| Broadcast area | Shiawassee County |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 1080kHzC-QUAMAM Stereo |
| Branding | "La Poderosa Con Sentiento Mexicano" |
| Programming | |
| Format | Regional Mexican |
| Affiliations | WMJH-AM |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| History | |
First air date | January 1,1948 |
Call sign meaning | W OwossoArgusPress (original owner) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 41682 |
| Class | D |
| Power | AM: 1,000wattsday |
Transmitter coordinates | 43°01′51″N84°10′41″W / 43.03083°N 84.17806°W /43.03083; -84.17806 |
| Translator(s) | 103.1 W276CZ (Saginaw) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | WOAP Webstream |
| Website | WOAP Online |
WOAP (1080AM) is acommercialradio station broadcastingRegional MexicanSyndication ofWMJH.Licensed toOwosso, Michigan, it servesShiawassee County. While the station is adaytimer, licensed to operate during daylight hours only, its programming is heard around the clock on itsFM translator W276CZ (103.1 MHz) in Saginaw.
WOAP operates a 250-wattFM translator whichsimulcasts WOAP, and broadcasts 24 hours a day to the immediate Owosso andCorunna areas. Although licensed toSaginaw, the translator's signal does not reach that city.
| Call sign | Frequency | City of license | FID | ERP (W) | Class | FCC info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W276CZ | 103.1 FM | Saginaw, Michigan | 140015 | 250 | D | LMS |
WOAPsigned on the air on January 1, 1948.[2] It was founded as an AM/FM combo station by the local daily newspaper. The call letters stand for OwossoArgus-Press. The AM station was, and still is, adaytime-only station, while the FM station was intended to provide full-time service to the Owosso area. But at that time, there were few FM radios so WOAP-FM went silent by 1953. A decade later, there were enough FM radios on the air to allow WOAP-FM to return to the air on December 2, 1965.[3]
Because the Argus-Press had a mediamonopoly in the Owosso area at that time with itsdaily newspaper and two radio stations, theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) forced the Argus-Press to sell the radio stations in 1987.[4][5]
The FM station is known today as 103.9WRSR. In the late 1990s, the Michigan Radio Group sold both stations. Connoisseur Communications then assumed ownership of both, turning WMZX into a more regional station serving the Flint area while still licensed to Owosso. WOAP adopted anadult standards music format in 1995 afterWFDF 910 AM dropped the format in favor of talk. The weaker WOAP, with its daytime-only signal, was then sold the following year to Hartman Broadcasting, which continued to operate WOAP as a local service, still retaining the standards format and imaging it asGreat American Classics.
Less than two years later, Hartman Broadcasting sold WOAP to 1090 Investments, which immediately applied to the FCC for aconstruction permit to move the station's operations toWaverly, located inLansing's suburbs. The move would have allowed WOAP to increase its daytime power to 50,000 watts and add nighttime power authorization of 4,500 watts. Three years after the application was received, the FCC chose to dismiss the application, presumably under the likelihood that granting the station nighttime power would cause interference toWTIC inHartford, Connecticut andKRLD inDallas, theClass Aclear channel stations onAM 1080.
In January 2006, WOAP dropped itsfull servicenews/talk format and adoptedCatholicReligious programming. Three months later, 1090 Investments requested aSpecial Temporary Authority (STA) to take the stationdark, citing financial difficulties. The station remained off the air for almost a year. Four months after going dark, the station applied for reinstatement to move its facilities to Waverly and increase its daytime power, but withdrew its application for nighttime power. However, 1090 Investments pleaded for the FCC in its engineering presentation to be considered for nighttime power again, citing that denying Waverly local radio service in favor of a Connecticut station that had no local presence in Michigan would hurt its attempts to serve its community in an adequate fashion.
In March 2007, WOAP was granted permission to move from Owosso to Waverly and increase its power with a six-tower directional antenna system to be built in Ingham County, about 20 miles south of Lansing. The station also returned to the air with a simulcast of thesports radio programming onsister station 1090WCAR inLivonia, Michigan. Despite the good news, WOAP again applied for a silent STA, going dark again on July 20, 2007.
WOAP applied for an extension to stay off the air on January 8, 2008, citing ongoing financial difficulties. The request was granted on February 25, 2008. The STA extension expired on July 21, 2008. The station returned to the air in mid-July 2008 simulcasting co-owned WCAR, but fell silent once again on August 18, 2008.
On July 21, 2008 (the day that WOAP's STA extension was set to expire), local webcaster Mint City Radio launched WOAP Online, an internet-only radio station patterned after the old WOAP's full service format. WOAP Online was programmed as a local radio station, featured music from the 1970s-90s, agricultural features, local announcements and old-time radio shows. WOAP Online has also featured coverage of local events, such as the Clinton County 4-H Youth Fair and Saint Johns Mint Festival (including coverage of the annual Mint Festival Parade).
In September 2008, the station again applied for permission to remain silent due to "ongoing financial problems." As a matter of general FCC policy, financial causes are not sufficient reason to remain silent and still retain the license - the reason must be something "beyond the control" of the licensee.[6]
In May 2009, 1090 Investments sold its radio stations, including WOAP, toBirach Broadcasting Corporation.[7] At that point, Mint City Radio dropped the WOAP moniker for its webcasts effective June 1.[8]
When the new management entered the studios for the first time on July 18, they found that practically nothing worked and the roof leaked. They had to rebuild the station and had a deadline from the FCC of August 18 to get the station back on the air or lose the operating license.[9][10]
The station returned to the air branded asThe Big 1080 on August 14, 2009, with anoldies format from its Owosso studio location. As the station returned to the air, the master control studio was being rebuilt and the neon WOAP sign, which had not worked for several years, was being repaired. WOAP announced on the air that Birach Broadcasting had ended its plans to move the station to the Lansing area.
"The Big 1080" returned the traditional oldies format to a large chunk of mid-Michigan that had been without the format for some time, as the Lansing market no longer has an oldies station. WOAP was also the only station serving the Flint market with a 1950s-1970s nostalgia-based format, asWFNT, which had been airingCitadel Media'sTimeless Favorites format, changed to a News/Talk format in February 2010.
WOAP carried Spartan Nation Radio which coversMichigan State University athletics weeknights from 6 to 9. The station began 24-hour streaming audio on theWorld Wide Web in September 2010. Weekend programming included two syndicated programs,Dick Clark'sRock, Roll & Remember andDick Bartley'sClassic Countdown. Also included in the weekend lineup was a Sunday morning church service and a localPolka program. Spanish language and music programming was later added to weekend afternoons.
As of February 2012, WOAP began broadcasting inC-Quam AM Stereo.[11]
On April 10, 2012, Birach sold WOAP andWMJH AM 810 in Grand Rapids to Cano's Broadcasting Company, pending FCC approval. Total combined sale for both stations was $1.1-million in the form of a promissory note. However, as of October 2015, no record had yet been filed with the FCC that the sale had been consummated, and the station's license was renewed to Birach on April 9, 2015.[12] WOAP continued to carry Oldies with the evening sports talk show "Spartan Nation Radio" hosted by Hondo Carpenter.
After three weeks ofstunting with music of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, WOAP re-launched as "Super Hits 10-8-O" at the beginning of March 2013. The oldies format at that time evolved into more of aclassic hits/oldies hybrid, with more 1980s music added into rotation.
On July 1, 2013, the station changed to a Spanish language format full time.[13] After this flip, much of the format and presentation was moved ontoWMJH, effectively resulting in a format swap between the two stations.
On February 2, 2015, the Spanish format was dropped and replaced with anadult hits format, this time an emphasis on 1980s and 1990s rock and pop music.
On September 4, 2015, WOAP added anFM translator station, 'W276CZ.[14] Itsimulcasts WOAP and operates 24 hours a day. The FM signal serves the immediate Owosso/Corunna area.[15]
On September 2, 2015, Birach Broadcasting again sold WOAP and sister stationWMJH to Cano's Broadcasting, LLC. The sale, at a price of $1.1 million, was consummated on January 1, 2016.
On September 1, 2021, WOAP changed formats from adult hits to a hybrid rock/alternative/CHR format, branded as "103.1 Portal FM".[16]After only four months, the "Portal" programming ended and the station returned to Regional Mexican as a simulcast of sister station WMJH.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) AM stereo radio stations in the United States | |
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