WJZL

Infobox Radio station
name = WJZL


city = Grand Ledge, Michigan
area = [http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WJZL&service=FM&status=L&hours=U]
branding = 92.9 WJZL
slogan = Lansing's Smooth Jazz
airdate = 1963
frequency = 92.9 MHz
format = Smooth Jazz
power = 5,400 watts
haat = 105 meters
class = A
facility_id = 24645
coordinates = coord|42|43|58|N|84|33|13|W|type:landmark
callsign_meaning =
former_callsigns = WQTX (3/27/01-4/06)
WVIC (6/1/97-3/27/01)
WMMQ (1979-6/1/97)
WCER-FM (1963-1979)
owner = Rubber City Radio Group, Inc.
sister_stations = WJXQ, WJZL, WQTX, WVIC
webcast =
website = [http://www.wjzlonline.com/ http://www.wjzlonline.com/]
affiliations =

WJZL (92.9 FM) is a radio station in the Lansing, Michigan market, broadcasting a satellite-fed smooth jazz format.

The station began broadcasting in 1963 as WCER-FM at 92.7 licensed to Charlotte, and is best known as the longtime home of one of the nation's pioneering classic rock radio stations, WMMQ (which now operates at 94.9). See the article on WMMQ for more information on the history of 92.7 FM under those calls.

After WMMQ moved to 94.9 FM in 1997, 92.7 became WVIC (ironically, 94.9 was for many years WVIC-FM) and broadcast intermittently for the next several years. When it was on the air, WVIC aired fully-automated classical music with no announcers and oddly-placed legal station IDs, and with no commercials except for public-service announcements. Oddly, the station actually did show up in the Lansing Arbitron ratings during this time.

From 2001 to 2006, the station was WQTX, airing sports talk as "The Ticket." Shows such as "The Sports Page" with Jack Ebling and Tom Crawford (now at crosstown WILS), "The Sports Inferno" with Mike Valenti (now at WXYT, Sports Talk radio in Detroit), and "Mad Dog & Company" with David "The Mad Dog" DeMarco and longtime producer Brock Palmbos (now at crosstown WVFN) helped to push "The Ticket" ahead of crosstown rival, WVFN in the ratings.

In October 2005, simulcast partner WTXQ-FM 92.1 switched to oldies eventually taking back the WQTX calls. In April of 2006, 92.7 FM abandoned the Sports Talk format for good, adopting Jones Radio Networks' Smooth Jazz format (it has since switched over to Broadcast Architecture's similar Smooth Jazz Network), to be followed by a frequency shift to 92.9. The station operated for many months on 92.9 at reduced power until November 16, 2007, when it was able to broadcast at 5,400 watts. Until the station went to full power, its weak signal was prone to severe fading and co-channel interference from WJZQ-FM in Cadillac, Michigan, even into Clinton County, which is located just north of Lansing. WJZL now has a much stronger signal in the immediate Lansing area and can be heard listenably to Jackson in the south, Howell in the east, and Hastings in the west.

Sources

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

External links

*FMQ|WJZL