WMAX (1440 AM) is a

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 ...

broadcasting a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

format. It is co-owned with WDEO 990 AM in

Ypsilanti, Michigan Ypsilanti ( ), commonly shortened to Ypsi ( ), is a college town and city located on the Huron River in Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's popu ...

, and features the same programming from the

EWTN The Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) is an American basic cable television network which presents around-the-clock Catholic programming. It is the largest Catholic television network in America, and is purported to be "the world's larges ...

Global Catholic Radio network.

History

Licensed to

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 ...

, it first began broadcasting in 1925 as WSKC at 1150 kHz, with its call sign reflecting its ownership by the World's Star Knitting Co. It was the first radio station in the Tri-Cities and first Michigan radio station north of Flint. In 1930, the call sign changed to WBCM, followed by a shift in frequency in 1941 to 1440 kHz. WBCM served the Bay City area as a local station for many years with a variety of formats including MOR and

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

. WBCM began experimenting with

FM radio 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, high-f ...

in 1947, one of the first in the region. WBCM-FM was located at 96.1 mHz and broadcast from an over 300 foot (90m)

Blaw-Knox tower The Blaw-Knox company was an American manufacturer of steel structures and construction equipment based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company is today best known for its radio towers, most of which were constructed during the 1930s in the Un ...

at the station's Bay City east side studio on Tuscola Rd, initially signing on in 1947. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, 96.1 FM broadcast a beautiful music format. Purchased by Liggett Communications earlier in 1973, on August 27, 1973 the FM calls were changed to WHNN and the station adopted 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 as "Super Win". Later, Liggett built a new FM tower location in Quanicassee to alleviate a short spaced situation with WHTC-FM Holland, and the power was upped to a legal maximum of 100,000 watts. In February 1978, Liggett changed the AM format to country, and the call letters to WRDD (Big Red Radio), and also built a new 5 KW AM directional transmitter site for the station along M-84 in southern Frankenlust Township, Michigan. Upon license approval of the new AM facility, he sold WRDD to a local broadcast concern who returned the call letters to WBCM. The station would go through another ownership change and change of call letters briefly to WUNI (You and I) to WMAX in 1992 and simulcast sports-talk station

WTRX WTRX (1330 AM, "Sports XTRA 1330") was an American radio station broadcasting a sports format in Flint, Michigan. At closure, WTRX was the Flint affiliate for Michigan Wolverines football and men's basketball, and Infinity Sports Network. ...

of Flint. WMAX is of no relation to

WMAX-FM WMAX-FM (96.1 MHz) is the callsign of a radio station owned by iHeartMedia located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The studios and offices are located at 77 Monroe Center in Downtown Grand Rapids while its transmitter is located near Felch St and 32n ...

96.1, an

IHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...

-owned radio station in

Holland, Michigan Holland is a city in Ottawa County, Michigan, Ottawa and Allegan County, Michigan, Allegan counties in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located in the West Michigan, western region of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula, the city is si ...

. The simulcast only lasted about ten years when it was then sold to the current Catholic radio operator. WMAX is also the former call sign of an AM station at 1480 kHz in

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 ...

(now WSLI). Until April 2018, WMAX's programming was simulcast on WHHQ AM 1250, a station based in

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnock River on Long Is ...

that covered much of the same broadcasting area as WMAX.

References

Sources

Michiguide.com - WMAX History

External links

Catholic radio stations Radio stations established in 1925

MAX Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

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