WLJZ

Infobox Radio station
name = WLJZ


city = Mackinaw City, Michigan
area = [http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WLJZ&service=FM&status=L&hours=U]
branding = Big Country Gold
slogan =
airdate = September 6, 1989 (as WSSW on 94.3)
frequency = 94.5 MHz
format = Classic Country
power =
erp = 40,000 watts
haat = 116 meters
class = C2
facility_id = 53290
callsign_meaning = Light Jazz (previous format)
former_callsigns = WFGE (7/19/93-8/1/95)
WSSW (10/8/86-7/19/93)
owner = Northern Star Broadcasting
sister_stations = WAVC, WCBY, WCKC, WGFM, WGFN, WIDG, WJZJ, WMKC
webcast =
website =
affiliations =

WLJZ, "Big Country Gold," is an FM radio station at 94.5 MHz based in Mackinaw City, Michigan, which features a Classic Country format fed via satellite from Waitt Radio Networks.

History

The license for this station was first issued in February 1985. The station's original call letters were WSSW (for the station's founder, Sonora S. Wray), which were first issued in October 1986. After a series of construction-related delays, WSSW first signed on at 94.3 in 1989 with an automated MOR format, but went dark not long after that. The station, while at 94.3, was initially assigned a Class A power output of 3,000 watts, which made the station all but unlistenable outside of the Mackinaw City-St. Ignace area, a seasonal, tourist-driven market barely able to sustain the competing radio stations that were already on the air and firmly established. WSSW's management thought that perhaps packing the station with tourist-related information for the local area would help reverse its fortunes. The station did improve, but not enough. Wray sold the station to Robert A. Naismith in February 1992.

Naismith returned the station to the air with a hot adult contemporary format as WFGE, known as "Fudgie 94" (as in Mackinac Island's famous fudge). Then in 1995, the station changed calls to WLJZ and changed its frequency to 94.5 with an increase in power, which increased its broadcast area substantially. WLJZ adopted a satellite-fed smooth jazz format as "Coast FM," simulcasting with WAVC 93.9 FM in Mio and WJZJ 95.5.

In 1998, "Coast FM," suffering from low ratings, was dropped in favor of "The Zone." WAVC eventually dropped out of the "Zone" network to simulcast country sister WMKC. For more on "The Zone," see WJZJ.

In 2006, WLJZ also abandoned the "Zone" simulcast in favor of a standalone Hot AC format using Waitt Radio's "AC Active" package, taking the name "Star 94.5, Today's Best Variety." This left WJZJ as the only remaining "Zone" station.

On April 1, 2008, WLJZ changed to its current classic country format. The classic country package complements the "Big Country" contemporary-country format on sister stations WMKC and WAVC.

Sources

* [http://www.michiguide.com/dials/rad-j/wljz.html Michiguide.com - WLJZ History]

External links

*FMQ|WLJZ
*FML|WLJZ
*FMARB|WLJZ