WIOG (102.5

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

airing a top 40 (CHR)

format Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informatio ...

. It is

licensed A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...

Bay City, Michigan Bay City is a city in Bay County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The population was 32,661 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is located just upriver from the Saginaw Bay on the Saginaw River. It is the princip ...

, and serves the Greater Tri-Cities area, including

Saginaw Saginaw () is a city in Saginaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. It had a population of 44,202 at the 2020 census. Located along the Saginaw River, Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of ...

and Midland as well as

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

. It is owned by

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is a broadcasting company of the United States and is the second largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States ahead of Audacy and behind iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdi ...

with studios on Champagne Drive North in Saginaw. WIOG is a Class B station. But it is grandfathered at a higher power than would be permitted today. It has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ha ...

(ERP) of 86,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s. (50,000 watts is the current maximum for Class B stations.) The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

is on Becker Road in Buena Vista Charter Township.Radio-Locator.com/WIOG
/REF> It signal currently reaches at far west as

Montcalm County, Michigan Montcalm County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 66,614. The county is geographically located in the West Michigan region of the Lower Peninsula. The county seat is Stanton, and the la ...

, as far east as

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, as far North as

West Branch, Michigan West Branch is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat and largest incorporated settlement of Ogemaw County. The city had a population of 2,351 at the 2020 census, an increase from 2,139 at the 2010 census. West Branch is m ...

and as far south as

Oakland County, Michigan Oakland County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a principal county of the Detroit metropolitan area, containing the bulk of Detroit's northern suburbs. Its county seat, seat of government is Pontiac, Mic ...

History

WIOG and WGER

WIOG began broadcasting on 106.3 MHz, originally licensed to Saginaw. Later in the 1970s the

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

became WIOG (those call letters resembled the number "106," its dial position). The format shifted to

album oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the late 1960s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. US radi ...

(AOR). In 1980, with the addition of some

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

and

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

records to its AOR

playlist A playlist is a list of video or audio files that can be played back on a media player, either sequentially or in a shuffled order. In its most general form, an audio playlist is simply a list of songs that can be played once or in a loop. ...

, WIOG moved to a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

format. It eventually took on the name "Hits 106" and became one of the most popular radio stations in the market. The 102.5 frequency was originally home to WNEM-FM (later

WGER WGER (106.3 FM broadcasting, FM, branded "106.3 The Core") is a radio station licensed to Saginaw, Michigan, broadcasting a classic alternative format. The station broadcasts from a transmitter southeast of Interstate 675 (Michigan), I-675 Exit 6 ...

), which was one of the pioneers of

FM stereo FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting that uses frequency modulation (FM) of the radio broadcast carrier wave. Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to transmit high-fidelity sound ...

broadcasting in Michigan. With its big signal, WGER was one of the most successful beautiful music stations in Michigan. It played quarter-hour sweeps of mostly soft instrumental music,

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of popular adult hits,

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

and

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

show tune A show tune is a song originally written as part of the score of a work of musical theatre or musical film, especially if the piece in question has become a standard, more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context. Th ...

s. As late as 1985, when it was using TM Programming's beautiful music package, the station was posting #1 ratings among adult 25-54 listeners in the Saginaw and Flint markets, according to TM promotional literature of the time.

Top 40

After the owner of WIOG bought WGER, then sold the old station at 106.3, WIOG and WGER switched call signs in September 1986. WGER moved its

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...

music to the lower powered 106.3 and WIOG's Top 40-CHR format was placed on 102.5. The move paid off, as WIOG quickly became a powerhouse in mid-Michigan broadcasting. In the fall of 1986, during an economic rescission, the radio station ran a new promotion known ad "Free Money". It was a chance to win $1,000 to $10,000 every hour. This helped the station meet an Arbitron rating of 30.3%. WIOG got strong competition in the early 1990s from 100.5 WTCF "The Fox", which soon surpassed WIOG as the dominant CHR station. Due to the competition and to a desire to appeal to more adult listeners, WIOG shifted to a

Hot Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

sound in May 1992. WTCF's departure from the CHR format in 1999, however, left the door open for WIOG to move back to CHR, which it did that July. Today WIOG remains one of the most popular stations in the Tri-Cities market. However, its showing in the Flint market is more modest due to competition from CHR

WWCK-FM WWCK-FM (105.5 MHz, "CK105.5") is a radio station in Flint, Michigan, broadcasting a top 40 (CHR) format. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and has programmed its current format since 1989. Its studios are located south of the Flint city ...

, rhythmic WRCL and active rocker WWBN. Notable DJs at WIOG at the time include Dean Myers, Scott "Shannon" Seipel (not to be confused with

Scott Shannon Michael Scott Shannon (born July 25, 1947) is an American radio disc jockey best known as the announcer of '' The Sean Hannity Show''. He also hosted the morning show for WCBS-FM in New York City from 2014 to 2022 as well as ''Scott Shannon Pres ...

), Renee Andrews, Bob Hughes, Jim Alexander, Rick Donahue, Keith Michaels, Steve Kelly, Wack and Tim Murphy. Rick Belcher was the Program Director at the time of WIOG's rating's domination.

References

Michiguide.com - WIOG History

"Superpower" Grandfathered FM's

External links

WIOG official website
* {{Cumulus Media Radio stations in Michigan, IOG Contemporary hit radio stations in the United States Cumulus Media radio stations Radio stations established in 1969 1969 establishments in Michigan