WNWZ

Infobox Radio station
name = WNWZ


city = Grand Rapids, Michigan
area = [http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WNWZ&service=AM&status=L&hours=D] (Daytime)
[http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WNWZ&service=AM&status=L&hours=N] (Nighttime)
branding = La Maquina Musical
slogan =
airdate =
frequency = 1410 kHz
format = Ethnic; Spanish Contemporary Hits
power = 1,000 watts (Daytime)
48 watts (Nighttime)
erp =
class = D
callsign_meaning = Newz
former_callsigns = WRCV (7/5/96-9/4/88)
WGRD (5/14/90-7/5/96)
WKTH (3/17/86-5/14/90)
WXQT (6/29/81-3/17/86)
WGRD (?-6/29/81)
owner = Regent Communications
sister_stations = WFGR, WGRD-FM, WLHT-FM, WNWZ, WTRV
webcast =
website = [http://www.1410lamaquina.com/ http://www.1410lamaquina.com/]
affiliations =

WNWZ (1410 AM, "La Maquina Musical") is a radio station broadcasting a Spanish contemporary hits format, licensed to Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The station first began broadcasting under the WGRD call sign. Since AM 1410 was originally a daytime-only station, the WGRD calls are said to stand for Grand Rapids Daytime. The station adopted the Top 40 music format in 1959 and was a top-rated station in the Grand Rapids market during the late 1950s and early 1960s, though the station had lost ground to WLAV 1340 and WZZM-FM 95.7 by the end of the decade. WGRD made a number of formatic adjustments in the mid-1960s in response to its falling ratings, shifting to an adult contemporary format in 1964 and then to a Top 40/oldies mix the following year before tweaking back to Top 40 in 1967. WGRD reclaimed its market dominance after it added an FM signal at 97.9 MHz in 1971 (formerly WXTO), though AM 1410 was relegated to being a shadowcast of the FM signal afterwards.

WGRD-AM became WXQT, a Music of Your Life station, in 1981. From 1984-1988, WXQT was knowns as "GREAT GOLD 14-K", which stood for "14 Karat Gold", focusing on pop oldies from 1958-1972. Under the direction of PD Allen Jackson, "The NEW 14-K" featured Jack Stack (who had done mornings on WGRD-AM and WLAV-AM back in the 60's) mornings, Rich Kennedy middays, Larry Oleck afternoons and Pugs Stella (6-signoff). The station earned a respectable 2.4 share 12+ in the Summer 1984 Arbitron. In 1986 the local lineup was dropped in favor of the ABC Oldies Satellite channel. and by 1988 had adopted Satellite Music Network's Z-Rock format as WKTH. The station reverted to the WGRD-AM calls in 1991, moving back to a simulcast of 97.9 FM's CHR format (which changed to Modern Rock in 1994). In 1996, WGRD-AM changed calls to WRCV and switched to ABC Radio's syndicated "Real Country" format. The station continued to be a non-factor in the ratings, and in September 1998 changed its calls to WNWZ and adopted a simulcast of CNN Headline News, which was replaced by News/Talk in October 2001 (mostly syndicated from the Michigan Talk Radio Network).

WNWZ's current Spanish pop hits format was adopted on January 1, 2003, and has thus far been fairly successful in the ratings given its poor signal, often ranking as Grand Rapids' third most popular AM station (behind only WOOD-AM and WBBL-AM) (see: [http://www.radioandrecords.com/RRRatings/DetailsPage.aspx?MID=105&RY=2007&RQ=1&MP=2&OTHER=2&MN=Grand%20Rapids&MS=MI&MR=67&12P=708400&UP=4/12/2007&SU=CM&BPER=&HPER=&OPER=&NSD=5/10/2007&CE=0 1] ). WNWZ is the first and only radio station to cater to the Spanish-speaking community in Grand Rapids 24 hours a day (competing stations 810 WMJH and 1530 WYGR are both daytimers).

Sources

* [http://www.michiguide.com/dials/rad-m/wnwz.html Michiguide.com - WNWZ History]

External links

*AMQ|WNWZ