WLDR
Encyclopedia
WLDR-FM 101.9 Traverse City, MI, simulcast on WARD 750 Petoskey, MI, is a station that airs a country music
format as "Sunny Country 101.9". The stations are owned by broadcaster Roy Henderson, who is WLDR's third owner in its 40-year history.
dealership. Even though they're country today, WLDR carried some sort of adult contemporary format for its first 38 years. The station's call letters stood for "Long Distance Radio", suitable since they broadcasted at 100 kW.
In 1972, Maxson sold a majority of WLDR to one of his salesmen, Don Wiitala, who owned the station for more than 30 years. Wiitala was a beloved broadcaster known for giving the station a home-spun image. WLDR was a station that has many aspects of many full-service stations; the station, although licensed to broadcast 24 hours, signed on in the morning and signed off at night, aired local high school sporting events, had a "tradio
" show – Wiitala even sold his old house on the show – and played music Wiitala found suitable for his audience.
Maxson also sold a minority of WLDR to his son, Dave Maxson, who served as the station's news director. He remains with WLDR to this day though he sold his stake in the station years ago.
Throughout the 1970s, WLDR was coined "Stereo 102". Some say that Wiitala was frugal in the way he ran WLDR; he would go to the local Giantway (a now-defunct grocery/retail outlet with a chain of stores in central and northern Michigan) in Traverse City (now Tom's Food Market and Dunham Sports Outfitters) and buy 45s cheap off the rack. The same tactics were employed in the purchase of LPs. Only obscure record labels would suffice along with artists from a bygone era. The syndicated John Doremus
show aired 4 hours each day. Northern Michigan's first call-in talk show, "Listen to the Mrs." aired weekday afternoons.
In the 1980s, WLDR changed its name to "Sunny 102" to update the station's image.
Throughout the 1990s, WLDR was part of a dying breed: one-station owners. Also, in the age of 24-hour formats, the station signed on at 5 a.m. and signed off at 1 a.m. Although the station promoted a 'family-friendly' image, the station would play a few alternative rock
artists, such as Red Hot Chili Peppers
and even U2
. However, the station was losing major ground to Trish MacDonald-Garber's WLXT
/Lite 96. Starting in the late 90's, Wiitala, who was in his 60's, was taking offers for WLDR. In 2000, he sold WLDR to Roy Henderson and his Fort Bend Broadcasting Group, who maintained WLDR's AC format, but changed the station's named from Sunny 102 to Sunny 101.9.
Before he sold WLDR to Henderson, Wiitala finally allowed WLDR to remain on the air 24 hours, thanks to a new automated hard drive system. The station also started airing the syndicated Delilah show.
When Henderson purchased WLDR, he also purchased several other stations, such as WOUF 92.1 Beulah, MI which simulcasts WLDR-FM, WBNZ
99.3 Frankfort, MI and WCUZ 100.1 Bear Lake, MI with the intention to move the stations closer to Traverse City and boost their power. The move would also allow Henderson to develop new formats for northern Michigan radio, like he did in Texas
with his popular "Texas Rebel Radio" format. Because of objections from other broadcasters, many of the moves never happened, although WOUF has moved to 92.3 and boosted power to 50 kW.
Please note: The "Texas Rebel Radio" format was developed by Jayson Fritz and that phrase was first uttered on the radio December 16, 1991 on KFAN fm 107.9. The name and logo are trademarked by J & J Fritz Media.
1200 in Detroit. In order to do so, they purchased two AMs in the Saginaw area: WKNX 1210 Saginaw (signed on in 1947) and WXOX 1250 Bay City
(which had been dark since 1993) and moved WKNX to 1250 (now WNEM-AM
) and moved 1210 AM to Kingsley in 1997. However, they moved the station's aging transmitter to a toxic waste dump near Kingsley, creating transmission troubles. Not to mention the fact that they wanted to sell 1210, now with the call letters WJZZ, since they didn't want to broadcast in a smaller market out of their footprint. WJZZ had a full-time automated jazz
format, but when Bell sold to Radio One, they decided to keep WJZZ off the air as much as possible with a few short-lived stints as urban oldies. Radio One finally sold WJZZ to Henderson who quickly renamed the station WLDR-AM for a mere $225,000, despite the fact that they now were the most-powerful AM station in the daytime at 50 kW.
In 2001, Henderson finally gave 1210 a permanent format as talk from the Michigan Talk Radio Network. For a while, he changed the station's call letters to WWJR after a Sheboygan, Wisconsin
station gave them up in December 2001 during a rebrand to WHBZ
, as a probable stab at Detroit's WWJ
and WJR
. Rumors of a possible lawsuit by one of the two stations may have led to a change in the call sign back to WLDR-AM.
In 2004, Henderson flipped WLDR-AM from talk to satellite-fed "Country Classics" from Waitt Radio Networks, identifying as "Real Country 1210" (not to be confused with ABC Radio's satellite-delivered format also called "Real Country"). A year later, in 2005, he once again shocked and awed the northern Michigan radio audience by flipping WLDR-FM to country.
WOUF and WCUZ soon began to simulcast each other with an automated "traditional" country format called "The Wolf". It was similar to Texas Rebel Radio, playing everything from Waylon and Willie to some of the most popular alt-country artists of today. "The Wolf" has since disappeared. WOUF (now broadcasting with 50,000 watts at 92.3) and sister station WBNZ
99.3 FM in Frankfort
swapped frequencies in July 2009, with WOUF retaining the "Wolf" name on 99.3 but shifting to a rock format while WBNZ's AC format moved to 92.3 as "EZ Rock 92.3." At last report, WCUZ was simulcasting 99.3 WOUF.
Recently, Henderson traded WLDR-AM to Stone Communications in exchange for WWKK-AM 750 in Petoskey, MI. AM 1210 is now WJNL and simulcasts with Stone Communications' 1110 WJML
. WWKK took on the WLDR call letters and dropped its talk format to simulcast WLDR-FM. The station has since changed calls to WARD but continues simulcasting WLDR-FM. Much of WLDR-FM's programming is now delivered via satellite using Waitt Radio Networks
' "Country Today
" format. Sunny Country is also the Traverse City area affiliate for University of Michigan
sports and Traverse City Beach Bums
baseball.
. As of November 2011, WLDR's HD Radio channel lineup is as follows:
Red Kingman, personality announcer once worked there in 2003 where he charmed the listeners every morning with his observational humor, characters, and original comedy.
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
format as "Sunny Country 101.9". The stations are owned by broadcaster Roy Henderson, who is WLDR's third owner in its 40-year history.
History
WLDR-FM signed on in 1966 by Rod Maxson, a well-known businessman in Traverse City along with Robert L. Greaige who was the one with the knowledge of the radio biz. Maxson was the owner of Grand Traverse Auto, the city's FordFord Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
dealership. Even though they're country today, WLDR carried some sort of adult contemporary format for its first 38 years. The station's call letters stood for "Long Distance Radio", suitable since they broadcasted at 100 kW.
In 1972, Maxson sold a majority of WLDR to one of his salesmen, Don Wiitala, who owned the station for more than 30 years. Wiitala was a beloved broadcaster known for giving the station a home-spun image. WLDR was a station that has many aspects of many full-service stations; the station, although licensed to broadcast 24 hours, signed on in the morning and signed off at night, aired local high school sporting events, had a "tradio
Tradio
Tradio is the name given to a type of talk radio show format where listeners call in to buy or sell items. The concept of is analogous to classified ads in local newspapers....
" show – Wiitala even sold his old house on the show – and played music Wiitala found suitable for his audience.
Maxson also sold a minority of WLDR to his son, Dave Maxson, who served as the station's news director. He remains with WLDR to this day though he sold his stake in the station years ago.
Throughout the 1970s, WLDR was coined "Stereo 102". Some say that Wiitala was frugal in the way he ran WLDR; he would go to the local Giantway (a now-defunct grocery/retail outlet with a chain of stores in central and northern Michigan) in Traverse City (now Tom's Food Market and Dunham Sports Outfitters) and buy 45s cheap off the rack. The same tactics were employed in the purchase of LPs. Only obscure record labels would suffice along with artists from a bygone era. The syndicated John Doremus
John Doremus
John Doremus was an American radio personality, best known for his radio syndication of "The Passing Parade", a series of short stories of remarkable but relatively unknown episodes throughout history.In the late 1950s he acquired the rights to the series, which until then had been a television...
show aired 4 hours each day. Northern Michigan's first call-in talk show, "Listen to the Mrs." aired weekday afternoons.
In the 1980s, WLDR changed its name to "Sunny 102" to update the station's image.
Throughout the 1990s, WLDR was part of a dying breed: one-station owners. Also, in the age of 24-hour formats, the station signed on at 5 a.m. and signed off at 1 a.m. Although the station promoted a 'family-friendly' image, the station would play a few alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
artists, such as Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
and even U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
. However, the station was losing major ground to Trish MacDonald-Garber's WLXT
WLXT
WLXT in Petoskey, Michigan, is an adult contemporary-formatted radio station that broadcasts with 100,000 watts, covering most of northern Michigan. It is owned by Trish MacDonald-Garber, whose family has owned the station for over 30 years.-WMBN-FM:The station signed on in the late 1960s at 96.7,...
/Lite 96. Starting in the late 90's, Wiitala, who was in his 60's, was taking offers for WLDR. In 2000, he sold WLDR to Roy Henderson and his Fort Bend Broadcasting Group, who maintained WLDR's AC format, but changed the station's named from Sunny 102 to Sunny 101.9.
Before he sold WLDR to Henderson, Wiitala finally allowed WLDR to remain on the air 24 hours, thanks to a new automated hard drive system. The station also started airing the syndicated Delilah show.
When Henderson purchased WLDR, he also purchased several other stations, such as WOUF 92.1 Beulah, MI which simulcasts WLDR-FM, WBNZ
WBNZ
WOUF is a radio station in Beulah, Michigan, broadcasting an active rock format. The station, which began broadcasting in 1979, is owned by Traverse City broadcaster Roy E. Henderson under the "Fort Bend Broadcasting" banner and has long been the primary local station for the Frankfort area and...
99.3 Frankfort, MI and WCUZ 100.1 Bear Lake, MI with the intention to move the stations closer to Traverse City and boost their power. The move would also allow Henderson to develop new formats for northern Michigan radio, like he did in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
with his popular "Texas Rebel Radio" format. Because of objections from other broadcasters, many of the moves never happened, although WOUF has moved to 92.3 and boosted power to 50 kW.
Please note: The "Texas Rebel Radio" format was developed by Jayson Fritz and that phrase was first uttered on the radio December 16, 1991 on KFAN fm 107.9. The name and logo are trademarked by J & J Fritz Media.
Changes in 2000: Acquisition of WLDR-AM
In 2000, Henderson also purchased what is now WLDR-AM 1210 in Kingsley. The station was part of a massive overhaul in the Michigan AM dial when Bell Broadcasting increased the power of their WCHBWCHB
WCHB is an American AM radio station licensed to Taylor, Michigan, at 1200 kHz, and serving the Detroit market. Owned by Radio One, WCHB identifies as NewsTalk 1200 WCHB and airs a News/Talk format.-AM 1440 WCHB:...
1200 in Detroit. In order to do so, they purchased two AMs in the Saginaw area: WKNX 1210 Saginaw (signed on in 1947) and WXOX 1250 Bay City
Bay City, Michigan
Bay City is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan located near the base of the Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 34,932, and is the principal city of the Bay City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Saginaw-Bay City-Saginaw Township North...
(which had been dark since 1993) and moved WKNX to 1250 (now WNEM-AM
WNEM (AM)
WNEM AM 1250 is an all-news radio station for the Saginaw–Bay City area. It is currently owned by the Meredith Corporation. Although licensed to Bridgeport, WNEM currently operates from the WNEM-TV studios in downtown Saginaw at 107 Franklin Street...
) and moved 1210 AM to Kingsley in 1997. However, they moved the station's aging transmitter to a toxic waste dump near Kingsley, creating transmission troubles. Not to mention the fact that they wanted to sell 1210, now with the call letters WJZZ, since they didn't want to broadcast in a smaller market out of their footprint. WJZZ had a full-time automated jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
format, but when Bell sold to Radio One, they decided to keep WJZZ off the air as much as possible with a few short-lived stints as urban oldies. Radio One finally sold WJZZ to Henderson who quickly renamed the station WLDR-AM for a mere $225,000, despite the fact that they now were the most-powerful AM station in the daytime at 50 kW.
In 2001, Henderson finally gave 1210 a permanent format as talk from the Michigan Talk Radio Network. For a while, he changed the station's call letters to WWJR after a Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
-Airport:Sheboygan is served by the Sheboygan County Memorial Airport, which is located several miles from the city.-Roads:Interstate 43 is the primary north-south transportation route into Sheboygan, and forms the west boundary of the city. U.S...
station gave them up in December 2001 during a rebrand to WHBZ
WHBZ
WHBZ is a Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin--licensed radio station based in Sheboygan that plays a Active Rock format. The station is currently owned by Midwest Communications and features the syndicated The Bob and Tom Show in the mornings, with some Fox News Radio updates and forecasts provided by...
, as a probable stab at Detroit's WWJ
WWJ (AM)
WWJ is Detroit, Michigan's only 24-hour all-news radio station. Broadcasting at 950 kHz, the station is owned and operated by CBS Corporation subsidiary CBS Radio. The station first went on the air on August 20, 1920 with the call sign 8MK...
and WJR
WJR
WJR is a radio station in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It broadcasts a news/talk format. It is a class A clear channel station whose broadcasts can be heard throughout most of the Midwest, eastern United States and Canada at night, making it one of the most powerful radio stations in the...
. Rumors of a possible lawsuit by one of the two stations may have led to a change in the call sign back to WLDR-AM.
In 2004, Henderson flipped WLDR-AM from talk to satellite-fed "Country Classics" from Waitt Radio Networks, identifying as "Real Country 1210" (not to be confused with ABC Radio's satellite-delivered format also called "Real Country"). A year later, in 2005, he once again shocked and awed the northern Michigan radio audience by flipping WLDR-FM to country.
WOUF and WCUZ soon began to simulcast each other with an automated "traditional" country format called "The Wolf". It was similar to Texas Rebel Radio, playing everything from Waylon and Willie to some of the most popular alt-country artists of today. "The Wolf" has since disappeared. WOUF (now broadcasting with 50,000 watts at 92.3) and sister station WBNZ
WBNZ
WOUF is a radio station in Beulah, Michigan, broadcasting an active rock format. The station, which began broadcasting in 1979, is owned by Traverse City broadcaster Roy E. Henderson under the "Fort Bend Broadcasting" banner and has long been the primary local station for the Frankfort area and...
99.3 FM in Frankfort
Frankfort, Michigan
Frankfort is a city in Benzie County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,513 at the 2000 census. The elevation of Frankfort is above sea level. The city is situated with Lake Michigan to the west, Lake Betsie, formed by the Betsie River before flowing into Lake Michigan, on the...
swapped frequencies in July 2009, with WOUF retaining the "Wolf" name on 99.3 but shifting to a rock format while WBNZ's AC format moved to 92.3 as "EZ Rock 92.3." At last report, WCUZ was simulcasting 99.3 WOUF.
Recently, Henderson traded WLDR-AM to Stone Communications in exchange for WWKK-AM 750 in Petoskey, MI. AM 1210 is now WJNL and simulcasts with Stone Communications' 1110 WJML
WJML
WJML consists of AM stations WJML 1110 in Petoskey, Michigan and WJNL 1210 in Kingsley, Michigan. Both stations are owned by Rick Stone, and both stations have simulcast the same programming, with a mixture of liberal talk format and conservative talk....
. WWKK took on the WLDR call letters and dropped its talk format to simulcast WLDR-FM. The station has since changed calls to WARD but continues simulcasting WLDR-FM. Much of WLDR-FM's programming is now delivered via satellite using Waitt Radio Networks
Waitt Radio Networks
Dial Global Local is a national radio network based in Omaha, Nebraska, formerly owned by NRG Media and purchased in April 2008 by Triton Radio Networks...
' "Country Today
Country Today
Country Today is a 24-hour music format produced by Waitt Radio Networks. Its playlist is composed of country music released from the 1980s to this day from artists such as Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, George Strait Sara Evans, Kenny Chesney, etc. that mainly targets listeners in the mainstream...
" format. Sunny Country is also the Traverse City area affiliate for University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
sports and Traverse City Beach Bums
Traverse City Beach Bums
The Traverse City Beach Bums are a professional baseball team based in the Traverse City, Michigan, suburb of Blair Township, in the United States. The Beach Bums are a member of the East Division of the Frontier League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball...
baseball.
HD Radio
In 2008, WLDR-FM became the first northern Michigan radio station to broadcast in HD RadioHD Radio
HD Radio, which originally stood for "Hybrid Digital", is the trademark for iBiquity's in-band on-channel digital radio technology used by AM and FM radio stations to transmit audio and data via a digital signal in conjunction with their analog signals...
. As of November 2011, WLDR's HD Radio channel lineup is as follows:
- WLDR-HD1: simulcast of analog programming with slight delay
- WLDR-HD2: Smooth JazzSmooth jazzSmooth jazz is a genre of music that grew out of jazz fusion and is influenced by R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles ....
as "The Vineyard" (airing the "Smooth Jazz Network" programming from Broadcast Architecture) - WLDR-HD3: simulcast of Mainstream Rock WOUF 99.3 FM "The Wolf"
- WLDR-HD4: Fox Sports RadioFox Sports RadioFox Sports Radio, abbreviated FSR, is an international radio network consisting of sports talk programming. The network is a service of Premiere Networks...
Sources
Red Kingman, personality announcer once worked there in 2003 where he charmed the listeners every morning with his observational humor, characters, and original comedy.