WGRD-FM

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WGRD-FM
WGRD-FM.jpg
City of license Grand Rapids, Michigan
Broadcast area Grand Rapids, Michigan
Branding 97.9 WGRD
Slogan "Grand Rapids' Rock Alternative"
Frequency 97.9 MHz
Format Active Rock
ERP 13,000 watts
HAAT 180 meters
Class B
Facility ID 55650
Callsign meaning Grand RapiDs
Former callsigns WXTO (?-1971)
Owner Townsquare Media
(Townsquare Media of Grand Rapids, Inc.)
Sister stations WFGR, WLHT-FM, WNWZ, WTRV
Webcast Listen Live
Website wgrd.com

WGRD-FM (97.9 FM) is an active rock radio station in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The station is owned by Townsquare Media.

WGRD-FM is the flagship station of The Free Beer and Hot Wings Show, a comedy/talk program, on weekday mornings. It consists of five members: Greg "Free Beer" Daniels, Chris "Hot Wings" Michels, Eric (Zeitunian) Zane, Joe "Producer Joe" Gasmann, Jr, and Steve McKiernan. The show is now syndicated in 16 markets throughout the eastern United States.[1][2]

WGRD has a ERP of 13,000 watts @ 591 feet which is south of Grand Rapids. WGRD reaches as far as Battle Creek but the farther you travel east on I-94 it begins to mix with 97.9 WJLB in Detroit. The northwest part of the signal serves Muskegon.

Contents

[edit] History

97.9 FM began as WXTO,[when?] a station owned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids and operated by Aquinas College; later, the owners of Top 40 music stations WGRD-AM 1410 in Grand Rapids and WTRU-AM 1600 Muskegon (Regional Broadcasters, Inc.) took full control of the station in 1971 and changed its call letters to WGRD-FM. The station's transmitter would remain on the Aquinas College campus until 1974. During the mid 1970s, WGRD was frequently the #1 station (12+) in the Grand Rapids market. In the 1979 Fall Arbitron, WGRD dominated the market with a 19 share. By 1985, the station was known as "98ROCKFM, WGRD." WGRD earned a 12.2 share (12+) in the Summer 1986 Arbitron ratings with Morning Show Host Big John Howell along with Radar (Robert Shroll) & Jennifer Stephens.

[edit] WXTO/WGRD

WGRD-AM 1410 (which had had a Top 40 music format in place since 1959) was struggling in the ratings at the time against pop-rock competitors WLAV-AM 1340 and WZZM-FM 95.7 (then known as "Z96", now WLHT). WGRD thus moved its struggling Top 40 format onto its new FM station, making the stereo FM station the primary frequency while having the AM continue to simulcast. The revamped WGRD quickly became the dominant Top 40 station in the market and continued to be for over two decades.

[edit] Top 40/Alternative

In the Summer of 1993 the station moniker was "Grand Rapids #1 Hit music Station "98WGRD" . By 1994, however, the station had lost significant market share to Muskegon's 104.5 Sunny-FM WSNX, which had flipped from AC to Top-40, programmed by former WGRD music director JJ Duling. WGRD switched that year from CHR to the then-emerging and rapidly growing modern rock format, which it has had ever since.

The original WGRD, AM 1410, is now WNWZ with a Regional Mexican format. The call letters "GRD" stood for "Grand Rapids Daytime," since WGRD-AM was originally licensed to air only during daytime hours. During the early 1980s, AM-1410 operated as WXQT, with a big-band "MUSIC OF YOUR LIFE" format. WXQT became oldies "GREAT GOLD 14K" for several years (later known as WKTH). In August 2010 a reunion of more than 60 former WGRD staff members was held in Grand Rapids, which included market legend Bruce Grant, the original program director from 1948, and dozens of other personalities from the AM 1410/97.9 history. As of 2010, in response to Regent becoming Townsquare, WGRD began shifting its format direction to active rock, and in response, fill the void when Citadel Broadcasting dropped active rock for sports talk on WKLQ.

WGRD's target demographic is men ages 18–34 and a secondary of Men 25-54 (Arbitron demographics).

[edit] Programming

[edit] Weekdays

5am- 10am-

WGRD is the flagship station of the popular syndicated show.

From 10am to anywhere from 10:15 or 10:30 the Free Beer and Hot Wings Show does a local bit, talking about the area of Grand Rapids, and anything they may have missed on the syndicated broadcast.

10/10:15ish- 10:30ish-

  • Robot

Robot is a gag from the Free Beer and Hot Wings Show, that usually is only on for one song, usually to harass or make fun of someone from the station.

10:30ish- 2pm-

  • Program Director Jerry Tarrants (JT).

12pm- "Liquid Lunch" Request Hour

2pm-7pm-

  • Dahmer Before Dark

5pm- "Work Release" request hour, where GRD takes requests from listeners. --On Wednesdays Dahmer is live 7-11 at Gippers, taking the place of Jackie.

7pm-10pm-

  • Jackie On Air

[edit] Saturday

Mornings-

Jackie On Air

Afternoons-

  • Dave Kim

Night-

  • Dahmer

[edit] Sunday

Mornings-

  • Ned

Afternoons-

  • Green Day Gary

Nights-

10pm-12am-

[edit] Former on-air staff

[edit] Sources

[edit] References

  1. ^ - Affiliate list[dead link]
  2. ^ Nox Solutions. "Cast and Crew". Free Beer and Hot Wings. http://www.freebeerandhotwings.com/pg/jsp/general/cast.jsp. Retrieved 2011-09-14. 

[edit] External links

Radio stations in the Grand Rapids, Michigan market
By FM frequency
88.1 • 88.5 • 88.9 • 89.3 • 89.9 • 90.9 • 91.3 • 91.9 •93.7 • 94.5 • 95.7 • 96.1 • 96.9 • 97.9 • 98.7 • 99.3 • 100.5 • 101.3 • 102.9 • 104.1 • 104.5 • 105.3 • 105.7 • 106.9 • 107.3
By AM frequency
640 • 810 • 1140 • 1230 • 1260 • 1300 • 1340 • 1410 • 1480 • 1530 • 1570 • 1680
By callsign
WAYG • WBBL-FM • WBCT • WBFX • WBLU • WCSG • WDPW • WFGR • WFUR • WFUR-FM • WGNB • WGRD-FM • WGVU • WGVU-FM • WHTS • WJQK • WJRW • WLAV-FM • WLHT-FM • WMAX-FM • WMFN • WMJH • WNWZ • WOOD • WOOD-FM • WPRR • WPNW • WSLI • WSNX-FM • WSRW-FM • WTKG • WTNR • WTRV • WVGR • WVHF • WYCE • WYGR
Defunct stations
Active rock radio stations in the state of Michigan
By frequency
93.3 · 97.9 · 101.1 · 101.3 · 101.5
By callsign
WGRD-FM · WKQZ · WRIF · WSUE · WWBN
By city
Grand Rapids · Detroit · Midland · Sault Ste. Marie · Tuscola
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