WIDG

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WIDG
City of license	St. Ignace, Michigan
Broadcast area	(Daytime) (Nighttime)
Slogan	The Catholic Light for Northern Michigan
Frequency	940 kHz
First air date	1966
Format	Religious- Catholic talk and teaching
Power	5,000 watts (Daytime) 4 watts (Nighttime)
Class	D
Callsign meaning	The Widge by the Bridge
Former callsigns	WLVM (7/30/82-5/6/85) WIDG (1966-7/30/82)
Affiliations	EWTN Global Catholic Radio Ave Maria Radio (originating station WDEO in Ypsilanti)
Owner	Baraga Broadcasting
Sister stations	WTCK (originating station) W236BZ(FM translator at 95.1 mHz)
Webcast	Listen Live
Website

WIDG (940 AM) is a radio station licensed to St. Ignace, Michigan, broadcasting a Catholic religious format. Until October 2008, the station was owned and operated by Northern Star Broadcasting and had aired ESPN Radio under the brand name AM 940 The Fan. The station then went silent for a short period and returned to the air in December 2008, simulcasting originating station WTCK 90.9 FM in Charlevoix. WIDG was previously owned by Northern Star Broadcasting and now owned by Baraga Broadcasting. The sale was approved by the FCC in October 2008. (see WIDG history page). Its main studio is located at Indian River.

History

Founded in 1966 by Donald E. Benson's Mighty-Mac Broadcasting Company, the station was known for many years as "Widge by the Bridge" and aired mainly middle of the road music, at times a blend of top 40.

The nickname "Widge by the Bridge" was coined by a longtime friend of station founder Donald E. Benson, a Lansing-based dentist who thought WITL-Lansing's slogan "Whittle while you work" was something that WIDG needed. The original CP for the station had the call letters WSTI, "St. Ignace" but Benson felt the call letters looked like "Stye". In 1979, Benson obtained a dark license and kept the station dark until April 1981. WIDG returned with an MOR format until a format change to Big Band and standards and the call letters WLVM ("We Love Michigan", with the station's music format provided by TM's "TMOR" package). In 1985, the station returned to the WIDG calls with a top 40 oldies format until 1988, when WIDG simulcast sister FM's WMKC St. Ignace and WCKC-Cadillac's country music format.

Eventually, in the early 1990s, WIDG once again adopted separate programming from WMKC, airing first oldies (as "Cool 940") and then classic country (as "Classic KC Country") before the sports-talk format was introduced. WIDG was initially an affiliate of One-on-One Sports (which later became Sporting News Radio) before switching to the ESPN Radio feed.

WIDG operates with an omni-directional antenna and with very low power after local sunset to avoid interference with the now-defunct CINW (formerly CBC Radio-owned CBM-AM) in Montreal. In WIDG's heyday, it constantly fought for a good signal into the north and was stymied by 10 kW CKCY-920 Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. WIDG's signal was obliterated by CKCY north of Rudyard. When CKCY went dark, WIDG finally got the full potential of its 5 kW signal and can be heard well into the province of Ontario.

Though CINW (the former CBC Radio-owned CBM) has been silent since 2010, WIDG must still power down from 5,000 watts to 4 watts at sunset per FCC rules.

Baraga Broadcasting's other stations

WTCY 88.3 FM in Greilickville which also serves Traverse City
WGZR 89.1 FM in Alpena
WTCK 90.9 FM in Charlevoix (originating station) which also serves Harbor Springs
WGJU 91.3 FM in East Tawas (the former WRQC)

FM translator

W221CA 92.1 FM in Gaylord

Baraga's main studio and offices are located at Indian River, Michigan near The Cross in the Woods Catholic Shrine. It also airs national programming from EWTN Global Catholic Radio and Ave Maria Radio based at WDEO in Ypsilanti.

References

Michiguide.com - WIDG History

External links

Query the FCC's AM station database for WIDG

Radio-Locator Information on WIDG

v t e Radio stations in the Traverse City-Petoskey, Michigan market

By FM frequency	88.1 Gaylord 88.3 Greilickville 88.7 89.3 89.9 90.7 90.9 91.3 91.5 92.3 92.5 92.9 93.5 94.3 94.5 95.3 95.5 96.3 97.5 97.7 98.1 98.9 99.3 100.9 101.5 101.9 102.9 103.5 103.9 104.5 105.1 105.5 105.9 106.3 106.7 107.5 107.9

By AM frequency	580 750 940 1110 1210 1230 1240 1270 1310 1340 1400

Defunct	WSNQ 900

By callsign	WBCM WBLW WBNZ WCBY WCCW WCCW-FM WCHY WCMW-FM WCZW WFCX WFDX WGFM WGFN WIDG WGRY WIAA WICA WICV WJML WJNL WJOG WJZQ WKHQ-FM WKJZ WKLT WKLZ WLDR WLDR-FM WLJN WLJN-FM WLXT WMBN WMJZ WMKC WMKT WNMC-FM WOEZ WOUF WQEZ WSNQ WSRJ WSRT WTCK WTCM WTCM-FM WTCY WTLI WYPV WWSS WZTC

Michigan radio markets Battle Creek Detroit Flint Grand Rapids Kalamazoo Lansing-East Lansing Muskegon Traverse City-Petoskey Other Michigan radio regions Alpena Ann Arbor Benton Harbor-St. Joseph Houghton The Irish Hills Iron Mountain Jackson Marquette Saginaw-Bay City-Midland Sault Ste. Marie The Thumb Area See also List of radio stations in Michigan

Coordinates: 45°51′44″N 84°46′55″W / 45.86222°N 84.78194°W / 45.86222; -84.78194

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