WMAX-FM
Encyclopedia
WMAX-FM are the call letters of a radio station
owned by Clear Channel Communications
located in Grand Rapids, Michigan
, transmitting on a frequency of 96.1 MHz.
The station is identified as 96.1 ESPN and carries both locally-produced play by play sportscasts and sports talk programs, as well as programming from the ESPN Radio
network.
. During this time (from the station's inception until the early 1980s), the station was generally being used as a simulcast to WHTC-AM.
In 1981, Michael Walton, of Milwaukee WI, purchased WHTC-AM and FM. By 1983, 96.1 became known as WYXX, with a new tower . After Walton assumed full control of the station, it became a fully automated pop
formatted station that focused primarily on playing Billboard magazine's top 100 hits
. The all-hit format was softened to adult contemporary by 1987, to better compete with existing stations in the Grand Rapids market.
When WOOD-FM
dropped its easy listening
format in 1992, WYXX adopted the format along with the call letters WKEZ.
By 1994 the station was sold to Federated Media and once Federated had control of the station, a "Young Country" format was adopted. The call letters became WAKX. This format was also unsuccessful; it was not able to effectively compete with WCUZ-FM 101.3/WCUZ-AM 1230, the incumbent country juggernaut at the time. The format changed in 1997 to Hot Adult Contemporary and became known as "Mix 96."
The station was later purchased by Clear Channel Communications and the station became known as "I-96" (taking its name from the highway Interstate 96
passing through Grand Rapids; the station's logo also resembled an interstate highway sign). The call letters were also changed to WVTI. The format shifted from Hot AC to CHR
as Continuous Hit Music, I-96. Clear Channel took control of rival station WSNX
in the late summer of 1999; much of the "I-96" air lineup moved over to WSNX 104.5, which shifted from CHR/Rhythmic to CHR/Pop as a result, and "I-96" itself shifted back to Hot AC, which it would remain for the next six years. Initially, the station had moderate success as I-96, but as other local radio stations (including sister station WOOD-FM) began putting more Hot AC-oriented acts on their Mainstream AC stations, the ratings began to slide by 2005.
On October 18, 2005, the station flipped to a Jack FM
clone called "MAX-FM". It gained the call sign of WMAX from another Clear Channel operation in Chattanooga, Tennessee
on November 16, 2005. The station initially was programmed with over 1500 unique songs drawing from various pop music genres. As time went by, the list was honed down to less than 600 songs and the music was more focused on the 1980-early 2000s time period. After a rather respectable ratings showing, the ratings heavily slid by early 2007.
On March 19, 2007, the station retooled itself into a Modern AC-leaning Hot AC presentation, known as "The NEW MAX-FM", which lasted until January 31, 2008.
On January 31, 2008 at 3 PM, the station dropped the Hot AC format and began stunting with the sounds of a ticking clock interspersed with liners that were played every two or three minutes. Some of these liners were in Spanish
and made reference to Regent Communications
-owned WNWZ
AM 1410 and cold, snow-covered cornfields in Hudsonville, MI, while others mentioned the time and date of 02/04/08 at 10:01 AM. Songs which served as clues to what the new format would be were played. The songs included Coldplay
's "Clocks
"; Elvis Presley
's "Burning Love
"; David Allan Coe
's "You Never Even Called Me By My Name", and Hall & Oates
' "Private Eyes
", among dozens of others. During the stunt, the station's website showed a 12-second viral video
clip influenced by the Cloverfield
movie, with a message that pointed to the date of February 4, 2008 at 10:01 AM. A year later
, WLHT-FM (owned by Regent, now Townsquare Media) would acquire the adult top 40 format that had been absent in Grand Rapids for more than a year.
At exactly the promised time, the ticking clock stopped, and the new format, which is known as Radio X 96.1, began. The Radio X presentation heavily centered on modern rock music from the 1990s, as well as featured selected songs from the mid 1970's through the end of the 1980's as well as current product. This type of format was also in use in several other Clear Channel operations across the country, but has been discontinued at some of the radio stations during the past several years.
On August 4, 2008, Clear Channel
placed the station's assets into an entity called the Aloha Station Trust in order to sell off the station. This was due to Clear Channel being above the ownership limits allowed by the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC). These limits were imposed when Clear Channel was officially taken private by Bain Capital Partners on July 30, 2008. In December 2008, Clear Channel took back WMAX after Arbitron
reassigned WMAX to the Muskegon market, and its sister station, WLDI in Fort Pierce, Florida
, to its new market.
Legally, 96.1 is WMAX-FM, as the WMAX
calls are used at a Catholic Christian radio station (not co-owned) at 1440 AM in Bay City, Michigan. In 1922, the WMAX call sign was used by a station in Ann Arbor, Michigan. From circa 1956-1986, the WMAX calls were used by AM 1480 in Grand Rapids. WMAX was an adult contemporary music station "Good MAX Music," until flipping to an all-news format in 1976. WMAX had a local news staff of 11 reporters, known as "NEWSRADIO 1480," before becoming a Christian talk/Gospel Music station in 1984. WMAX was reassigned from Grand Rapids to Kentwood when a new night-time directional array was added in 1984. WMAX later became a Contemporary Christian station, before becoming silent. AM 1480 became WGVU-AM in 1992, operated by Grand Valley State University. From 1992-1998, the WMAX call letters were used by an alternative rock 106.7 FM station in Rochester, New York.
Starting in June 2009, Clear Channel's Grand Rapids operations began making plans to change the format of the radio station into one carrying ESPN
-provided sports programming and local/statewide play-by-play game commentary.
Beginning on August 7, 2009, WMAX-FM began "stunting" by broadcasting a simulcast of mainstream rock
-oriented sister station WBFX
.
On August 17, 2009 at midnight, the station began broadcasting sports-oriented programming, with a large share of the programs originating from ESPN Radio
.
Broncos football
and men's basketball
games via the school's "Bronco Radio Network".
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
owned by Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
located in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
, transmitting on a frequency of 96.1 MHz.
The station is identified as 96.1 ESPN and carries both locally-produced play by play sportscasts and sports talk programs, as well as programming from the ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio is an American sports radio network. It was launched on January 1, 1992 under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN." ESPN Radio is located at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut...
network.
History
The frequency originally belonged to WHTC-FM, which went on the air in 1961, with an antenna on the WTHC-AM 1450 tower in downtown Holland, MichiganHolland, Michigan
Holland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River ....
. During this time (from the station's inception until the early 1980s), the station was generally being used as a simulcast to WHTC-AM.
In 1981, Michael Walton, of Milwaukee WI, purchased WHTC-AM and FM. By 1983, 96.1 became known as WYXX, with a new tower . After Walton assumed full control of the station, it became a fully automated pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
formatted station that focused primarily on playing Billboard magazine's top 100 hits
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. The all-hit format was softened to adult contemporary by 1987, to better compete with existing stations in the Grand Rapids market.
When WOOD-FM
WSRW-FM
WQLX is a radio station broadcasting a hot adult contemporary format. Licensed to Chillicothe, Ohio, USA, it formerly broadcast country music from Hillsboro, Ohio at 106.7 FM. The station is currently owned by Clear Channel Communications and features programing from Premiere Radio Networks...
dropped its easy listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
format in 1992, WYXX adopted the format along with the call letters WKEZ.
By 1994 the station was sold to Federated Media and once Federated had control of the station, a "Young Country" format was adopted. The call letters became WAKX. This format was also unsuccessful; it was not able to effectively compete with WCUZ-FM 101.3/WCUZ-AM 1230, the incumbent country juggernaut at the time. The format changed in 1997 to Hot Adult Contemporary and became known as "Mix 96."
The station was later purchased by Clear Channel Communications and the station became known as "I-96" (taking its name from the highway Interstate 96
Highway
A highway is any public road. In American English, the term is common and almost always designates major roads. In British English, the term designates any road open to the public. Any interconnected set of highways can be variously referred to as a "highway system", a "highway network", or a...
passing through Grand Rapids; the station's logo also resembled an interstate highway sign). The call letters were also changed to WVTI. The format shifted from Hot AC to CHR
Contemporary 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...
as Continuous Hit Music, I-96. Clear Channel took control of rival station WSNX
WSNX
WSNX-FM is a radio station located in Clear Channel Communications' Grand Rapids, Michigan headquarters. The station has a rhythmic-leaning Top 40 format...
in the late summer of 1999; much of the "I-96" air lineup moved over to WSNX 104.5, which shifted from CHR/Rhythmic to CHR/Pop as a result, and "I-96" itself shifted back to Hot AC, which it would remain for the next six years. Initially, the station had moderate success as I-96, but as other local radio stations (including sister station WOOD-FM) began putting more Hot AC-oriented acts on their Mainstream AC stations, the ratings began to slide by 2005.
On October 18, 2005, the station flipped to a Jack FM
Jack FM
JACK FM is the alternative name and on-air brand of 60 radio stations in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia. Jack stations play a mix of 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s hits with some current hot adult contemporary singles. Jack's slogan "playing what we want" can also be...
clone called "MAX-FM". It gained the call sign of WMAX from another Clear Channel operation in Chattanooga, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
on November 16, 2005. The station initially was programmed with over 1500 unique songs drawing from various pop music genres. As time went by, the list was honed down to less than 600 songs and the music was more focused on the 1980-early 2000s time period. After a rather respectable ratings showing, the ratings heavily slid by early 2007.
On March 19, 2007, the station retooled itself into a Modern AC-leaning Hot AC presentation, known as "The NEW MAX-FM", which lasted until January 31, 2008.
On January 31, 2008 at 3 PM, the station dropped the Hot AC format and began stunting with the sounds of a ticking clock interspersed with liners that were played every two or three minutes. Some of these liners were in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and made reference to Regent Communications
Regent Communications
Townsquare Media is an American radio broadcaster, based in Greenwich, Connecticut., after it acquired sister companies Gap Broadcasting and GapWest Broadcasting, it owned 171 radio stations in 36 radio markets, with concentration in the Northeast, Midwest, Southwest, and Mountain...
-owned WNWZ
WNWZ
WNWZ is a radio station broadcasting a comedy format, licensed to Grand Rapids, Michigan.The station is simulcast on the HD2 subchannel of adult contemporary sister station WLHT 95.7.-WGRD:...
AM 1410 and cold, snow-covered cornfields in Hudsonville, MI, while others mentioned the time and date of 02/04/08 at 10:01 AM. Songs which served as clues to what the new format would be were played. The songs included Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
's "Clocks
Clocks (song)
"Clocks" is a song by English alternative rock band Coldplay. It was written by all members of the band for their second album, A Rush of Blood to the Head. Built around a piano riff, the song features cryptic lyrics of contrast and urgency themes. Several remixes of the track exist and its riff...
"; Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
's "Burning Love
Burning Love
"Burning Love" is a song written by Dennis Linde, first recorded by Arthur Alexander, who included it on his self-titled 1971 album, and made famous by Elvis Presley, who took it to #2 in the United States in 1972...
"; David Allan Coe
David Allan Coe
David Allan Coe is an American outlaw country music singer who achieved popularity in the 1970s and 1980s. He has written and performed over 280 original songs throughout his career...
's "You Never Even Called Me By My Name", and Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates are an American musical duo composed of Daryl Hall and John Oates. They achieved their greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. Both sing and play instruments. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles, which they dubbed "rock and soul."...
' "Private Eyes
Private Eyes (song)
"Private Eyes" is the hit 1981 single by Hall & Oates and the title track from their album of that year. The song was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 charts for two weeks, from November 7 through November 20, 1981. This single was the band's third of six number one hits , and their second...
", among dozens of others. During the stunt, the station's website showed a 12-second viral video
Viral video
A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
clip influenced by the Cloverfield
Cloverfield
Cloverfield is a 2008 American disaster-monster film directed by Matt Reeves, produced by J. J. Abrams and written by Drew Goddard.The film follows six young New Yorkers attending a going-away party on the night that a gigantic monster attacks the city...
movie, with a message that pointed to the date of February 4, 2008 at 10:01 AM. A year later
2009 in radio
The following events occurred in radio in 2009.- Events :* January 1: Kurdish TV starts broadcasting in Turkey.* January: Michael Smerconish, morning host at talk radio WPHT Philadelphia, begins syndication of his morning show to WHFS in Washington and WOR in New York City.* January 17: Two well...
, WLHT-FM (owned by Regent, now Townsquare Media) would acquire the adult top 40 format that had been absent in Grand Rapids for more than a year.
At exactly the promised time, the ticking clock stopped, and the new format, which is known as Radio X 96.1, began. The Radio X presentation heavily centered on modern rock music from the 1990s, as well as featured selected songs from the mid 1970's through the end of the 1980's as well as current product. This type of format was also in use in several other Clear Channel operations across the country, but has been discontinued at some of the radio stations during the past several years.
On August 4, 2008, Clear Channel
Clear channel
A clear-channel station is an AM band Radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. Usually known as class A stations since 1982, they are occasionally still referred to by their former...
placed the station's assets into an entity called the Aloha Station Trust in order to sell off the station. This was due to Clear Channel being above the ownership limits allowed by the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC). These limits were imposed when Clear Channel was officially taken private by Bain Capital Partners on July 30, 2008. In December 2008, Clear Channel took back WMAX after Arbitron
Arbitron
Arbitron is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio audiences. It was founded as American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging with L.A. based Coffin, Cooper and Clay in the early 1950s...
reassigned WMAX to the Muskegon market, and its sister station, WLDI in Fort Pierce, Florida
Fort Pierce, Florida
Fort Pierce, also spelled Ft. Pierce, is a city in St. Lucie County, Florida, USA. It is known as The Sunrise City. The population was 37,959 at the 2004 census. As of 2008, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 41,000. It is the county seat of St. Lucie County.Fort Pierce is part...
, to its new market.
Legally, 96.1 is WMAX-FM, as the WMAX
WMAX (AM)
WMAX is a radio station broadcasting a Catholic religious format. It is co-owned with WDEO 990 AM in Ypsilanti, Michigan, and features the same programming from the EWTN Global Catholic Radio network...
calls are used at a Catholic Christian radio station (not co-owned) at 1440 AM in Bay City, Michigan. In 1922, the WMAX call sign was used by a station in Ann Arbor, Michigan. From circa 1956-1986, the WMAX calls were used by AM 1480 in Grand Rapids. WMAX was an adult contemporary music station "Good MAX Music," until flipping to an all-news format in 1976. WMAX had a local news staff of 11 reporters, known as "NEWSRADIO 1480," before becoming a Christian talk/Gospel Music station in 1984. WMAX was reassigned from Grand Rapids to Kentwood when a new night-time directional array was added in 1984. WMAX later became a Contemporary Christian station, before becoming silent. AM 1480 became WGVU-AM in 1992, operated by Grand Valley State University. From 1992-1998, the WMAX call letters were used by an alternative rock 106.7 FM station in Rochester, New York.
Starting in June 2009, Clear Channel's Grand Rapids operations began making plans to change the format of the radio station into one carrying ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
-provided sports programming and local/statewide play-by-play game commentary.
Beginning on August 7, 2009, WMAX-FM began "stunting" by broadcasting a simulcast of mainstream rock
Mainstream rock
Mainstream rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada.-Format background:...
-oriented sister station WBFX
WBFX
WBFX is a radio station broadcasting a mainstream rock format, serving the Grand Rapids, Michigan market. Its signal is heard as far east as Owosso, Michigan, as far north as Reed City, Michigan, and as far south as Portage, Michigan....
.
On August 17, 2009 at midnight, the station began broadcasting sports-oriented programming, with a large share of the programs originating from ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio is an American sports radio network. It was launched on January 1, 1992 under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN." ESPN Radio is located at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut...
.
Bronco Radio Network
Beginning September 5, 2009 the station started broadcasting Western Michigan UniversityWestern Michigan University
Western Michigan University is a public university located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. The university was established in 1903 by Dwight B. Waldo, and as of the Fall 2010 semester, its enrollment is 25,045....
Broncos football
Western Michigan Broncos football
The Western Michigan Broncos football program represents Western Michigan University in the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division I and the Mid-American Conference . Western Michigan has competed in football since 1906, when they played three games in their inaugural season...
and men's basketball
Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball
The Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball team is the basketball team that represents Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The school's team competes in the Mid-American Conference. The team last played in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in 2004...
games via the school's "Bronco Radio Network".