WHZZ

Infobox Radio station
name = WHZZ


city = Lansing, Michigan
area = [http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WHZZ&service=FM&status=L&hours=U]
branding = 101.7 Mike FM
slogan =
airdate = January 1957
frequency = 101.7 MHz
format = Variety Hits (Classic Hits/Hot Adult Contemporary hybrid)
power = 4,100 watts
haat = 121 meters
class = A
facility_id = 39538
coordinates = coord|42|41|29|N|84|33|29|W|type:landmark
callsign_meaning =
former_callsigns = WILS-FM (3/24/92-5/15/95)
WLYY (4/15/91-3/24/92)
WKKP (5/5/89-4/15/91)
WILS-FM (?-5/5/89)
owner = MacDonald Broadcasting
sister_stations = WILS, WQHH, WXLA
webcast =
website = [http://www.1017mikefm.com/ http://www.1017mikefm.com/]
affiliations =

WHZZ (101.7 FM, "Mike FM") is a radio station licensed to Lansing, Michigan. It first began broadcasting in 1967 as WILS-FM. Prior to the adoption of the current format in September 2005, WHZZ had programmed a CHR/top 40 format for over a decade as "Z101.7." After WHZZ's change to "Mike FM", the CHR format was picked up by 97.5 WJIM-FM.

The station has gone through many different formats over the years. After beginning as a simulcast of WILS 1320 AM, the station separated programming in the late 1960s with an automated pop standards format, and then in the 1970s became a highly successful album rock station. However, on April 14, 1984, WILS-FM abruptly changed to an adult contemporary "Love Songs" format using the brand name "LS-102" to compete with top-rated WFMK. The station's ratings plummeted and would not recover for over a decade, as 101.7 FM went through unsuccessful tries at Hot AC as WKKP and WLYY, and country formats (the latter with a return to the WILS-FM calls in the early 1990s).

In the spring of 1995, WILS-FM became WHZZ "Z101.7," restoring the CHR/Top 40 format to the Lansing airwaves after 94.9 WVIC-FM dropped its longtime CHR format to compete with country market leader WITL. Z101.7 was frequently criticized by CHR aficionados for featuring an overly conservative, adult-oriented playlist heavy on Hot AC chart currents and 1980s and 1990s gold, but the station enjoyed good Arbitron ratings during its run and even reached #1 overall (12+) at least once.

As "Mike FM," WHZZ continues to do respectably in the Lansing Arbitron ratings, possibly because unlike other Variety Hits stations such as WDRQ in Detroit, WHZZ employes a staff of actual DJs.

Sources

* [http://www.michiguide.com/dials/rad-g/whzz.html Michiguide.com - WHZZ History]

External links

*FMQ|WHZZ