WLAV-FM (96.9

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 ...

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

. 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 ...

and it broadcasts a

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

format. The studios and offices are in the First Community Bank Building on Monroe Center Street NW in Grand Rapids. WLAV 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 43,000

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. 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 ...

is off Pierce Street in Allendale.Radio-Locator.com/WLAV
/REF>

History

Early years

WLAV-FM

signed on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...

the air in .''Broadcasting Yearbook 1950'' page 176. Retrieved June 9, 2025.
/REF> It was the FM

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

of WLAV 1340 AM (now

WJRW WJRW (1340 AM broadcasting, AM) – branded as The Ticket – is a commercial sports radio station licensed to Grand Rapids, Michigan, serving the Grand Rapids metropolitan area. Owned by Cumulus Media, WJRW is the Grand Rapids Network affilia ...

). They were owned by Leonard Adrian Versluis, hence 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 ...

s. The two stations would

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

most of their programming through the 1960s. Both stations were

network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...

s of ABC Radio. By the early 1970s, WLAV-FM began airing separate programming. In the daytime, it used the

automated Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, mainly by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machine ...

"Love" format, a mix of instrumentals and soft vocals. At night, it played

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

music. Also for a time in the early 1970s, WLAV-FM played

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

under the tag line "Grand Rapids' Goldmine." The rock music proved to be popular and it was expanded to all day.''Broadcasting Yearbook 1977'' page C-105. Retrieved June 9, 2025.
/ref> In 1974, WLAV-FM became western Michigan's first full-time

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

station and was a quick success among FM stations in the

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market *Marketing, the act of sat ...

. The station experienced difficulties in the 1980s. It was sued for the death of two people and the injury of two other at its popular annual raft race event. Many of its top

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

s began to leave: morning host Laurie DeYoung moved to Baltimore, Tony Gates left in 1984, and in 1986 popular morning personality Kevin Matthews relocated to St. Louis.

Modern Rock

By the early 1990s, WLAV-FM was doing poorly in the ratings, facing increased competition from album rock outlet 94.5 WKLQ and classic rocker 93.7 WJFM. WLAV had been a top five station just a year before and had been the #1 station 12+ as recently as fall 1987. But in the spring 1991

Arbitron ratings Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...

report, WLAV fell out of the top ten stations 12+. Its role as Grand Rapids' top album rock station was usurped by WKLQ. On Memorial Day 1992, the station changed to a

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college and commercial rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. ...

format. Management felt that alternative rock was the direction that most rock radio was heading towards to stay contemporary with the tastes of young fans. But it lasted only a little more than a year on WLAV-FM. Following backlash from listeners, by the fall of 1993, the alternative format relocated to its sister station, AM 1340 WLAV, calling it "1340 Underground". The modern rock sound ran for approximately two years on 1340 AM until a

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sport, sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often-low comed ...

format replaced it. WLAV-FM returned to a more classic rock-driven

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. ...

. The station continued refining the format during the 1990s, honing it towards classic rock music released between the 1960s and 1980s. Slowly WLAV-FM recovered in the ratings.

Change in ownership

Citadel Broadcasting Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company founded and developed by Larry Wilson. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the count ...

acquired the station from Bloomington Broadcasting (doing business as Michigan Media) in 2000. Citadel merged with

on September 16, 2011. In the evening, the station carries the syndicated '' Steve Gorman Rocks'', hosted by the drummer for The Black Crows. The show is based in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

References

Michiguide.com - WLAV-FM History

External links

* {{coord, 42.959639, N, 85.895806, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title LAV-FM Radio stations established in 1948 Cumulus Media radio stations Classic rock radio stations in the United States