted: Detroit LPTV stations W68CH and W33BY are now airing separate programming. Channel 68 is airing MTV2 24/7 and channel 33 is running a hybrid of local and syndicated programs. Channel 33 is supposed to eventually replace channel 68 as its construction permit is for a move off of 68.

* Hot AC WBMI-FM 105.5 West Branch was noted broadcasting in mono over the weekend. It's likely the station will return to stereo again soon

* WLKM-AM 1510 Three Rivers has applied to the FCC to move to 1520 and begin nighttime operations with 8 watts

* FCC Action: Granted WLGH-FM 88.1 Leroy Twp a construction permit for the following changes: ERP from 2,500 watts (V) @ 328 feet (Class A) to 10,000 watts (V) @ 594 feet directional (Class B).

September 9:

* Tim Little, general manager of Standards WSCG-AM 1380 Greenville and Country WSCG-FM 106.3 Lakeview announced today that he has resigned from that position to take over as program director at Country WCEN-FM 94.5 Hemlock/Saginaw. Little came to WSCG-AM/FM owner Stafford Broadcasting two years ago as their first GM following the purchase of the former WPLB-FM/AM. Little will exit this week and begin his new role effective Sept. 23. "I am really looking forward to living in Saginaw and getting to work at WCEN. We have a wonderful staff with a tremendous amount of talent. It's going to be a pleasure working with them", said Little who added he will return to using his air name of Tim Rogers at WCEN. Prior to his role at WSCG, Little was program director and afternoon drive host at Country WMKC-FM 102.9 St. Ignace.

* FCC Action: Granted WTAC-FM 89.7 Burton its license to cover (new station)

September 6:

* No Sale: The deal between Wilks Broadcasting and Cumulus where the latter was to aquire Wilks' 5 station Tri-Cities cluster (Country WCEN-FM 94.5 Hemlock, Hot AC WTCF-FM 100.5 Carrollton, Adult Contemporary WGER-FM 106.3, Urban Contemporary WTLZ-FM 107.1, and News/Talk WSGW-AM 790 Saginaw) for $55.6 million is off. Cumulus canceled the agreement which was originally reached in May and approved by the FCC in July. Unsubstantiated reports are that Cumulus balked on the deal because the price was too high.

* The Greaseman (Doug Tracht) is added for mornings at Classic Country WCXI-AM 1160 Fenton/Flint and Talk WMFN-AM 640 Zeeland/Grand Rapids. The program is syndicated by the stations' owner Birach Broadcasting from sister station WGOP-AM Washington DC; New for mornings and a role as promotions director at Contemporary Christian WAYK-FM 88.3 Kalamazoo / WAYG-FM 89.9 Grand Rapids is Brooke Taylor effective Sept 30- All Access

September 5:

* WSDS-AM 1480 Ypsilanti is now broadcasting programming from the Michigan Talk Radio Network Monday-Friday and has moved its Classic Country music to the station's web site as an Internet-only feed. The station plans to maintain its local programming on weekends- including Classic Country and Bluegrass shows along with 'Chinese Voice'.

* WKAR-TV East Lansing plans on beginning the installation of its digital TV antenna early next week

* FCC Action: Approved the voluntary transfer of control for WILX-TV 10 Onondaga from Stations Holding Company to Grey Television

September 4:

* Sister-stations News-Talk WJML-AM 1110 and Talk-Oldies WWKK-AM 750 have been sold by Rick Stone. The buyer, Basic Licensing, is new to the Northern Michigan radio market. Sale price for the combo is $900,000 and is subject to review by the FCC.

* Viewers of WDWB-TV 20 Detroit kicked in $1.6 million to the MDA Labor Day telethon. The national tally was a record $58.3 million.

* Rick Albin has rejoined WOOD-TV 8 Grand Rapids as political repoerter. He had previously left the station to work for U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra's staff- Grand Rapids Press

* Dave Ryerson steps down as program director at Classic Rock WAOR-FM 95.3 Niles/South Bend but remains as the station's morning drive host. Named as interim PD is Tom Oakes- he's the PD for sister station Country WBYT-FM 100.7- All Access

* FCC Action: Granted the voluntary assignment of construction permit for WSAG-FM 104.1 Pinconning to Blue Moose LLC from Russell James LaFave. The CP is set to expire November 1st.

September 3:

* New to mornings at Top 40 WTWR-FM 98.3 Monroe is Ben Coburn. The lineup at WTWR is: Ben Coburn's Morning Experience 6-10am; Terri McCormick 10am-2pm; J-Cruz 2-7pm; and Joe P 7pm-midnight. Coburn arrives from Hot AC WYBR-FM 102.3 Big Rapids. McCormick, also the station's program director, will have a role as co-host on the morning show until a permanent co-host is hired.

* Urban WJNZ-AM 1680 Grand Rapids has recently become affiliated with BET Radio Networks, and plans to add the Russ Parr Morning Show later this month.

August 30:

* Look for Top 40 WTWR-FM 98.3 Monroe to announce its new morning show on Tuesday (9/3). The station is currently running teasers stating "Experience the change, Tuesday, 6 am". Former morning show co-hosts Mike Marino and Tevis Marcum have exited with Marino moving on to WHMI-FM 93.5 Howell effective Sept. 16.

* Just over $8,000.00 was raised for The Daily Bread of Lenawee, Lenawee County’s Soup Kitchen in a 24-hour marathon hosted by WLEN-FM 103.9 Adrian Marketing Executive Lori Sallows. At last year’s Daily Bread Fundraiser, Sallows parachuted for the first time and raised over $2,500.00.

* The Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) has reached a deal to purchase CBC affiliate CJIC-TV 5 Sault Ste. Marie from the CTV-owned MCTV group. The entire deal covers five other MCTV CBC affiliates in Ontario and is subject to approval from the CRTC.

* FCC Action: Granted Superior Communications a construction permit for a new non-commercial educational FM station to be licensed to Goodland Twp (Lapeer County). The Class A station would be at 88.1 with 2,000 watts (vertical) @ 499 feet from a tower located north of Imlay City. Superior Communications currently operates 3 Contemporary Christian stations under the banner 'The Light' (WLGH-FM 88.1 Lansing, WEJC-FM 88.3 Gladwin, and WTLI-FM 89.3 Boyne City). The company also has construction permits for two more non-commercial educational stations in Flint (WTAC-FM 89.7) and Lake City (WAIR-FM 104.9). In addition, Superior Communications principles Edward and Jennifer Czelada have a construction permit for a commercial station in Harbor Beach (WCZE-FM 103.7).

August 29:

* Top 5 stations in Grand Rapids for the first summer ratings trend among listeners age 12 and above were Top 40 WSNX-FM, Country WBCT-FM, Classic Rock WLAV-FM, Active Rock WKLQ-FM, and Modern Rock WGRD-FM. WLAV enjoyed the market's biggest jump, improving its share one point from 6.3 to 7.3 and moving its 3rd place spot.

August 28:

* Mitzi Miles transitions from swing to the midday role at Adult Contemporary WMGC-FM 105.1 Detroit, replacing Jim (on air as Michael) Bosch who's decided to look for other opportunities. Miles was part of the morning show at 105.1 during its tenure as 'The Groove' (WGRV-FM). She'll be exiting as morning show co-host at Country WFBE-FM 95.1 Flint.

* FCC Action: Granted WAYG-FM 89.9 Grand Rapids a construction permit for the following changes: ERP from 4,000 watts @ 194 feet to 4,900 watts @ 207 feet with a tower location change from south of Grand Rapids to just east of Grand Rapids

August 27:

* On-air changes at Contemporary Christian WLGH-FM 88.1 Lansing effective September 3: Morning co-host / program director Mike Couchman moves to afternoons, replacing Jenn Czelada who will work her role as general manager off the air. Joining mornings as co-host is Tim Chappell who is promoted from parttime status. Tiana will stay in her role as half of the morning show; Modern Rock WWDX-FM 92.1 Lansing names Ron Parker as its night host. He moves from sister station Classic Hits WVIC-FM 94.1- All Access

August 26:

* Fig takes over mornings on an interim basis along with becoming the Friday night 80's host at Top 40 WWCK-FM 105.5 Flint. He's been with CK 105.5 since April 2002, doing weekends and swing.

August 25:

* Catholic stations WDEO-AM 990 Ypsilanti and WMAX-AM 1440 Bay City plan their first ever on-air fundraiser during September. New general manager for Ava Maria Communciations (owner of WDEO and WMAX) is Michael Jones.

August 24:

* Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM 100.3 Detroit morning show members Stacey DuFord and Lori Bennett have exited the program. DuFord will leave the station, while Bennett will keep her role as program director. Producer Lisa Jesswein will take an on-air role and join host Chuck Gaidica and newsman Dave Lockhart

August 23:

* Hot Talk WKRK-FM 97.1 Detroit afternoon drive duo Jeff Deminski and Bill Doyle have agreed to a new contract with the station that will keep them in town for the next 5 years.

* Top 40 WDRQ-FM 93.1 Detroit night jock Man @ Large keeps the job on a permanent basis. He's been in the role already for a couple of months; John Shomby, former operations manager for Cumulus' Flint and Kalamazoo clusters, takes a job in Norfolk, VA- All Access

August 22:

* Mike Marino will be taking over the morning show at Classic Hits WHMI-FM 93.5 Howell effective September 16. Marino has held down mornings at Top 40 WTWR-FM 98.3 Monroe/Toledo for the past 10 years and reunites with his former morning partner and current WHMI news director Jon King. Current morning driver Buzz Elliot will move to afternoons, the shift he held for 11 years at WNDU-FM 92.9 South Bend. Music director Tim Brown will move his program to evenings, and current evening host Jennifer Dean will likely join the new morning show. Also joining WHMI is Dana Cameron of AAA Traffic and News WWJ-AM 950 Detroit as afternoon news anchor.

* Red Wings TV announcers Ken Daniels and Mickey Redmond will provide the commentary when WNEM-TV 5 Bay City broadcasts the first game of new minor league hockey team the Saginaw Spirit- Saginaw News

* FCC Action: Granted the voluntary assignement of license for WEYI-TV 25 Saginaw from STC License Company to WEYI Broadcasting

August 21:

* Michigan broadcasters provided $328 million in community service during 2001- Michigan Association of Broadcasters

* New afternoon jock and assistant program director at Country WFBE-FM 95.1 Flint is 'Big Steve' Duncan, formerly heard overnights on Top 40 WKQI-FM 95.5 Detroit- All Access

* Adult Top 40 WSHN-FM 100.1 Holton/Muskegon was able to fingerprint 500 children and provide information from various organizations to parents to better protect their children last Saturday during the station's first major promotion using its new positioner 'The New Sunny FM'.

* WJBK-TV 2 Detroit adds 30 minutes to its morning newscast starting on Monday 8/26. The new segment will air from 5-5:30am and be co-hosted by Sherry Margolis and Cam Karman.

August 20:

* The first ratings trend for the summer period was released for the Detroit market yesterday. News-Talk WJR-AM continued to be the top station among listeners age 12 and above followed by Smooth Jazz WVMV-FM. Oldies WOMC-FM moved up to third, with News WWJ-AM and Urban WJLB-FM rounding out the top 5. Top 40 WKQI-FM enjoyed the strongest gain, moving its share from 3.1 to 3.8, placing the station ahead of fellow Top 40 outlet WDRQ-FM.

* Joining WNEM-TV 5 Saginaw are Lenise Ligon for weekend morning co-anchor and weekday reporting duties and Alicia Dean who will take on the role of a managing editor- Saginaw News

August 19:

* On Thursday 8/15, WFDF-AM 910 Flint dropped its News/Talk format in favor of Radio Disney. The station was purchased by ABC/Disney earlier in the year and this move was widely anticipated.

* Oldies WODJ-FM 107.3 Grand Rapids adds 'Elvis & Friends' Sunday mornings 8-10am- Grand Rapids Press

August 14:

* Leaving mornings at Urban WJLB-FM 97.9 Detroit will be Big Tigger as the station is not renewing his contract. The decision was mutual as Big Tigger has a full schedule with the work he does with Clear Channel sister station WWPR-FM New York- duties he will keep- Urban Insite

* Out as morning show host at Modern Rock WGRD-FM Grand Rapids after 7 years is Rick Beckett. Prior to WGRD, Beckett was morning show host at WKLQ-FM 94.5 Holland/Gd Rapids for about 8 years- Grand Rapids Press

* Also leaving a morning show role is Top 40 WWCK-FM 105.5 Flint co-host Andrew Zepeda- All Access

* Look for WWKM-AM 1540 Harrison to return to the air with a new call sign -- WKKM. The station is installing a new transmitter and will likely have a country format using the call sign used by former sister station FM 92.1 before that station was sold to Xavier University. One thing that will not return to AM 1540 will be the slogan 'King of Kountry Music' as former owner David Carmine retained the rights to that service mark. No official date has been set for the station to return to the air.

* Top 40 WIOG-FM 102.5 Bay City program director Mark Anderson takes the midday on-air slot (10am - 1pm) that opened when Brandon Edwards left the station. Evening jock Mason picks up the role of interim music director. Look for morning co-host Demas to move to afternoons once his morning role is filled by someone new- All Access

August 12:

* Sports WQSN-AM 1660 Kalamazoo is back on the air as of last Friday after being off for a week due to damage from a lightning strike.

August 10:

* Today's Detroit Free Press reports that Sports WXDX-AM 1310 Detroit will switch its format to Talk sometime next month. Handyman Glenn Haege is expected to be heard daily as part of the lineup that will also likely include syndicated programs from Premiere. WXDX, along with Premiere, is owned by Clear Channel.

August 9:

* On Saturday, August 17th, the classic sounds of WKNR will again emanate from 1310 KHz across metro Detroit. In celebration of the annual Woodward Dream Cruise, Clear Channel Communications, Fox Sports Radio WXDX and Keener13.com will present a day of vintage Keener 13, featuring your favorite Keener announcers, classic Keener commercials and the great Keener music that made WKNR the toast of Detroit in the mid 1960s.

* Joining the crew at Top 40 WDRQ-FM 93.1 Detroit will be specialty actor Mike Scott Kaminski who will provide the station with voiceovers and impersonations; Brandon Edwards has exited Top 40 WIOG-FM 102.5 Bay City. He was the station's midday host as well as its music director and assistant program director- All Access

* Noted: Today's the 37th anniversary for Dick Purtan as a morning voice on Detroit radio. Purtan currently mans the mic at Oldies WOMC-FM 104.3.

August 6:

* The Michigan Association of Broadcasters announces the following changes to its Board of Directors:
Among the new Officers are:
- Sue Goldsen, WKHM/WIBM/WCFX, Chairman
- Ed Fernandez, WXMI-TV, Vice Chairman/Chairman Elect
- Jeff Scarpelli, WYBR, Secretary/Treasurer
- Rich Homberg, WXYT/WWJ, At-Large Officer
New broadcasters joining the MAB Board of directors are:
- Don Backus, ENCO Systems
- Joe Berwanger, WDIV-TV
- Palmer Pyle, Northern Star Broadcasting

* The spring 12+ ratings for Battle Creek radio were released today. The top 5 stations for the period were Country WNWN-FM, Top 40 WKFR-FM, Rock WJXQ-FM, News/Talk WBCK-AM, and Rock WRKR-FM which tied for 5th with Oldies WWKN-FM. WKFR experienced the biggest gain - moving its share total from 9.3 in the fall to 14.5.

* FCC Action: Granted Donald James Noordyk a construction permit for a new FM station to be licensed to Newaygo. The CP is for a Class A station at 92.5 with an ERP of 6,000 watts at 328 feet from a tower located near the southwest corner of Newaygo County. The station would be Noordyk's 6th in the West Michigan area.

August 3:

* Ratings for Kalamazoo were released yesterday. Among listeners age 12 and above for the spring period, the top 5 stations were Top 40 WKFR-FM, Rock WRKR-FM, Country WBCT-FM, Classic Hits WFAT-FM, and Urban Contemporary WNWN-AM. WFAT was the most improved station in the market, improving its share from 4.0 to 6.9. The station changed its format from Adult Contemporary to Classic Hits in October 2001.

August 2:

* Country WYCD-FM 99.5 Detroit morning host Kevin O'Neill was let go from the station as of today. The station will have a new morning show arriving from Fayetteville, Arkansas called 'Wilhite & Wall' effective August 19th. Producer Bill Plegue was also let go last week.

* Spring 2002 ratings for Grand Rapids were released yesterday. The top station was Top 40 WSNX-FM, followed by Country WBCT-FM, Active Rock WKLQ-FM, Classic Rock WLAV-FM, and News-Talk WOOD-AM. WSNX pushed itself ahead of WBCT this quarter by increasing its share from 8.2 in the winter to 9.7 among listeners age 12 and above.

* Country WYCD-FM 99.5 Detroit raised over $4,000 during its recent golf outing for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital- All Access

July 31:

* Noted off the air for the past couple of weeks is WJKN-AM 1510 Jackson. The station, owned by Spring Arbor University, had been simulcasting the programming of WSAE-FM 106.9.

* Joey B moves his part time role in Detroit from Top 40 WKQI-FM 95.5 to Adult Contemporary WMGC-FM 105.1- All Access

July 30:

* Frustrating news out of Sports WDFN-AM 1130 Detroit as news reporter Sabrina Black has been informed by doctors that her Hodgkin's disease has returned. Black, along with morning hosts Gregg Henson and Jamie Samuelsen discussed on the air this morning the probable treatment that will be undertaken in hopes of finally knocking the cancer out. Last fall, Black underwent a stem cell transplant using her own healthy cells along with chemotherapy and radiation that seemed to succeed. Recent tests have shown that the cancer unfortunately has returned and further treatments will be necessary- this time a donor will be needed for a bone marrow transplant. As far as her on-air chores at WDFN, Black will likely be off the air in about 3 or so weeks as treaments intensify and not be able to return for at least 8 months. Henson, who is also operations manager for the station, insured her on the air that her job would be there when she wanted to come back. Black is married to WDTW-FM 106.7 evening jock Steve Black.

July 26:

* WPHM-AM 1380 Port Huron morning show host John Hill is resetting his alarm clock. After 27 years of rising at 4:00am to begin the day of thousands of Blue Water residents and commuters, Hill has announced his retirement from WPHM radio, effective August 9th. "I am NOT leaving because I don't like it anymore. It is simply time to do some other things." said Hill. Hill has been with the station for 35 of his 40 years in broadcasting, dating back to then WTTH, lasting through 5 different owners, 5 general managers, "and more announcers and staff members than I can remember."

Hill was originally hired as the station's news director back in August 1967, and then was named program director in December of that year. He began hosting the morning show in 1975, where he has interviewed literally hundreds of guests over AM 1380. Every governor, senator, sports and entertainment figures, and most importantly, countless local listeners have started their morning with John. "John has certainly earned the right to sleep in. He has been the first voice many people in the Blue Water have heard for 35 years. As much as we'll miss working with John, we do understand his decision and wish him well as he moves to the next phase of his life.", said Larry Smith, general manager of Liggett Communications.

WPHM will conduct a search for what program director Jerry Noble calls "our next morning host" and not "John Hill's replacement. You don't replace a legend." The station and owner Liggett Communications are planning a community wide send-off for Hill's final broadcast on August 9th.

* New account executive specializing in Automotive Markeing at WDIV-TV 4 Detroit is Nicole Gize who moves from Modern AC WDVD-FM 96.3 where she held the role of account executive for 4 years. Also new to WDIV is Dana Senkowski who joins in the role of a sales assistant.

July 24:

* Two more Michigan radio markets received thier springs ratings report cards today. Rhythmic WRCL-FM made its presence known in both Flint and the Tri-Cities by debuting in Flint as the 8th most popular station among listeners age 12 and above. In the Tri-Cities, WRCL finished in 13th place overall. Looking overall at Flint, the top 5 stations were Urban WDZZ-FM, Adult Contemporary WCRZ-FM, Top 40 WWCK-FM, Country WFBE-FM, and Oldies WHNN-FM. Of note in the Flint ratings is the presence of Country WBCT-FM from Grand Rapids-- which shares the 93.7 frequency with WRCL. Up I-75 in the Tri-Cities market, the top 5 stations were WHNN, Country WKCQ-FM, Active Rock WKQZ-FM, Top 40 WIOG-FM, and News-Talk WSGW-AM.

July 23:

* Ted Kramer has been named as morning show host at Top 40 WKHQ-FM 105.9 Charlevoix. Kramer joins Lisa Knight for the wakeup shift- All Access

* FCC Actions: Granted the voluntary assignment of licenses for WLSP-AM 1530 and WRXF-FM 103.1 Lapeer from Covenant Communications to Regent Broadcasting

July 22:

* Spring ratings for Ann Arbor were released today- the top 6 stations among listeners age 12 and above were News/Talk WJR-AM, Rock WRIF-FM, Top 40 WKQI-FM, Country WWWW-FM, and Classic Rock WCSX-FM along with Oldies WOMC-FM which tied for 5th place. After W4, the order of Washtenaw County based stations was Gold-based Adult Contemporary WQKL-FM (tied for 13th overall), followed by Sports WTKA-AM (tied for 15th) and Talk WAAM-AM (tied for 19th).

* New executive vice president and chief operating officer for sister stations WKBD-TV 50 and WWJ-TV 62 Detroit is Dennis Swanson- Detroit Free Press

* Swing-shifter Scott Miller exits Adult Contemporary WMGC-FM 105.1 Detroit- All Access

July 19:

* The Michael Radio Group (dba Blue Moose Broadcasting) is the new buyer an FM construction permit at 104.1 (WSAG) Pinconning. Last year, there was a deal for Fort Bend Broadcasting to purchase the permit however this deal fell through. Current owner Russell LaFave will receive $195,000 for the property once the deal is approved by the FCC. The previous deal with Ft. Bend was worth $250,000.

July 18:

* News-Talk WJR-AM continues to be the top rated Detroit radio station among all listeners age 12 and above according to today's Spring 2002 Arbitron ratings book. Smooth Jazz WVMV-FM moved up to second place overall, followed by News WWJ-AM. Urban WJLB-FM and Oldies WOMC-FM tied for fourth place. WJR maintained the top spot despite losing .5 of a share since the Winter book- the same amount lost by WWJ. WVMV had a strong spring, improving from sixth place with a 4.7 to its second place showing with a 5.9. Country WYCD-FM also made a strong gain, moving into the top 10 stations with a 7th place finish. Its ratings share moved from 3.8 to 4.4. The battle for Adult Contemporary listeners appears to be as tight as ever with WNIC-FM and WMGC-FM tied for 11th place overall. The sports battle between WXYT-AM 1270 and WDFN-AM 1130 also was a dead heat- the stations were tied for 21st in the market.

July 17:

* Look for FM 92.1 Harrison to return to the air tomorrow at 7:00am as WVXH. The station, which will sign on in stereo for the first time, will be a member of the X-Star Radio Network run by Xavier University. WVXH replaces what was Country WKKM, which signed off last month after the sale of the station was completed to Xavier from David Carmine.

* Brent Alberts will be joining Classic Rock WLAV-FM 96.9 Grand Rapids as that station's new program director. Current PD Tony Gates will focus on his morning show in addition to new responsibilities as vice president of station development for both WLAV and Active Rock sister station WKLQ-FM 94.5- Radio and Records

July 16:

* New program director at Oldies WODJ-FM 107.3 Greenville/Gd Rapids is Scott Walker, he's also the station's afternoon drive host. Walker replaces Jeff Kelly in the PD's chair- All Access

* The Hot Talk afternoon duo of Deminski and Doyle at WKRK-FM 97.1 Detroit raised more than $4,000 for the family of slain Detroit police officer Michael Scanlon that past Saturday. Over 100 listeners joined D&D for a 7-hour long paintball outing with hosts newsman Rik Jagger, producer Bill Tortoriello, and phone screener Rudy DeSantis- All Access

* Former WLLC-FM 106.7 Detroit morning co-host Darla Jaye moves on to host a talk radio afternoon program at WVNN-AM Huntsville, Alabama. Jaye is also a veteran of the Grand Rapids radio wars.

* Kudo's to our friends at Keener13.com on scoring the Detroit Free Press' award for one of Michigan's Best Websites. The Keener13.com won under the 'Miscellaneous' category.

* FCC Action: Granted WGDN-AM 1350 Gladwin its license to cover for changes (decrease daytime power from 1,000 watts directional with 2 towers to 250 watts non-directional with 1 tower)

July 12:

* FCC Actions: Granted the voluntary assignment of license from Wilks License Co. to Cumulus License Co. for the following stations: WSGW-AM 790, WGER-FM 106.3, and WTLZ-FM 107.1 Saginaw, WTCF-FM 100.5 Carrollton, and WCEN-FM 94.5 Hemlock

July 11:

* The Bob & Tom Show made its debut on Classic Rock WDTW-FM 106.7 Detroit this morning in a modified form. Instead of broadcasting the syndicated feed live, much of the presentation is specially selected clips that are played back on a tape-delayed basis. Mark Davis, who had been hosting mornings on the station, remains and provides news, sports, and weather updates. The station also is including a few music breaks during the program, however they total as few as 4 songs per hour.

* Michigan Talk Radio Network 9am-Noon host Dave Barber has sued Major League Baseball over Tuesday's decision to call the game after 11 innings when it was tied at 7-7. Dave was featured on the opening hour of the Jim Bohanan show last night talking about the suit. "To the fans baseball has left, this is an outrage," stated Barber. "The average annual income for a big league player is $2.38 million and they do not have the ability to finish the All Star Game," he added.

* WSDP-FM 88.1 Canton was presented with a $1,200 grant by the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association (DSBA) at their 16th Annual Charity Golf Scramble. The money will be used for a studio automation system for the student-run radio station. "We're honored to be recognized," said Bill Keith, station manager. "Their gift is extremely generous." The DSBA Charity Fund was established in 1955 as a scholarship program. Since then the fund has dispersed thousands of dollars to worthy individuals and organizations. The DSBA is dedicated to serving the professional and developmental interest of its members while promoting sports broadcasting through meaningful programs and community participation. The golf scramble was held on Monday July 8, at Mystic Creek Golf Club and Banquet Center in Milford. The grant was presented by Jim Brandstatter, DSBA President and Detroit Lions Announcer. WSDP is owned and operated by the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools. The station is celebrating 30 years of serving the Plymouth-Canton Community.

* Joelle Lukasiewicz, most recently at WXYZ-TV 7 Detroit and before that WKBD-TV 50, has been hired as a freelance reporter for WDIV-TV 4- Detroit Free Press

* FCC Action: Granted WOLV-FM 97.7 Houghton its license to cover for changes (ERP from 880 watts to 6,500, HAAT from 509 feet to 591, Class A to Class C3; all from new tower location)

July 10:

* WLLC-FM 106.7 dropped its regular programming and started stunting towards 'The Buzz' at about 4:53 this afternoon. The station played short snippets from movies, etc. and promising that 'The Buzz' will be revealed at 5....one of the interesting clips was from an Alice sweeper asking 'Why would anyone name a radio station Alice?' At 5pm, the stunting switched to a bunch of clips containing the word 'Drive'. The station announced itself as '106.7 The Drive' with the new call sign WDTW and then played Sammy Hagar's I Can't Drive 55. The next on-air announcement was that Bob and Tom would be taking over mornings (likely in a different form using 'best of' clips along with music). The Drive is still using the old Alice positioner 'Rock and Roll Variety'. The second song, Led Zepplin's Rock and Roll appears to fit the rumored format of Classic Rock that really Rocks- only a slight modification to the station's previous Classic Rock leaning format. The station's new website is online at http://www.1067thedrive.com. With the exception of mornings, The Drive's personality lineup appears intact from the Alice days.

* Released from his evening duties at Rock WJXQ-FM 106.1 Jackson was Shaffee. Also let go at sister station Modern Rock WWDX-FM 92.1 St. Johns was its evening jock, El Jefe.

* New marketing director at Urban WJLB-FM 97.9 and WMXD-FM 92.3 Detroit is Shawn Martin. He also is tasked with the role of promotions director at WJLB- Inside Radio

* Sports WQSN-AM Kalamazoo has added Kalamazoo College Associate Professor of Physical Education and former head basketball coach Joe Haklin for a Monday feature during Ryan Maguire's "The Afternoon Drive" show- All Access

July 9:

* Do-it-yourself handyman Glenn Haege will be his leaving longtime Detroit radio home at Sports WXYT-AM 1270 after all as he signs a deal with Clear Channel owned Sports WDFN-AM 1130 that will begin August 3rd. The deal is 5 years in length. Haege's program will return to 4 hours each weekend morning, airing 8am-noon Saturday and Sunday. The show had aired on WXYT for the past 19 years- it is unclear if WXYT will continue to air Haege's syndicated show over the next 3 weekends.

* Former WXYZ-TV 7 Detroit weathercaster Kim Adams has reached a deal to join crosstown WDIV-TV 4. She'll hit the air after her non-compete clause runs its course. Shay Ryan has been will continue to provide fill-in and weekend work for now at channel 7. Also at channel 4, weekend anchor Tom Haynes will be exiting the station. He was slated to replace current morning anchor Steve Garagiola who will remain in that role- Detroit Free Press

* Lansing/Jackson ABC affiliate WLAJ-TV 53 has dropped its 11:00pm newscast/talkshow in favor of reruns of M*A*S*H and a 5 minute news update airing at 11:30 just before Nightline. The station has kept its 6:00pm weekday news.

July 8:

* Mark Pennington joins Rock WRIF-FM 101.1 Detroit in the roles of music director and assistant program director effective July 22. He arrives from WMMS-FM Cleveland- All Access

* A bit more information on WZBL-FM 103.7 Hartford- the format is Adult Urban Contemporary with Tom Joyner mornings. The station is currently satellite fed and identifies itself as 'Z 103-7'.

* Congratulations to Oldies WHNN-FM 96.1 Bay City morning show co-host Jody McHugh who won over $100,000 on NBC-TV's Weakest Link game show on Sunday night. Incidently, the program was a special edition, featuring 8 contestants - both male and female - that were all eerily similar in appearance to show host Anne Robinson.

July 5:

* County WYTC-FM 103.7 Hartford/South Haven has dropped the format and its simulcast of sister station WYTZ-FM 97.5 Bridgman in favor of an Urban-based format with new call sign WZBL. The station apparently switched earlier in the week- its call sign change was effective on July 3rd. WZBL and WYTZ are part of a 7 station southwest Michigan cluster owned by MidWest Family Broadcast Group.

* Tom O'Brien steps down as program director at Modern AC WDVD-FM 96.3 Detroit for personal reasons. Top 40 WDRQ-FM 93.1 PD Alex Tear takes over on an interim basis while the search begins for O'Brien's replacement- Radio and Records

* Marc Jacobson has joined NBC affiliate WEYI-TV 25 Saginaw as the stations new sports director. He'll also anchor sportscasts as well as provide reporting duties. He moves from ABC affiliate WJRT-TV 12 Flint where he was a member of the sports team for the past 2 years. Prior to his duties at WJRT, Marc was sports director at ABC affiliate WBKP-TV 5 Calumet.

July 3:

* Greg Hammaren, owning more than 20 years of experience in the cable television industry, has been named vice president and general manager of Fox Sports Net Detroit. Hammaren, who begins his new duties in mid-July, spent the last 12 years in various sales positions at Fox Sports Net South in Atlanta. Hammaren replaces interim general manager Hunter Nickell, who continues in his role as senior vice president for Fox Sports Net. In his new position, Hammaren, 43, oversees all aspects of the regional sports business, as well as working with other Fox entities involved with Fox Sports Net. He heads the regional sports cable network that owns the exclusive non-broadcast rights to the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Tigers, Detroit Pistons, CCHA hockey and Michigan High School Athletic Association football and basketball championship events. “I am thrilled about this opportunity to build upon the success that Fox Sports Net Detroit already enjoys,” Hammaren said. “I can’t wait to get started in this great sports region with such beloved teams and passionate fans.”

* The second spring ratings trend for Grand Rapids was released yesterday. Tied at the top were Top 40 WSXN-FM and Country WBCT-FM. Up to 3rd among listeners age 12 and above was Active Rock WKLQ-FM, followed by Adult Contemporary WOOD-FM and Modern Rock WGRD-FM. There were many stations with notable ratings changes from the first trend, making the final spring book more interesting to see when it arrives next month.

* Adult Contemporary WMGC-FM 105.1 Detroit overnight jock Jeff Jennings exits the station to take a role in sales in another market. Also leaving WMGC is marketing and promotions director Julie Maxwell- All Access

July 2:

* Rumors are hot and heavy that there is a change brewing this weekend at Rock Hits WLLC-FM 106.7 Detroit. All Access yesterday predicted that the station would drop its ‘Alice’ name and become ‘The Drive, Classic Rock that Really Rocks’ over the long July 4th holiday weekend. The music the station would be playing wouldn’t be all that different from today's playlist, as the station has already dropped much of its 'softer' music over the past few months. Other speculation about the station is that current morning man Mark Davis will be replaced by the syndicated Bob & Tom Show.

* FCC Action: Granted WBKB-TV 11 Alpena a construction permit to slightly modify its tower coordinates

July 1:

* WCAS-AM 1290 Saline/Ann Arbor switched format from Adult Standards to 50s-70s Oldies last Friday (June 28) and captured the 'Honey Radio' name for the station. New calls are set to be WHNE effective July 5th. Honey Radio was the longtime name of the Oldies format played on AM 560 Monroe before that station was sold and changed its format to Spanish and later Religious. Technical changes are underway at AM 1290 in an effort to improve the station's signal. WCAS is owned by Clear Channel.

* Country WKKM-FM 92.1 Harrison has switched to Public Radio as a member of the X-Star Network from Cincinnati, OH based Xavier University which recently closed on the purchase of the station. Xavier now has 3 signals in northern Michigan- in addition to WKKM they own/operate WVXA-FM 96.7 Rogers City and WVXM-FM 97.7 Manistee. WKKM had been on the air for 27 years with its previous Country format.

* Joining Classic Rock WCSX-FM 94.7 Detroit for swing shift duties will be former WIQB-FM 102.9 jock John O'Leary. He was last heard on 102.9 after the station's switch to Country as WWWW-FM and has also spent time at the then-Rock WABX-FM 99.5 Detroit. Over at Country WYCD-FM 99.5, Dana Lundon joins for weekend duties.

June 28:

* Beginning this weekend, WJR-AM 760 Detroit will debut its newest "ask the expert" shows with "Home Improvement" hosted by Murray Gula and show moderator John McCulloch. "Home Improvement" will be heard Saturday's 10am-1pm and again Sunday's 11am-2pm. Show expert Murray Gula is a native Detroiter and a broadcast veteran in the home improvement area. Murray is a Master Electrician, a licensed builder, licensed realtor, and is even a building inspector giving him a tremendous amount of knowledge to draw from in answering listener’s questions. Whether listeners need help with a remodeling project, building addition, electrical, plumbing, concrete, or lighting questions, to name just a few areas, Gula will have the answers. In addition to taking calls from WJR listeners, special guests will be invited on the show from time to time to discuss specific areas of interest in which callers can take advantage. "We're excited about adding "Home Improvement" to our expert-show line-up on the weekends,” says WJR operations manager Steve Stewart. “Murray makes the perfect host with a tremendous amount of hands-on experience in the home improvement area." WJR’S John McCulloch will serve as the new show's moderator. McCulloch serves in a variety of capacities with the station, including being the co-host of the Travel Michigan show, and making appearances throughout the area with WJR's Big 760 mobile unit. “I’m so honored to be at the Great Voice of the Great Lakes and to help so many people solve their home improvement, fixing, and building needs,” says Gula. “Most people can do things themselves, they just need guidance, encouragement, and a friendly helpful voice and together we can do it right here on “Home Improvement.”

June 27:

* FCC Action: Granted the voluntary assignement of license for WFDF-AM 910 Flint from Cumulus Broadcasting to ABC

June 26:

* Yahoo! is about to pull the plug on its streaming of local radio stations. Sometime over the next week, stations such as Grand Rapids' Country WBCT-FM 93.7 and Classic Rock WBFX-FM, among others, will be without their Yahoo! hosted streams once again.

* FCC Actions: Granted the voluntary transfer of license for WWKM-AM 1540 Harrison from David Carmine to Laurie Foster; Granted WZZM-TV 13 a construction permit for changes- ERP from 316,000 watts @ 1001 feet to 257,000 watts @ 1064 feet

June 25:

* Named as assistant program director at Top 40 WKQI-FM 95.5 Detroit is evening jock Buckhead. Program director Dom Theodore also announced that Beau Daniels will be the station's permanent afternoon drive host.

* WEYI-TV 25 Saginaw, Flint and the Tri-Cities' NBC affiliate is getting set for phase 2 of its equipment upgrades in order to support digital transmission. Changes to occur during this phase will include the installation of new analog and digital antennas along with a new transmission line. The changes should improve over-the-air reception for viewers once installation is complete. In the interim, the station will be operating at reduced power to allow technicians to safely complete their work.

June 24:

* Exiting Top 40 WKQI-FM 95.5 Detroit is afternoon jock J. Love. He also held the roles of music director and assistant program director. On-air for today's afternoon drive shift was former Top 40 WWCK-FM 105.5 Flint program director and afternoon jock Beau Daniels. It's not yet known if Daniels' has landed the spot on a permanent basis- All Access

* All Access also reports that Modern AC WDVD-FM 96.3 Detroit program director Tom O'Brien has not been in the building for the past two weeks for reasons unknown to fellow staffers. He has been contacted and is okay, but his status with the station is still not clear.

* Taking over the afternoon shift at Adult Contemporary WMGC-FM 105.1 beginning July 1 will be market vetaran Jim Paolucci. He replaces Scott Sherwood who left the station last week. Although currently out of radio, Paolucci's Detroit radio resume includes time spent at WRIF-FM, WCSX-FM, WNIC-FM, WYST-FM, and WMJC-FM.

* WSGW-AM 790 Saginaw afternoon talk show host Cameron Knowles has left the station to accept the role of director of media and communications with the Ontario Hockey League's Saginaw Spirit. Knowles exits radio following a 15-year career in broadcasting around Mid-Michigan, Detroit and Houston.

* FCC Action: granted W209BR 89.7 Columbia Twp its license to cover for changes

June 22:

* Added to the lineup at News-Talk WJR-AM 760 Detroit is Sam Donaldson's daily talk show. It'll air on a tape delayed basis from 11pm-midnight daily. In addition, the Sean Hannity program will now claim 3 hours (8-11pm) on the WJR schedule while David Newman continues to recover from health problems.

June 21:

* Steve Kosbau has been named as president & general manager of Top 40 WDRQ-FM 93.1 and Modern AC WDVD-FM 96.3 Detroit. Kosbau had been operations director for 2 ABC-owned Washington DC stations since 1997. He also did programming, talent & Internet operations at both stations. He got his start as a 15-year-old weekend host in Des Moines in 1977 and has worked in Terre Haute, Charleston, Denver and NYC. He replaces George Kenyon at WDRQ, who stepped down last month, and Mike Fezzey at WDVD. Fezzey keeps his responsibilites with sister station WJR-AM 760 and is expected to add responsibility at other ABC-owned stations.

* Scott Hasick and Casey Bartholomew will join the lineup at Hot Talk WKRK-FM 97.1 Detroit in middays beginning July 15th. They arrive from New Jersey 101.5, the same station that delivered 'KRK afternoon drive guys Deminski and Doyle. Current 'KRK midday duo Kramer & Twitch will move to evenings 7-10pm, displacing the syndicated Tom Lykis show to a tape delayed basis overnights.

* Glenn Haege will continue to be heard on WXYT-AM 1270 for at least the next 60 days. Although his contract expired with the station, there is an agreement in place to keep Heage's 2 hour syndicated program on the air at 'XYT- Detroit Free Press

* New promotions director at Modern Rock WGRD-FM 97.9 Grand Rapids is Kevin Churnow- All Access

* FCC Actions: Granted WBXD-LP 23 Detroit- its license to cover for Class A status with move from channel 5 and new transmitter location; Granted WDQV-FM 88.5 Mackinaw City a construction permit for changes- Class A to Class C2, ERP from 3,800 watts (H) @ 417 feet to 20,000 watts (H) @ 430 feet with a directional antenna

June 19:

* Beware of flying monkey wrenches as three local ‘Mr. Fix It’ guys will be changing stations. Murray Gula, whose “Home Improvement Doctor” program had been airing on Christian Talk WLLZ-AM (560) Sunday mornings, will sign a deal with News-Talk WJR-AM (760) to bring the program to that station’s weekend lineup starting as early as next weekend. Meanwhile WJR “Appliance Doctor” host Joe Gagnon will be moving down the dial to Sports WXYT-AM 1270 where he’ll fill the slot formerly held “Ask the Handyman” host Glenn Haege. Haege’s radio future was still uncertain- his contract is up on Friday. WXYT boss Rich Homberg was interested in getting both Gagnon and Gula for his air, but is delighted to provide a new home for “The Appliance Doctor”. WJR management expressed excitement at landing the “Home Improvement Doctor”. Host Gula is the director of the Michigan Construction Protection Agency.

* FCC Action: Granted Trinity Broadcasting Network a construction permit for a new LPTV station on channel 54 (W54DG) to be licensed to Escanaba. ERP on the permit is 2,000 watts from the same location north of Escanaba as Trinity's two other permits (channels 30 and 32) for the city.

June 18:

* Not much new in the latest ratings trend released for Detroit. The spring phase 2 report (March/April/May) for listeners age 12 and above notes the following top 5 stations: News-Talk WJR-AM, News WWJ-AM, Urban WJLB-FM, Smooth Jazz WVMV-FM, and Rock WRIF-FM 101.1. Country WYCD-FM finshed in 10th overall, moving Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM out of the top 10 stations for the first time in recent memory. WNIC was 11th, followed by AC rival WMGC-FM in 12th place.

* WJBK-TV 2 Detroit weathercaster and anchor Kam Carman will be rejoining Jim Harper for morning radio weathercast duties on Adult Contemporary WMGC-FM 105.1. Carman was part of Harper's show on WNIC-FM 100.3 but stayed at that station when Harper moved last year. Also at WMGC, afternoon jock Scott Sherwood will be moving on after this week on as he returns with his family to Florida- Detroit Free Press

* Former WGRV-FM 105.1 Detroit morning show co-host Mitzi Miles will join the Country WFBE-FM 95.1 Flint morning show beginning July 2nd. The new B-95 wake-up program will be anchored by Tony Magoo- he'll fulfill his no-compete clause with WYCD-FM 99.5 on July 1st. Also at WFBE, overnight jock and promotions director Stacy Trager has left the station with Andrea Hernandez taking over those roles. Midday host Keith Allen is also out, replaced by former morning co-host Kristine Miller- All Access

June 17:

* FCC Actions: Granted the voluntary assignement of license from Voice of Three Rivers to Impact Radio for WLKM-FM/AM 95.9/1510 Three Rivers

June 13:

* WLAJ-TV 53 Lansing anchor Joe Parker will be departing to take an anchor position in Albany, NY- Lansing State Journal

June 11:

* Earl Jones has been named the general manager for Detroit Clear Channel sister stations Urban AC WMXD-FM 92.3 and Urban WJLB-FM 97.9. He arrives from the Atlanta market; New mixshow coordinator at Top 40 WKQI-FM 95.5 Detroit is Melle Mel. Mel's syndicated 'Klub Kiss' show will be based out of 'KQI- All Access

* FCC Actions: Granted the voluntary assignment of license for WKKM-FM 92.1 Harrison from David A. Carmine to Xavier University; Granted WAOR-FM 95.3 Niles a construction permit for changes: ERP from 3,300 watts @ 299 feet to 5,500 watts @ 276 feet, tower location change from west of Niles to north of South Bend in St. Joseph County, IN

June 10:

* WODJ-FM 107.3 Greenville-Grand Rapids had relaunched its Oldies format as 'Oldies Radio, the New 107-3; The Greatest Hits of all Time'. The station will reportedly launch a new morning show soon by syndicating the Rich Michaels program from Citadel sister station WJIM-FM 97.5 Lansing

* Dialing notes: WQBX-FM 104.9 Alma now using Jones Radio Networks' Adult Hit Radio feed instead of ABC Radio's Best Hits/Best Variety satellite service; WBMI-FM 105.5 West Branch reportedly no longer broadcasting in stereo

June 8:

* Hired as a reporter and parttime anchor at WXYZ-TV 7 Detroit is Stephen Clark. Also at WXYZ, Carolyn Clifford has been named as the station's permanent morning co-anchor, replacing JoAnne Purtan who shifts to the role of health reporter.

June 7:

* The University of Michigan has merged together its public radio and television operations under the name of Michigan Public Media. The new organization, to be headed by Donovan Reynolds, will oversee the operations of WUOM-FM 91.7 Ann Arbor, WFUM-TV 91.1 Flint, WVGR-FM 104.1 Grand Rapids, and WFUM-TV 28 Flint- Detroit Free Press

* FCC Action: Granted WYVN-FM 92.7 Saugatuck a construction permit to modify its ERP from 2,150 to 3,300 watts and change its HAAT from 387 to 374 feet

June 6:

* The FCC has issued a fine of $10,000 to Thomas A. Brothers of Berkley for unlicensed operations of radio station at 88.3 FM

* Kalamazoo Wings play-by-play man Brian Smith exits to take the role of director of communications and media relations with fellow United Hockey League team the Flint Generals- All Access

June 5:

* Top 40 WSNX-FM has surged ahead of Country WBCT-FM in the first spring ratings trend for Grand Rapids. WSNX improved its ratings share by a full point from 8.2 to 9.2 to place itself in first place among listeners age 12+, ahead of a flat WBCT, which finished in second. Adult Contemporary WOOD-FM was third and Active Rock WKLQ-FM along with News-Talk WOOD-AM finished tied for 4th. Also of note was the strong ratings for Classical WFGR, which improved its share to 3.4 and finshed just outside the top 10.

* Keith Michaels is out as morning host at WKHQ-FM 105.9 Charlevoix- All Access

June 4:

* Scott Free has been named as the new program director for Top 40 WWCK-FM 105.5 Flint. Free returns to Michigan from North Carolina- he's a former WDRQ-FM Detroit jock- All Access

* FCC Action: Granted WRDY-LP 25 Berrien Springs the following modifications to its construction permit: ERP to change from 47,400 to 37,800 watts and a slight tower location change

June 3:

* WBCH-1220 AM Hastings is the latest Michigan station to pick up the Michigan Talk Radio Network. WBCH will clear all MTRN programs. The station had been simulcasting the Country fomat of sister station WBCH-FM 100.1.

* Christian Contemporary WLGH-FM 88.1 Lansing was off the air for a couple hours last Thursday due to a small fire caused by a lighting strike.

June 2:

* New website http://www.keener13.com has launched. It's a retrospective on former Detroit Top 40 powerhouse WKNR-AM

* WSDP-FM 88.1 Plymouth has announced its new directors for the 2002-2003 year: Gregory Angel will replace Jake Allen as program director with Marc Moraitis as assistant PD. Leading the music department will be Anna Petrovich and Angela Olandese. New music call hours are Wednesdays after 2:30pm.

* FCC Action: Granted First Pentecostal Church of God in Christ a construction permit for a new low power FM station to be licensed to Battle Creek at 99.5

May 31:

* Jake Allen will be hosting his final morning show at WSDP-FM 88.1 Plymouth on June 5th as he exits to join WTWR-FM 98.3 Monroe. The final Jake in the Morning show will feature "Best Of" clips from the last two years.

May 30:

* News/Talk WJR-AM 760 will be broadcasting live from Mackinac Island over the next couple of days for the annual Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce leadership conference. The county executives from Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties along with Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick plus various corporate big wigs are all in attendence. Morning man Paul W. Smith covers the event from 6-10am and Warren Pierce from 10-11:30am today and Friday. Paul W. Smith will also be on live Saturday from 9-11am. In addition, the three county execs and the Detroit mayor will have a discussion with Smith as moderator that will air from 3-5pm Sunday.

* The FCC has 'red-flagged' the 5-station acquision of Wilks Tri-Cities cluster of stations by Cumulus in order to further study the ownership concentration in the market. Approval of the deal is still expected. Stations involved in the proposed transaction include WSGW-AM, WCEN-FM, WTCF-FM, WGER-FM, and WTLZ-FM.

May 29:

* Terry Arnold has resigned as general manager of Detroit's Urban WJLB-FM 97.9 and Adult Urban WMXD-FM 92.3 in order to move on to new challenges. He was in the role since March 2001; New weekend weathercaster at WDIV-TV 4 Detroit is Andrew Humphrey who arrives from WUPW-TV 36 Toledo- Detroit Free Press

May 25:

* JoAnne Purtan will be leaving the WXYZ-TV 7 Detroit morning co-anchor role after next week. She'll remain with the station as its health reporter. Longtime morning co-anchor Erik Smith will remain in place and Purtan's replacement will be named soon. There is currently no word as to what role current health reporter Carolyn Clifford will have with the station.

* WDIV-TV 4 Detroit will claim the NBC soap 'Passions' for its lineup at 2pm beginning June 3rd. The show, which had been airing on WADL-TV 38 at noon, will replace the now out-of-production 'Sally' talk show.

May 24:

* FCC Actions: Granted WOOD-AM a construction permit for the following modifications: Change daytime and nightime ERP from 5,000 to 20,000 watts, modify directional patterns (will be same day and night), modify tower location to south of Grand Rapids near Dorr. Completion of construction permit is contingent on owner Clear Channel surrendering the license for the now silent WHGR-AM 1290 Houghton Lake
- Granted WOGC-CA 25 a modification to its construction permit- ERP to 30,000 watts, city of license to Holland, tower location change from east of Grand Rapids to near Zeeland (note: station will switch from simulcast of UPN WXSP-CA 15 to simulcast of NBC WOOD-TV 8 due to interference from a digital station on ch. 8 Milwaukee, WI)
- Granted WJKN-AM 1510 Jackson a construction permit to modify its licensed tower array location (note: the station is currently operating with special temporary authority at a different location from its license)

May 23:

* The Michigan Association of Broadcasters has announced this year's inductees into the Michigan Broadcasting Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame inducts 5 broadcasters as well as the recipient of MAB's highest honor, the Lifetime Achievement Award. For the first time, the MAB will present the Lifetime Achievement Award to TWO broadcasters: William "Joe" Blake and the late Les Biederman. The other five Hall of Fame inductees are: Bill Burton, Mort Crim, Sonny Eliot, Tom Scanlan and Richard Tuisku. Details on these broadcasters and the Hall of Fame can be found at: http://www.michmab.com/awards.html

May 22:

* FCC Action: Granted a construction permit modification for WKAD-FM 93.7 Harrietta to change ERP from 6,000 to 4,300 watts, HAAT from 328 feet to 390 feet, and tower location change from just south of Harrietta to southeast of Harrietta, closer to Cadillac

May 21:

* The first ratings trend of the Spring 2002 book was released for Detroit today. There was no change from the Winter book at the top of the numbers as News/Talk WJR-AM once again was on top followed by News WWJ-AM and Urban WJLB-FM. Smooth Jazz WVMV-FM and Rock WRIF-FM rounded out the top 5. Of note in this trend was the near dead heat between Adult Contemporary stations WNIC-FM and WMGC-FM. WNIC, which routinely held the top spot among all stations prior to the arrival of WMGC, finished 10th among listeners age 12 and above with a 4.0 share. WMGC was 11th with a 3.8. Sports talkers WXYT-AM and WDFN-AM continued to be tied.

* General Motors has decided its GM Mediaworks will now get oversight of $800 million plus in advertising billings, taking over all local spot buying for the automaker from Interpublic Group sister Local Communications (LCI), a unit of Universal McCann. GM has also reportedly upped its spot buying to the $800 million dollar mark from $300 million- Radio Business Report

* FCC Actions: Granted WTAC-FM 89.7 Burton the following modifications to its construction permit: ERP from 15,000 (V) to 1,000 (V) watts, HAAT from 128 to 187 feet, Class B1 to A, and tower location change from northeast of Flint to near Dort Hwy and Coldwater Rd; Granted WBNZ-FM 99.3 Frankfort a construction permit for the following changes: ERP from 50,000 (H) to 27,000 watts, HAAT from 410 to 571 feet, and tower location will move from between Frankfort and Benzonia to northern Manistee County, near Benzie County line.

May 20:

* Troy Hanson will be exiting as music director and assistant program director at Rock WRIF-FM 101.1 Detroit to take on the role of director of rock programming for an Active and Classic Rock combo in Miami/Ft. Lauderdale.

May 17:

* The FCC has amended the FM table of allotments in northern Michigan for 3 new stations, effective July 1, 2002:
- FM 106.3 Onaway (class C2)
- FM 97.7 Cheboygan (class C3)
- FM 100.5 Custer (class A)
The proposals, counterproposals, and reply comments that created these new allotments were quite complicated and covered two separate rulings. Two of the more noteable proposals that were denied: An upgrade of WKVK-FM 100.7 Honor from Class A to Class C3 by Northern Radio Network; A move of WCUZ-FM 100.1 Bear Lake to Bellaire with an upgrade from Class A to Class C1 by Fort Bend Broadcasting. The application period and any necessary auctions for these frequencies will come at a later date.

* UPN affiliate WHTV-TV 18 Jackson/Lansing has signed an agreement to have ABC affiliate WLAJ-TV 53 handle sales and some operations of the station. WHTV operations will be moving to the WLAJ facility in the very near future. WHTV is owned by Spartan TV, WLAJ by Freedom Communications.

* The Michigan Association of Broadcasters has launched a new member service (free to all member stations in good standing): the MAB Engineering Hotline. Complete details can be found at the MAB web site: http://www.michmab.com

* Folks in Flint have been observing some interesting activities at the Miller Road Big Boy location the past few Wednesday mornings. The Country WFBE-FM 95.1 morning show has been having fun with breakfast foods and rewarding participants with prizes such as this past week's giveaway- tickets to see Diamond Rio live at MGM Casino Detroit with limo transportation. Kristine Miller and Chip Miller hosted a morning of pancake mayhem, complete with 'Pancake Plinko' from 20 feet in the air and a one-of-a-kind pancake toss....where the goal was to stick as many pancakes as possible to a syrup-y Kristine.

* The Northern Paul Bunyan Radio Company has proposed to the FCC 3 new FM allocations in northern Michigan as follows:
- FM 93.1 Harrisvlle (class A)
- FM 93.3 Presque Isle (class A)
- FM 105.7 Alpena (class A)
Comments are due to the FCC by July 8, 2002

May 16:

* Clear Channel has announced that Dave Pugh, market manager for the company's Milwaukee cluster, will take over as Regional Vice President/Market Manager for Detroit stations WMXD-FM, WKQI-FM, WJLB-FM, WNIC-FM, WLLC-FM, WDFN-AM, and WXDX-AM. Pugh takes the role that was formerly held by Steve Schram. The company also announced the promotion of Grand Rapids Market Manager Skip Essick to Regional Market Manager covering its Grand Rapids, Battle Creek, Muskegon clusters.

* Radio One Detroit (WDMK-FM, WDTJ-FM, and WCHB-AM) General Manager Tamara Knechtel has added the responsibility of Vice President/Operations for all of Radio One.

* The Federal Communications Commission began a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking this morning to set penalties for TV stations that miss digital conversion deadlines. The proposed penalties would begin with a letter of admonishment and gradually escalate to revocation of the station's DTV construction permit. In such an extreme case, the station might also have to face competing applications if it eventually wants to switch to DTV on its original analog channel. "It demonstrates that while there are opportunities for waivers, that the leash is short, as it must be," said FCC Chairman Michael Powell. "We're not going to be unreasonable about it. The transition is complicated. There are bumps on the road that are beyond people's control." The Chairman added that the FCC's intention is that the transition continue "quickly but prudently."- Radio Business Report

* NewsBlues.com is reporting on the possibility of a station swap between WB affiliate WDWB-TV 20 Detroit owner Granite Broadcasting and ABC affiliate WXYZ-TV 7 Detroit owner Scripps-Howard that would result in Scripps obtaining WDWB. The deal would be part of a larger 4-station swap involving other stations in San Francisco, Tulsa, and Baltimore. If this does come to fruition, the move would create Detroit's second TV duopoly- Viacom owns WWJ-TV 62 (CBS) and WKBD-TV 50 (UPN).

* FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy has been confirmed as a speaker for the Michigan Association of Broadcaster's Annual Conference on July 26, 2002. The conference will be held at Soaring Eagle Resort in Mt. Pleasant. The Keynote Speaker will be Dr. Sean Joyce.

May 15:

* Rob Milford, Plymouth Salem Class of 1973 and WSDP Alumnus, will speak at the radio station's annual banquet. Milford will share his experience at the banquet on Tuesday May 21, 2002 at 7P.M. at the Salem High School Cafeteria. He was one of the students who started WSDP in 1972. He started work as an air personality at WABB in Mobile, Alabama less than a month after graduation. In his 30 years in radio, Rob has "been there, done that", including: Youngest newsman ever for RKO Radio, at WHBQ-Memphis, at age 18, less than a year out of high school; National News Director for Doubleday Broadcasting with stations in New York, Detroit, St. Louis, Denver, Minneapolis; Network Anchor for Mutual Broadcasting at age 23, at ABC Radio at age 26; One of the pioneering News Personalities for FM Talk Radio, at KKHU-Houston, and WTKS-Orlando; Reporter for CBS Radio Network since 1998, most recently at Camp X-Ray, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he covered the Taliban detainees. Rob credits WSDP for the "fast track" start in his career, and continues to have fond memories of his first station. He says, "The biggest credit has to go to Bonny Dore, the teacher who had the dream that high school students could be trusted with the public airwaves. She overcame skepticism and doubt, and made all this happen." Milford adds, "Quite simply, WSDP gave me the start on what has been an exciting and challenging life". The station will also present three scholarships along with director and staff awards.

* Fox Sports Net Detroit adds stereo with the May 22 broadcast of Tigers' baseball

* FCC Action: Granted WBXD-LP Detroit a construction permit to move from channel 5 to channel 23. The station will change its ERP from 40 to 50,000 watts and its antenna location will move from the Renaissance Center to WWJ-TV's new tower along 8 Mile Rd. in Oak Park. The pattern will remain directional.

May 14:

* New general sales manager at Gannon Broadcasting's WGRY-FM/AM 100.3/1230 Grayling and WQON-FM 101.1 Roscommon is Hank Burch who exits the rold of vice president/sales at the Michigan Talk Radio Network

* Michigan is among a group of states that get added to Sirius' service area for its satellite radio programming beginning tomorrow. The additions will bring the service area up to 28 states with a full nationwide implementation scheduled for July 1.

* One night this month, each Fox Sports Net regional affiliate is inviting local and national celebrities into their broadcast booths to be guest analysts. Tomorrow is Fox Sports Net Detroit's turn when the Tigers take on the Angels at 7 pm. Scheduled to join Mario Impemba and Kirk Gibson during the telecast are WRIF-FM's Drew Lane and actor/writer/director Jeff Daniels. Invitations have been extended to Scotty Bowman and/or Steve Yzerman or another member of the Red Wings, however no confirmation has been received for them as of yet. Kid Rock also was invited but unable to participate because of his tour schedule.

May 13:

* Congratulations to the folks at WSDP-FM 88.1 (The Escape) Plymouth-Canton on raising an unprecedented $7,100 during Saturday's on-air radio auction. The station airs a mix of independent and alternative music along with a variety of specialty shows.

* Added: WSDS-AM 1480 Ypsilanti to the list of The Radio Factor affiliates, scheduled to be effective later this week

* New swing shifter at Contemporary Christian WLGH-FM 88.1 Lansing is Tim Chappell; Cerell Mack has been promoted from event coordinator to marketing director at Classic Hits WLLC-FM 106.7 Detroit- All Access

May 11:

* Beau Daniels has resigned as program director at Top 40 WWCK-FM 105.5 Flint, effective June 18th. No word on what Dainels' future plans might be.

May 10:

* After years of reading about how high the selling prices for radio stations have gone, here's a different twist: WWKM-AM 1540 Harrison has been sold by David Carmine to Laurie Foster for the grand total of $10 according to R&R Online. Carmine reached a deal in April to sell his FM property (WKKM-FM 92.1) to Xavier University - who Foster is associated with - for $270,000.

* New local sales manager at WEYI-TV 25 Saginaw is Becky Butcher

May 9:

* Detroit-area listeners were left out in the cold by WLLZ-AM 560 for yesterday's noon-2pm debut of Bill O'Reilly's Radio Factor show. Seems that the deal between syndicator Westwood One and station owner Crawford Broadcasting isn't quite done yet.

* The FCC has flagged Don Noordyk's (as Unity Broadcasting) purchase of WEFG-FM 97.5, WLCS-FM 98.3, and WUBR-AM 1490 in the Muskegon area to study owner concentration levels in the market.

* FCC Actions: Granted WCXT-FM 105.3 Hart a construction permit for the following changes: ERP from 28,000 to 50,000 watts; HAAT from 659 to 492 feet; Tower location change from east of Hart to south of Hesperia on the same tower used by WBLV-FM 90.3. The change will keep the station at its 50,000 watt equivalant power, but move the station's coverage area further south towards Grand Rapids; Granted WKVK-FM 100.7 Honor its license to cover (new station).

May 8:

* The Flint area now has a News-Talk station as WLSP-AM 1530 Lapeer becomes the latest affiliate of the Michigan Talk Radio Network. WLSP will carry all of MTRN's programming with the exception of the "Don Chiodo Show" (N-3pm) as the station will be the Flint area affiliate for "The Radio Factor" with Bill O'Reilly. WLSP dropped their all sports format yesterday. MTRN CEO Dave Scott told Michiguide.com, "We're very excited to a part of WLSP. We think this is a solid move by Mark Thomas and the people at Regent Flint, especially considering the forthcoming format shift at WFDF. WLSP has a great signal that touches Flint, Saginaw, and Port Huron", Scott said. This move brings the popular "Captain and Crew" show back to the region and puts Dave Barber back to back with Bill O'Reilly. WLSP Becomes the 27th affiliate of the Michigan Talk Radio Network.

* More on the recent changes at Howell's Classic Hits WHMI-FM 93.5: New news director Jon Kings arrives from sports reporting duties at Detroit's WWJ-AM 950 and WXYT-AM 1270. Prior to his work in Detroit, Jon spent time at WSJM-AM/WIRX-FM St. Joseph and WTWR-FM Monroe. Jon will also soon be adding morning anchor duties with the departure of Louise Brock, who's joining fiancé Rob Bennett for mornings at Classic Hits WVIC-FM Jackson/Lansing. Also joining the WHMI newsroom as afternoon anchor/reporter is Greg Stahl, formerly of WTCM Traverse City fame. Evening reporter Sue Kinney is leaving radio to join the instructor ranks at Specs Howard. Overnighter Renee Hakim also recently left to pursue interests outside of broadcasting. Buzz Elliot is in his fifth year in mornings and was this year's winner of the MAB Market Two award. Julie Wood continues to dominate middays, Tim Brown has settled in nicely after taking over afternoons and the music director last fall from Rob Otto. Jennifer Dean returned to evenings following maternity leave last fall. "I'm thrilled with the team we've assembled", said WHMI Operations Manager Reed Kittredge. "We're a community based radio station that takes major market standards seriously. We want to have fun doing great radio". Owners Greg and Marcia Jablonski will unveil their new state-of-the-art WHMI facility at a by-invitation dedication on Thursday May 23rd.

* High School station WSDP-FM 88.1 Plymouth/Canton is hosting its 14th annual Radio Auction to raise money for future station upgrades on Saturday May 11. The auction will take place from 9am-10pm and feature guest auctioneers such as Holly from CIMX-FM 88.7, Stacey DuFord and Chris Edmonds from WNIC-FM 100.3, and Jeff DeFran of WTKA-AM 1050. The day kicks off with a special edition of the the Jake in the Morning show at 6am. The auction can be heard live on the station's web site at http://www.881theescape.com.

* Greater Media Detroit, which consists of Classic Rock WCSX-FM 94.7, Rock WRIF-FM 101.1, and Adult Contemporary WMGC-FM 105.1, has broken ground on a new facility that will bring all three stations together under one roof. The new building will be in southern Oakland county, near where Ferndale, Royal Oak Twp, and Oak Park meet. The estimated price tag on the new digs is $12 million.

* On the air: West and Mid-Michigan Pax affiliate WZPX-FM 43 with its digital facilities on channel 44. It operates daily from 8pm to 11pm with Pax programming, and its on occassionally for testing during the daytime.

* Back to the future? AM 1210 Kingsley has changed its call sign back to WLDR from WWJR. The station changed to WWJR from WLDR back in January.

May 7:

* A big transaction was announced today in the Tri-Cities area as Cumulus Broadcasting has agreed to purchase the following stations from Wilks broadcasting: News/Talk WSGW-AM 790, Country WCEN-FM 94.5, Hot AC WTCF-FM 100.5, Adult Contemporary WGER-FM 106.3, and Adult Urban WTLZ-FM 107.1. The price tag on the entire deal was $55.6 million, more than double the nearly $26 million it took for Wilks to build the cluster over the past couple of years. Of note in this deal is the return of WTLZ to Cumulus- it sold the station to Wilks last July for $3.75 million. After this transaction, and the sale of WFDF-AM 910 Flint to ABC, Cumulus will own 13 stations in Michigan with other clusters in Flint and Kalamazoo. Cumulus also owns WTWR-FM 98.3 Monroe in addition to 7 Toledo, OH stations. Once the FCC approves the deal, Wilks will be exiting Michigan.

* Top 40 WDRQ-FM 93.1 Detroit general manager George Kenyon has resigned to pursue other opportunities- Detroit Free Press

* M-Street Daily reports that Don Noordyk has filed to acquire the assets of the bankrupt Pyramid Broadcasting- Oldies WLCS-FM 98.3, Country WEFG-FM 97.5, and Standards WUBR-AM 1490 all in the Muskegon area. Noordyk, who also owns Hot AC WSHN-FM 100.1 and News/Talk WSHN-AM 1550 in the area, has been operating the former Pyramid properties as a debtor-in-possesion. In addition, M-Street reports that Noordyk has won a settlement agreement for a new FM to be licensed to Newaygo. The price of the deal was not revealed.

* FCC Action: Granted W208BB 89.5 Royal Oak a modification to its construction permit to change ERP from 2 watts to 45 and slightly modify tower location

May 6:

* Top 40 WSNX-FM Grand Rapids finshed the winter Arbitron race in second place, but closed in to .1 behind first place Country WBCT-FM (B93). The ratings share for B93 fell from 10.0 in the fall to 8.3 and WSNX was up a full point from 7.2 to 8.2. Adult Contemporary WOOD-FM improved to 3rd place among listeners age 12 and above, its ratings increased from 4.7 to 7.4. Next was Rock WKLQ-FM, followed by WLAV-FM, News/Talk WOOD-AM, Adult Contemporary WLHT-FM, Modern Rock WGRD-FM, Oldies WODJ-FM, and Classic Rock WBFX-FM rounding out the top 10 stations.

* The Detroit area is slated to hear the debut of Wednesday's Bill O'Reilly program on WLLZ-AM 560 Monroe. The station plans to air the show live from noon-2pm weekdays. The show is also set to air on Traverse City's WTCM-AM 580 on a tape delayed basis from 5-7pm.

* Lots of happenings at Classic Hits WHMI-FM 93.5 Howell: Overnight host Renee Hakim and news director Todd Kulman left the station last month, morning co-host / news anchor Louise Brock will be leaving soon, as will news personality Sue Kinney who will be taking a position at Specs Howard. The station has named Jon King as the station's news director- All Access

May 4:

* Call sign actions: Construction permit for FM 102.3 Sault Ste. Marie has been assigned WTHN; construction permit for LPFM 104.3 Roscommon has been assigned WRDS-LP

May 3:

* Out as morning co-host at Country WFBE-FM 95.1 Flint is Jim Biggins (JB). Program director Chip Miller will join co-host Kristine Miller on an interim basis until July 1st when new morning man Tony Magoo takes over, with Miller shifting to 9am-1pm. Magoo was previously part of the morning show at Detroit's WYCD-FM 99.5- he left that gig today and will sit out until July as part of a non-compete clause in his deal at 'YCD; Mort Crim Communications reaches a deal with Talk America Network for distribution of Crim's Second Thoughts and News You Care About radio features- All Access

* Also exiting is WZZM-TV 13 Grand Rapids sports director Tim Swore. Prior to moving to Grand Rapids, he was the sports director at Detroit's WKBD-TV 50

* WTOM-TV 4 Cheboygan has proposed to the FCC substitution of channel 35 for 14 for its digital facilities

* FCC Action: Granted WWJ-AM 950 Detroit its license to cover for its 50,000 watt daytime facilites on April 12

May 2:

* News-Talk WJR-AM 760 Detroit will be celebrating its 80th Anniversary over the next couple of days with special broadcasts that will begin at 5:30am tomorrow during the Paul W. Smith program. The station plans to look back at the history of the radio station and also to look ahead to the next 80 years. Planned Friday guests include Gov. John Engler, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, and other surprises. On Saturday (the actual anniversary date) from 7pm-midnight, Mike Whorf's 80th Anniversary special compilation that highlights all the great voices, sentimental bits and pieces, and more will air.

* As of yesterday, Flint's WJRT-TV 12 is broadcasting via its digital facilities over channel 36

* FCC Action: Granted WLNS-DT 59 its license to cover (digital facilities)

May 1:

* Is your favorite Internet radio stream off line today? Stations across the country, including Rock WRIF-FM 101.1 Detroit, are taking part in an online 'day of silence' today to protest fees that would be charged to webcasters if a proposal before the U.S. copyright office is enacted.

April 30:

* The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has granted a construction permit to the Canadian Broadcasting Company for a new station to be licensed to Windsor, ON at 107.9 FM. The station will be Class A, with an effective radiated power of 3,360 watts- likely giving it decent coverage over the city of Detroit and possibly some neighboring suburbs. Programming on the station will come from Toronto station CJBC-FM, 'La Chaine Culturelle'- roughly the French language equivalent of CBC's English language 'Radio Two' service. The station must be on the air within the next 12 months.

* Also across the border, Chatham, ON stations CKSY-FM 95.1 and CKUE-FM 94.3 will be trading frequencies on Saturday May 4th at 6:00pm. The Adult Contemporary format of 95.1 moves to 94.3 and will be known as 94.3 CKSY, Chatham-Kent's Perfect Music Mix. The rock format on 94.3 (The Rock @ 94.3) moves to 95.1 and will change its moniker to The Rock 95.1. In the Detroit area, the signal of 94.3 is slightly better than that of 95.1, mostly due to co-channel interference from Flint's WFBE-FM 95.1. Both CKSY-FM and CKUE-FM are owned by BeaVer Communications.

April 29:

* Rob Otto exits the assitant program director and music director roles at Classic Hits WHMI-FM 93.5 Howell; Jake Allen is new to weekends at Top 40 WTWR-FM 98.3 Monroe. Allen is also the morning host at High School WSDP-FM 88.1 Plymouth- All Access

April 26:

* Detroit Public Radio station WDET-FM 101.9 ended its week-long spring fundraiser drive today at just past 9:30am after getting $605,000 in pledges from listeners. The tally set a new record total for the station.

* Sports WBBL-AM 1340 Grand Rapids host Bill Simonson, the voice of "NFL Blitz 2002" video game will reprise the role for "NFL Blitz 2003"- Chicago Sun-Times

* Dave Justus has been named as imaging/production director at Modern Rock WGRD-FM 97.9 Grand Rapids replacing Dave Cuddohy- All Access

* The FCC received the proposal by WGTQ-TV 8 Sault Ste. Marie to change its digital channel from 56 to 9. Comments on this change are due to the FCC by 7/17/02.

April 24:

* The Tri-Cities NBC affiliate, WEYI-TV channel 25, has completed its first phase of the conversion to digital broadcasting. The technical changes included installation of a new analog transmitter, upgrade to the tower, and adding digital transmission capabilities. The station returned to full power today. Coming in June, phase 2 of the transition will start and the station will again be operating at reduced power in order to replace the station's antenna, transmission line and guy wires.

* FCC Actions: Granted WRFK-LP 107.7 Mt. Pleasant its license to cover (new station); Granted the voluntary transfer of control for WEYI-TV 25 Saginaw from Smith Broadcasting Partners to LIN TV Corp; Granted Great Lakes Broadcast Academy a construction permit for a new Class A non-commercial educational FM station at 91.7 licensed to Muskegon. CP states ERP of 6,000 watts @ 328 feet.

April 22:

* Detroit News/Talk outlet WJR-AM continued to lead the Arbitron ratings for listeners age 12 and above this past winter. The station increased its lead over All-News WWJ-AM to .8- it had been .1 last fall. Following WWJ were Urban WJLB-FM, Oldies WOMC-FM, and Rock WRIF-FM. The biggest share increases since the fall book were at WJLB, WRIF, Adult Standards CKWW-AM, and Modern AC WDVD-FM. Among direct-format competitors, WJLB held the ratings edge over WDTJ-FM, Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM was ahead of WMGC-FM and CIDR-FM, Urban AC WMXD-FM led WDMK-FM, Top-40 WDRQ-FM topped WKQI-FM, with Sports WDFN-AM and WXYT-AM finishing tied.

* Sunday night's NBA playoff game between the Toronto Raptors and the Detroit Pistons registered a 10.0 household rating on Fox Sports Net Detroit, making it the most watched program in the regional network's five year history. An average of 187,900 households in the metro Detroit area tuned in throughout the 8:30-11:00 PM telecast (one rating point equals approximately 18,790 households). The audience peaked at an 11.8 reading (221,722 households) from 9:30-9:45 PM as the host Pistons were en route to an 85-63 victory in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. The game was FSN's first postseason telecast for a major Detroit pro franchise. The previous most watched program on FSN Detroit was Nov. 2, 2001 when the Detroit Red Wings-New York Islanders game earned a 9.7 rating. The highest FSN Pistons rating prior to last night was 5.1 for a February 8, 1999 game against the Washington Wizards.

* Adult Contemporary combo WLKM-FM/AM 95.9/1510 Three Rivers has been sold by Voice of Three Rivers to Impact Radio. Terms of the sale were not available- Inside Radio

April 21:

* Hot AC WIMI-FM 99.7 Ironwood adds the slogan "The Storm". Joining thie on-air staff is Scott Michaels, who exits Hot AC rival WUPM-FM 106.9 Ironwood. WUPM general manager Chuck Gervasio takes over Michaels' former morning slot at that station- Upper Midwest Broadcasting

* Adult Standards WAKV-AM 980 Plainwell has installed a new transmitter, replacing the 1950s era one that the station had been using. Station owner, programmer, and morning man Jim Higgs comments, "For people who listen, they'll have a more reliable signal (with the new transmitter). We're cleaner, brighter, louder, and people on the fringes of the coverage area will get the signal much clearer."- Allegan County News

April 19:

* Public Radio WDET-FM 101.9 Detroit program host Ed Love will receive the “Distinguished Achievement” award from the Motor City Music Foundation tonight during the Detroit Music Awards ceremony. Love is being recognized for bringing the world of jazz to thousands of Detroit radio listeners for more than 40 years. WDET, Detroit Public Radio, has been home to the Ed Love Program for the past 19 years, which is heard Monday through Friday from 7 to 10 PM. “It’s an honor to be recognized with this award,” says Love. “Over the years, I’ve been glad to introduce people to new recordings and revisit many of the classics from years gone by.”

* High School outlet WBFH-FM 88.1 Bloomfield Hills kicks off its 26th “Spring Celebration” Marathon for the March of Dimes at 7 a.m. next Friday. The annual 24-hour broadcast will continue until 7 a.m. Saturday. Listeners can give the students their pledges by calling (248) 645-4740. They can also visit the station, located at Andover High School (Telegraph and Long Lake roads). They can also fax in pledges at (248) 645-4744, or e-mail pledges from the WBFH web page at http://www.wbfh.fm. As an incentive, prizes will be provided by record companies and community businesses for pledges.

* WXYT-AM 1270 Detroit has applied to modify its daytime construction permit to change ERP from 48,000 to 50,000 watts. The application on file with the FCC contains several attachments that show the proposed coverage area and inteference maps.

* FCC Actions: Granted Trinity Broadcasting Network construction permits for 3 new stations to be licensed to Houghton. The permits for Channel 15 W15CE, Ch. 20 W20CE, and Ch. 27 W27CQ all specify 10,000 watts from the same location.

April 18:

* FCC Action: Granted WOLV-FM 97.7 Houghton a modifcation to its construction permit to change ERP to 6,500 watts @ 591 feet with a slight tower location change from its current licensed facilites. The station will also change from Class A to Class C3. The station is currently licensed at 880 watts @ 509 feet

April 17:

* Jeff Bell has been named as local sales manager for the Mid-West Family Broadcast Group in Southwest Michigan (WIRX-FM and WSJM-AM St.Joseph, WCNF-FM Benton Harbor, WCSY-FM and WGMY-AM South Haven, WYTZ-FM Bridgman, and WYTC-FM Hartford)- Inside Radio

* FCC Actions: Granted WHKB-FM 102.3 Houghton its license to cover for changes (power from 1,050 to 6,000 watts; HAAT from 554 to 328 feet; tower location change from south to north of Houghton); Further granted WHKB another modifciation to its license to change from Class A to Class C3 and increase HAAT to 548 feet

April 15:

* Country WKKM-FM 92.1 Harrison has been sold by longtime owner David Carmine to Xavier University. Xavier currently owns and operates two other stations in Northern Michigan- WVXA-FM 96.7 Rogers City and WVXM-FM 97.7 Manistee. Both are formatted with Xavier's X-Star Public Radio programming which heavily features talk and a variety of musical shows. Sale price on the deal was $270,000 and doesn't include Carmine's AM outlet- WWKM 1540.

* Sale price of WFDF-AM 910 Flint by Cumulus to ABC was $3 million- R&R Online

April 13:

* In the wake of Steve Schram's departure from Clear Channel, he finally got to spend some quality time together with fellow radio vet Scott Westerman in Jacksonville, FL. Even after 20 years, the discussion soon turned to their favorite radio station- AM 1310, WKNR-AM. Scott broke out Ken R's fabulous two CD collection of WKNR jingles (kenr.com), they popped in the incomparable Scott Regan interview CD and hopped over to ReelRadio.com to listen to a Bob Green.com air check, then revisited some of their favorite Keener music guides and grabbed some of the rarer Key Songs off of Audio Galaxy (In The Midnight Hour by The Wanted, I Need You" by the Rationals and Awaiting on You All by Silverhawk are a few examples).

Soon they were totally intoxicated by the memories of that Rock Powerhouse located at 15001 Michigan Avenue in Dearborn. Scott thought back to recent conversations with Art Vuolo, Bob Green and Bob "Scott Regan" Bernstein about the important part that the station on 1310 kc played in the history of rock and roll. After a quick Copernic web search and the discovery of a half dozen references to WKNR, all tinged with the same reverence that Keener addicts feel every time the Contact News theme or anything on the Motown label is heard, it was found that nowhere on the web is there a proper shrine to this one-of-a-kind radio station. Then Schram, with that usual "why not" tone of voice that used to get us in trouble during our days-breaking format at WVIC said, "We need to build a website devoted to Keener. A place where everyone who ever knew about Rodney the Rodent or treasured their Burger Club card could come for spiritual sustenance. A place where new generations can hear the Keener time tone and that one-of-a-kind plate reverb unit that Jerry Martin built from scratch." He looked at Scott, raised an eyebrow and said, "You are on a mission from God, and lo, you must make it so." The next steps were to register keener13.com, program the DNS addresses, and add another hard drive on a web server. And now, keener13.com, a field of dreams that must.. that WILL be tilled into an aquamarine and Arial-font electronic edifice, awaits our contributions.

Here's an offical plea to all those with music guides, photos, air checks, oral histories, and reminiscences of how Keener impacted your life to consider your closets, dusty reels of Mylar and metal shavings, rare vinyl, and conjure up whatever Keener nuggets they might care to share. A big area of help is for radio folks to help fill in the "Whatever happened to.." section with information on the Key Men who played the hits. In no time at all it's hoped that the production of a monument worthy of this broadcast phenomenon will be created. If you know of any classic Keener stuff, scan it, burn it, type it and email it to scott@spartanmedia.net. Every submission will be treated with tender loving care and original material will be immediately returned to you as soon as its been digitized. "So you don't forget, do it before midnight tonight."

Long live the Keener Legacy!

April 12:

* The Detroit Tigers slow start hasn't been reflected in the ratings for cable outlet Fox Sports Net Detroit. In fact, for the first 6 games broadcast on the station, ratings have been up 54% over last year, averaging a 5.4 rating in metro Detroit according to Nielsen Media Research. This season, viewers can interact live with broadcasters Mario Impemba and Kirk Gibson by logging on to foxsports.com, keyword 'Tigers Booth' during game telecasts. Select messages are read over the air by Impemba and Gibson.

* Frank Turner takes over co-anchor duties for WXYZ-TV 7 Detroit's noon and 7pm newscasts; Erik Smith drops the noon show to focus on his From the Heart segments. Guy Gordon and Dianal Lewis pare back from 7pm and will handle only the 6pm and 11pm programs. Joining Turner at the anchor desk for 7pm will be Christy McDonald, Robbie Timmons maintains her co-anchor duties at noon and 5pm- Detroit Free Press

* FCC Action: Created a new Class A FM allotment at 95.3 to Frederic (Crawford County, between Grayling and Gaylord) effective May 28- the frequency will be auctioned off at a later date

April 10:

* Harold Gross, founder of Lansing radio and TV stations WJIM-FM, WJIM-AM, and WJIM-TV (now WLNS-TV) passed away in Arizona at the age of 100- Lansing State Journal

* FCC call sign actions: Granted WCZE to new FM 103.7 Harbor Beach; modified sign for WOBC-LP 20 Battle Creek to WOBC-CA

* FCC Action: Granted WBMY-FM 89.7 Schoolcraft a modification to its construction permit for the following changes: Class A to Class B1 with ERP from 1,100 watts to 10,000

April 8:

* Speculation has started about what the future holds for WFDF-AM 910 Flint now that ABC/Disney has reached a deal to buy the station from Cumulus Broadcasting. Published reports have stated that the plans will likely call for Disney's Radio Disney format to be moved on to the station once the deal gets regulatory approval. However, there might be more to this story. ABC/Disney has also recently reached an agreement to purchase WFRO-AM 900 Fremont, Ohio (about 70 miles south of Detroit - Flint is about 55 miles northwest of Detroit). An engineering consultant has postulated that the company could have bigger plans for the AM 910 frequency which might include an power upgrade for the station to possibly 50,000 watts from a transmitter location closer to Detroit. The upgraded facility would still provide enough signal over Flint so that the city of license would not need to be changed. A large upgrade would likely result in WFRO-AM 900 being turned off to 'make room' for the increased coverage area of AM 910. This type of action already has a precedent in Michigan- Clear Channel purchased AM 1290 (WHGR) Houghton Lake and took it off the air to make room for an improved signal for WOOD-AM 1300 Grand Rapids. If ABC/Disney was to succeed in getting approvals to increase the power of AM 910 and move its transmitter closer to the Detroit area, they could create a local AM signal second in strength only to WJR-AM 760, which is also an ABC/Disney owned station. What makes this hypothesis interesting is that ABC/Disney has been very aggresive in expanding its Radio Disney programming to the top markets across the country- in fact, Detroit is one of only two top-10 markets without a Radio Disney outlet (the other being Washington DC). © 2002, Michiguide.com

* Country WBCT-FM continues to hold down the top spot among listeners age 12 and above in the Grand Rapids winter phase 2 ratings. The final winter book could see some significant changes since the fall with several stations making moves this trend. The remainder of the top 5 stations were Top 40 WSNX-FM, Adult Contemporary WOOD-FM, News-Talk WOOD-AM, along with Classic Rock WLAV-FM and Adult Contemporary WLHT-FM tied for 5th.

April 6:

* Don Chiodo has been named as the midday host for the Michigan Talk Radio Network (MTRN). Chiodo is a veteran Michigan TV broadcaster, he was seen most recently at Bay City's WNEM-TV 5 over the past 5 years and before that at Northern Michigan's WPBN-TV 7 / WTOM-TV 4. MTRN boss Dave Scott comments, "Don is a great talent and knows the beat. He's as comfortable talking sports as he is politics and best of all, he's not a jerk. There are already enough of those guys on talk radio." Midday Michigan airs from noon-3pm, new host Chiodo kicks off his tenure as host on Monday. The show will feature guests from Michigan politics, business, sports, and the arts. The program's relaxed and informative "magazine" style will enable Don and his guests to fully explore issues in depth.

April 5:

* Big changes are on the way to the AM dial in Flint, as ABC has reached a deal to purchase News/Talk WFDF-AM 910 from Cumulus. According to M-Street Daily, ABC plans to program its Radio Disney format on the station. When this happens, it will leave Flint without a local mainstream News/Talker.

* WVCM-FM 91.5 Iron Mountain has signed on, the station carries programming from the VCY America network- Upper Midwest Broadcasting

* The Upper Peninsula FM dial continues to fill up. The latest frequency to be granted a construction permit is 102.3, to be licensed to Sault Ste. Marie. Northern Christian Radio gets the CP for a new non-commercial educational Class C3 station (22.5 kW @ 105 meters). Northern Christian radio currently is heard on FM 90.5 Gaylord, 91.1 Cadillac, and 106.1 Tawas City as well as a translator at 88.7 in Newberry.

* Tom Haynes has been added to the staff at WDIV-TV 4 Detroit. He'll anchor the news and provide reports for the station's local segments during NBC's Today program (7-9am). Haynes arrives from CNN- Detroit Free Press

* No word on who will be the new permanent evening jock at Top 40 WDRQ-FM. Tik Tak, the former host of that slot has moved on to Philadelphia.

* WQLR-FM 106.5 Kalamazoo has tweaked its Adult Contemporary format and moved towards Hot AC over the past few weeks.

* News/Talk WJIM-AM 1240 Lansing has added the Sean Hannity program afternoons 3-6pm. Out of the lineup are the Real Money and Jack Robbins programs.

* Michael Grey loses the interim from the title of music director at Modern Rock WGRD-FM 97.9 Grand Rapids. The station moves Grey to middays and evening jock Remy to afternoon drive; Dave and Geri sign on for 4 more years of morning duties at Adult Contemporary WLHT-FM 95.7 Grand Rapids; Former Country WYCD-FM 99.5 morning co-host Afentra lands in Kansas City at Hot AC KRBZ to co-host mornings. Ironically, the new morning program displaces another former Detroit-area jock- Doc Reno, formerly of Urban Oldies WGRV-FM 105.1; Modern Rock WWDX-FM 92.1 Lansing morning co-host Kelly Brady is named as music director and gives up promotion director duties. New to the station for middays and the promotion director role is Melody McCoy, Suzy Cole exits the midday slot- All Access

* Benedek Broadcasting will be aqcuired by Grey Communications for $500 million. Benedek, which filed for bankruptcy protection late last month, is the owner of Lansing NBC affiliate WILX-TV 10.

* WZUW-FM 102.3 New Carlisle/South Bend is now simulcasting the Classic Rock format heard on WZOW-FM 97.7 Goshen/South Bend. The station has dropped it's "Class Rock" positioner in favor of "ZOW - Double Rock". Both stations are recent acquistions of Artistic Media.

* FCC Actions: Granted WFXD-FM 103.3 Marquette its license to cover for changes (increase in HAAT from 515 to 938 feet, tower move to NW of Marquette); Granted W216BX 91.1 Benton Harbor its license to cover (new translator of KAWZ-FM Twin Falls); Granted W205BZ 88.9 Adrian its license to cover (Great Lakes Community Broadcasting); Granted WMLZ-LP 107.9 Temperance its license to cover for new station; Granted WUVS-LP 103.7 Muskegon its license to cover for new station; Granted WVCM-FM 91.5 Iron Mountain its license to cover for new station

March 31:

* The radio consulting firm Jacobs Media of Southfield has been awarded Mainstream Rock Consultant of the Year by Billboard Monitor; it was the sixth consecutive annual award for the company. "This is a tribute to our entire staff," said president Fred Jacobs. The company provides programming, promotion, Internet and sales consulting to radio groups across the country and locally to Greater Media - Detroit's Classic Rock WCSX-FM 94.7 and Rock WRIF-FM 101.1. The firm is known for creating the classic rock format in 1984, the most successful new radio format of the past two decades.

March 29:

* Upper Peninsula ABC affiliate WBKP-TV 5 Calumet dropped all of its local newscasts yesterday without warning. Station owner Tom Scanlon sites finanical trouble stemming primarily from the ABC network cancelling its affiliation contract, and the approximately $250,000 annual payments that went with it, as the main reason for dropping local news. 15 station employees had their jobs eliminated with the cutbacks. Plans for a new over-the-air station on channel 10 (WBUP) serving Marquette are apparently still intact. The station will continue to air ABC programming. For the full press release, visit the station's web site at http://www.abcnews10.com.

* This year's final tally for WLGH-FM 88.1 Lansing's (The Light) annual Easter listener drive was 303 clothing/food baskets that were donated to Salvation Army. Each was packed with food for a Lansing area family in need for their Easter meal. The 2002 Easter food drive was kicked off on Friday March 1st with a free concert from Light artist Jake. Over 2100 usable food items were donated at the concert- enough to feed almost 200 families for one week. All together, 88.1 The Light listeners helped more than 500 families in need this Easter!

* Were Hot Talk WKRK-FM 97.1 Detroit midday prankster's Kramer and Twitch fired for today's 'almost' on-air stunt that was to have a listener shoot himself in the foot in order to win Opening Day Tigers' tickets? Program director Terry Lieberman 'fired' the pair on the air today, and there's a statement posted on the station's web site stating that they were let go. What's likely though is that it's yet another of Kramer & Twitch's pranks and they'll return after April Fool's Day.

* The Northern Paul Bunyon Radio Company has proposed a new Class A FM allotment at 93.1, to be licensed to Ferrysburg (Ottawa County, near the Muskegon County line). The deadline on comments to the FCC is May 20th.

March 28:

* WWKK-AM 750 Petoskey has dropped its Oldies programming from its weekday schedule in favor of expanded Talk programming, much of it from the Michigan Talk Radio Network. According to station owner and manager Rick Stone, Sister station WJML-AM 1110 Petoskey's successful News-Talk programming has "overflowed" onto KOOL-750 as they have found more great talk programming and advertiser demand for it. Oldies will remain on KOOL-750 on the weekends, although a few specialty talk programs have been added. MTRN also remains on WJML with the morning show with Dave Scott, and The Captain and Crew weekday afternoons. An additional hour of Neal Boortz, plus the Jason Jarvis Show has been added on WJML. "We anticipate some additional changes in the coming weeks as KOOL Oldies 750 evolves into KOOL Talk 750", comments Stone. "Our plan is to develop each station with a different 'personality', each attracting a different audience: On the left will be AM 750 with the more liberal and lifestyle talk programming, and the station on the right will be AM 1110 with more news and conservative political talk."

* Added to the lineup on WCAR-AM 1090 Livonia/Detroit and WOAP-AM 1080 Owosso (Michigan Catholic Radio) effective Monday afternoon (April 1st) will be the syndicated Michael Medved program. WCAR will air repeats 4-7am- All Access

* Call sign action: Construction permit for FM 104.9 Lake City assigned WAIR

March 27:

* Michael Saunders, former vice president and operations manager for Urban WJLB-FM 97.9 and Urban AC WMXD-FM 92.3 Detroit, lands in New York City to program that city's newest station, Top40/Rhythmic Power 105.1; WKHQ-FM 105.9 Charlevoix night guy KFC exits effective April 4- All Access

* Benedek Communications, owner of Lansing NBC affiliate WILX-TV 10, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection- Broadcasting and Cable

* FCC Actions: Granted W54CR Traverse City (translator of WFQX-TV 33 Cadillac) its license to cover for changes (moved from channel 40); Granted W34CR and W41CK Petoskey their licenses to cover (new stations)

March 25:

* Public outlet WDET-FM 101.9 Detroit has nabbed five Michigan Associated Press Awards, receiving the General Excellence Award, and top honors for Best Newscast, Best Spot News, Best Hard News, and Best Individual Reporting. Best Newscast was awarded to WDET’s morning news host Craig Fahle. Best Spot News was awarded to the entire WDET news team for its comprehensive coverage of the events on September 11th. Assistant News Director Jerome Vaughn received top awards in the categories of Best Hard News for his coverage of the DaimlerChrysler job cuts and Best Individual Reporting.

“I am so proud of our news team and congratulate them on these great honors,” says Caryn Mathes, WDET general manager. “WDET’s News Department continues to win awards and be a leader in solid reporting for our community.” The WDET News Department adds this year’s Michigan Associated Press awards to a growing list of recognition for excellence in journalism. “It is a special honor for the entire news department to receive the Michigan Associated Press General Excellence award,” says Joan Silvi, WDET news director. “It is wonderful to be recognized for our work. This recognition supports WDET’s continued commitment to excellence in local news coverage.”

* The Dec-Feb ratings trend for Detroit was relatively stable, with only one station having a share change of .5 or more- Urban AC WDMK-FM slipped to a 1.8 rating from 2.3 in the last trend. The top 5 stations were News/Talk WJR-AM, News WWJ-AM, Urban WJLB-FM, Urban WDTJ-FM, and Smooth Jazz WVMV-FM.

* General sales manager Dave Johnson has been promoted to market manager for Rubber City Radio's Mid-Michigan Radio Group (Modern Rock WWDX-FM 92.1 St. Johns, Sports WQTX-FM 92.7 Charlotte, Classic Hits WVIC-FM 94.1, and Rock WJXQ-FM 106.1 Jackson); Sports WQSN-AM 1660 Kalamazoo affiliates with Fox Sports Radio and will add programming from that network effective April 1. Joining the lineup will be Kiley and Booms, J.T. the Brick, and We Are There Weeknights. Out of the lineup will be Tim Brando and 'Papa' Joe Chevalier- All Access

* FCC Actions: Granted licenses to cover for changes to WKQS-FM 101.9 Negaunee (new tower location), WUPT-CA 25 Crystal Falls (move to channel 25 from 49)

March 23:

* WWBN-FM 101.5 Tuscola/Flint (Banana 101.5) has shifted its format from Mainstream Rock to Active Rock by dropping most of its Classic titles. The station is owned by Regent Communications, which recently launched a Classic Rock format on WRXF-FM 103.1 Lapeer/Flint (US 103.1).

* Jim Bauer is the new 10pm-midnight Mon-Thur host at Public WDET-FM 101.9 Detroit- Detroit Free Press

March 21:

* A construction permit for a new FM station at 103.7 licensed to Harbor Beach has been granted by the FCC to Jennifer and Edward Czelada. The new station will likely carry one of two Contemporary Christian formats: Joy FM (run by Ed) is currently heard on WHYT-FM 89.1 Imlay City and WJOJ-FM 89.7 Harrisville; The Light (run by Jenn) is heard on WLGH-FM 88.1 Lansing, WEJC-FM 88.3 Gladwin, and WTLI-FM 89.3 Boyne City. The permit is for 50,000 watts at 440 feet (directional) from a tower in Huron County southeast of Bad Axe. The station has applied for the call sign WCZE.

* Low Power FM WMLZ-LP Temperance has launched its programming as Hot Adult Contemporary as 'Blend 107.9, the Best Blend of the 80's 90's and today'. Watch for a web site coming soon at http://www.wmlz.org.

* A new live talk radio program was launched in Detroit last month on WLLZ-AM 560. On the Word with host Paul Edwards features author interviews and commentary on a wide range of cultural issues with relevance to the conservative Christian community in Detroit. It airs M-F from 3:15-4:30pm. Visit the show's web site at http://ontheword.net.

* Longtime Branch County community leader and broadcaster Ken Delaney has decided to seek the 58th District State House of Representatives seat that covers Branch and Hillsdale counties in the August 6th Republican Primary. Delaney is currently station manager and morning show co-host for WTVB-AM 1590 Coldwater. Under his direction, the radio station’s sponsored and supported projects have raised over a half-million dollars for local organizations over the last 10 years. He is a three time winner of the Michigan Association of Broadcasters Personality of the Year as well as numerous other awards from the Michigan Association of Broadcasters and the Michigan Associated Press.

* FCC Action: Granted Soul's Harbor Assembly of God Church a construction permit for a new Low Power FM station at 104.3 to be licensed to Roscommon. Station will broadcast with a maximum of 100 watts at 54 feet from Roscommon County.

March 19:

* Repositioned: Marquette's Country WJPD-FM 92.3 from 'The Giant' to 'Big Country 92.3' under new owner Northern Star Broadcasting. Although the name is the same as Northern Star's WMKC-FM 102.9 St. Ignace and WAVC-FM 93.9 Mio, programming is separate.

* Former Oldies WCCW-FM 107.5 Traverse City jock Deborah Sale-Butler has joined Animal Radio Network (ARN) as an executive producer. She'll also continue producing "Moving Targets" sketch improvisation in Los Angeles. ARN produces "Caring for Creatures"- heard on 104 affiliates and the USA Radio Network- All Access

March 18:

* WIMK-FM 93.1 Iron Mountain and WUPK-FM 94.1 Marquette, which had been simulcasting each other with a Rock format as 'K-Rock', have switched their format to Classic Rock as 'The Bear' under new owner Northern Star Broadcasting. The stations air the Bob & Tom morning show. The move expands Northern Star's Classic Rock 'Bear' stations across much of the Upper Peninsula. Earlier in the year, WIHC-FM 97.9 Newberry dropped its Country format for the programming, joining WGFM-FM 105.1 Cheboygan, WGFN-FM 98.1 Glen Arbor/Traverse City, and WCKC-FM 107.1 Cadillac. WIMK and WUPK continue to simulcast each other and are programmed separately from the other 'Bear' stations. Northern Star acquired 11 U.P. stations late last year from Marathon Media.

* WMLZ-LP 107.9 Temperance has become Michigan's second low power FM station to hit the air. The station has been heard testing with Classic Rock programming and has filed for its license to cover. WMLZ-LP is owned by the Bedford Public Schools.

* FCC Action: Granted WOBC-LP 14 Battle Creek (construction permit) Class A status

March 15:

* Wasn't that a party! News/Talk WJR-AM 760 Detroit held its annual St. Patrick's Day party a couple days early today, hosted by morning man Paul W. Smith. This year's event featured visits from gubernatorial candidates James Blanchard, David Bonior, Jennifer Granholm, and Dick Posthumus along with Detroit mayor Kwami Kilpatrick and former mayor Dennis Archer among others. The St. Patrick's day event at WJR was kicked off by legendary morning man J.P. McCarthy years ago and continues to be one of 'the' events to be seen at each year for local politicians and business leaders.

* Jeff Kelly is out as program director and morning man at Oldies WODJ-FM 107.3 Greenville/Gd. Rapids- All Access

* The FCC has granted a construction permit for a new FM station at 98.7 to be licensed to Hancock. Lyle R. Evans, also the owner of WMXG-FM 106.3 Stephenson/Escanaba, has been granted the permit for the station which is to be 100,000 watts at 522 feet from a transmitter located near Houghton. TuMar Broadcasting, owner of Houghton area stations WOLV-FM 97.7, WHKB-FM 102.3, and WCCY-AM 1400, had filed a petition with the FCC to dismiss or deny the application which was rejected.

March 14:

* 8 technicians working for Infinity Detroit sister stations News WWJ-AM 950 and Sports WXYT-AM 1270 voted unaminously in favor of AFTRA representation, joining anchors, board operators, producers, reporters, and talk show hosts at both stations who previously voted to join the union.

March 13:

* Blain Ensley will join the Rocky Allen morning show at Modern AC WDVD-FM 96.3 Detroit beginning Monday. The move reunites Allen and Ensley who have done morning radio together in New York, Buffalo, and at WLAV-FM 96.9 Grand Rapids- All Access

* Fox Sports Net Detroit has agreed to a deal with the Detroit Red Wings that results in the cable station having exclusive rights to regular season Wings' games beginning with the 2003-04 season- Detroit Free Press

March 12:

* Radio One Detroit (WDMK-FM 102.7, WDTJ-FM 105.9, WCHB-AM 1200) regional vice president Lance Panton has that title stripped by corporate but keeps his program director responsibilites. According to UrbanInsite.com, Radio One has eliminated that role nationwide and is now making music decisions from corporate.

* WDIV-TV 4 Detroit weekend weathercaster Reynolds Wolf is leaving the station for a role at Post-Newsweek sister station WKMG-TV Orlando- Detroit Free Press

March 11:

* WLXV-FM 96.7 Cadillac has ended its simulcast of sister station Adult Contemporary WLXT-FM 96.3 Petoskey (W-Lite) in favor of its own programming as Hot Adult Contemporary 'Mix 96, the best music from the 80's, 90's, and today'. WLXV and WLXT are owned by MacDonald-Garber Broadcasting.

* Michigan's first Low Power FM station has hit the airwaves in Muskegon as WUVS-LP 103.7 is now on the air with an Urban format.

* Jack Hood, former broadcaster at WJR Detroit, WCEN Mt. Pleasant, WTRX Flint, among other stations, passed away Friday March 8th at the age of 60- Flint Journal

* FCC Actions: Granted the involuntary assignement of licenses from Pyramid Broadcasting (as debtor-in-possesion) to Joseph E. Cohen (chapter 11 trustee) for WEFG-FM 97.5 and WUBR-AM 1490 Whitehall, WLCS-FM 98.3 N. Muskegon

March 8:

* FCC Action: Granted WNFR-FM 90.7 Sandusky a construction permit for changes: Change in class from B1 to B, ERP to increase to 50,000 watts from 18,000, HAAT increase to 492 feet from 328, tower location change from northwest of Sandusky to north of Port Huron (near Sanilac/St. Clair county line), pattern to change to directional

March 7:

* Country WBCT-FM continued on as the number 1 station in Grand Rapids among listeners age 12 and above. Moving up into second place for the first Winter trend (Nov-Jan) was Top 40 WSNX-FM, followed by News/Talk WOOD-AM which slipped from second in the fall. Rock WKLQ-FM and Classic Rock WLAV-FM rounded out the top 5 stations.

* Central Michigan University has proposed to the FCC swapping its digital TV allotments for Cadillac and Manistee

March 6:

* Joining Sports WQTX-FM 92.7 Charlotte/Lansing (92.7 The Ticket) will be Dave 'Mad Dog' DeMarco for afternoon drive 3-6pm beginning March 18th. DeMarco joins The Ticket from crosstown Sports WVFN-AM 730. Also on March 18th, program director Hamilton moves his on-air shift from 6-7pm to 10am-noon.

* Shawn Sheldon has exited Top 40 WKHQ-FM 105.9 Charlevoix/Traverse City and Adult Contemporary WLXT-FM 96.3 where he was operations manager- R&R Online

* Former News/Talk WFDF-AM 910 Flint morning man Jim Ellis has returned to Rock WKLT-FM 97.5 Kalkaska/WKLZ-FM 98.9 Petoskey for mornings. It's the second go-round for Ellis as morning show host at Double Rock KLT.

March 5:

* WNWN-FM 98.5 Coldwater raised a record $51,000 during their recent St. Jude's Radiothon, topping last year's tally of $43,000- All Access

* FCC Actions: Granted WCEN-FM 94.5 its license for modification of the station's city of license from Mt. Pleasant to Hemlock; Granted WLPC-LP 26 Detroit Class A status

March 4:

* Rock Hits WLLC-FM 106.7 Detroit (Alice 106.7) will step outside its normal programming for three days starting this Friday in order to raise funds for the Beaumont Hospital group during the Children's Miracle Network / Alice Cares for Kids Radiothon. Station personalities will broadcast live from Oakland Mall in Troy throughout the weekend. All the money raised during the event will benefit Beaumont and help ensure that every child receives medical treatment regardless of a families' ability to pay. Beaumont treats many patients each year suffering from all types of illness including cancer, AIDS, birth defects, cystic fibrosis, and more.

March 3:

* On Friday March 1st, 88.1 The Light (WLGH-FM 88.1 Lansing) Reunion and Junu award winning recording artist JAKE performed a concert to benefit the Salvation Army's Lansing food bank. More than 1000 listeners went to South Baptist Church with at least one non-perishable food item per person for admission. At the end of the night, the Lansing Salvation Army had collected five 4 foot tall barrels of food, with enough overflow to fill approximately another 3-5 barrels. A Salvation Army spokesperson estimates that it will take around 4 days to sort and count all the food. Each year, 88.1 The Light's listeners donate hundreds of food baskets which the Salvation Army distributes just before Easter to Lansing area families in need. Last year, Light listeners provided more than 400 Easter food baskets to The Salvation Army.

February 28:

* Suzy Cole has left the midday role at Modern Rock WWDX-FM 92.1 Lansing (The Edge)- All Access

February 27:

* Half of the morning team at Rockin' Hits WLLC-FM 106.7 Detroit is no longer with the station. According to program director Jay Nachlis, co-host Darla Jaye has left the station to pursue other opportunities. Jaye's partner Mark Davis will continue on as solo host for the program that will heavily feature the station's variety of rock hits from the 80's, 70's, 90's, and today.

* Call sign change: FM 93.7 Frankenmuth is now WRCL in place of WZRZ

February 25:

* Detroit Tigers radio play-by-play broadcaster Ernie Harwell has announced his retirement at the conclusion of the 2002 baseball season. Harwell has broadcast Tigers baseball either on radio or TV since 1960.

* Detroit 12+ ratings were released for the first phase of the winter book today. News/Talk WJR-AM and News WWJ-AM remained 1-2 with unchanged ratings since the fall book. Moving up to third was Urban WJLB-FM, followed by Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM, and Oldies WOMC-FM. Classic Rock WCSX-FM enjoyed the biggest ratings gain, up 1/2 a point since fall.

* Monica Starr is out as program director at Urban AC WDMK-FM 102.7 Detroit due to budgetary issues. Lance Panton takes over the role- All Access

February 24:

* WRXF-FM 103.1 Lapeer has dropped its simulcast of Rock WWBN-FM 101.5 Tuscola in favor of a stand-alone Classic Rock format. The station is billing itself as 'U.S. 103.1, The Classic Rock Channel'. WRXF is currently being operated by Regent Communications under a local marketing agreement as part of the deal that will result in Regent acquiring the station from Covenant Communications once FCC approval is granted. Before beginning the WWBN simulcast in December, the station's previous format was Active Rock.

February 22:

* Congrats to the Purtan's People gang of Oldies WOMC-FM 104.3 Detroit on helping to raise about $870,401 (as of 10pm) during today's Salvation Army's Bed and Bread Club Radiothon. This year's total tops last year's $864,000 total. Morning man Dick Purtan personally kicked in $20,000 for the cause. All the money raised in this Radiothon stays in metro Detroit and helps feed about 1500 people daily via the organization's two trucks that distribute meals through the area.

* LIN TV has announced that it will be purchasing 6 stations from Sunrise Television, including NBC affiliate WEYI-TV 25 Saginaw and Fox affiliate WUPW-TV 36 Toledo, OH. LIN previously had taken over day-to-day operations of the stations in an agreement that started at the beginning of the year. WEYI becomes the third Michigan station for LIN- joining WOOD-TV 8 Grand Rapids and WOTV-TV 41 Battle Creek. Separately, LIN announced plans to become a publicly traded company.

* New to evenings at Country WITL-FM 100.7 Lansing is Mike Marshall. He arrives from crosstown Top 40 WHZZ-FM 101.7. Former WITL evening host Jeff Michaels moves over to Citadel Lansing sister station Classic Rock WMMQ-FM 94.9 for afternoons.

February 21:

* The 2002 Michigan Stations of the Year were announced earlier in this week at the Great Lakes Broadcasting Conference and Expo. The winners were:
- Market 1 (Detroit): WJBK-TV 2, WJR-AM 760
- Market 2: WZZM-TV 13 Grand Rapids, WUOM-FM 91.7 Ann Arbor
- Market 3: WPBN-TV 7 / WTOM-TV 4 Traverse City/Cheboygan, no radio winner
- Market 4: WLUC-TV 6 Marquette, WJNR-FM 101.5 Iron Mountain.

* FCC Action: Granted WLJN-FM 89.9 Traverse City its license to cover for changes: ERP from 12,500 watts to 39,000 watts vertical only

February 20:

* Modern Rock WGRD-FM 97.9 imaging director Dave Cuddohy has left the station- All Access

* WZUW-FM 102.3 New Carlisle, IN (near South Bend) has dropped its Contemporary Christian format 'The Pulse' in favor of Classic Rock. The station's current owner, Summit Radio, is in the process of selling the station to Artistic Media. Artistic is also purchasing Goshen Classic Rock station WZOW-FM 97.7. LeSea Broadcasting had been leasing the 102.3 stick for its Pulse FM programming for the past 5 years.

* New program director at Classic Rock WAOR-FM 95.3 Niles/South Bend is Dave 'Rye' Ryerson- Indiana RadioWatch

February 18:

* Hot AC WTCF-FM 100.5 Saginaw has dropped its Mix 100 slogan and reverted back to 100.5 The Fox- the moniker previously used by the station during its days with a Top 40 format. In June 1999, the station moved towards a Rhythmic Top 40 direction and dropped the Fox in favor of the Pirate Station. That format gave way to Hot AC as Mix 100 under new owner Wilks Broadcasting in August 2000. Also dropped today was the syndicated Rick Dees morning program.

* Staffers from Top 40 WKHQ-FM 105.9 Charlevoix/Traverse City completed the 10-day “Father Fred Frostbite Marathon” on February 10 a little tired, a little cold, but extremely happy! Their work paid off, with over $50,000 in canned goods and non-perishables having been collected during the 8th annual food drive for the Father Fred Foundation. Keith Michaels, 106 KHQ Morning Show host, says the fact that the canned goods were on a deep discount at Meijer helped. “Had these canned goods been purchased outside of the Meijer Brand Sale, the dollar amount may have been higher, but the quantity may have been lower and quantity is the key. We now have a safe level of food in the Father Fred Pantry, which will take us through Summer. Our sincerest appreciation goes out to the folks at Meijer for their contributions, as well as the staff of KHQ.” Area residents and businesses donated a staggering 66,000 items ranging from canned peas and corn to pasta and peanut butter.

* Contemporary Christian WLGH-FM 88.1 Lansing (The Light) and The Salvation Army of Lansing are coming together again this year to help 300 families in Lansing have a great Easter meal. Each year, 88.1 The Light’s listeners donate hundreds of food baskets which the Salvation Army distributes just before Easter. Last year, Light listeners provided more than 400 Easter food baskets to The Salvation Army. This year, in addition to their goal of feeding 300 families through 300 Easter Baskets, 88.1 The Light’s listeners will provide extra food for The Salvation Army’s food bank though a benefit concert. On Friday March 1st at 7 PM, Reunion Records recording artist Jake will perform at South Baptist Church. Admission will be one non-perishable food item per person. The non-perishable food will go to The Salvation Army’s food bank.

* Classic Rock WMMQ-FM 94.9 Lansing morning host Tim Barron has just inked a new deal keeping him on board with the Citadel-owned station until 2004. The 2 year agreement kicks in during April. Barron, a 17 year Lansing radio vet, is beginning his 11th year with co-host Debra Hart.

* Kudo's to Adult Contemporary WOOD-FM 105.7 morning guy Robb Westaby on raising over $93,000 to benefit DeVos Children's Hospital and the Children's Miracle Network by holding a four-day Radiothon over the weekend; Ryan Dobry adds responsibility as interim program director at Country WTCM-FM 103.5 Traverse City- All Access

February 14:

* Raised: By Country WYCD-FM 99.5 Detroit's two-day Radiothon for St. Jude Research Hospital- $502,385

February 12:

* Underway: Country WYCD-FM 99.5 Detroit's Country Cares for St. Judes Radiothon. Station personalities will be broadcasting their shows live from Oakland Mall in Troy today and tomorrow until 7pm. Last year's Radiothon raised over $1,000,000 for St. Judes.

* Country WTCM-FM 103.5 Traverse City program director Mark Staycer has left the station- All Access

February 11:

* WEFG-FM 97.5 Whitehall switched its format from Rhythmic Oldies to Country earlier today. The station serves the Muskegon market and is using the positioner "Kickin' Country".

* The Michigan Association of Educational Broadcasters (MAEB) announced its officers at a meeting in Lansing on January 28, 2002:
President: Bill Keith, Plymouth-Canton Community Schools
Vice President: Susan McGraw, Henry Ford Community College
Treasurer: Pete Bowers, Bloomfield Hills School District
Secretary: Randy Carr, Bloomfield Hills School District
Members at Large: Carl Jacobson, Spring Arbor College; Dave Downing, Lansing Community College; Julea Ward, Southfield Public Schools
Web Master: Ron Wittebols, Bloomfield Hills School District
The meeting was held at member station WLNZ Radio, on the campus of Lansing Community College. The MAEB was formed in 1977 to develop and promote low-power educational broadcasting in the State of Michigan.

February 9:

* Pallas Hupe will be exiting her role as parttime reporter and weekend weather host at Detroit's WJBK-TV 2 to take on an anchor role at WKBD-TV 50 Detroit beginning Feb. 18th. Hupe, along with Donna Terrell will co-anchor the station's 10:00pm newscast. Current anchors Rich Fisher and Amyre Makupson will continue on at sister station WWJ-TV 62 as that station's 11:00pm anchors. Before joining WJBK, Hupe anchored newscasts at WPBN-TV 7 and WTOM-TV 4 Traverse City/Cheboygan- Detroit Free Press

February 8:

* New program director at Classic Hits WYVN-FM 92.7 Saugatuck/Holland is Jas Caffrey who replaces Tim Harris. Harris has moved on to Classic Rock WWKR-FM 94.1 Pentwater; Eugene Brown has been named PD at Urban WTLZ-FM 107.1 Saginaw- All Access

* Granted channel 33 Highland Park (W68CH) Class A status

February 7:

* New to the lineup at WPHM-AM 1380 Port Huron is Sean Hannity, whose show will air 3-6pm. The move displaces Michigan Talk Radio Network's The Captain and Crew.

* Central Michigan University has filed a proposal with the FCC to allot channel 23 to Traverse City for use as non-commercial digital TV station.

February 6:

* WSHN-FM 100.1 Holton has switched its format from Country to Adult Top 40 as the station prepares to move its transmitter closer to Muskegon. The station is owned/operated by Noordyk Broadcasting, which also owns News/Talk WSHN-AM 1550 Fremont. Noordyk is also operating Oldies WLCS-FM 98.3 North Muskegon, Adult Standards WUBR-AM 1490 and WEFG-FM Whitehall under a Local Marketing Agreement from Pyramid Broadcasting. WEFG is currently formatted with Oldies after the satellite Rhythmic Oldies format it was airing was dropped by the syndicator.

* Sam Merrill will return to CBS affiliate WNEM-TV 5 Bay City for anchor duties- Flint Journal

February 5:

* New night host at Top 40 WKQI-FM 95.5 Detroit (Channel 95-5) is Buckhead. He'll be moving to Detroit from Clear Channel sister station Star 98.7 in Los Angeles to reunite with program director Dom Theodore for a live/local program. Buckhead worked for Theodore at WFLZ Tampa and also has experience in Las Vegas on his resume.

February 4:

* WGPR-FM 107.5 Detroit launched its new sound today. The station remains targeted at an Adult Urban audience however the daytime music playlist now includes about 50% Smooth Jazz and 50% Soft Urban Contemporary/R&B selections. The change puts the station in direct competition for some listeners of Smooth Jazz/NAC WVMV-FM 98.7. WGPR maintains its positioner of 'The Rhythm'. Prior to today, the station programmed a more typical Adult Urban Contemporary format- an area crowded in Detroit radio by WMXD-FM 92.3 and WDMK-FM 102.7. WGPR is owned by the International F. & A.M. Masons, Inc and is the market's lone remaining independently owned commercial FM station.

* The 'Q' is gone from Q95-5 Detroit - replaced this morning at 10:00am by 'Channel 95-5'. The station still is calling itself 'Detroit's Hit Music Channel'. The on-air lineup is listed as Mojo in the Morning 5:30-10am, Michelle Taylor 10am-3pm, and J Love 3-7pm. No jock is noted for evenings in Booker's old slot.

* WPHM-AM 1380 Port Huron helped raise over $210,000 during their recent Jail & Bail event. This year's record fundraiser was the 45th annual with proceeds going to the Southeast Michigan and Thumb chapters of the March of Dimes. Congratulations to program director Jerry Noble and everyone at WPHM!

February 1:

* Country WIHC-FM 97.9 Newberry/Sault Ste. Marie has switched its format to Classic Rock as part of The Bear (WGFM-FM 105.1 Cheboygan / WGFN-FM 98.1 Glen Arbor / WCKC-FM 107.1 Cadillac) simulcast under new owner Northern Star Broadcasting. The station will eventually get its own local ads, news, sports, and public service messages targeted towards the Eastern U.P. Northern Star recently purchased the station from Marathon Media, along with 10 other stations across the Upper Peninsula.

* Out as general manager at Clear Channel Detroit stations WKQI-FM 95.5 and WNIC-FM 100.3 is Steve Schram. No word on who will take over. It appears likely that this is not the only shake up within the Detroit cluster.

* Sports WXYT-AM 1270 Detroit air talent, producers, reporters and board ops yesterday voted to join the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists by an overwhelming majority. There were 18 "Yes" votes versus 3 "No's" - an 86% majority in favor of AFTRA representation. On March 6, 2002, the remaining non-union personnel (technical operation employees) will have the opportunity to join AFTRA when they hold their NLRB election. Sister station WWJ-AM 950 newsroom employees have been represented by AFTRA since 1996- WXYT and WWJ share the same facilites. This past fall, employees at Metro/Shadow in Detroit voted by a 2 to 1 majority in favor of AFTRA representation. They are currently negotiating their first contract.

* Detroit's WKBD-TV 50 and WWJ-TV 62 will soon get separate anchors for their newscasts. Anchors Rich Fisher and Amyre Makupson will drop the 10pm broadcast on channel 50 and be responsible only for channel 62's. New to channel 50 will be Donna Terrell and another yet to be named anchor. Weather guy Jim Madaus and sports host Chuck Garfein will still be seen on both newscasts once the change is made later this month- but they too will likely only be featured on one station once new station boss Ken Jobe completes his plan to separate the almost identical newscasts and have each station target its core viewing audience- Detroit Free Press

* Fall ratings for Kalamazoo and Battle Creek were released earlier this week. In Kalamazoo, Top 40 WKFR finished first among listeners age 12 and above, followed by Rock WRKR-FM, Urban Adult Contemporary WNWN-AM, Adult Contemporary WQLR-FM, and Country WBCT-FM. WNWN-AM had the market's biggest ratings jump, moving from 4.7 in the spring to 7.7 this fall.

Country WNWN-FM led the Battle Creek book, followed by News/Talk WBCK-AM, WRKR, WKFR, and Rock WJXQ. WNWN-FM and WBCK shared the biggest ratings improvement, each were up 2.5 points since spring.

* Oakland Press sports reporter Pat Caputo shifts his parttime/fill-in work from Sports WDFN-AM 1130 to rival WXYT-AM 1270.

* FCC Action: Created a new Class A FM allotment at McBain (Missaukee County) for 107.9, effective March 18th. Applications for the frequency are not yet being accepted.

January 31:

* WSJM-AM 1400 St. Joseph program and news director Mike Frazer exits to join Wireready NIS as Midwest sales/marketing & web development specialist- All Access

January 30:

* The Michigan Association of Broadcasters has announced the first batch of 2002 Broadcast Excellence Awards. Winners in the categories of Breaking News, Hard News, Mini-Documentary/Series, Feature/Use of Medium, TV Weather, Broadcast Personality/Team, Sports, Newscast, News Special, Special Interest Programming, Commercial, Community Involvement, and Marketing Materials/Promos were released. Several of the awards for Detroit-area TV stations will be released on Friday. Winners of the MAB Station of the Year will be announced during the Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, February 19, at the Great Lakes Broadcasting Conference & EXPO in Lansing.

The Detroit radio winners included WWJ-AM for Breaking News and Newscast; WJR-AM for Hard News, Feature/Use of Medium, Sports, News Special, Commercial, Community Involvement, and Marketing Materials/Promos; WDET-FM for Mini-Documentary/Series; Damon 'The Dog' Perry of WXYT-AM for Broadcast Personality; WOMC-FM for Special Interest Programming and Marketing Materials/Promos; WYCD-FM for Special Interest Programming.

Congratulations to all the winners across the state!

* Moving out of the program director chair at Country WYCD-FM 99.5 will be Lisa Rodman to make room for Mac Daniels who’s moving here from Austin, TX. He'll get the titles of operations manager and program director when he starts on February 18th. Daniels was the operations manager for a group of stations in Austin that included a popular country outlet. Prior to that, he worked at country stations in Washington D.C. as program director and Dallas as music director. Rodman moves to Infinity sister station Oldies WOMC-FM (104.3) as that station’s music director.

* News director Robert Parson of WUFN-FM 96.7 Albion (Family Life Radio) has been awarded Best Newscast by Scribe Media. The Madison, WI organization for Christian radio journalists received entries from broadcasters across the nation. The entries were judged based on the newscast's ability to illuminate the events of the day for the listener, through content and presentation. Judges evaluate writing clarity, audio editing, story selection, delivery, originality, immediacy, and depth and breadth of coverage. The winning newscast from August 23rd, 2001 was selected for its heavy local news coverage.

* New director of affiliate relations for the Michigan and Illinois Radio Networks is Howard Packowitz- Chicago Sun-Times

* Call Sign Change: AM 1210 Kingsley has changed its call sign from WLDR to WWJR

January 29:

* Music director and evening host Alex Caruso leaves Hot AC WVTI-FM 96.1 Grand Rapids. Program director Jeff Andrews gets the added role of MD- All Access

January 28:

* Country WITL-FM 100.7 Lansing music director Chris Tyler adds the role of assistant program director- All Access

January 25:

* Country WBCT remained on top of the 12+ Arbitron ratings for Grand Rapids this past fall. The station finished ahead of News/Talk WOOD-AM, Top 40 WSNX-FM, Rock WKLQ-FM, and Classic Rock WLAV-FM. Stations with ratings gains of .5 or more since summer included WBCT, WOOD-AM, WKLQ, Adult Contemporary WTRV-FM, Contemporary Christian WJQK-FM, and News/Talk WHTC-AM.

January 24:

* WGPR-FM 107.5 Detroit plans to modify its current Adult Urban Contemporary format on February 4th by moving to a 50/50 music mix of Jazz and R&B with no rap or hip-hop. The new programming will air Monday-Friday. Also changing will be the on-air lineup: Moving from nights to morning drive 6-10am is Maxine Michaels, program director Rosetta Hines remains on during middays 10am-2pm, current morning host Tony Rankin shifts to 2-7pm, and Dallas Keith will be now be heard 7pm-midnight. Lew Michaels keeps his weekday overnight slot. Calvin Euseary also remains for weekend overnights, when the station will feature jazz. The station plans to maintain its Sunday Gospel programming.

* FCC Action: Granted Trinity Broadcasting a construction permit for a new low power TV station licensed to Marquette: Channel 31 W31CJ, ERP 6,000 watts, tower between Marquette and Ishpeming

January 23:

* FCC Action: Granted WCXT-FM 105.3 Hart its license to cover for changes- Class C1 to C2, ERP from 100,000 to 28,000 watts, and HAAT from 650 to 659 feet (note, WCXT has applied to change its facilites again: power to 50,000 watts @ 492 feet, tower move to just south of Hesperia)

January 22:

* Changing stations: Lisa Jesswein, longtime member of the Purtan's People gang, is moving on from Oldies WOMC-FM 104.3 Detroit to Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM 100.3 where's she'll be executive producer for the Breakfast Club morning show. Jesswein over the years has supplied many of the impressionist voices for Purtan's program- she'll continue in a similar role at 'NIC. The new voice at WOMC will be host Dick Purtan's daughter Jackie- Detroit Free Press

* FCC Actions: Granted licenses to cover to WDHS-TV 8 Iron Mountain and WUPT-CA 25 Crystal Falls for changes

January 19:

* On the air: FM 100.7 Honor, simulcasting Northern Radio sister station Adult Top 40 WKPK-FM 106.7 Gaylord. The stations are identifying themselves as 106-dot-7 and the new 100-dot-7 The Peak. FM 100.7 will change its call sign to WKVK from WAIR.

* New program director at Rock WRKR-FM 107.7 Kalamazoo is Mike McKelly- R&R Online

* Mark Hayes, former 5pm anchor and current special projects reporter at WXYZ-TV 7 Detroit, will be exiting the station- Detroit News

* The National Weather Service has brought Michigan's 16th NOAA weather radio station on line in Escanaba. The station, at 162.500 MHz, serves Delta and Menominee counties with 1,000 watts.

January 16:

* There was no surprise at the top of the fall ratings in Flint- Urban WDZZ-FM continues to lead the market among listeners age 12 and above. The rest of the top 5 included Adult Contemporary WCRZ-FM, Top 40 WWCK-FM, Country WFBE-FM, and Oldies WHNN-FM. Biggest improvements since spring were enjoyed by WDZZ, WHNN, News/Talk WJR-AM, and Urban Oldies WOWE-FM.

* WHNN finished atop the Tri-Cities ratings, moving ahead of Country WKCQ-FM and News/Talk WSGW which finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. Rounding out the top 5 were Top 40 WIOG-FM and Urban AC WTLZ-FM. Noteable ratings improvements since spring were seen at WHNN, WIOG, Adult Contemporary WGER-FM, and Classic Rock combo WILZ/WYLZ-FM.

* Tim Bronson has resigned from his role as afternoon drive co-host and music director at Modern Rock WGRD-FM 97.9 Grand Rapids, effective January 28th. Bronson plans on leaving the business to join the National Multiple Sclerosis Society as a development manager for the MS 150, a fundraiser bicycle ride. He was with WGRD for 7 1/2 years; Overnight jock 'Big' Steve Duncan has left Top 40 WKQI-FM 95.5 Detroit; Former WOOD-FM Grand Rapids afternoon jock Michael Sirianni has landed at crosstown Oldies WODJ-FM 107.3 for afternoons and the promotion coordinator role- All Access

* FCC call sign actions: WOGC-LP Grand Rapids now WOGC-CA, WOHO-LP Holland now WOHO-CA, WOKZ-LP Kalamazoo now WOKZ-CA, WOLP-LP Grand Rapids now WOLP-CA, WOMS-LP Muskegon now WOMS-CA, WXSP-LP Grand Rapids now WXSP-CA

January 15:

* Internet broadcaster ClassicalMusicDetroit.com ranked 4th highest among classical stations according to recently released ratings from Arbitron. The cyberstation finished 18th overall for the month of December. ClassicalMusicDetroit.com began service as an Internet music station in October 2000 from its offices in southeastern Detroit, marking the return of the classical music format from and to southeast Michigan. Streaming music on the web 24-hours-a-day, ClassicalMusicDetroit.com spotlights the words and selections of Davis Gloff, Jack Goggin and Pat McElroy, all distinguished voices in Detroit radio and broadcast radio veterans of the former WQRS-FM. Local events, music and recording artists also are important parts of ClassicalMusicDetroit.com webcasts. Visitors to the web site also have access to arts and entertainment information in southeast Michigan and also can leave messages for discussion. This represents a unique virtual community where Detroiters and their friends can meet through their interest in classical music and the Motor City.

* FCC Action: Granted WGDN-AM 1350 Gladwin a construction permit for following changes: decrease daytime power from 1,000 watts directional (2 towers) to 250 watts non-directional (1 tower)

January 14:

* Fox Sports Net Detroit has named Mario Impemba as the new play-by-play man for Tigers' Baseball on the cable station. Impemba will be returning to his hometown from Anaheim, where he has been the radio play-by-play voice for the Angels over the past 7 years. The move fills the spot left open by Josh Lewin when he left to do Texas Rangers broadcasts. Impemba, 38, looks forward to returning to Detroit and the opportunity to broadcast games of his hometown team. "I had two goals when I got into this business," said Impemba. "One was to broadcast big-league baseball, which I achieved with the Angels. The second was to do that in Detroit. I never thought the opportunity would present itself. That's what makes this so special."

Like many others, Impemba credits Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell as one of several announcers who influenced his career. "I always admired Ernie and Paul Carey. I spent a lot of time (as a youth) listening to Major League broadcasts. Not only the Tigers, but many other teams as well. I would pull in St. Louis Cardinals broadcasts and listen to Jack Buck," said Impemba. "Also, Dick Purtan was one of my favorites."

"I believe viewers will find Mario both fresh and familiar at the same time" said John Tuohey, executive producer at Fox Sports Net's Detroit-based regional network. "His play-by-play call is top notch, plus he has the understanding and appreciation of the Tigers' heritage."

A graduate of Michigan State and Stevenson High in Sterling Heights, Impemba will debut with color analyst and WXYT-AM 1270 radio host Kirk Gibson on March 5th for a spring training telecast.

* Country WWWW-FM was the top station among those originating from Washtenaw county according to the Arbitron fall 2001 ratings for listeners age 12 and above. The station improved its rating from 1.9 (as Rock WIQB) to 5.9 in one year. News/Talk WJR-AM 760 was the top station overall, followed by W4, Modern Rock CIMX-FM, Top 40 WKQI-FM, and Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM. Gold-based Adult Contemporary WQKL-FM and Full Service WAAM-AM finshed tied for 7th overall and tied for 2nd among Washtenaw stations. Stations with ratings improvement of at least .5 point since the spring book included WJR, WWWW, CIMX, News WWJ-AM, WAAM, Urban WJLB-FM, Adult Contemporary WMGC-FM, Hot Talk WKRK-FM, Adult Contemporary CIDR-FM, and Religious WMUZ-FM.

* New to the lineup at Rock Hits WLLC-FM 106.7 Detroit is Jon Ballard middays (9am-2pm) and Randi West (7pm-midnight). Both jocks will be cybertracking from other locations: Ballard from Washington D.C. and West from Cincinnati- Detroit Free Press

* Radio One (WDMK-FM, WDTJ-FM, WCHB-AM) Detroit account manager Dorothe Riley-Green is retiring after 30 years in the market. Prior to the Radio One cluster, Riley-Green spent time at WJLB-FM, WOMC-FM, and WQRS-FM- Detroit Free Press

January 11:

* Top 40 WKQI-FM 95.5 Detroit midday host and local native Nikki Chuminatto is leaving the station in the next couple of weeks for a midday role in Chicago at Modern Rocker WKQX- the home of former Q95-5 program director Tim Richards; Mason Lucas is bumped up from weekends to evenings at Top 40 WIOG-FM 102.5, replacing Sean Kelly who moved over to WKQZ. WIOG midday host and music director Brandon Edwards has added the role of assistant program director. Former APD Aaron Adams gave up that role to focus on his afternoon shift- All Access

January 10:

* For years its been stated that the age of AM radio is over- don't tell that to Detroiters! The Fall 2001 Arbitron book was released earlier today, and among listeners age 12 and above, the top 2 Detroit stations were on AM- News/Talk WJR-AM was first, followed by All News WWJ-AM 950. Of course the events of September 11th have likely added to the amount time spent listening to news and information on the radio, and it appears that much of this time is spent on AM. The remainder of the top 10 stations were: Smooth Jazz WVMV-FM, Oldies WOMC-FM, Adult Contemporary WNIC-FM, Urban WJLB-FM, Urban WDTJ-FM, Urban AC WMXD-FM, Top 40 WDRQ-FM, and Adult Contemporary WMGC-FM. The fall book highlights several interesting battles: on the Urban front, WDTJ has pulled dead even with heritage WJLB. Among the Urban AC's, WMXD continues to be a strong player and newer entry WDMK-FM has surged to its best ratings ever after the addition of morning man John Mason. The Adult Contemporary battle is also tightening- WMGC-FM has moved into the top 10 for the first time, closing the gap on heritage WNIC in the process. Rock and Country struggled this book- both Rocker WRIF-FM and Country WYCD-FM finished outside of the top 10 stations. The Top 40 battle also cooled off a bit in the fall with WDRQ moving ahead of WKQI-FM by over 1 point. Overall, the big ratings winners since summer included WDTJ, WMGC, and WDMK. Stations suffering the biggest declines in audience were WNIC, WJLB, WRIF, WYCD, WKQI, and Modern AC WDVD-FM.

* Recent sign-on WZRZ-FM 93.7 Frankenmuth launched regular programming under new owner Regent Communications at 6pm on Tuesday. The station is running an Urban leaning Rhythmic Contemporary Hits format as 'Club 93-7, Today's Hottest Jamz' targeting 18-34 year-olds in the Flint market. The station is currently running a jockless and commercial free set of 5,000 songs which should last until the end of the month. Program director for the station is JJ Shades who brings programming experience from WWCK-FM 105.5 where he served as assistant program director and music director from 1997 to 2000. “I am excited to fill a major void in the Flint radio market” said Regent Operation Manager, J. Patrick. “Club 93.7 will attract anyone searching for current popular artists -- Jay-Z, Destiny’s Child, Ludacris and Ja-Rule--Today’s Hottest Jamz”.

* Urban WTLZ-FM 107.1 Saginaw interim program director John Long is leaving the station effective Jan 18, replaced by Eugene Brown who will also move from middays to afternoons and give up the role of production director. New interim production director will be current night host/mix show director DJ Fresh- Urban Insite

* After being silent since November 2000, Wilks Broadcasting has requested that the license for WCEN-AM 1150 Mt. Pleasant be cancelled.

* FCC Actions: Granted WYGN-LP 25 Berrien Springs a construction permit to increase its power from 5,400 to 47,400 watts and move its tower from north of Berrien Springs to south of South Bend, IN

January 9:

* NBC affiliate WDIV-TV 4 Detroit has extended its affiliation deal with the Peacock Network until 2011- Electronic Media

* LIN Television Corp. has reached a deal with STC Broadcasting to manage and operate NBC affiliate WEYI-TV 25 Saginaw and Fox affiliate WUPW-TV 36 Toledo. LIN already owns/operates WOOD-TV 8 Grand Rapids (NBC), WOTV-TV 41 Battle Creek (ABC), and WXSP-LP Grand Rapids (UPN). The management services agreement is for 3 years.

* Country WKCQ-FM 98.1 Saginaw music director and night host Dave Jackson has left the station to pursue opportunities outside radio; Sean Kelly moves from Top 40 WIOG-FM 102.5 to sister station Rock WKQZ-FM 93.3 as music director. Former 'KQZ MD Rebel Scott James leaves- All Access

* FCC Action: Granted the voluntary assignment of construction permit from Donald James Noordyk to Cadillac Broadcasting for WKAD-FM 93.7 Harrietta

January 8:

* Adult Standards/Religious WOAP-AM 1080 Owosso has applied for a major change to its facilites. The station's owners propose moving the station from Owosso to Waverly (Lansing) along with an increase in daytime power from 1,000 to 50,000 watts. In addition, the application proposed nighttime operations at 4,500 watts. Both the daytime and nighttime patterns would aim primarily north from a 6 tower array. WOAP is owned by 1090 Investments- which also owns/operates Catholic WCAR-AM 1090 Livonia/Detroit.

January 4:

* El Jefe moves from local host of the Bob & Tom Show at Rock WJXQ-FM 106.1 Jackson to nights at sister station Modern Rock WWDX-FM 92.1 Lansing- All Access

* FCC Actions:
- Granted WHSN-FM 100.1 Holton a construction permit for changes: Antenna location change from near Fremont in Newaygo County to northeast of Muskegon in Muskegon County, ERP/HAAT from 3,000 watts / 302 feet (non directional) to 2,900 watts / 472 feet (directional). The move will give WSHN-FM better coverage of Muskegon. The station is owned by Noordyk Broadcasting.
- Granted WJPD-FM 92.3 Ishpeming a construction permit for changes: increase in antenna HAAT from 469 to 509 feet

January 3:

* Dom Theodore has been officially announced as the new program director for Top 40 WKQI-FM 95.5 (Q95-5) Detroit. Clear Channel Radio Detroit market manager and executive VP Steve Schram commented "Dom's success history with high profile hit music stations was a strong factor in our selection for this very important position at Q95-5." Theodore commented "Not only am I excited to come home to Detroit and program in my hometown, but I'm equally excited to be back in the Clear Channel family. I'm looking forward to bringing WKQI to the next level." Theodore arrives from programming Top 40 KRBE Houston. Previously he programmed Clear Channel's WFLZ Tampa, as well as earlier experience in Saginaw and Detroit. This will mark Theodore's second stint at Q95-5- he was with the station briefly in the late 80's at the start of his career.

* Fox Sports Net Detroit scored big with the recent Silicon Valley Football Classic (MSU vs. Fresno State). The game had a 9.4 Nielsen rating in the Detroit metro area, which ties it for the 3rd most watched program in the history of the station and the highest rated non-pro event ever. The all-time ratings high is a 9.7 for the Red Wings vs. Islanders on Nov. 2, 2001. It's the only non-Red Wings game on the current top 20 list. Also at FSN, three members of the Red Wings crew have made the Winter Olympic telecast team- primary game producer Gord Cutler will be one of two hockey producers for the games airing on NBC/CNBC/MSNBC. Game director Jim Marshall and pregame producer/backup game producer Mark Iacofano will work on the crew providing international feeds of the men's and women's hockey, and are expected to work up 2 to 4 games a day throughout the tournament.

* WKQI night jock Booker (Tim Herbster) has been hired at Clear Channel sister station WHTZ-FM New York for evenings and will leave Q95-5. Booker had also held the assistant program director role at 'KQI- All Access

* FCC Action: Assigned 99.9 FM Manistique the call sign WPIQ

January 2:

* News/Talk WFDF-AM 910 Flint is the latest Michigan station to add the syndicated Sean Hannity program to its lineup. The show airs live 3-6pm.

* Kramer & Twitch pulled a brief stunt this morning on FM Talk WKRK-FM 97.1 when they announced that the station was moving to Classic Rock that Really Rocks in favor of the Talk format. The change? The Mancow program has been dropped after Howard Stern and Kramer & Twitch will start their program earlier. The stunt included an 'announcement' that Bob Bauer had been named program director in favor of Terry Lieberman (who remains in the role) and on-air sweepers.

* The American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (AFTRA) has filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of the staff of Sports WXYT-AM 1270 Detroit. The WXYT staff looks to join the same bargaining unit as AFTRA represented workers at sister station WWJ-AM 950. WXYT and WWJ are currently housed in the same building- R&R Online