WMLQ (97.7 FM, "News 97 & 98") 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 ...

located in

Manistee, Michigan Manistee ( ') is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located in southwestern Manistee County, it is part of the northwestern Lower Peninsula. Manistee is the county seat of Manistee County, and its population was 6,259 at the 2020 census. ...

broadcasting a

news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the te ...

/ talk format, simulcasting

WLDN WLDN is an FM radio station owned by Synergy Media and is licensed to Ludington, Michigan. WLDN broadcasts from studios in Ludington, Michigan along with sister stations WKLA, WKLA-FM, WKZC, WMLQ, and WWKR. It runs a news/talk/sports format ...

98.7 FM Ludington. The station began broadcasting in 1970 under the WMTE-FM call sign (the current

WMTE-FM WMTE-FM (101.5 MHz) is a radio station located in Manistee, Michigan, United States, and owned by 45 North Media, Inc. WMTE-FM airs an adult hits format and positions itself as Uniquely Northern Michigan. History The station was signed on in ...

, at 101.5, is unrelated, but was a sister station of WMLQ for a short time in 2012 and 2013). In the 1980s, the station was WRRK, playing

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 ...

music. From 1995 to 2006, the station simulcast

WVXU WVXU (91.7 FM) is a public radio station located in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is owned by Cincinnati Public Radio (CPRI), which also operates station WGUC and WMUB. It airs public radio news and talk syndicated programming from NPR, American P ...

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

as WVXM, an affiliate of the "X-Star Radio Network," which featured a variety of programs, including news, talk, jazz, and adult standards. After WVXU was sold to the owners of classical station

WGUC WGUC (90.9 FM) is a listener-supported public radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is owned by Cincinnati Public Radio and has a classical music format. WGUC broadcasts using HD Radio technology and plays jazz on WGUC-HD2 and adult album a ...

in Cincinnati, all of WVXA's former repeater stations were sold off to other owners; 97.7 FM was purchased by Synergy Media, owners of

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 ...

station WWKR in

Hart, Michigan Hart is a city and county seat of Oceana County, Michigan. The population was 2,126 at the time of the 2010 census. The city is located within Hart Township, but is politically independent. Hart is also home to the north end of the Hart-Monta ...

. Synergy Media has installed a commercial Soft AC/Oldies/Easy Listening format on 97.7 FM as "The Coast." The WMLQ calls were formerly used in the 1980s and 1990s at an FM station in

Rogers City, Michigan Rogers City is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of and largest city in Presque Isle County, Michigan, Presque Isle County. The city had a population of 2,850 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a slight increa ...

, which coincidentally also operated on the 97.7 FM frequency (it later moved to 96.7) and also played an AC format, under the name "Mello-Q." Also coincidentally, the original WMLQ in Rogers City later became WVXA, also an X-Star Radio Network affiliate; it is now WRGZ and simulcasts

WATZ-FM WATZ-FM (99.3 FM, "99.3 WATZ") is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. The station is licensed to the city of Alpena. WATZ has been assigned the same call sign since it signed on in the late 1960s. The station, along with si ...

, a commercial

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 ...

station in

Alpena, Michigan Alpena ( ') is the only city and the county seat of Alpena County, Michigan, United States. The population was 10,197 at the 2020 census, making it the third most populated city in the Northern Michigan region, after Traverse City and Cadillac ...

. On February 1, 2016, WMLQ switched to a simulcast of news/talk-formatted

98.7 FM Ludington. The "Coast FM" format is now heard on 101.5 WMTE-FM. The station airs The Steve Gruber Show, the flagship program for The Michigan Talk Network, on delay, in late mornings.

References

Michiguide.com - WMLQ History

External links

* MLQ Radio stations established in 1970 1970 establishments in Michigan {{Michigan-radio-station-stub