WLEW-FM is a radio station

Radio station

Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...

 in Bad Axe, Michigan, serving the Thumb area of Michigan. It is owned by Thumb Broadcasting and broadcasts from studios on South Van Dyke Road

M-53 (Michigan highway)

M-53 is a gateway route to The Thumb region of the US state of Michigan, carrying vacationers to the many cottages and resorts located on Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron in the vicinity of Caseville and Port Austin. This highway is also used to transport agricultural and manufactured products from the...

 in Bad Axe. Unusual for small-town radio stations, WLEW-FM is locally programmed and does not rely on satellite feeds for any of their music programming. The station features a local roster of disc jockeys and news from CNN Radio.

WLEW-FM, known as "Cruise 102.1" ("The Thumb's Power Station"), broadcasts at 102.1 MHz FM with 50,000 watts of power. The station's adult hits

Adult hits

Adult hits is a radio format, popular in the early 2000s, that does not adhere to a specific music genre, but instead draws from a wider playlist...

 format is a combination of classic rock and adult contemporary titles from the 1960s through the present. WLEW-FM was formerly a 3,000-watt easy listening

Easy listening

Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...

 music station at 92.1 until it changed frequencies and boosted its power in the late 1980s (with WIDL

WIDL

WIDL is a radio station broadcasting a hot adult contemporary format. Licensed to Caro, Michigan, it first began broadcasting at 104.9 MHz...

 in Caro

Caro, Michigan

Caro is a city in and the county seat of Tuscola County, Michigan, United States. The population was 4,229 at the 2010 census and 4,145 at the 2000 census ....

, which had been at 104.9, taking the 92.1 frequency).

The station can be heard as far south as Lapeer

Lapeer, Michigan

Lapeer is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is the county seat of Lapeer County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 8,841. Most of the city was incorporated from land that was formerly in Lapeer Township, though portions were also annexed from Mayfield Township and Elba...

 and Flint

Flint, Michigan

Flint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the 2010 population to be placed at 102,434, making Flint the seventh largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the...

, as far west as Midland

Midland, Michigan

Midland is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan in the Tri-Cities region of the state. It is the county seat of Midland County. The city's population was 41,863 as of the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Midland Micropolitan Statistical Area....

, as far east as Goderich, Ontario

Goderich, Ontario

Goderich is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario and is the county seat of Huron County. The town was founded by William "Tiger" Dunlop in 1827. First laid out in 1828, the town is named after Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, who was British prime minister at the time. The town...

, and as far north as Mio

Mio, Michigan

Mio is an unincorporated community in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Oscoda County and is situated along the boundary between Mentor Township on the east and Big Creek Township on the west....

, and under the right conditions can be heard even farther north, even into the Upper Peninsula and Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

's Algoma

Algoma District, Ontario

Algoma District is a district and census division in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1858 comprising territory as far west as Minnesota...

, Manitoulin

Manitoulin District, Ontario

Manitoulin District is a district in Northeastern Ontario within the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1888 from part of Algoma District. The district seat is Gore Bay....

 and Sudbury Districts

Sudbury District, Ontario

The Sudbury District is a district in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1894 from townships of eastern Algoma District and west Nipissing District....

, though its area of strongest coverage includes most of Michigan's Thumb

The Thumb

The Thumb is a region and a peninsula of Michigan, so named because the Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten; thus the Thumb is the area that looks like the thumb of the mitten. The Thumb is generally considered to be in the Mid-Michigan area of the state, located east of Flint/Tri-Cities...

 and extends across Saginaw Bay

Saginaw Bay

Saginaw Bay is a bay within Lake Huron located on the eastern side of the U.S. state of Michigan. It forms the space between Michigan's Thumb region and the rest of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Saginaw Bay is in area...

 to the Tawas City area.