News/talk radio station in Muskegon, Michigan
This article is about the current WOOD-FM in Muskegon, Michigan. For the station that bore the WOOD-FM call letters from 1962 to 2010, see
WSRW-FM
.
WOOD-FM
(106.9
MHz
) is a
commercial
radio station
licensed
to
Muskegon, Michigan
, serving
West Michigan
and is owned by
iHeartMedia, Inc.
It
simulcasts
a
news/talk
radio format
with
sister station
WOOD
1300 AM
. The studios and offices are at 77 Monroe Center in Downtown Grand Rapids. Following a local weekday
drive time
show, "West Michigan's Morning News", the station carries
nationally syndicated
talk shows from
Sean Hannity
,
Glenn Beck
,
Dave Ramsey
,
Joe Pags
, "
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
" and "
Coast to Coast AM
with
George Noory
". Most hours begin with an update from
Fox News Radio
.
WOOD-FM has an
effective radiated power
of 50,000
watts
. Its
transmitter
is off South Hilton Park Road in Muskegon.
[1]
WOOD-FM broadcasts using
HD Radio
technology. Its HD-2
digital subchannel
carries programming from co-owned
WKBZ
1090 AM
.
History
[
edit
]
The station originally
signed on
as
WMUS
-FM in November 1947. It was originally on 100.5 on the FM dial. WMUS-FM was Muskegon's first FM station and came on the air just a few months after its AM sister,
WMUS
. By 1950, WMUS-FM had gone
dark
, but the station was revived in November 1962. It had moved to its current frequency of 106.9 MHz and a power of 2,850 watts, gradually increased to the current 50,000 watts over the years. WMUS-FM's original programming consisted of a simulcast of its AM sister station.
In 1965, WMUS 1090 changed format from
middle of the road
(MOR) to
country music
as "Top Gun Radio". Rather than continue to simulcast, WMUS-FM separated programming and adopted the new call sign WFFM. In a "storecast" arrangement with Hasper's, a local grocery-store chain, WFFM aired instrumental
easy listening
music in monaural sound, interspersed with promotional announcements about Hasper's.
[2]
The WMUS-FM call letters returned to 106.9 in 1970 and the station resumed its simulcast of the AM's country format.
FM stereo
broadcasting was added in 1975. WMUS-AM-FM was the main affiliate and flagship station for the
Grand Valley State Laker
football radio network.
[3]
Eventually the AM and FM signals switched roles, with the 50,000-watt stereo FM signal becoming the primary station and AM 1090 becoming the simulcast.
The AM-FM simulcast ended in April 2001 when AM 1090 changed to a news/talk format. The AM station took the call sign WKBZ which once belonged to one of WMUS' biggest competitor stations.
[4]
At noon on January 5, 2011, WMUS-FM ended its country sound. It then switched to a News/Talk format, simulcasting sister station
WOOD
1300 AM
. It turned off the stereo equipment and broadcasts in mono, better suited to a spoken word format. At the same time the WMUS calls and format were moved to 107.9 FM.
[5]
It acts primarily to fill in gaps in the AM station's nighttime signal.
Signal
[
edit
]
The station can be received across all of West Michigan and as far east as Alma, St. Johns, and Northwest Lansing, with reception also possible in Eastern Wisconsin across
Lake Michigan
, especially in
Sheboygan
and
Ozaukee
Counties. WOOD-FM's short-spaced allocation and higher power means that the
Brookfield
-licensed
WRXS
has a much smaller coverage area than most
Milwaukee
stations due to the heritage of the 106.9 signal in Muskegon.
WSAE
106.9 "Home FM" in
Spring Arbor, Michigan
, often overpowers the frequency across south-west lower Michigan.
On June 21, 2021, a lightning strike at the tower site caused a fire that destroyed the transmitter building, temporarily knocking WOOD-FM off the air.
[6]
Programming
[
edit
]
WOOD's program director Phil Tower leads an airstaff that includes an
all-news
morning program,
West Michigan's Morning News
with Steve Kelly, Bret Bakita, Lauren Smith, and Rick Albin.
West Michigan Live
follows with host Justin Barclay. The rest of the day is filled by:
Glenn Beck
,
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
,
Sean Hannity
,
Dave Ramsey
,
Joe Pags
and
Coast to Coast AM
with
George Noory
. Most of WOOD Radio's weekday lineup comes from iHeart's
Premiere Networks
.
Weekend programs and hosts include: "
Leo Laporte
:
The Tech Guy
",
Gordon Deal
, "
The Weekend with Michael Brown
",
Bill Cunningham
and "Jill On Money".
[7]
WOOD Radio's local newsroom provides local, regional and national news every day of the week, plus world and national news from
Fox News Radio
. It also utilizes reports and breaking news coverage through an ancillary affiliation with
CBS News Radio
.
WOOD Radio is the Grand Rapids home of
University of Michigan
Wolverines football
and
basketball
. It also carries
Grand Rapids Griffins
ice hockey.
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
All-news
| |
---|
Full-time news/talk
|
- Adrian
- Ann Arbor
- Battle Creek
- Big Rapids
- Cadillac
- Detroit
- Escanaba
- Grand Rapids
- Hastings
- Holland
- Iron Mountain
- Jackson
- Kalamazoo
- Lansing
- Ludington
- Manistee
- Marquette
- Muskegon
- Niles
- Saginaw
- Tawas City
- Traverse City/Petoskey
|
---|
Part-time news/talk
|
- Coldwater
- Escanaba
- Farmington Hills/Detroit
- Grand Rapids
- Hancock/Houghton
- Hillsdale
- Port Huron
- Sandusky
- Sault. Ste. Marie
- Benton Harbor/St. Joseph
|
---|
Defunct
|
- Alpena
- Flint
- Ishpeming
- Manistee
|
---|
|
|
---|
Corporate officers
| |
---|
Board of directors
| |
---|
AM radio stations
| |
---|
FM radio stations
| |
---|
Radio networks
| |
---|
Miscellaneous
| |
---|
43°13′48″N
86°05′02″W
/
43.230°N 86.084°W
/
43.230; -86.084