WTNR

WTNR

City of license	Holland, Michigan
Broadcast area	Grand Rapids, Michigan
Branding	Thunder 94-5
Slogan	"The Wake Up Call & More Music All Day"
Frequency	94.5 MHz
Format	Country
ERP	50,000 watts
HAAT	152 meters
Class	B
Facility ID	41678
Callsign meaning	ThuNdeR 94.5
Former callsigns	WKLQ (1/9/84-10/11/04) WJBL-FM (?-1/9/84)
Owner	Cumulus Media
Sister stations	WBBL-FM, WHTS, WJRW, WLAV-FM
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	thunder945.com

WTNR (94.5 MHz, Thunder 94-5), is a country radio station located in Holland, Michigan, owned by Cumulus Media. It was established in October 2004, as a station that focueses mostly on new country music, with songs from the 1990's and early 2000's. It competes with B-93. It Signal Can Be Heard As Far South As Dowagiac, Michigan, As Far North As Stanwood, Michigan, And As Far East As Westphalia, Michigan

History

See also: WKLQ

Prior to the country music format, 94.5 was occupied by WKLQ, with a CHR format, and in 1984 the station flipped formats to hard-rock format. In 1996, the station added Howard Stern to the morning lineup. By 1999 the station had tweaked into Alternative and became known as "The Rock@94.5 KLQ".

After a few years of struggling with the rock format, the station flipped to country on October 11, 2004 as "94.5 The New Thunder Country".

On October 27, 2011, WTNR completely revamped the station's playlist by adding gold tracks not previously played on the station. These included songs by artists from the 1990s and early 2000s like Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, Blackhawk, Pam Tillis and The Dixie Chicks, among others. The station also dropped all tags at the end of each song, which gave the title and artist for each track. The station is now simply called "Thunder 94-5" as well.

Summer 2011 Arbitron rating: #6 (4.6)

Airstaff

The current lineup (as of February 7, 2012) is as follows

• Morning Show (5:30 am - 10 am): The Wake Up Call - April Rose & Joe "Flounder" Piesz
• Mid-Days (10 am - 3 pm): Kim St. James
• Afternoon Drive (3 pm - 7 pm): Shane Goad
• Nighttime (7 pm - 12 am): Chris Tyler
• Weekend's/Fill-ins: Ditch Cooper, Darlas Rai and Emilee West
• Program Director: Shane Goad
• Station Voice: Scott Fisher

Former Airstaff

WKLQ (Rock/Alternative) Era 1984-2004

• Steve Aldrich (Overnights/Weekend Host 1996-2004)
• Darrin Arriens (Program Director/Mid-Day Host 2003-2004)
• Cristi Cantle (Evenings/Afternoons/Night Host 1999-2004)
• Suzy Cole (Morning News 1997-1999/Weekends 2000-2001) - Now weekends at 101 WRIF in Detroit
• Nick Dorsey (Overnight Host 2000-2003)
• Mark “The Head” Feurie (Afternoon/Mid-Day Host 1997-2003)
• Flea (Late Night Host 1997-1998)
• Matt Gilcheck (Overnights/Evening Host/Afternoon Host 1996-1999)
• Aris Hampers (Afternoon/Mid-Day Host 1993-1998)
• Steve Hynes (Overnight Host 1999-2000)
• Sean Kelly (Afternoon Co-Host/Evenings/Afternoon Host 2003-2004)
• Daisy Mae (Weekends/Late Nights/Evening Host 1995-1998)
• Don O'Neill (Morning Co-Host "Ron & Don" 2003-2004)
• Andy O'Riley (Mid-Day/Weekends/Afternoon Host 1990-1999)
• Brad Michael Owen (Overnight Host 1995-1997)
• Tom Robinson (Production Director/Mid-Day/Evening Host 1984-2000)
• Ty Rosenow (Morning Co-Host 2003)
• Hunter Scott (Program Director/Afternoon Host 2003-2004)
• Tom “The Wiz” Stavrou (Weekends/Morning News/Late Nights/Night Host 1995-2004)
• Howard Stern (Morning Host "The Howard Stern Show" 1996-2002)
• Ron Upshaw (Morning Host "Ron & Don" 2003-2004)
• Bill Waters (Afternoon Host 1991-2002 & Afternoon/Mid-Day Host 2002-2003)
• Bill Watson (Morning News 1998-2002)

94.5 The New Thunder Country Era 2004-Present

• Nick Alan (Weekends/Nights/Afternoon Host 2005-2010) - Now nights at 100.7 The Wolf in Seattle, Washington
• Ashley Asphalt (Morning Co-Host "Scrubs In The Morning 2007-2009) - Now mornings at 94.7 WCSX in Detroit
• Rob Brandt (Afternoon Host 2010) - Now afternoons at 97 LAV-FM
• Brother Dave (Morning Co-Host "Scrubs In The Morning 2007)
• Bud Ford (Mid-Day/Morning Host 2005-2007)
• Dan "The Tall Man" Hardee (Night Host 2010-2011) - Now production director for Wilks Broadcasting in Denver, Colorado
• "Party Paul" Longuski (Weekends/Nighttime/Afternoon/Morning Host "The Wake Up Call" 2008-2012) - Now afternoons at Whistle 100 in Greenville, South Carolina
• Dawn Michaels (Mid-Day Host 2007)
• Brian Sims (Mid-Day/Afternoon Host 2007-2008)
• Steve "Scrubs" Stewart (Program Director/Morning Host "Scrubs In The Morning" 2007-2011) - Now program director at 93.7 The Bull in St. Louis, Missouri
• Matt Stryker, formerly Matt Gilcheck (Afternoon Host 2004-2006) - Now mornings at 99-9 Kiss Country in Miami, FL
• Ellen Tailor (Weekends 2007-2012) - Now mornings at 100.7 The Wolf in Seattle, Washington
• Tim Wall (Morning Co-Host "Wilhite & Wall" 2005-2006)
• Darren Wilhite (Morning Host "Wilhite & Wall" 2005-2006) - Now afternoons at 105.5 K-Jo 105.5 in St. Joseph, Missouri
• Wingnut (Nighttime Host "The Wingnut Show" 2008-2009)

Sources

• Michiguide.com - WTNR History

External links

• Query the FCC's FM station database for WTNR
• Radio-Locator information on WTNR
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WTNR
• Thunder 94.5 on Myspace.com