 | |
| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Metro Detroit |
| Frequency | 100.3MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | 100.3 WNIC |
| Programming | |
| Format | Adult contemporary |
| Affiliations | Premiere Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WDFN,WLLZ,WJLB,WKQI,WMXD | |
| History | |
First air date | December1946 (as WKMH) |
Former call signs |
|
Call sign meaning | "Nice" (from formerbeautiful music format) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 6594 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 32,000watts |
| HAAT | 183 meters (600 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 42°23′22.1″N83°8′52.7″W / 42.389472°N 83.147972°W /42.389472; -83.147972 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | wnic.iheart.com |
WNIC (100.3FM) is a commercialradio stationlicensed toDearborn, Michigan, and serving theMetro Detroitmedia market. Owned byiHeartMedia, WNIC broadcasts anadult contemporaryradio format, switching toChristmas music for most of November and December.
WNIC's studios and offices were formerly located inFarmington Hills. In 2022 the station along with five others relocated their headquarters to the former Detroit Brewing Co. building in Eastern Market.[2] The station'stransmitter is located near Schoolcraft Avenue and Turner Street on the Near West Side ofDetroit.[3] WNIC broadcasts with aneffective radiated power of 32,000watts from an antenna 600 feet inheight. The station is licensed forHD Radio operation and formerly featured a soft AC/oldies format on its HD2 channel fromiHeartRadio's "Sunny Radio" channel.[4]
WNIC signed on the air in December 1946 as WKMH-FM,sister station to WKMH (1310 AM; nowWDTW).[5] Both stations were, and still are, licensed to Dearborn. With FM radio still in its early stages, the two stations largelysimulcast their programming through the 1970s.
OnHalloween 1963, WKMH-AM-FM became WKNR-AM-FM, and legendaryTop 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 byCKLW in nearbyWindsor, Ontario, in 1967. WKMH's FM signal at 100.3 chiefly simulcast Keener AM (withautomated Top 40 programming during non-simulcast times). In 1969, inspired by the success of groundbreakingprogressive rock station 99.5 WABX (nowWYCD), WKMH-FM adopted its own progressive rock sound. "Uncle" Russ Gibb was the WKNR-FMdisc jockey who helped to spread the rumor thatPaul McCartney was dead. According to Gibb, a college student inAnn Arbor called him on the air one Sunday afternoon and explained the theory to him. The rumor took off from there and generated much publicity for Gibb and WKNR-FM. It was air personalityChris Randall who phonedWABCNew York City DJRoby Yonge. Yonge put the rumor on the air in New York and was responsible for it spreading nationwide.
WKNR-FM dropped its progressive rock format in 1971 to become "Stereo Island," a cross betweenBeautiful Music andMiddle of the Road that could be described as an early form of what would later be called Soft Adult Contemporary. "Stereo Island" was successful and spawned imitators such asWFMK inLansing, Michigan. In 1972, both WKNR and WKNR-FM were sold and became WNIC-AM-FM, simulcasting a straightforward Beautiful Music format. The WNIC call letters were meant to denote the station's "NICe" music. In 1976, WNIC adopted a more up-tempo sound called "Rock 'n' Easy", and moved to its currentadult contemporary format.
In the early 1990s, WNIC adopted the slogan "Detroit's Nicest Rock", airing asoft rock format. WNIC scored its first number-one placing in the monthlyArbitron ratings in Detroit in 1998.
In 2003, the station transitioned to a more upbeat mainstream AC format, began using the new slogan "Your Variety Station", and played a variety of music from the 1960s through the present day, with an emphasis on Gold and only playing a handful of current and re-current songs. The station's longtime evening request and dedication show "Pillow Talk" remained, and "Flashback Weekends" were added, featuring upbeat 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s music.
On December 27,2010, following its annualChristmas music programming and running a two-hour "music test" from 2:00 p.m. to 4:10 p.m. (running short snippets of songs from a variety of genres and advising listeners to poll them through the station's website; the last song before the "test" was "If It's Love" byTrain), WNIC dropped its long-time mainstream AC format and shifted to Hot Adult Contemporary asFresh 100.3; the first song as "Fresh" was "Raise Your Glass" byP!nk (by coincidence, one of the final songs polled in the "test"). Clear Channel's Detroit operations manager Todd Thomas stated that the new format was "the music that radio listeners in Detroit told us they wanted to hear", and "a unique sound on 100.3 for 2011 and beyond." The new format competed primarily withWDVD.[6][7][8]
In December 2011, WNIC began to backtrack on its format changes, reflected by the amended slogan "Variety From Today & Back In The Day". The station also adjusted its on-air lineup adding Billy The Kidd for nights.
On November 7, 2013, at noon, after playing "Don't You (Forget About Me)" bySimple Minds, and coinciding with the start of the station's annual shift to all Christmas music, WNIC dropped the "Fresh" branding and reverted to100.3 WNIC as its on-air brand. While the station continued with its more upbeat format, WNIC has added an increased amount of 1980s and 1990s music, as well as an occasional 1970s song.[9]
WNIC,WOMC, andWDVD gained new competition from November 2018 to November 2020 with the flip ofWDZH to Soft AC.[10] Three Detroit radio stations competed for the 25-54 year-old female audience before WDZH flipped toalternative rock on November 19, 2020.
Each year, usually on the first Friday of November, WNIC switches its format to an all-Christmas music.[11] On October 28, 2025, for the first time, it was announced that the flip to all Christmas music would happen on Thursday, November 6th, at 7am (and not be a surprise flip) but rather with a live remote and listeners were invited to participate in the flip to Christmas music.
