WTOU (96.5 FM) 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 ...

Portage, Michigan Portage is a city in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States. The population was 48,891 at the 2020 census. It is the smaller of the two main cities included in the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a population of ...

. The station currently broadcasts an

urban adult contemporary Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music on ...

format branded as "96.5 WTOU".

History

Early history

96.5 FM signed on in December 1988 as WLWJ owned by Larry Langford, Jr. Langford owned stations in Chicago and South Bend such as

WVON WVON (1690 AM "The Voice of the Nation", originally "Voice of the Negro") is a radio station serving the Chicago market, which airs an African-American-oriented talk format. WVON is operated by Midway Broadcasting Corporation via a local mark ...

and WLLJ/910 (now

WGTO WGTO (910 AM), branded as "97.1 The Ride", is a radio station broadcasting a gold hot AC format. It is licensed to Cassopolis, Michigan and is under ownership of Langford Broadcasting. History WGTO was designed and built by longtime Chicago ...

). WLWJ was mixed of a Rhythm leaning oldies rock station.

96.5 UBU

In February 1991, the calls were changed to WUBU, as "96.5 UBU" with an

format. WUBU, owned by Larry Langford, Jr. (who owned a similarly formatted station in

Cassopolis Cassopolis ( ) is a village in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Cass County. It is located mostly in LaGrange Township with a small portion extending east into Penn Township. The village and county are named after statesman Lew ...

, WLLJ-AM 910, now classic hits

and still owned by Langford) was Kalamazoo's first FM R&B station and was highly supported. There was support to maintain this only R&B station in the area, mostly from students on WMU's campus. In June 1992, the station was bought out by Tri-State Broadcasting, Inc., after WUBU was unable to generate enough revenue to support itself. The WUBU calls were dropped as well as the urban AC format. (The WUBU call letters and format were eventually picked up by 106.3 FM in

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...

.) Throughout the years, there have been attempts for another FM R&B station. Today,

Midwest Communications Midwest Communications, Inc. is a Wausau, Wisconsin–based radio broadcasting company. It owns 82 radio stations located primarily within the Midwest United States, in Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Il ...

operates

WTOU WTOU (96.5 FM broadcasting, FM) is a radio station in Portage, Michigan. The station currently broadcasts an urban adult contemporary format branded as "96.5 WTOU". History Early history 96.5 FM signed on in December 1988 as WLWJ owned by Larry ...

(1660 AM) with a similar format to that of WUBU.

96.5 The Fat One/WFAT (AC and Classic Rock)

On June 9, 1992, the station acquired the calls WFAT and switched its format to oldies, then all-1970s hits, then classic hits, and finally to

Hot AC 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, ...

as 96.5 The Fat One. In the late-1990s, the station flirted with a CHR/Pop format briefly in competition with

WKFR WKFR-FM (103.3 MHz ''103.3 KFR'') is a commercial radio station licensed to Battle Creek, Michigan. It airs a contemporary hit radio format and is owned by Townsquare Media. The studios and offices are on Jennings Drive in Kalamazoo. WKFR-FM ...

. By April 2000, the station switched its format to mainstream AC with

Rick Dees Rigdon Osmond Dees III (born March 14, 1950), best known as Rick Dees, is an American entertainer, radio personality, comedian, actor, and voice artist, best known for his internationally syndicated radio show '' The Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 Coun ...

coming to the station for mornings, Robb Rose as Program Director/Middays, Chris in the afternoon, and

Delilah Delilah ( ; , meaning "delicate";Gesenius's ''Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon'' ; ) is a woman mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. She is loved by Samson, a Nazirite who possesses great strength and serves as t ...

at night. The mainstream AC format did not last long against WQLR and

WOOD-FM WOOD-FM (106.9 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Muskegon, Michigan, serving West Michigan and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. It simulcasts a news/talk radio format with sister station WOOD (1300 AM). The studios and offices ar ...

, and on October 7, 2001, it became a classic rock station with the syndicated

Bob and Tom Show ''The Bob & Tom Show'' is a syndicated US radio program established by Bob Kevoian and Tom Griswold at radio station WFBQ in Indianapolis, Indiana, March 7, 1983, and syndicated nationally since January 6, 1995. Originally syndicated by Premier ...

in the morning drive. Midwest Communications purchased WFAT, as well as WNWN-AM and WNWN-FM From Tri-State Broadcasting.

Y96.5/WKZO

On February 15, 2008, at 5 p.m., the station abruptly flipped to

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 ...

. The last song on WFAT was "Happy Trails" by

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1973. Credited with restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene, Van Halen was known for their energetic live performances and the virtuosity of their guit ...

, after which the station became "Y96.5", with the first song of the new format being "

It's Five O'Clock Somewhere "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" is a song performed by Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett, and written by Jim "Moose" Brown and Don Rollins. It was released in June 2003 as the lead single from Jackson's 2003 compilation album '' Greatest Hits Volume ...

" by

Alan Jackson Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He is known for performing a style widely regarded as "neotraditional country", as well as writing many of his own songs. Jackson has recorded 21 studi ...

and

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (December 25, 1946 – September 1, 2023) was an American singer-songwriter, author, and businessman. He was known for his tropical rock sound and persona, which often portrayed a lifestyle described as "island escapis ...

. A couple of days later, the station changed its callsign to WYZO. On March 31, 2010, the station underwent changes again, dropping the country format in favor of a simulcast of its sister station WKZO (590 AM) which airs a news/talk format. The call sign was also changed to WKZO-FM to mirror its AM counterpart on April 5, 2010.

Z 96.5/96.5 Jack FM/Hits 96.5

On May 13, 2013, WKZO-FM flipped to alternative rock, branded as "Z 96.5". On May 15, 2013, WKZO-FM changed their call letters to WZOX. On November 2, 2018, WZOX flipped to variety hits as "96.5

Jack FM Jack FM is a radio network brand that is licensed by Sparknet Communications, with the exception of the European Union where it is licensed by Oxis Media. It plays an adult hits radio format, format, in most cases not using disc jockey, DJs. F ...

". On February 24, 2021, the "Jack FM" format moved to

WVFM WVFM (106.5 FM broadcasting, FM) is an alternative rock , alternative rock-leaning adult hits radio station serving the Kalamazoo, Michigan radio market. The station has an ERP of 33 kW. They are owned by Midwest Communications. WVFM 106.5 ...

(106.5 FM). On March 3, at noon, after a week of simulcasting, WZOX flipped to top 40/CHR as "Hits 96.5", with the first song being "

Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat) "Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)", originally known as "Savage Love", is a song by New Zealand music producer Jawsh 685 and American singer Jason Derulo. The song was officially released on 11 June 2020, following the resolution of sample c ...

" by

Jawsh 685 Joshua Christian Nanai (born 4 November 2002), better known as Jawsh 685, is a New Zealand beat maker and music producer. While a student at Manurewa High School, in South Auckland, New Zealand, he made his breakthrough with the 2020 siren jam ...

and

Jason Derulo Jason Joel Desrouleaux (born September 21, 1989), known professionally as Jason Derulo (; formerly stylized as Derülo), is an American singer, songwriter and dancer. Since the start of his solo recording career in 2009, he has sold over 250 m ...

. On February 28, 2022, WZOX shifted from top 40/CHR to modern adult contemporary, still under the "Hits 96.5" branding.

96.5 WTOU

On March 28, 2025, WZOX changed their format from modern adult contemporary to urban adult contemporary, branded as "96.5 WTOU" under new WTOU call letters.Kalamazoo's Touch Moves to 96.5
Radioinsight - March 28, 2025

Bronco Radio Network

After signing a five-year contract, the station will resume its relationship with

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a Public university, public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. B ...

in the fall of 2010 as the flagship station for Broncos

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

men's basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and men's hockey. Previously, while operating as WFAT, the station was the flagship station for football and men's basketball from the 1996-1997 season to the 2006-2007 season.

Previous logo

References

External links

* {{coord, 42.215, N, 85.610, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title ZOX Radio stations established in 1988 Urban adult contemporary radio stations Midwest Communications radio stations