WLNZ (89.7 FM) is a

non-commercial A non-commercial (also spelled noncommercial) activity is an activity that is not carried out in the interest of Profit (economics), profit. The opposite is Commerce, commercial, something that primarily serves profit interests and is focused on bu ...

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 ...

located in

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County, Michigan, Eaton County and nort ...

, simulcasting the regional Michigan Public network of public radio stations. The station is owned by Lansing Community College.

History

Originally WLNZ wanted to be branded as WLNS, however, WLNS had already been taken by

WLNS-TV WLNS-TV (channel 6) is a television station in Lansing, Michigan, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which provides certain services to dual ABC/ CW+ affiliate WLAJ (channel 53) under a shared services agr ...

, a local CBS affiliate, so it landed on WLNZ.

Technical

The station began broadcasting in 1994 with 100 watts. Power was increased to 420 watts in 2001. WLNZ began broadcasting in HD in 2006.

Programming

Programming originally consisted mainly of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and

blues music Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

, but it changed formats to

adult album alternative Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. See pages 9 and 10Mills, Joshua. "A New Radio Music Format: Rock for Prosperous Adults" New York Times, Feb 28 1994, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. Accessed September 4, ...

typically throughout the daytime hours weekdays, with different programming on the weekend. The station typically played "Triple-A" music, but ventured out to many genres of music, branding itself as the "True Variety Station". The station featured a lot of Michigan music and shows dedicated to Michigan artists throughout the day. These features ranged from the "Local Lunch Hour", where nothing but Michigan music was played, to the "M-89.7" artist spotlight, where one Michigan artist or band is chosen to be "spotlighted" through one whole month. Each morning there was a live local talk show called ''Coffee Break'', which was televised in the Lansing area on

Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...

local

public-access television Public-access television (sometimes called community-access television) is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is Narrowcasting, narrowcast through cable tele ...

. WLNZ's original jazz format continued on its HD2 subchannel, which was branded as Jazz Now!.

Closure

WLNZ ceased operations March 13, 2020 as a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. It announced June 18, 2020 that it would permanently sign off June 30, however the school's president contradicted this report on June 22.

Partnership with Michigan Public

WLNZ started simulcasting the programs of Michigan Public (at the time known as "Michigan Radio") on November 15, 2021. As part of the deal between Lansing Community College and Michigan Public, the college continues to provide locally produced programming every Saturday at 1 PM, and every Sunday at 6 PM.

References

External links

*
Michiguide.com - WLNZ History
LNZ Radio stations established in 1994 1994 establishments in Michigan News and talk radio stations in the United States Public radio stations in the United States {{Michigan-radio-station-stub