WHLX
Encyclopedia
WHLX is an American
radio station, licensed to Marine City, Michigan
at 1590 kHz on the AM dial, with a power output of 1,000 watts day, 102 watts night. The station is currently a simulcast
of 1450 WHLS
in Port Huron
. Together, the stations are branded as AM 1450 & 1590, WHLS, airing a locally programmed Oldies
format.
The station transmits from a two-tower directional antenna site along Marine City Highway, which was also its main studio location for much of its existence. Studio facilities today are at 808 Huron Street in downtown Port Huron. WHLX/WHLS are owned by Radio First
of Port Huron, which also owns three other radio stations in St. Clair and Sanilac Counties.
The station started as WSDC in 1951, then WDOG and later became WSMA with country music
for many years.
By 1954, Coughlin had turned the duties of general manager to sales director John Bell and renamed the station WDOG. Fred Cale assumed sales and management duties by 1960.
A disadvantage that the station had for much of its history was its geographic separation from more profitable markets. Located about 12 miles from any kind of urban sprawl, it had difficulty attaching itself to another community for more profit potential, as retail business in tiny Marine City was unable to provide a steady source of revenue, even during AM's halcyon years. For a time, WSMA maintained a small sales office in Port Huron, across the street from competitors WHLS and WSAQ. Despite the challenges, WSMA still managed to produce a modest profit during its early years.
The Port Huron office later closed when the station began to fail in the late 80's, not long after coming under the control of a new owner.
Those failures arose out of an overall lack of dependability of the station, often shutting down operations at sunset (even after being granted nighttime power authorization), and sometimes not even going on the air at all during holidays and even some weekends.
Frink Inc. was declared in default on May 7th, 1990, and was given 180 days to bring its monetary obligations to Sommerville from that date. Frink was required to pay more than $30,000 in unpaid promissory note payments and real estate taxes, according to court papers, putting its total amount owed to more than $150,000. The debts were not satisfied, and as of November 3, 1990, the 181st day of the notice, Sommerville recaptured the license, and assumed the role of trustee.
Barr/Schremp Communications changed the station's call letters to WIFN, and began a gradual phase-out of the country music format in favor of personality talk. Under the new format, the station bore such talents such as G. Gordon Liddy, Larry King, Chuck Harder and Sports Byline USA. Ken Hawk and Dave Haze handled news duties, with Marty Simmonds serving as sports director. The station experienced an increase in revenue under the new format and owners.
Barr and Schremp dissolved their partnership two years after taking control of WIFN, with Schremp pursuing other interests. In 1997 Barr sold the station to Hanson Communications, then-licensee of WPHM
-AM and WBTI-FM in Port Huron, one of WIFN's longtime competitors. Given multiple job offers after the sale, Barr then moved north to Traverse City, where he assumed a promotions and marketing role with country music powerhouse WTCM
.
/Hot AC sister station WBTI
96.9 FM. WIFN became WHYT (picking up the calls dumped by Detroit's 96.3 FM, now WDVD
) under the "Real Country" format. Hanson Communications also moved the station's on-air operations from its longtime location at 5300 Marine City Highway to its main base of operations at 2379 Military Street in Port Huron.
Most administrative functions were handled by the existing staff of Hanson Communications, and Hanson's sales force dedicated their same aggression to selling WHYT as they did their two other properties.
By 2000, Hanson Communications sold 1590 WHYT to Liggett Communications (now Radio First
). Liggett, who was also in the process of acquiring Hanson's competitor, WHLS
-AM and WSAQ
-FM, decided to co-locate all five stations at 808 Huron Street, which was the main base of operations for WHLS and WSAQ, and had enough space for expansion, unlike the Military Street facility.
Recognizing the opportunity to extend WHLS's signal to the southern Thumb area of Michigan
, Liggett Communications abandoned the "Real Country" format and moniker, and simulcast WHLS's programming. WHYT changed its call letters to WHLX, to more closely match that of its sister station. The move allowed WHLS to be heard as far south as Warren, Michigan
in Macomb County and as far north as Sandusky, Michigan in Sanilac County. Its directional covers most of Macomb County, eastern Lapeer County, and most of Lambton County Ontario.
In 2000, WHLS's satellite oldies
was simulcast over WHLX for the first time. Its format then changed to Adult Standards America's Best Music
format in 2001, and back to Oldies using Dial Global
's Kool Gold Timeless Classics format in 2009. WHLX continues to simulcast its sister station WHLS, providing dominance over the upper AM band in St. Clair County. The station airs the popular syndicated program American Standards By The Sea Saturday mornings. WHLS is also the radio home of the Port Huron Icehawks
, the NASCAR
Sprint Cup series, and University of Michigan
football. (MSU football and basketball can be heard on sister station WPHM). WHLS also features local news, CNN Radio news, and locally oriented talk shows on weekend mornings.
As of July 2011, WHLS/WHLX have dropped the Dial Global Kool Gold format and transitioned to airing a locally automated oldies format. Unlike Dial Global's format which focuses on the late 1960s through the 1980s, WHLS/WHLX's new format is a more traditional oldies mix of the late 1950s and 1960s.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
radio station, licensed to Marine City, Michigan
Marine City, Michigan
Marine City is a city in St. Clair County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located on the west bank of the St. Clair River, it is one of the cities in the River District north of Detroit and south of Lake Huron. The population was 4,652 at the 2000 census...
at 1590 kHz on the AM dial, with a power output of 1,000 watts day, 102 watts night. The station is currently a simulcast
Simulcast
Simulcast, shorthand for "simultaneous broadcast", refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are often...
of 1450 WHLS
WHLS
WHLS is an Oldies radio station in Port Huron, Michigan on AM 1450. This station broadcasts from the same tower as sister station WSAQ with 1,000 watts of power. Since 2000 WHLS has simulcasted its programming on 1590 WHLX Marine City. On air they are known as AM 1450 & 1590, WHLS. Both stations...
in Port Huron
Port Huron, Michigan
Port Huron is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of St. Clair County. The population was 30,184 at the 2010 census. The city is adjacent to Port Huron Township but is administratively autonomous. It is joined by the Blue Water Bridge over the St. Clair River to Sarnia,...
. Together, the stations are branded as AM 1450 & 1590, WHLS, airing a locally programmed Oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
format.
The station transmits from a two-tower directional antenna site along Marine City Highway, which was also its main studio location for much of its existence. Studio facilities today are at 808 Huron Street in downtown Port Huron. WHLX/WHLS are owned by Radio First
Radio First
Radio First is the owner of five radio stations in St. Clair and Sanilac Counties. Radio First primarily serves listeners in the Thumb area of Michigan and Southwestern Ontario. Radio First's offices and studios are all located at 808 Huron Avenue, Port Huron, Michigan...
of Port Huron, which also owns three other radio stations in St. Clair and Sanilac Counties.
The station started as WSDC in 1951, then WDOG and later became WSMA with country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
for many years.
Early Years
WHLX first went on the air on December 10, 1951 with the call letters WSDC, operating from its transmitter facility at 5300 Marine City Highway, on the outskirts of Marine City. Doing business as Radio St. Clair, Inc., Jerry Coughlin served as the station's first president and general manager.By 1954, Coughlin had turned the duties of general manager to sales director John Bell and renamed the station WDOG. Fred Cale assumed sales and management duties by 1960.
First Sale
In February of 1967, Coughlin sold WDOG to Sommerville Broadcasting Company, owned by Richard S. Sommerville. He renamed the station WSMA, and adopted a country music format, for which this station would likely best be remembered during its years with independent programming, as it maintained this format and call sign for the next 26 years.A disadvantage that the station had for much of its history was its geographic separation from more profitable markets. Located about 12 miles from any kind of urban sprawl, it had difficulty attaching itself to another community for more profit potential, as retail business in tiny Marine City was unable to provide a steady source of revenue, even during AM's halcyon years. For a time, WSMA maintained a small sales office in Port Huron, across the street from competitors WHLS and WSAQ. Despite the challenges, WSMA still managed to produce a modest profit during its early years.
The Port Huron office later closed when the station began to fail in the late 80's, not long after coming under the control of a new owner.
Those failures arose out of an overall lack of dependability of the station, often shutting down operations at sunset (even after being granted nighttime power authorization), and sometimes not even going on the air at all during holidays and even some weekends.
Second Sale
On May 17, 1987, Richard S. Sommerville, who by this time owned WCEN-AM/FM in Mount Pleasant, sold WSMA to Frink, Inc., under a land contract agreement to pay for the station in monthly installments of $1,845.00. However, in a letter to the FCC dated November 7, 1990, Washington attorney Earl Stanley stated that Sommerville resumed control of WSMA after Frink Inc. failed to meet its financial obligations, prompting a foreclosure civil action in the Circuit Court of St. Clair County.Frink Inc. was declared in default on May 7th, 1990, and was given 180 days to bring its monetary obligations to Sommerville from that date. Frink was required to pay more than $30,000 in unpaid promissory note payments and real estate taxes, according to court papers, putting its total amount owed to more than $150,000. The debts were not satisfied, and as of November 3, 1990, the 181st day of the notice, Sommerville recaptured the license, and assumed the role of trustee.
Reborn: WIFN-AM
Hoping to restore WSMA to its former glory, broadcasters David Barr and Rick Schremp formed Barr/Schremp Communications in 1993 and took control of WSMA that year. Coincidentally, Barr's father William was the former owner of WATC AM 900 & WZXM FM 95.3 in Gaylord, 220 miles north of Detroit, before selling it in 1986.Barr/Schremp Communications changed the station's call letters to WIFN, and began a gradual phase-out of the country music format in favor of personality talk. Under the new format, the station bore such talents such as G. Gordon Liddy, Larry King, Chuck Harder and Sports Byline USA. Ken Hawk and Dave Haze handled news duties, with Marty Simmonds serving as sports director. The station experienced an increase in revenue under the new format and owners.
Barr and Schremp dissolved their partnership two years after taking control of WIFN, with Schremp pursuing other interests. In 1997 Barr sold the station to Hanson Communications, then-licensee of WPHM
WPHM
WPHM is a news, talk and sports radio station in Port Huron, Michigan that broadcasts on AM 1380 with 5,000 watts. WPHM is owned by Radio First. The station includes programming from Dr. Joy Browne, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Dave Ramsey, and local morning show host Paul Miller...
-AM and WBTI-FM in Port Huron, one of WIFN's longtime competitors. Given multiple job offers after the sale, Barr then moved north to Traverse City, where he assumed a promotions and marketing role with country music powerhouse WTCM
WTCM-FM
WTCM-FM consists of two radio stations: WTCM-FM 103.5 in Traverse City, Michigan and simulcast WBCM 93.5 FM in Boyne City, Michigan. The two stations carry a country music format and are owned by Midwestern Broadcasting. Today, WTCM-FM/WBCM is on or near the top of the Arbitron ratings...
.
Back to Music
Following completion of the sale in late 1997, country music returned with "Real Country" via satellite from the ABC/SMN radio network, after a brief period of simulcasting with CHRContemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
/Hot AC sister station WBTI
WBTI
WBTI is an Adult Top 40 radio station in Lexington, Michigan. It broadcasts on 96.9 MHz with 3,000 watts and is owned by Radio First. This is the third owner in the station's 15-year history....
96.9 FM. WIFN became WHYT (picking up the calls dumped by Detroit's 96.3 FM, now WDVD
WDVD
WDVD is a hot adult contemporary radio station in Detroit, Michigan, broadcasting at 96.3 MHz on the FM dial. WDVD's studios and offices are located in the Fisher Building near downtown Detroit. WDVD's transmitter is located in Oakland County in Royal Oak Township at 8 Mile Road and Wyoming Avenue...
) under the "Real Country" format. Hanson Communications also moved the station's on-air operations from its longtime location at 5300 Marine City Highway to its main base of operations at 2379 Military Street in Port Huron.
Most administrative functions were handled by the existing staff of Hanson Communications, and Hanson's sales force dedicated their same aggression to selling WHYT as they did their two other properties.
By 2000, Hanson Communications sold 1590 WHYT to Liggett Communications (now Radio First
Radio First
Radio First is the owner of five radio stations in St. Clair and Sanilac Counties. Radio First primarily serves listeners in the Thumb area of Michigan and Southwestern Ontario. Radio First's offices and studios are all located at 808 Huron Avenue, Port Huron, Michigan...
). Liggett, who was also in the process of acquiring Hanson's competitor, WHLS
WHLS
WHLS is an Oldies radio station in Port Huron, Michigan on AM 1450. This station broadcasts from the same tower as sister station WSAQ with 1,000 watts of power. Since 2000 WHLS has simulcasted its programming on 1590 WHLX Marine City. On air they are known as AM 1450 & 1590, WHLS. Both stations...
-AM and WSAQ
WSAQ
WSAQ is a country music radio station in Port Huron, Michigan known as Q Country 107. It began broadcasting August 7, 1964 on 107.1 MHz with 6,000 watts, and remains the same today . It broadcasts from the same site as AM 1450 WHLS. Q-Country plays modern country music along with some...
-FM, decided to co-locate all five stations at 808 Huron Street, which was the main base of operations for WHLS and WSAQ, and had enough space for expansion, unlike the Military Street facility.
Today
The Thumb
The Thumb is a region and a peninsula of Michigan, so named because the Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten; thus the Thumb is the area that looks like the thumb of the mitten. The Thumb is generally considered to be in the Mid-Michigan area of the state, located east of Flint/Tri-Cities...
, Liggett Communications abandoned the "Real Country" format and moniker, and simulcast WHLS's programming. WHYT changed its call letters to WHLX, to more closely match that of its sister station. The move allowed WHLS to be heard as far south as Warren, Michigan
Warren, Michigan
Warren is a city in Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The 2010 census places the city's population at 134,056, making Warren the largest city in Macomb County, the third largest city in Michigan, and Metro Detroit's largest suburb....
in Macomb County and as far north as Sandusky, Michigan in Sanilac County. Its directional covers most of Macomb County, eastern Lapeer County, and most of Lambton County Ontario.
In 2000, WHLS's satellite oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
was simulcast over WHLX for the first time. Its format then changed to Adult Standards America's Best Music
America's Best Music
America's Best Music is the on-air branding of an adult standards 24-hour radio network, known internally as Adult Standards and formerly known as AM Only, currently owned by Dial Global. It was one of the original Westwood One's Transtar networks...
format in 2001, and back to Oldies using Dial Global
Dial Global
Dial Global is a radio syndication company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Triton Media Group and is a sister company to Townsquare Media, both of which are owned by Oaktree Capital Management....
's Kool Gold Timeless Classics format in 2009. WHLX continues to simulcast its sister station WHLS, providing dominance over the upper AM band in St. Clair County. The station airs the popular syndicated program American Standards By The Sea Saturday mornings. WHLS is also the radio home of the Port Huron Icehawks
Port Huron Icehawks
The Port Huron Icehawks were a minor league professional ice hockey team based in Port Huron, Michigan. They were a member of the International Hockey League and played their home games at McMorran Arena. The franchise was announced on June 20, 2007 as part of the new IHL. The Icehawks are owned by...
, the NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
Sprint Cup series, and University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
football. (MSU football and basketball can be heard on sister station WPHM). WHLS also features local news, CNN Radio news, and locally oriented talk shows on weekend mornings.
As of July 2011, WHLS/WHLX have dropped the Dial Global Kool Gold format and transitioned to airing a locally automated oldies format. Unlike Dial Global's format which focuses on the late 1960s through the 1980s, WHLS/WHLX's new format is a more traditional oldies mix of the late 1950s and 1960s.