WLHT-FM

WLHT-FM, also known as "CHANNEL 95-7" (formerly "95.7 W-Lite"), is a hot adult contemporary music formatted radio station in Grand Rapids, Michigan owned by Townsquare Media. Until late April 2006, the station was the home of the husband-and-wife morning team of Dave & Geri.

WKLW, WZZM-FM, and WZZR

The station signed on the same day as WOOD-FM (now WSRW-FM) in 1962. The original call letters of 95.7 FM were WKLW. In the mid-1960s, the station came into common ownership with WZZM-TV Channel 13 and became WZZM-FM. 96 WZZM 96 was spelled the same upside down as right-side up. By 1967, the station was block-programmed, with country music in the morning, Top 40 hit music in afternoon drive, and MOR music at night. Then, in 1968, WZZM-FM converted its format to full-time Top 40. WZZM-FM was one of the first FM Top 40s in Michigan to pose a serious challenge to its AM competition: by the end of 1970 it was ahead of WLAV (1340 AM) and WGRD (1410 AM) in several dayparts, including at night, when the AM competition either had poor signals or was off the air, and on the weekends.

In 1971, WZZM-FM picked up a serious competitor when WGRD added an FM signal at 97.9 (formerly WXTO). The reborn WGRD was an instant success. WZZM reacted by evolving its format into a Top 40-AOR hybrid, and then in 1972, into a Top 40-Oldies hybrid. The station gained a "second wind" of sorts and posted a #1 12+ Arbitron showing in Grand Rapids in the summer of 1973, but ratings quickly dropped off again afterwards. WZZM-FM, which in 1977 changed its calls to WZZR and adopted the names "Z96" and "The Wizard of Rock", continued to struggle through the rest of the 1970s and into the 1980s, shifting back and forth between Top 40 and Adult Contemporary. In 1983 WZZR tweaked its format from CHR into a "new wave"/"Rock of the Eighties"-type format, but ratings remained low.

WLHT

In 1984, WZZR became WLHT and switched to its current adult contemporary format. Once again, 95.7 FM was a pioneer in the market in terms of trying a new format, and once again, its pioneering spirit led to success and acclaim. In 1998 WLHT was named AC station of the year at the Marconi Award ceremonies. Two years later Regent Communications (now Townsquare Media) purchased the station, along with sister stations WGRD-FM, WNWZ-AM, and WTRV-FM.

The 2000s Bring Changes

On April 14, 2006, husband and wife morning team Dave Jagger and Geri Jarvis announced that they would host their final morning show on April 21 after twenty years on the air on W-Lite. They were replaced April 24, 2006, by Denis Pryor and Nanette in morning drive. At the same time the station changed its on-air nickname from 95.7 W-Lite to Lite Rock 95.7 (but reverted to the "W-Lite" name afterward). WLHT's music rotation also became slightly brighter and more rock-based than previously. The station's ratings have also dipped considerably since Dave and Geri's departure (see: 1).

In November 2007, WLHT shifted to an all-Christmas music format for the holiday season - the first time the station had ever done so - to compete with WOOD-FM (now WSRW), which has been going all-Christmas in November since 2001. However, WLHT's sister station, WTRV, which pioneered the all-Christmas format in Grand Rapids, stuck to its normal Soft AC format.

By August 2009, WLHT had moved its format toward Hot AC (of which WMAX-FM used to carry until 2008), and its previous mainstream AC format had shifted to sister station WTRV, which previously had aired a MOR/soft AC mix. As a result, WLHT-FM had been leaning adult top 40 until the station dropped AC in 2009 (a similar situation done at adult top 40-leaning ACs such as WNIC Detroit). Also in 2009, former WOOD-TV news personality Gerry Barnaby took over the morning show. The radio station's jockeys began referring to the station as LHT, dropping the W except when plugging the station's web page and at the top of the hour for mandatory recitation of the full call sign.

WLHT-FM is licensed for HD Radio operations, and the station's secondary HD subchannel features a simulcast of Regional Mexican sister station WNWZ AM 1410 ("La Maquina Musical").

Channel 957 Debuts

On October 11, 2010 WLHT became a full-blown Hot AC and changed its moniker to CHANNEL 957; however, WLHT-FM was still reported as AC by Mediabase (up until January 2011), even though Townsquare's true AC station in the Grand Rapids market is WTRV. Nielsen BDS now reports the station as a hot AC as of November 2010.

The format change brought changes to the station's on-air lineup as well. Channel 957 added Kidd Kraddick's morning show - giving the station a syndicated morning show for the first time in its history - and midday host Kim Carson (a veteran of Detroit radio) moved to WTRV, with Wendy Reed, who had formerly held the same shift at WTRV, taking her place. Jerry Noble, another veteran of Detroit (and various other Michigan markets) radio, holds down afternoon drive.

Jingles

During WLHT'S AC history, the station used various TM packages In 2006, The station used Key 103 2006 from Reelworld.

Currently, WLHT uses Hallem FM 2006, KMYI 2010, and as of October 2011 KHMX 2004 and KDMX 2011, all from Reelworld. The KHMX and KDMX packages feature the current Hallem FM logo enstead of the original logo.

Sources

• Michiguide.com - WLHT-FM History

External links

• Query the FCC's FM station database for WLHT
• Radio-Locator information on WLHT
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WLHT