WMMQ


WMMQ is an American classic rock radio station licensed to East Lansing, Michigan. The station is owned by Townsquare Media.

History

The current WMMQ-FM, currently at 94.9 FM, began broadcasting in 1963, as WCER-FM in Charlotte, Michigan. The original WVIC 730 with an MOR format and 94.9 FM were a competing station in Lansing, Michigan. In the early '70s WVIC switched to top 40 and "owned" the college crowd, and became one of the top-rated stations in Lansing, besides the Long Enduring MSU Rock Radio Station, WILS also found huge ratings success with the College Audience...the first #1 fm station in the country, helped by the high FM set penetration The manager and part owner was Bob Sherman who also did sports. Morning man and music director was Bruce Buchanan who was fired for leaving a radio station softball team game at 11 pm to get some sleep for the following morning show. He went on to debut WHNN Bay city/Saginaw in 1974 that also was number one. Another alumnus was Kevin McCarthy who went to Dallas and was inducted into the Texas hall of fame.
All of the jocks had 3-hour shifts but were required to do high school hops, throughout mid Michigan, for no more than $50. WVIC dropped out of the simulcast and became sports-talk WVFN in June 1992. WVIC-FM's period as Lansing's top CHR station came to an end on March 1, 1995, when the station became "Wild Country 94-9 The Cat" in an attempt to take on longtime country music station and market leader WITL-FM. "The Cat" lasted only a few months before the station was acquired by the owners of WITL-FM. Under new ownership by Liggett Communications, WVIC-FM decided to take on longtime album rocker WJXQ with an active rock format as "Buzz 95." The WJXQ morning show team of Tim and Deb moved to 94.9 in 1996, and the station adjusted its format to a more mainstream rock approach.
On September 1, 1979, WMMQ was born through the separation of the WCER AM and FM signals. WMMQ assumed the FM component. The station started at the Charlotte, MI location in a new building addition, with its transmitter and tower located on Otto Road north of Charlotte. This Tiny 5,000 Watt Radio Station was literally in the middle of a corn field! A microwave link connected the two buildings. A fully automated cart system was originally used for music and commercials. There were no actual DJs on the FM station initially. by August 1983, Lansing's only true Power Progressive AOR Rock Radio Station 101 -WILS F.M. had been sold to a Wisconsin Insurance Company "Sentry Group" which effectively ended Lansing's Main Rock Music Station. Departures of several long time broadcasters, both D.J.s and news personnel: from legendary Keith Cummings in the newsroom, to Burton and Ballard on Mornings, Clyde Shoe on Afternoon Drive, on AM side of WILS names Like Hal Fish were notably absent after the format changed from AOR to Doris Day at midnight upon the New Year Eve of 1984. The station's phone lines were flooded for hours as station personnel answered angry listeners in shock and disbelief. it was WMMQ that Captured this Audience who eagerly embraced its true rock and roll origins and its ability to attract an even younger age demographic of both males and females in Lansing. Many personalities appeared during this time: Tim Seigrist's "the Early Morning Rock And Roll Travesty" then, the "Catman", Scott Rashad /Bullion resumed duties of Hosting "morning Travesty" after creating the "Afterhours Rock and Roll Overnites After Leaving Cin-Lan Entertainment in 1988. Station owner Robert T. Ottaway hired Rashad/ Bullion twice in station history and was rehired by Goodrich Broadcasting briefly this makes the "Catman" the single D.J.to ever be hired and then, fired, and to be re-hired again by the same station in Lansing Radio History! notably, in 1990, Rashad/Bullion Was asked to submit his resignation to Ottaway after Rashad/Bullion was arrested by Lansing Police in an arranged "buy" marijuana transaction. After serving a brief 74 days in Jail for "attempting to purchase a large sum of a controlled substance", He was again re-hired By WMMQ F.M.After station owner Ottaway attracted several brief/short-lasting D.J.s to do Morning Drive. Names like stand-up comedian Dobie Maxwell and the also memorable personality, legendary Jazz McKay were brought in to assist with music programming and on-air duties/ After creating and keeping a dedicated well-deserved following and a positive growth ratings history achieved against much larger wattage stations, The management sought direction while the owners sought a buyer after ratings took a series of dives after stations loss of an identity. WMMQ's Classic rock format moved to the higher-powered signal at 94.9 after being sold to movie theater chain owner Robert Goodrich of Grand Rapids.
The former morning show on WMMQ consisted of Rich Michaels, formerly of sister station WJIM-FM 97.5. Joining Michaels is Deb Hart. Ironically, Rich Michaels was also the morning show host on 94.9 during the heyday of the original WVIC in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Michaels was suspended from on-air activities on Wednesday, August 14, 2008 for on-air comments about a building project in Lansing. In 2010, Rich Michaels was let go.

Other call sign and frequency uses

The original 92.7 Charlotte-based WMMQ signal moved to 92.9 in late October 2006 and is now licensed to the community of Grand Ledge. WLMI is owned by Midwest Communications. The legendary WVIC call sign remained in the hands of Midwest and was used for a time on what is now WQTX and WWDK.

Today

Programming

A long-standing fixture on WMMQ, dating back to its earliest days in 1985 on 92.7, is the "All-Request Saturday Night". The show's origins are traced back to then AOR formatted 101 WILS-FM. It was hosted for 25+ years by Larry "Allen" Estlack until his passing in December 2013. Estlack, who went by Larry "Allen" on the air, was the engineer for WILS and later WMMQ. The show, now hosted by Wally Londo, runs from 7:00 pm to midnight and usually has a featured artist or theme each week, and consists of a playlist entirely supplied by listener phone and e-mail requests.
WMMQ continues to be consistently rated in Lansing's top 10 – and was ranked in the top three in local adult 25–54 market ratings in the fall of 2006.
WMMQ currently streams its programming 24/7 using the Windows Media format through a link on its website listed below.

Ownership

In 2000, Liggett Communications sold WMMQ, WVFN, WITL, WJIM-FM, WJIM, and WFMK to Citadel Broadcasting.
In 2011, Citadel was absorbed into Cumulus Media.
On August 30, 2013, a deal was announced in which Townsquare Media would acquire 53 Cumulus Media stations, including WMMQ, for $238 million. The deal is part of Cumulus' acquisition of Dial Global; Townsquare and Dial Global are both controlled by Oaktree Capital Management. The sale to Townsquare was completed on November 14, 2013.

Technical

WMMQ broadcasts with an Effective Radiated Power of 50,000 watts from a site near Holt, Michigan in Ingham County. The transmitter site is located off of Gun Road and is shared by WMMQ and WVFN. This was the original transmitter site utilized when both stations operated under the WVIC call sign. The WVIC studio was located on Mount Hope Road between Aurelius and Harrison Roads.
Three short towers are aligned on the site which are used for the daytime directional antenna pattern of 730 AM WVFN. In the center of the array is a 500-foot tower used for 94.9 FM. This tower also doubles as WVFN's omni-directional nighttime array.