Wayg
Encyclopedia
WAYG, WAYK and WAYO are FM radio stations in Grand Rapids, Michigan
, Kalamazoo
and Benton Harbor, Michigan
. At dial position 89.9 FM in Grand Rapids and Benton Harbor and at 88.3 FM in Kalamazoo, the station's moniker is "Commercial Free Hits WaYfm." WaYfm is a Christian CHR
/Top 40 station.
WaYfm is not to be confused with WAY-FM, the nationally syndicated Christian CHR network. Ironically, WaYfm's competitor station in the Grand Rapids market, the commercial WJQK
99.3 FM, airs some programming from the national WAY-FM network, notably the afternoon drive show "Total Axxess."
WAYG, WAYK and WAYO are owned and operated by Cornerstone University
, which also owns and runs three other radio entities: 91.3 WCSG (formatted as Christian AC), Mission Network News, and His Kids Radio.
WaYFM targets teens, young adults, and young families with modern music wrapped in a Christian worldview. Popular artists include Switchfoot
, The Fray
, Relient K
, GRITS
, Hawk Nelson
, tobyMac
, BarlowGirl
, Daughtry, Casting Crowns
, Family Force 5
, Stacie Orrico
, Skillet
, and other various hip hop
, pop
, rock
, and punk acts.
, in 1996 when Cornerstone purchased a construction permit from Grand Valley State University
for 88.3 FM in Kalamazoo. After deciding on the Christian CHR format
, the management of the station opted to use CHRSN's programming
until local listenership and financial support allowed them to program locally.
88.3 WAYK signed on for the first time on February 3, 1997, to serve Kalamazoo and Battle Creek. A signal was added at 89.9 in Grand Rapids in late 1998, originating not too far from Cornerstone University.
WAYG's signal is challenged in the Grand Rapids metro, as the local station, WTHS, Hope College, in Holland, Michigan
, exists on the same frequency (89.9). Despite not being able to adequately cover half of the market, recent Arbitron
ratings for WAYG place the station at #2 among all stations in the market with teens, and tied for 3rd place among females 12-24 (the station's core audience). The FCC recently approved a proposal that will move the Grand Rapids signal to a frequency of 89.7 and boost the power to 6,000 watts from the previous 4,000. This move will substantially increase the ability for listeners to pick up the station in the previously underserved western portion of the market and allow the signal to penetrate into eastern Muskegon and Ottawa counties for the first time, as well. The 89.9 frequency had been used by WEHB (East Hills Broadcasters) for a number of years, broadcasting from a tower on the Aquinas College, with studios in the East Hills Neighborhood of Grand Rapids. WEHB later moved to the original Blodgett Hospital on Cherry Street. WEHB was an eclectic locally programmed station, with an emphasis on jazz. The station broadcast circa 1977-1991, becoming "World Music" WBYW from 1991-1998 from a new tower atop the Plainfield Water Tower on East Beltline Ave in northeast Grand Rapids.
WAYK's signal covers the entire Kalamazoo market quite well, and extends as far southwest as Benton Harbor and as far northeast as Olivet. In the Kalamazoo metro, WAYK consistently pulls strong ratings among teens (#2), young adults, and even persons and women 25-49 (usually placing in the top 5 or top 3 in these demos).
WAYO's signal covers the Benton Harbor, Michigan
and Saint Joseph, Michigan areas and brings the WaYFM signal to the South-Western corner of the state.
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
, Kalamazoo
Kalamazoo, Michigan
The area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...
and Benton Harbor, Michigan
Benton Harbor, Michigan
Benton Harbor is a city in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan which is located west of Kalamazoo. The population was 10,038 at the 2010 census. It is the lesser populated of the two principal cities included in the Niles-Benton Harbor, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a...
. At dial position 89.9 FM in Grand Rapids and Benton Harbor and at 88.3 FM in Kalamazoo, the station's moniker is "Commercial Free Hits WaYfm." WaYfm is a Christian 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...
/Top 40 station.
WaYfm is not to be confused with WAY-FM, the nationally syndicated Christian CHR network. Ironically, WaYfm's competitor station in the Grand Rapids market, the commercial WJQK
WJQK
WJQK is a contemporary Christian music radio station in Zeeland, Michigan on a frequency of 99.3 MHz.Originally a country music station, its original call letters were WZND , until Lanser Broadcasting purchased the station and changed them to WJQK in January 1987...
99.3 FM, airs some programming from the national WAY-FM network, notably the afternoon drive show "Total Axxess."
WAYG, WAYK and WAYO are owned and operated by Cornerstone University
Cornerstone University
Cornerstone University is an independent, non-denominational Christian university in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The university emphasises the trinitarian belief in the triune God and the literal interpretation of the Bible...
, which also owns and runs three other radio entities: 91.3 WCSG (formatted as Christian AC), Mission Network News, and His Kids Radio.
WaYFM targets teens, young adults, and young families with modern music wrapped in a Christian worldview. Popular artists include Switchfoot
Switchfoot
Switchfoot is an American rock band from San Diego, California. The band's members are Jon Foreman , Tim Foreman , Chad Butler , Jerome Fontamillas , and Drew Shirley .After early successes in the Christian rock scene, Switchfoot first gained mainstream...
, The Fray
The Fray
-Literature:*Fray, a phenomenon in Terry Pratchett's The Carpet People*Fray , a comic book series by Joss Whedon**Melaka Fray, titular character of the comic book series-Music:*"Fray", a song from the album 14 Shades of Grey by Staind...
, Relient K
Relient K
Relient K is an American rock band formed in 1998 in Canton, Ohio by Matt Thiessen, Brian Pittman, and Matt Hoopes during the band's junior year in high school and their time at Malone University...
, GRITS
GRITS
GRITS, also known as G.R.I.T.S., is a Christian Hip Hop group from Nashville, Tennessee. Their name is an acronym, which stands for "Grammatical Revolution In The Spirit." GRITS is made up of Stacey "Coffee" Jones and Teron "Bonafide" Carter, both of whom were DC Talk dancers.Their song "Ooh Aah"...
, Hawk Nelson
Hawk Nelson
Hawk Nelson is a Christian rock band from Peterborough, Ontario. The band has become very popular in the Christian music scene and was voted "Favorite New Artist" by CCM Magazine in their February 2006 Reader's Choice Awards. In 2006 Hawk Nelson won a No...
, tobyMac
TobyMac
Toby McKeehan , better known by his stage name TobyMac , is a Christian recording artist, music producer, hip-hop/pop artist, singer-songwriter, and author....
, BarlowGirl
BarlowGirl
BarlowGirl is an American Christian rock–CCM all-female band from Chicago, Illinois. The band is composed of sisters Alyssa , Rebecca , and Lauren Barlow . The band has won several awards in their genre; their song "Never Alone" was the longest running No...
, Daughtry, Casting Crowns
Casting Crowns
Casting Crowns is a Grammy Award and Dove Award winning Contemporary Christian/Christian Rock band. Casting Crowns was started in 1999 by youth pastor Mark Hall at First Baptist Church in Downtown Daytona Beach, Florida as part of a youth group. He now serves as a lead vocalist...
, Family Force 5
Family Force 5
Family Force 5 is a Christian crunk rock band from Atlanta, Georgia. They consist of Solomon "Soul Glow Activatur" Olds, Jacob "Crouton" Olds, Joshua "Fatty" Olds, Nathan "Nadaddy" Currin, and Derek "Chap Stique" Mount...
, Stacie Orrico
Stacie Orrico
Stacie Joy Orrico is a Contemporary Christian and R&B singer-songwriter and occasional actress. In 1998, she signed to ForeFront Records when she was 12 years old, and recorded her first album Genuine , which sold 13,000 in the first week of release.After her first album she signed to a new record...
, Skillet
Skillet (band)
Skillet is an American Christian rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee in 1996. The band currently consists of husband and wife John and Korey Cooper , along with Jen Ledger and lead guitarist Seth Morrison. The band has released eight albums, two receiving Grammy nominations: Collide and Comatose...
, and other various hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
, pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, and punk acts.
History
WAY FM started in Kalamazoo, MichiganKalamazoo, Michigan
The area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...
, in 1996 when Cornerstone purchased a construction permit from Grand Valley State University
Grand Valley State University
Grand Valley State University is a public liberal arts university located in Allendale, Michigan, United States. The university was established in 1960, and its main campus is situated on approximately west of Grand Rapids...
for 88.3 FM in Kalamazoo. After deciding on the Christian CHR format
Contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...
, the management of the station opted to use CHRSN's programming
WAY-FM Network
The WAY-FM Network is a national, non-profit radio broadcasting network in the United States that primarily plays Contemporary Christian music operating in 25 states . It is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, while most programming originates in Franklin, Tennessee.-Origins in Fort Myers:WAY-FM...
until local listenership and financial support allowed them to program locally.
88.3 WAYK signed on for the first time on February 3, 1997, to serve Kalamazoo and Battle Creek. A signal was added at 89.9 in Grand Rapids in late 1998, originating not too far from Cornerstone University.
WAYG's signal is challenged in the Grand Rapids metro, as the local station, WTHS, Hope College, in Holland, Michigan
Holland, Michigan
Holland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River ....
, exists on the same frequency (89.9). Despite not being able to adequately cover half of the market, recent Arbitron
Arbitron
Arbitron is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio audiences. It was founded as American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging with L.A. based Coffin, Cooper and Clay in the early 1950s...
ratings for WAYG place the station at #2 among all stations in the market with teens, and tied for 3rd place among females 12-24 (the station's core audience). The FCC recently approved a proposal that will move the Grand Rapids signal to a frequency of 89.7 and boost the power to 6,000 watts from the previous 4,000. This move will substantially increase the ability for listeners to pick up the station in the previously underserved western portion of the market and allow the signal to penetrate into eastern Muskegon and Ottawa counties for the first time, as well. The 89.9 frequency had been used by WEHB (East Hills Broadcasters) for a number of years, broadcasting from a tower on the Aquinas College, with studios in the East Hills Neighborhood of Grand Rapids. WEHB later moved to the original Blodgett Hospital on Cherry Street. WEHB was an eclectic locally programmed station, with an emphasis on jazz. The station broadcast circa 1977-1991, becoming "World Music" WBYW from 1991-1998 from a new tower atop the Plainfield Water Tower on East Beltline Ave in northeast Grand Rapids.
WAYK's signal covers the entire Kalamazoo market quite well, and extends as far southwest as Benton Harbor and as far northeast as Olivet. In the Kalamazoo metro, WAYK consistently pulls strong ratings among teens (#2), young adults, and even persons and women 25-49 (usually placing in the top 5 or top 3 in these demos).
WAYO's signal covers the Benton Harbor, Michigan
Benton Harbor, Michigan
Benton Harbor is a city in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan which is located west of Kalamazoo. The population was 10,038 at the 2010 census. It is the lesser populated of the two principal cities included in the Niles-Benton Harbor, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a...
and Saint Joseph, Michigan areas and brings the WaYFM signal to the South-Western corner of the state.