WSBX 94.5 On The Air

[Ben Zonia]

WSBX 94.5 Mackinaw City back on the air with some form of Classic Rock, sounds like Classic/Vinyl Classic Rock.

[MWmetalhead]

Seems like a very risky choice given the plethora of classic rock already available on the FM dial in the local area.

[Ben Zonia]

Seems like a very risky choice given the plethora of classic rock already available on the FM dial in the local area.

There might be too many similar formats.

Another description might be 80s centered Classic Hits. They said 70s 80s 90s.

[jessesbrieze]

It looks like they're billing as Everything Classic... Genre's across the board. Could be a clever format. The website says everything from the Beach Boys to Def Leppard.

[Ben Zonia]

It looks like they're billing as Everything Classic... Genre's across the board. Could be a clever format. The website says everything from the Beach Boys to Def Leppard.

How far back on Beach Boys? Beach Boys, Beatles, and other groups most popular in the 60s have limited numbers of big hit tracks 1970 or later. Kokomo in 1990 would probably be described by younger people as a one off fluke, as good as it may be. WCHY 97.7 covers the 60s and 70s very well, but is not very powerful. The rest are similar to Yacht Rock or some era and raucousness of Classic Rock or Classic Hits.

The Beach Boys will perform at Interlochen's Kresge Auditorium August 19, by the way. Those era of concerts surprisingly do attract a scattering of younger people.

[Graham Wellington]

WSBX? Uh oh....is Woody Nelson back?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WSBX

[ChrisWL1980]

WCHY I would describe as Oldies (when they're not airing the ultra-far-right talk programming before noon). Their satellite format is similar to what 99-9 The Wave used to be. The Wave today seems to be somewhere in between WCHY and Lite 96.3, but more uptempo than 106.3 - they play Madonna, Whitney Houston, Ace of Base and other pop/dance artists. FWIW, "Kokomo" was 1988 (and IIRC their first Top 10 hit in 12 years though the "Beach Boys Medley" came close in 1981).
I too am skeptical about the need for yet another classic rock-based format though. Seems like 94.3/94.5 Mackinaw has tried just about every format one can think of short of Religion or Hip-Hop and nothing has stuck. Wouldn't be surprised if EMF or some other Jesus-caster eventually made a move for it.

[Ben Zonia]

WCHY I would describe as Oldies (when they're not airing the ultra-far-right talk programming before noon). Their satellite format is similar to what 99-9 The Wave used to be. The Wave today seems to be somewhere in between WCHY and Lite 96.3, but more uptempo than 106.3 - they play Madonna, Whitney Houston, Ace of Base and other pop/dance artists. FWIW, "Kokomo" was 1988 (and IIRC their first Top 10 hit in 12 years though the "Beach Boys Medley" came close in 1981).
I too am skeptical about the need for yet another classic rock-based format though. Seems like 94.3/94.5 Mackinaw has tried just about every format one can think of short of Religion or Hip-Hop and nothing has stuck. Wouldn't be surprised if EMF or some other Jesus-caster eventually made a move for it.

103.9 in Harbor Springs was originally WLTO, which tried a "Cross Country", a kind of Classic Country Crossover/AC format That didn't do that well, and Central Michigan University soon bought it.

It seems like Docket 80-90 kind of over saturated nearly every market, and had a lot of rimshots that competitors looked for quasi legal excuses for not allowing them to "move in" to larger populated areas, some which could have used more stations with stronger signals. The NAB managed to strong-arm the FCC into making it destabilize smaller markets, or put stations in the middle of nowhere, so as not to compete with the big owners in large cities. Then the FCC lifted total and local ownership limits, and the NAB realized they messed a lot of things up. Kind of like throwing extra chess pieces on the board randomly and knocking all the pieces over. They should have had rules more like Canada has, and that would have allowed a smooth transition of many AM stations to allow full power replacement FMs.

Now here's a blast from the past, The FM Atlas, from 1993.

https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-F ... 5-1993.pdf

[MWmetalhead]

Based on the description found on the station's website, it appears the new format is an eclectic classic hits format that favors rock but includes multiple genres. Sounds like the playlist will also include an impressive number of songs.

So, it's not as similar to KLT and The Bear as I had feared. That's a good thing.

[ChrisWL1980]

Sounds not dissimilar to the "We Play Everything" era of Eagle 101.5, but maybe not as wide-ranging. That was a station where you could hear Madonna, The Carpenters and George Strait within a few minutes of each other.

I vaguely remember WLTO 103.9. They were a Country reporter station in the Gavin Report for a few years. Gavin utilized a lot of small-market stations as reporters.

[Deleted User 16093]

It's been over a decade since I've visited Traverse City and Mackinaw. Is this the same 94.5 that had Coast FM and The Zone? I remember Coast FM was on 95.5, 94.5, and 93.9.

[Ben Zonia]

It's been over a decade since I've visited Traverse City and Mackinaw. Is this the same 94.5 that had Coast FM and The Zone? I remember Coast FM was on 95.5, 94.5, and 93.9.

Yes, it was Coast FM and The Zone. Before that, when it first signed on it was WFGE 94.3, "Fudgie", at first just 3000 watts way down the hill on Freedom Rd. It relocated to 94.5 and eventually became a Class C2 at the Hebron Lookout site under Section 73.215.

[Deleted User 16093]

Didn't know they started at 94.3, funny name.

93.9 Mio is now owned by The Seven Day Adventists I believe. Western Lower Michigan radio seems to change a lot.

[ChrisWL1980]

I remember Fudgie 94... satellite-delivered Hot AC as I recall.
The author of the Wiki article on 94.5 mentions the original calls on 94.3 were WSSW and the original format was automated MOR.
IIRC the Coast FM format was the same satellite-delivered Jones Radio Networks Smooth Jazz later used on the first incarnation of 92.9 The Breeze, and also on 92.7 (later 92.9) WJZL in Lansing and on 100.5 WQFN in Grand Rapids (pre-WTRV).
93.9 has also been AC (simulcasting 100.7 Oscoda), Country (simulcasting WMKC) and Classic Rock (The Bear). Oh, and there was a AAA era with the name 93.9 The River - same format, frequency, and moniker as CIDR at the time. Of course, The Zone itself sounded very AAA/Modern AC for a time.

[organman95]

I remember back when it was on 94.3. My grandparents lived off N. Old Mackinaw. About a mile from the tower. Even at 3,000 watts, didn't take much for the signal to get static during storms.