WLXT
Encyclopedia
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.
. The station was originally WMBN-FM, owned by Les Biederman's Midwestern Broadcasting Company of Traverse City, Michigan
, and mostly simulcasted WMBN
-AM 1340. In the 1970s, Biederman wanted to boost the signals of his Traverse City stations, ordering him to divest most of his other properties due to Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) rules and regulations. He sold WMBN-AM/FM to Kenneth MacDonald
, a friend of his who owned stations in Saginaw and Lansing. MacDonald had a cottage in the Petoskey area, and accepted the offer to purchase WMBN.
MacDonald trained his children, Andy, Ken, Jr. (aka "Mac") and Patricia ("Trish") to run successful stations like he did, and put young 20-something Trish in charge of WMBN. Under her rule, WMBN changed its call sign to WWPZ and flipped to an early version of the adult hits
Jack FM
format. WPZ played everything from oldies
to classic rock
, funk
to Top 40 hits, mostly with Dennis Martin (Corpe) programming the station. They also aired The Larry King
Show at night. WMBN, however, remained beautiful music, using the slogan "Michigan's Beautiful North." WPZ also aired sports, like Tigers baseball.
It was also around that time that WMBN-FM flipped to 96.3 and boosted its power to 100 kW. WMBN remained beautiful music throughout most of the 1980s, and got strong adults numbers in the Northwest Michigan ratings. The station was automated most of the time, including a voicetracked night shift from owner Ken MacDonald himself. Sadly, Ken passed in 1989, and for a while, the station still aired his taped show. Jim Scollin did a live morning drive show for many years in the 1980s.
-AM 1340, which would move to Westwood One's "AM Only" format of adult standards
(now known as America's Best Music
and syndicated by Dial Global
).
In the mid-1990s, Trish purchased WWLZ 96.7 in Cadillac, Michigan
, changing the station from CHR
to a simulcast of WMBN-FM, which changed its call letters to WLXT to match its Lite 96 name. 96.7 became WLXV.
In 2002, the WLXT/WLXV simulcast ended when Trish decided that Cadillac, a town with six stations and five of them being simulcasts of other stations (and the one that was not, WATT-AM 1240, being mainly syndicated talk), needed a music station to call its own. She flipped WLXV to a hot AC format as Mix 96. (In early 2003, WLXV gained a sister station also solely serving the Cadillac market in WKAD-FM "Oldies 93.7," airing a syndicated 1960s/1970s oldies format from Jones Radio Networks
- this format is now part of Dial Global
's Kool Gold
network.) After Christmas 2010, WLXV got competition in the form of Jennifer Theodore's 107.9 WCDY
, giving Cadillac two hot AC stations.
station WJZQ
and former AC WSRT. WLXT is also the northern Michigan affiliate for the John Tesh
Radio Show. The station aired Delilah Rene
's love-song dedication program at night for a short time after WSRT, northern Michigan's former Delilah affiliate, dropped its AC format for talk.
Like many other AC stations across the country, WLXT flips to continuous Christmas music during the holiday season.
In the fall of 2007 the station adjusted its on-air branding from "Lite 96" to "Lite 96.3," possibly due to competitor Northern Radio flipping its Petoskey-area translator station at 95.3 to a simulcast of AC competitor WSRT. In May 2010, WSRT dropped its AC format and switched to a talk radio format leaving WLXT as the only AC station in the market.
Petoskey, Michigan
Petoskey is a city and coastal resort community in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 6,080. It is the county seat of Emmet County....
, is an adult contemporary-formatted radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
that broadcasts with 100,000 watts, covering most of northern Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. 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, only broadcasting with 3,000 watts and airing beautiful musicBeautiful music
Beautiful music is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in American radio from the 1960s through the 1980s...
. The station was originally WMBN-FM, owned by Les Biederman's Midwestern Broadcasting Company of Traverse City, Michigan
Traverse City, Michigan
Traverse City is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although a small portion extends into Leelanau County. It is the largest city in the 21-county Northern Michigan region. The population was 14,674 at the 2010 census, with 143,372 in the Traverse...
, and mostly simulcasted WMBN
WMBN
WMBN is an AM radio station broadcasting at 1340 kHz in Petoskey, Michigan, United States. The station, owned by MacDonald-Garber Broadcasting, airs Dial Global's satellite-delivered America's Best Music format of adult standards and soft adult contemporary oldies.WMBN went on the air in April...
-AM 1340. In the 1970s, Biederman wanted to boost the signals of his Traverse City stations, ordering him to divest most of his other properties due to Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) rules and regulations. He sold WMBN-AM/FM to Kenneth MacDonald
Kenneth MacDonald
Kenneth MacDonald was an English actor who was best known for the parts of Gunner Nobby Clark in It Ain't Half Hot Mum and Mike Fisher in Only Fools and Horses.-Personal life:...
, a friend of his who owned stations in Saginaw and Lansing. MacDonald had a cottage in the Petoskey area, and accepted the offer to purchase WMBN.
MacDonald trained his children, Andy, Ken, Jr. (aka "Mac") and Patricia ("Trish") to run successful stations like he did, and put young 20-something Trish in charge of WMBN. Under her rule, WMBN changed its call sign to WWPZ and flipped to an early version of the adult hits
Adult hits
Adult hits is a radio format, popular in the early 2000s, that does not adhere to a specific music genre, but instead draws from a wider playlist...
Jack FM
Jack FM
JACK FM is the alternative name and on-air brand of 60 radio stations in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia. Jack stations play a mix of 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s hits with some current hot adult contemporary singles. Jack's slogan "playing what we want" can also be...
format. WPZ played everything from oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
to classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
, funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
to Top 40 hits, mostly with Dennis Martin (Corpe) programming the station. They also aired The Larry King
Larry King
Lawrence Harvey "Larry" King is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards....
Show at night. WMBN, however, remained beautiful music, using the slogan "Michigan's Beautiful North." WPZ also aired sports, like Tigers baseball.
It was also around that time that WMBN-FM flipped to 96.3 and boosted its power to 100 kW. WMBN remained beautiful music throughout most of the 1980s, and got strong adults numbers in the Northwest Michigan ratings. The station was automated most of the time, including a voicetracked night shift from owner Ken MacDonald himself. Sadly, Ken passed in 1989, and for a while, the station still aired his taped show. Jim Scollin did a live morning drive show for many years in the 1980s.
Lite 96 FM
In 1990, Trish decided to flip WMBN-FM from beautiful music to Soft AC. The station's music became more contemporary, and aimed for a slightly younger audience. Meanwhile, the easy listening music found a new home on the AM dial at WMBNWMBN
WMBN is an AM radio station broadcasting at 1340 kHz in Petoskey, Michigan, United States. The station, owned by MacDonald-Garber Broadcasting, airs Dial Global's satellite-delivered America's Best Music format of adult standards and soft adult contemporary oldies.WMBN went on the air in April...
-AM 1340, which would move to Westwood One's "AM Only" format of adult standards
Adult standards
Adult standards is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations.Adult standards is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly those persons over 50 years of age, but it is mostly targeted for senior citizens...
(now known as America's Best Music
America's Best Music
America's Best Music is the on-air branding of an adult standards 24-hour radio network, known internally as Adult Standards and formerly known as AM Only, currently owned by Dial Global. It was one of the original Westwood One's Transtar networks...
and syndicated by Dial Global
Dial Global
Dial Global is a radio syndication company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Triton Media Group and is a sister company to Townsquare Media, both of which are owned by Oaktree Capital Management....
).
In the mid-1990s, Trish purchased WWLZ 96.7 in Cadillac, Michigan
Cadillac, Michigan
Cadillac is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is the county seat of Wexford County. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 10,000. The city is situated at the junction of US 131, M-55 and M-115...
, changing the station from CHR
Contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
to a simulcast of WMBN-FM, which changed its call letters to WLXT to match its Lite 96 name. 96.7 became WLXV.
In 2002, the WLXT/WLXV simulcast ended when Trish decided that Cadillac, a town with six stations and five of them being simulcasts of other stations (and the one that was not, WATT-AM 1240, being mainly syndicated talk), needed a music station to call its own. She flipped WLXV to a hot AC format as Mix 96. (In early 2003, WLXV gained a sister station also solely serving the Cadillac market in WKAD-FM "Oldies 93.7," airing a syndicated 1960s/1970s oldies format from Jones Radio Networks
Jones Radio Networks
Jones Radio Networks & Jones Media Group were branches of Jones International before being sold to Triton Media Group. JRN and JMN provide local radio stations with satellite-delivered formats. They also offer other services to local radio such as news and talk programs, syndicated radio shows,...
- this format is now part of Dial Global
Dial Global
Dial Global is a radio syndication company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Triton Media Group and is a sister company to Townsquare Media, both of which are owned by Oaktree Capital Management....
's Kool Gold
Kool Gold
Kool Gold is a 24-hour music format produced by Dial Global. Its playlist is composed of oldies music from the mid 1960s to mid 1980s, from artists such as Billy Joel, The Beach Boys, The Supremes, Rod Stewart and dozens more artists mainly targeted at listeners 45-54...
network.) After Christmas 2010, WLXV got competition in the form of Jennifer Theodore's 107.9 WCDY
WCDY
WCDY is a radio station licensed to McBain, Michigan and serving the Cadillac area, broadcasting an Adult Top 40 format.The station was launched in late October, 2010, with a temporary format of Christmas music...
, giving Cadillac two hot AC stations.
WLXT today
Today, Lite 96 is the AC ratings leader in northern Michigan even though they have lost some audience to other stations such as former smooth jazzSmooth jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of music that grew out of jazz fusion and is influenced by R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles ....
station WJZQ
WJZQ
WJZQ 92.9 Cadillac/Traverse City is a 100,000-watt radio station broadcasting a Top 40 format as Z93. It is owned by Ross Biederman's Midwestern Broadcasting, who also owns WTCM-AM/FM and WCCW-AM/FM, all in Traverse City, MI.-WWTV-FM and WKJF-FM:...
and former AC WSRT. WLXT is also the northern Michigan affiliate for the John Tesh
John Tesh
John Frank Tesh is an American pianist and composer of pop music, as well as a radio host and television presenter. His 10-year-old 'Intelligence for Your Life Radio Show' reaches 14.2 Million listeners/week, and is syndicated by Teshmedia on 400 stations in US, Canada, and the UK...
Radio Show. The station aired Delilah Rene
Delilah Rene
Delilah Rene Luke , almost always known mononymously as Delilah, is an American radio personality, author, and songwriter, best known as the host of a nationally syndicated nightly U.S...
's love-song dedication program at night for a short time after WSRT, northern Michigan's former Delilah affiliate, dropped its AC format for talk.
Like many other AC stations across the country, WLXT flips to continuous Christmas music during the holiday season.
In the fall of 2007 the station adjusted its on-air branding from "Lite 96" to "Lite 96.3," possibly due to competitor Northern Radio flipping its Petoskey-area translator station at 95.3 to a simulcast of AC competitor WSRT. In May 2010, WSRT dropped its AC format and switched to a talk radio format leaving WLXT as the only AC station in the market.