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WIOG (102.5 FM) is a radio station airing a CHR/Top 40 format, licensed to Bay City, Michigan and serving the Saginaw, Bay City, Midland and Flint areas from a transmitter located northeast of Saginaw. The station's 86,000-watt signal covers a large amount of territory in eastern lower Michigan, from northern Oakland County northward to West Branch, and from Michigan's Thumb area westward to Mount Pleasant and eastern areas of the Lansing metro.
[edit] History
From the 1970s until September 1986, WIOG operated on 106.3 MHz licensed to Saginaw. 106.3 FM signed on in 1969 as WSBM, featuring a MOR/adult contemporary music format. Later in the 1970s the calls became WIOG (the calls resembled the number "106," as in its dial position) and the format shifted to AOR. In 1980, with the addition of some disco records to its AOR playlist, WIOG moved to a Top 40 format, eventually taking on the name "Hits 106" and becoming one of the most popular radio stations in the market. The 102.5 frequency was originally home to WNEM-FM (later WGER), a Beautiful Music station which was one of the pioneers of FM Stereo broadcasting in Michigan. With its big signal, WGER was one of the most successful easy-listening stations in Michigan; as late as 1985, when it was using TM Programming's beautiful-music package, the station was posting #1 ratings among adult listeners aged 25-49 in the Saginaw and Flint markets, according to TM promotional literature of the time (1)
WIOG and WGER switched frequencies in September 1986; WGER moved from beautiful music to adult-contemporary at 106.3, a format that continues to this day, and WIOG's CHR format was planted at 102.5. The move paid off, as WIOG quickly became a powerhouse in mid-Michigan broadcasting. In the fall of 1986, aided by its new, more powerful signal, the station attained an Arbitron rating of 30.3%, becoming the highest-rated radio station in the entire country 1.
WIOG softened its format from CHR to Hot AC in the early 1990s, likely out of a desire to appeal to more advertiser-friendly adult demographics, as startup competitor 100.5 WTCF "The Fox" took over as the top hit-music station. WTCF's departure from the CHR format in 1999, however, left the door open for WIOG to move back to CHR, which it soon did. Today WIOG remains one of the most popular stations in the Tri-Cities market, though its showing in the Flint market is more modest due to competition from CHR WWCK-FM, rhythmic WRCL and active rocker WWBN.
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