Jump to content

WOMC: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
m WPCleaner v1.28 - Repaired 1 link to disambiguation page - (You can help) - Scott Walker, 1 to be fixed - Petersburg, Ohio
Line 44: Line 44:
In 2006, under the leadership of Steve Alan, the station removed the word "Oldies" from all station imaging and jingles and re-branded as "The Motor City's 104.3" While quite successful in growing the ratings, in early 2007, under the guidance of Detroit based programming consultant, Gary Berkowitz, the station started using the word "Oldies" again in jingles and imaging, but the heritage WOMC call letters are only used for the top of the hour legal ID.
In 2006, under the leadership of Steve Alan, the station removed the word "Oldies" from all station imaging and jingles and re-branded as "The Motor City's 104.3" While quite successful in growing the ratings, in early 2007, under the guidance of Detroit based programming consultant, Gary Berkowitz, the station started using the word "Oldies" again in jingles and imaging, but the heritage WOMC call letters are only used for the top of the hour legal ID.


Berkowitz's switch back to [[Oldies]] using Randy Reeves as the station voice, and Gary used a combination of "Do It Again", "Home of the Hits" and selected PAMS jingle packages from [[JAM Creative Productions]]. Gary Berkowitz and management then brought in [[Scott Walker]], as program director.
Berkowitz's switch back to [[Oldies]] using Randy Reeves as the station voice, and Gary used a combination of "Do It Again", "Home of the Hits" and selected PAMS jingle packages from [[JAM Creative Productions]]. Gary Berkowitz and management then brought in [cott Walker, as program director.


In August 2007, WOMC-FM had begun airing brief jingles and "retromercials" that formerly aired on CKLW during its famous tenure as the "Big 8", especially with much of the same music being played on WOMC-FM today as on [[CKLW]] in the 1960s to the 1980s.
In August 2007, WOMC-FM had begun airing brief jingles and "retromercials" that formerly aired on CKLW during its famous tenure as the "Big 8", especially with much of the same music being played on WOMC-FM today as on [[CKLW]] in the 1960s to the 1980s.

Revision as of 10:43, 2 August 2013

WOMC
File:Womclogo.JPG
Broadcast areaMetro Detroit [1]
Frequency104.3 MHz (HD Radio)
104.3 HD-2: History Of Rock & Roll
50's & 60's Rock
104.3 HD-3: The Sky (Psychic Radio)
Branding104.3 WOMC
Programming
FormatClassic Hits
AffiliationsMichigan Wolverines Sports Network (flagship)
Ownership
OwnerCBS Radio
WDZH, WWJ, WXYT, WXYT-FM, WYCD
part of CBS Corp. cluster w/ TV stations WWJ-TV & WKBD-TV
History
First air date
March 5, 1948
Former call signs
WEXL-FM (1948–1973)
Call sign meaning
Wayne, Oakland, & Macomb Counties
Technical information
Facility ID28623
ClassB
ERP190,000 watts
HAAT110 meters
Transmitter coordinates
42°28′10″N 83°06′54″W / 42.46944°N 83.11500°W / 42.46944; -83.11500
Links
WebcastListen Live
Websitewomc.radio.com

WOMC (104.3 FM, "104.3 WOMC") is a Classic Hits radio station broadcasting in the Detroit, Michigan, USA area. WOMC's transmitter and studios are located on Woodward Heights (9½ Mile Rd). near Interstate 75 in Ferndale, Michigan. WOMC broadcasts with an effective radiated power of 190,000 watts from an antenna height of 361 feet. It is the flagship station of the Michigan Wolverines Football Network [2]

WOMC's FM signal has been heard as far north as Marlette, Michigan, as far West as Jackson, Michigan, as far South as Petersburg, Ohio, and as far East as London, Ontario.

History

WEXL-FM/WOMC

The station began operations on March 5, 1948 as WEXL-FM. The calls changed to WOMC ("Wayne, Oakland and Macomb Counties") a few years later. WOMC programmed a Beautiful Music format for many years but was typically mired toward the bottom of the local ratings until 1973, when it was purchased by Metromedia. Metromedia retooled WOMC's easy listening format to include brighter and more uptempo material, an approach modeled after the successful WQLR-FM "Clear 106" in Kalamazoo.

According to Bill Wertz of WQLR's former owner Fairfield Broadcasting (the station is now WVFM owned by Midwest Communications), WOMC's sales manager at the time, Bob Reinhardt, was impressed with WQLR's sound, especially when he learned that the station was programmed in-house and not using a syndicated service, and requested that WQLR's programmers create a similar format for WOMC. WOMC's revised beautiful music format was an instant success, lifting the station from twenty-eighth place in the Detroit Arbitron ratings into the top three.[3] This marked the beginning of the beautiful-music syndication service known as KalaMusic.

104 WOMC

During the late 1970s WOMC enlisted the help of program director Dave Shafer and well known Detroit radio personalities Marc Avery, Tom Dean and Nick Arama. By 1980, WOMC had evolved its format from easy listening to a soft, gold-based Adult Contemporary sound, with which it continued to be quite successful. The adult-contemporary format field in Detroit was rather crowded during the 1980s, with WOMC competing against 100.3 WNIC, 94.7 WMJC and 93.1 WLTI among other stations, and WOMC differentiated itself from its competitors by emphasizing Oldies.

104.3 WOMC

By 1990, WOMC had become almost exclusively an oldies station, and, despite the fact that Detroit had several other oldies stations at the time (including 102.7 WKSG-FM, 93.9 CKLW-FM, and 560 WHND-AM), eventually came to dominate as the most popular choice for oldies in the market.

WOMC has also had many memorable slogans, like "WOM-SEE" and "Detroit's Big O", and when the call letters are said, they're said with emphasis on the O ("W Ohhh M C").

In 2006, under the leadership of Steve Alan, the station removed the word "Oldies" from all station imaging and jingles and re-branded as "The Motor City's 104.3" While quite successful in growing the ratings, in early 2007, under the guidance of Detroit based programming consultant, Gary Berkowitz, the station started using the word "Oldies" again in jingles and imaging, but the heritage WOMC call letters are only used for the top of the hour legal ID.

Berkowitz's switch back to Oldies using Randy Reeves as the station voice, and Gary used a combination of "Do It Again", "Home of the Hits" and selected PAMS jingle packages from JAM Creative Productions. Gary Berkowitz and management then brought in [cott Walker, as program director.

In August 2007, WOMC-FM had begun airing brief jingles and "retromercials" that formerly aired on CKLW during its famous tenure as the "Big 8", especially with much of the same music being played on WOMC-FM today as on CKLW in the 1960s to the 1980s.

In April 2009, under the leadership of Tom Bigby, Tim Roberts, and Tom Sleeker, WOMC once again dropped the "Oldies" branding from the station. Once Tim Roberts was named Operations Manager and Program Director, the transition to "Classic Hits" from "Oldies" continued. During that time WOMC replaced voiceover guy Charlie Van Dyke for Jeff Davis. The station changed to "104.3 WOMC, Detroit's Greatest Hits."

Sometime in 2013, all CBS owned radio stations in Detroit will be moving their operations in Southfield, MI to the now vacant Panasonic Building.[4]

HD radio

WOMC is licensed for HD Radio operations and has a multicast channel on WOMC-HD2. Originally, this station featured hits of the 50s and 60s. Gradually, the format began to evolve into pop hits of the 60s, 70s and 80s. WOMC had changed its station voice twice, and at one time, all three station voices could be heard doing liners for WOMC-HD2. In January 2008, WOMC-HD2's format changed back to the hits of the 50s and 60s. Every day, beginning at 1:00 p.m., the station plays an hour of Elvis music. Also, the station will occasionally play a retro PAMS jingle.

In November 2008, WOMC was apparently re-creating the sound of Top-40 legend WKNR Keener 13 for its HD2 stream. On November 8, 2008, a Keener Radio logo appeared on WOMC'S website. However, the program director of the HD2 Channel, Ted Richards, has since been fired; and WOMC's program director has also moved to a different station; meaning that the Keener Radio HD2 idea is dead.

WOMC HD2 has picked up the "Oldies 104.3" branding that was dropped from the HD1 channel.

WOMC also added an HD3 channel in February 2010 known as "The Sky," featuring psychic talk and readings.

Airstaff

The current lineup (as of November 26, 2012) is as follows

  • Morning Show (5am-10am): Bobby & Stacy - Bobby Mitchell, Stacy DuFord, Bob Schuman & Sean "Twizzler" Varacelli
  • Mid-Days (10am-3pm): Jim "JJ" Johnson
  • Afternoon Drive (3pm-7pm): Beau Daniels W/ Holly Hutton (Traffic)
  • Nighttime (7pm-12am): Dave Fuller
  • Overnights (12am-5am): Karen "KT" Trombley
  • Weekend's/Fill-ins: Fred “Boogie” Bryan, Scott Moore and Mike Shannon
  • Program Director: Tim Roberts
  • Assistant PD/Music Director: Beau Daniels
  • Creative Director: Terry Phillips
  • Station Voice: Jeff Davis

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WOMC&service=FM&status=L&hours=U
  2. ^ Michigan Athletics Official Site - 2010 Michigan Football Broadcast Information
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ Marcucci, Carl (September 6, 2012). "CBS Radio consolidating ops in Detroit". RBR.com TVBR.com. Retrieved December 30, 2012.