| City of license | Saginaw, Michigan |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Saginaw-Bay City-Midland |
| Branding | Mix 106.3 |
| Slogan | More Music, More Variety, A Better Mix. |
| Frequency | 106.3 MHz |
| First air date | November 12, 1961 (at 102.5) |
| Format | Hot Adult Contemporary |
| ERP | 4,400 watts |
| HAAT | 116 meters |
| Class | A |
| Facility ID | 20384 |
| Callsign meaning | James Gerity (original owner) |
| Former callsigns | WNEM-FM (11/12/61 - 2/19/69) (on 102.5) |
| Former frequencies | 102.5 MHz (1961-1986) |
| Owner | NextMedia Group |
| Sister stations | WCEN-FM, WSGW, WSGW-FM, WTLZ |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | mix1063fm.com |
WGER (106.3 FM, "Mix 106.3") is a radio station licensed to Saginaw, Michigan broadcasting a hot adult contemporary format.
WGER can be heard in the Tri-Cities, as their niche market. However, WGER is shared on the same frequency by CHKS-FM "K106.3" in Sarnia, Ontario. East of Lapeer County, both stations can be heard with a turn of the antenna.
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Established by James Gerity, a professional violinist who acquired WNEM-TV in 1961, WGER began broadcasting later that year at 102.5 MHz under the WNEM-FM calls and featured a Beautiful Music format for the first several decades of its existence.[1] The call letters were changed to WGER after Gerity sold the TV station in 1969. WGER's beautiful music format, programmed by TM Programming, achieved high ratings in adult demographics in both the Tri-Cities and Flint markets thanks to its 86,000-watt signal licensed to Bay City. At one point, in 1971, Arbitron research showed that WGER was the second highest-rated radio station in the nation.[2]
In 1986, Gerity's estate sold WGER to the owner of CHR-formatted WIOG, licensed to Saginaw at 106.3 which was sold to another company. The two stations swapped frequencies, with WGER moving its easy listening format to 106.3. WGER evolved from easy listening to mainstream AC on 106.3 and eventually took the name "Soft Rock 106.3" by the late 1980s before adopting the moniker "Magic 106.3".
By 2005, WGER had evolved from mainstream AC to its current Hot AC sound, although it would be several months before the station stopped reporting to Radio & Records/Mediabase 24/7's Adult Contemporary airplay panel and switched to the Hot AC panel. The station added songs like "Fergalicious" by Fergie and "Girl Next Door" by Saving Jane that did not fit the AC format and introduced a "Totally 80's Weekend" while continuing to feature the Soft AC sounds of Delilah at night.
That same year, Magic 106.3 got an AC competitor when MacDonald Broadcasting changed its adult standards WSAM-AM and oldies WSAG-FM to a Soft AC simulcast called "The Bay," a gold-based Soft AC simulcast meant to fill the void left when WGER migrated to Hot AC. In the summer of 2007, Delilah moved to "The Bay," and WGER became the new home of the John Tesh radio show in the Tri-Cities market. Increased competition from WSAM/WSAG and top-rated oldies/classic hits station WHNN (which has added more '80s music to its playlist), as well as listener perception that the sound of the station is inconsistent, has led to a decline in WGER's ratings over the past several years. The Fall 2007 Arbitron ratings book showed WGER in tenth place 12+ with a 3.3 share; however, by Spring 2008, the station had sunk to a 2.2 share 12+, falling behind Gladwin-based rimshot country station WGDN-FM.
WGER was the first station in the Tri-Cities market to play continuous Christmas music for the holiday season. In 2006, however, the station announced that it would not change to all-Christmas that year because of research that showed its listeners didn't want it, which left the door open for 96.1 WHNN to change to Christmas music, with which it was very successful. In 2007, both WGER and WHNN went all-Christmas shortly after Halloween.
WGER rebranded from "Magic 106.3" to "Mix 106.3" in February 2009.
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