WMGC-FM

Infobox Radio station
name = WMGC-FM


city = Detroit, Michigan
area = [http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WMGC&service=FM&status=L&hours=U]
branding = Magic 105.1
slogan = My Friends, My Music, My Radio Station
airdate = March 6, 1960
frequency = 105.1 MHz HD Radio 105.1 HD-2: More Magic AC/Adult Standards/Jazz
format = Adult Contemporary
power = 50,000 watts
haat = 150 meters
class = B
facility_id = 40407
coordinates = coord|42|27|13|N|83|09|50|W|type:landmark
callsign_meaning = Magic 105.1
former_callsigns = WGRV-FM (10/1/99-6/30/01) WXDG (12/22/97-10/1/99) WQRS (10/23/87-12/22/97) WQRS-FM (5/25/79-10/23/87) WQRS (3/6/60-5/25/79)
owner = Greater Media
sister_stations = WCSX, WRIF
webcast = [http://bdcast-greatermedia-wmgc-fm.wm.llnwd.net/bdcast_greatermedia_wmgc-fm Listen live]
website = http://www.detroitmagic.com/
affiliations =

WMGC-FM is an Adult Contemporary music formatted radio station in Detroit, Michigan known on the air as Magic 105.1 at 105.1 MHz. The station is part of Greater Media's three-station Detroit cluster which also includes WRIF and WCSX. The station broadcasts with 50,000 Watts of power and transmits from a tower located near Eight Mile Road and Wyoming Avenue in Royal Oak Township, Oakland County, Michigan. Its primary competitors include WOMC, WNIC, and WDVD.

History of 105.1

WQRS

For nearly four decades, 105.1 was home to Detroit's commercial classical music station, WQRS, which signed-on on March 6, 1960. During its early years, WQRS also featured folk and other adult-appeal forms of music. Classical music was one of the most common formats on the fledgling FM dial during the 1950s and 1960s, but WQRS continued with fine-arts programming long after many other stations had dropped it. Personalities such as Dave Wagner and Dick Wallace were well-known to fans of fine music in the Motor City. Dave Wagner in particular was noted for an irreverent sense of humour that might have fit just as well on a pop music radio station, regarded by fans as something different in a format often derided as "staid" or "stuffy".

Never a ratings powerhouse, WQRS nevertheless attracted a loyal audience of affluent adults, as was often the case with classical radio stations. WQRS was also the flagship station for radio broadcasts of Detroit Symphony Orchestra concerts, and the program schedule included such popular features as the "Sousalarm" (a broadcast of a John Phillip Sousa march heard every weekday morning at 7:15) and the Wednesday-night "Film Classics" program hosted by Jack Goggin, which highlighted scores from classic motion pictures.

The Edge/The Groove

A rapid-fire series of sales of the station in the mid-1990s was the first inkling to the listeners of WQRS that the station's classical format was on thin ice. Marlin Broadcasting sold the station to American Radio Systems in 1996; American Radio Systems sold the station to Secret Communications that same year, and then Secret Communications sold its Detroit holdings (including WQRS and urban contemporary stations WJLB-FM and WMXD) to Evergreen Media Corporation (which later was absorbed into AMFM, which was subsequently absorbed into Clear Channel). Evergreen was now over FCC ownership limits in Detroit and let go of WQRS, trading the station to Greater Media for $9.5 million and in exchange for a station in Washington, DC.

On November 21, 1997, at 5 p.m., "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails signified the end of classical music on 105.1 after over 37 years and the beginning of Alternative rock station 105.1 The Edge. The station adopted the new calls WXDG the following month. Detroit already had two alternative rock stations in CIMX (88.7) and WPLT (96.3), and "The Edge," although it sounded more "progressive" and "free-form" than the competition and did attract a loyal audience, was an overall failure in both ratings and revenue. The WQRS calls reappeared on two stations in 2006 -- an WQRS in Salamanca, New York and an AM in Morgantown, West Virginia.

On April 4, 1999, 105.1 abruptly pulled the plug on "The Edge" and switched to the fad format sweeping the nation at the time - Jammin' Oldies. For the first few months of the new format, the station was known as Classic Soul 105.1 but later adopted the name 105.1 The Groove and, in October, the new calls WGRV. The station showed immediate ratings improvement, but after a few months "The Groove" cut its playlist back to around 300 songs, listeners began to view them as stale and repetitious, and fans of more uptempo "jammin' oldies" criticized the station for playing too many ballads and "slow jams." As a result, the ratings quickly dropped off.

Despite the immense negative outcry from classical music fans over the format change at WQRS, it would be years before Detroit would have its own classical music station again.

Magic 105.1

At 9 a.m. on June 30, 2001, Greater Media returned its trademark "Magic" adult contemporary format (first used in Detroit on 94.7 as Magic 95), from 1976 to 1987) to the Detroit airwaves on 105.1, with the new calls WMGC-FM. Boyz II Men's "End Of The Road" was the last song played on "The Groove"; the first song played on the new "Magic 105.1" was "Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion. WMGC's original program director was Bill Fries and the station was consulted by noted AC consultant Gary Berkowitz. Greater Media also hired Jim Harper away from Clear Channel-owned competitor WNIC to host the station's morning show. WMGC stole listeners away from top-rated WNIC almost immediately, although the morning show was - and still is - by far the station's strongest daypart ratings-wise. WNIC continues to usually beat WMGC in the ratings, although "Magic 105.1" has occasionally pulled ahead of WNIC.

WMGC was the second Detroit radio station to air the syndicated Delilah, from 2001 to 2004 (although during that time Delilah could also be heard on Clear Channel's WQKL in Ann Arbor). (As a publicity stunt, Black-owned Radio One used the Mainstream AC format on what was then known as "102.7 kiss-fm" for eight months in 1999; that station also aired Delilah at night.) As of December 2006, Delilah currently does not have a Detroit affiliate, although she can be heard on WCRZ ("Cars 108") in nearby Flint, Michigan. However, WMGC is Detroit's outlet for John Tesh's radio show.

WMGC also operates a secondary HD Radio channel called "More Magic," featuring a mix of soft AC hits, adult standards and some light jazz during the day and - perhaps in an attempt to woo back fans of the late WQRS - classical music at night.

Former WQRS personality Dick Wallace has surfaced at WIAA, the Interlochen Center for the Arts' classical music station in Interlochen, Michigan. Dave Wagner can still be heard in the Detroit market hosting mornings at the Detroit Public Schools' classical and jazz station, 90.9 FM WRCJ. Another former WQRS personality, Jack Goggin, is a fill-in host at WRCJ and has revived his popular "Film Classics" show at 90.9 (now heard Sunday nights).

Comparison to WNIC

Throughout 2005, Magic had a format that seemed to match WNIC's verbatim, with a variety of hits during the day, soft love songs at night, 70s and 80s pop on "flashback" weekends (WMGC's version was called the "Class Reunion Weekend"), and all Christmas music from November to early January. In 2006, Magic reformed their play list to less reflect WNIC's by scrapping the late night love songs and flashback weekends. WMGC further differentiated itself from its competitor in the fall of 2006 when the station announced a new promotion: "putting the thanks back into Thanksgiving" to counter those stations that had already begun playing 100% Christmas music shortly after Halloween (like WNIC).

Currently, WMGC is one of the remaining few Mainstream AC stations that does not air an "All-Christmas format" during the holiday season. Instead, it plays a balanced mix of regular and Christmas songs for the majority of the season, and then switches over to All-Christmas music during the last few days before Christmas.

Airstaff

The current lineup (as of June 2008) is as follows
* Morning Show: Jim Harper and The Magic Morning Show - Jim Harper, Cyndy Canty, Mike Bradley, Kam Carmen & Fay Samona
* Mid-Days: Mitzi Miles
* Afternoon Drive: Jim Paolucci
* Nighttime: The John Tesh Radio Show
* Weekend's/Fill-ins: Lori Bennet, Guy Copeland & Peter Werbe

Current Station Rating

WMGC currently ranks as #12 in the Arbitron Radio Ratings for the Detroit market as of the Summer 2008 Phase II ratings release.

According to a preliminary Arbitron report released September 16, 2008

Sources

* [http://www.michiguide.com/dials/rad-m/wmgc.html Michiguide.com - WMGC-FM History]

External links

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