WNIC
Encyclopedia
WNIC is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 radio station based in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

 broadcasting at 100.3 MHz FM
Frequency modulation
In telecommunications and signal processing, frequency modulation conveys information over a carrier wave by varying its instantaneous frequency. This contrasts with amplitude modulation, in which the amplitude of the carrier is varied while its frequency remains constant...

. WNIC's studios and offices are located in Farmington Hills
Farmington Hills, Michigan
Farmington Hills is a community in southeastern Michigan. It is the largest city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Its population was 79,740 at the 2010 census...

, MI. WNIC's transmitter is located near Schoolcraft and Livernois Avenue in the City of Detroit on the near west side. WNIC broadcasts with an effective radiated power
Effective radiated power
In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...

 of 32,000 watts from an antenna 600 feet in height. The station airs a hot adult contemporary format under the brand Fresh 100.3. It can be heard as far as Perrinton, Michigan
Perrinton, Michigan
Perrinton is a village in Fulton Township, Gratiot County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 439 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , all land.-Demographics:...

 to the west, London, Ontario
London, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...

 to the east, and Elmore, Ohio
Elmore, Ohio
Elmore is a village in Ottawa and Sandusky counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 1,426 at the 2000 census.The Ottawa County portion of Elmore is part of the Toledo Metropolitan Statistical Area, while the Sandusky County portion is part of the Fremont Micropolitan Statistical...

 to the south.

WKMH-FM

WNIC went on the air around 1950 as WKMH-FM, sister to WKMH-AM 1310. Both stations were, and still are, licensed to Dearborn, Michigan.

WKNR-FM

On Halloween 1963, WKMH became WKNR, and legendary Top 40 radio station "Keener 13" was born, beginning a three-and-a-half-year reign at the top of Detroit's radio ratings until it was toppled by Windsor, Ontario's CKLW
CKLW
CKLW is a 50,000 watt AM radio station broadcasting on 800 kHz and located in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and serving Windsor and Detroit. Additionally, its signal can be heard as far west as Belding, Michigan; as far east as Batavia, New York; as far south as Edgewood, Kentucky; and as far...

 in 1967. WKMH-FM similarly became WKNR-FM, and chiefly simulcast Keener AM (with automated Top 40 programming during non-simulcast times) until 1969, when, inspired by the success of groundbreaking progressive rock
Progressive rock (radio format)
Progressive rock is a radio station programming format that prospered in the late 1960s and 1970s, in which the disc jockeys are given wide latitude in what they may play, similar to the freeform format but with the proviso that some kind of rock music is almost always what is played...

 station 99.5 WABX
WYCD
WYCD is a radio station in Detroit, Michigan. The station is the only country music station in the Detroit area. WYCD's offices and studios are located on Woodward Heights . near Interstate 75 in Ferndale, Michigan...

, the station adopted its own progressive rock sound. "Uncle" Russ Gibb was the WKNR-FM personality who helped to spread the rumor that Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

 was dead. According to Gibb, a college student in Ann Arbor called him on the air one Sunday afternoon and explained the theory to him. The rumor took off from there and generated lots of publicity for Gibb and WKNR-FM. It was air personality Chris Randall
Chris Rathaus
Chris Rathaus was an American a radio producer, program director and talk show host of radio programs in the United states. Rathaus passed on the Paul McCartney death hoax, to an associate radio dj, Roby Yonge at WABC New York.-Career:Randall started his career at WPTR/Albany, New York...

 who phoned WABC
WABC (AM)
WABC , known as "NewsTalkRadio 77 WABC" is a radio station in New York City. Owned by the broadcasting division of Cumulus Media, the station broadcasts on a clear channel and is the flagship station of Cumulus Media Networks...

 New York personality Roby Yonge
Roby Yonge
Roby Yonge was an American radio DJ, most notable in the 1960s. He was best known for being fired from New York station WABC-AM in 1969, after he reported over the air that the singer Paul McCartney of The Beatles might be dead....

, who put the rumor on the air in New York and was responsible for it spreading nationwide.

Stereo Island To WNIC

WKNR-FM dropped its progressive rock format in 1971 to become "Stereo Island," a cross between Beautiful Music
Beautiful music
Beautiful music is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in American radio from the 1960s through the 1980s...

 and Middle of the Road that could be described as an early form of what would be later be called Adult Contemporary. "Stereo Island" was successful and spawned imitators such as WFMK in Lansing, but in 1972, both WKNR-AM and WKNR-FM were sold and became WNIC-AM/FM, simulcasting a straightforward Beautiful Music format. The WNIC calls were meant to denote the station's "NICe" music. In 1976, WNIC adopted a more up-tempo sound called "Rock 'n' Easy" and has been successful with that AC format ever since. WNIC scored its first number-one placing in the monthly Arbitron ratings in Detroit in 1998, although the station's ratings have since dropped, due largely to competition from Greater Media-owned Magic 105.1. The ratings drop was also blamed on the departure of popular morning show host Jim Harper to Magic 105.1. Since 2009
2009 in radio
The following events occurred in radio in 2009.- Events :* January 1: Kurdish TV starts broadcasting in Turkey.* January: Michael Smerconish, morning host at talk radio WPHT Philadelphia, begins syndication of his morning show to WHFS in Washington and WOR in New York City.* January 17: Two well...

, WNIC decided to lean more hot adult contemporary by adding songs they would have never touched, such as Let It Rock
Let It Rock (Kevin Rudolf song)
"Let It Rock" is the debut single of Kevin Rudolf from his debut album In the City. It features rapper Lil Wayne. The track was produced and written by Rudolf....

by Kevin Rudolf
Kevin Rudolf
Kevin Rudolf is an American singer-songwriter and record producer signed to Cash Money Records. Rudolf is mostly known for singing and producing rock/pop music...

.

Fresh 100.3

On December 27, 2010
2010 in radio
The following events occurred in radio in 2010.-Events:*Date Unknown: CHOI/Quebec City flips from Alternative Rock to News/Talk.*January 4: KJCS/Lufkin, Texas goes silent....

, the station rebranded as "Fresh 100.3, Detroit's Fresh New Sound" and was forced to keep the adult contemporary format for eight months, dropping all 1970s music
1970s in music
For music from a year in the 1970s, go to 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79This article includes an overview of the major events and trends in popular music in the 1970s....

 and a lot of 1980s music from the playlist, focusing on upbeat music from the 1990s through today, including some 1980s songs. The station made the switch at 4:00 PM (EST) after running its annual Christmas music and an on-air music test for two hours. The surprise flip caught listeners off guard, but according to Clear Channel/Detroit OM Todd Thomas he noted that the target audience will remain the same, adding that "This is the music that radio listeners in Detroit told us they wanted to hear. With their help, we’ve created a unique sound on 100.3 for 2011 and beyond." Artists heard on WNIC now include Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...

, Daughtry, Bruno Mars
Bruno Mars
Peter Gene Hernandez , better known by his stage name Bruno Mars, is an Filipino-American singer-songwriter and record producer. Raised in Honolulu, Hawaii by a family of musicians, Mars began making music at a young age...

, and Katy Perry
Katy Perry
Katy Perry is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents, Perry grew up listening to only gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. After earning a GED during her first year of high school, she began to pursue a...

. The station competes with Adult Contemporary WMGC and Adult CHR WDVD
WDVD
WDVD is a hot adult contemporary radio station in Detroit, Michigan, broadcasting at 96.3 MHz on the FM dial. WDVD's studios and offices are located in the Fisher Building near downtown Detroit. WDVD's transmitter is located in Oakland County in Royal Oak Township at 8 Mile Road and Wyoming Avenue...

, as well as rimshot hot AC station CHYR-FM
CHYR-FM
CHYR-FM is a Canadian radio station, which airs at 96.7 FM in Leamington, Ontario. The station airs a hot adult contemporary format branded as Mix 96.7.-History:...

 of Leamington, Ontario
Leamington, Ontario
Leamington is a municipality in Essex County, southern Ontario, Canada, and has a population of 31,113. It includes Point Pelee, the southernmost point of mainland Canada. It has a large H. J. Heinz Company factory and is known as the "Tomato Capital of Canada", with 4 km² of this crop in the...

. It was moved to Mediabase's hot adult contemporary reporting panel in February 2011
2011 in radio
The following events occurred in radio broadcasting in 2011.-Events:*January 1: 2 Knoxville stations change formats as WDLF and WYLV flip to K-LOVE and Air 1 , and a few Pittsburgh station change formats, as ESPN Radio moves from WEAE to WBGG, and Radio Disney moves from WWCS to the renamed WDDZ,...

, with Nielsen BDS following suit in August, thus completing WNIC's shift from AC to hot AC that month, particularly because the station cannot became hot adult contemporary because of WDVD & CHYR-FM having the format and gave Detroit three hot AC stations. However, although the station now programs its current hits from the Hot AC rather than Mainstream AC chart, the station still plays a sprinkling of '80s hits (including ballads such as Phil Collins
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....

' Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)
Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)
"Against All Odds " is a song by British singer Phil Collins recorded for soundtrack to the 1984 film of the same name. It is a power ballad in which its protagonist implores an ex-lover to "take a look at me now", knowing that reconciliation is "against all odds" while considering it worth trying...

, which puts the station on the line between mainstream and hot AC. Prior to

WNIC began airing the American Top 40
American Top 40
American Top 40 is an internationally syndicated, independent radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds and Ron Jacobs. Originally a production of Watermark Inc...

show (the adult top 40 version; now the adult contemporary version) on Sundays.

Christmas Music

Under its previous adult contemporary format, WNIC played continuous Christmas music
Christmas music
Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music normally performed or heard around the Christmas season, which tends to begin in the months leading up the actual holiday and end in the weeks shortly thereafter.-Early:...

 from the beginning of November through Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

. In 2009, WNIC started playing holiday music on November 6th, a later start that of the previous year, which was on November 2nd. They were well known for being one of the earliest radio stations in the entire United States to start featuring holiday music with a majority of other stations not starting until around Thanksgiving. Under its new format Fresh 100.3 will still be Detroit's Christmas Station for the 2011 Holiday season, begining their all Christmas format at 7:10 on Monday, November 7th 2011.

HD Radio

WNIC is licensed for HD Radio operations and features a soft AC format on its HD2 channel, similar to the "Classic Lite" format carried on the HD2 of sister station WLIT
WLIT
WLIT-FM is a radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, featuring a format of adult contemporary music. The station is currently owned by Clear Channel Communications.In February 2006, WLIT began broadcasting in HD Radio...

 in Chicago. The HD-2 images as Detroit's Nicest Rock, 100.3 WNIC HD2 and features a mix of classic pop and AC hits from the 1960s through the 2000s no longer played on the primary station, with featured artists including Celine Dion
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...

, Lionel Richie
Lionel Richie
Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records...

, The Carpenters
The Carpenters
Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of sister Karen and brother Richard Carpenter. The Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s. Though often referred to by the public as "The Carpenters", the duo's official name on authorized recordings and...

, Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...

, Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...

, and Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...

.

When WNIC played Christmas music for much of November and December, WNIC's regular adult contemporary format usually moved to the HD2 channel. After Christmas is over, WNIC's HD2 channel played Christmas music until January 1st.

Airstaff

The current lineup (as of November 12, 2010) is as follows
  • Mornings (5am-10am): Jay Towers In The Morning - Jay Towers, Renee Vitale, Dan Watkins, Jenna Cork & Kam Carmen (Weather)
  • Mid-Days (10am-3pm): Theresa Lucas
  • Afternoon Drive (3pm-7pm): Kristin Burns
  • Nighttime (7pm-12am): Sydney Hawkins
  • Weekend/Fill-in: Danielle Carr
  • Program Director: Todd Thomas
  • Assistant PD/Music Director: Theresa Lucas
  • Station Voice: N/A

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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