 | |
| Broadcast area | Saginaw, Midland, and Bay City metropolitan area |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 100.5MHz |
| Branding | 100.5 and 790 Newsradio WSGW |
| Programming | |
| Format | News/talk |
| Network | CBS News Radio |
| Affiliations | Compass Media Networks Premiere Networks Westwood One Saginaw Spirit SVSU Cardinals football UM Wolverines football |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WCEN-FM,WGER,WSGW,WTLZ | |
| History | |
First air date | May 11, 1991; 33 years ago (1991-05-11) (as WCWK) |
Former call signs | WCWK (3/17/89-5/22/89) WKFK (5/22/89-11/4/91) WTCF (11/4/91-3/5/04) WXQL (3/5/04-9/16/05) WTBT (9/16/05-1/30/06) WSGW-FM (1/30/06-8/29/07) WTKQ-FM (8/28/07-1/15/09) |
Call sign meaning | WSaGinaW |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 41842 |
| Class | A |
| ERP | 3,000watts |
| HAAT | 100 meters (328 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 43°33′43″N83°58′54″W / 43.56194°N 83.98167°W /43.56194; -83.98167 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | wsgw.com |
WSGW-FM (100.5MHz) is acommercialFMradio stationlicensed toCarrollton, Michigan, and serving theSaginaw, Midland, and Bay City metropolitan area.[2] It is owned byAlpha Media andsimulcasts anews/talkradio format withsister stationWSGW790 AM. The two stations identify themselves as "100.5 and 790 Newsradio WSGW." Thestudios are on Tittabawassee Road in Saginaw.
WSGW-FM is aClass A FM station with aneffective radiated power (ERP) of 3,000watts. Thetransmittertower is on Hotchkiss Drive inFrankenlust Township.[3]
Weekdays on WSGW-FM begin withThe Morning Team, a news and interview show hosted by Charlie Rood, Denyse Sharron and Pat Johnson. Veteran broadcaster Art Lewis hosts his own talk show in late mornings, featuring interviews with local newsmakers and phone calls from the public. Agriculture director Terry Henne hostsThe Farm Show just before noon, focusing on local weather, market conditions, and agriculture news. The rest of the day,nationally syndicated programs includeMarkley, Van Camp and Robbins,The Sean Hannity Show,The Tom Sullivan Show,The Ramsey Show withDave Ramsey,Coast to Coast AM withGeorge Noory andAmerica in the Morning with John Trout.
On weekends, WSGW-FM airs specialty shows on health, money, technology, the outdoors, farming and home repair. Weekend syndicated programs includeThe Kim Komando Show andOur American Stories with Lee Habeeb, as well as repeats of weekday shows. Most hours begin with an update fromCBS News Radio.
Sports programing on WSGW-FM includes theSaginaw Spirit of theOntario Hockey League andfootball games of theSaginaw Valley State Cardinals andMichigan Wolverines.[4]
National and international news updates come fromCBS News Radio and statewide news from the Michigan News Network. It also airs financial reports fromFox Business, agricultural news from Brownfield, and weather reports from Weatherology.[5]
The stationsigned on the air on May 11, 1991; 33 years ago (1991-05-11).[6] Its originalcall sign was WCWK. It started with anadult contemporary format. It later adopted a long-running and successfulTop 40 - CHR format, known as 100.5 "The Fox".
WTCF was owned by Mid America Broadcasting through most of the 1990s. WTCF enjoyed a large ratings margin onWIOG (which shifted to a Hot AC sound around the same time) in the 18-34 demographic. The station was live and featured "Steve and Stacie in the morning", "Steve Williams & Amy Wilde morning show",Rick and Jean Marie in the morning and laterMcGill in The Morning. Other talent included Mike Cruise in the afternoon, and Greg Fry at night who always started the weekend using theIggy Pop classic "Wild Child." News veteran/radio personality Lisa Ferrel was the co-host prior to the flip to Pirate Radio. Other morning shows included Leeroy the Love Toy, Rick Dees, Josh & Holly, and Lisa & Dylan in the morning.
In 1998, WTCF was sold toLiggett Broadcasting, owner ofWHNN.[7] In 1999, the station adopted the name "Pirate Radio" and shifted its format from Mainstream Top 40 toRhythmic Contemporary. Though the station's ratings remained high during the "Pirate Radio" stage, owner Wilks Broadcasting soon shifted the station toHot AC under the moniker "Mix 100."
The move to Hot AC was unsuccessful as the station's ratings plummeted. Rival stationWIOG, which had been a Hot AC for most of the '90s, took advantage of this by returning to CHR and regained some of the ratings ground it had lost to WTCF. A return toAdult Top 40 and "The Fox" moniker failed to raise ratings at 100.5.
New ownersNextMedia Group pulled the plug on "The Fox" in 2004 and changed the format toRhythmic Oldies as "Kool 100.5," WXQL. Ratings remained low. A year and a half later, the station became "The Beat," WTBT, with aRhythmic Adult Contemporary format heavy on dance remixes of CHR/pop hits.
The "Beat" format lasted only a few months. The owners decided to extend the successful talk format on 790 WSGW to the FM dial.
The station switched its call letters to WSGW-FM in January 2006. It began airing atalk radio format, simulcasting sister stationWSGW AM 790's morning show with separate programming the rest of the day.[8] On August 29, 2007, the call sign was changed to WTKQ-FM and was then changed back to WSGW-FM on January 15, 2009.
NextMedia sold WSGW-FM and the company's 32 other radio stations to Digity, LLC for $85 million. The transaction was consummated on February 10, 2014. Effective February 25, 2016, Digity, LLC and its 124 radio stations were acquired byAlpha Media for $264 million.[9]
In June 2019, it was announced that FM 100.5 would simulcast AM 790 weekdays from 1am to Noon. It would also mark the end of longtime mid-morning talk showListen to the Mrs.[10] Further changes were made to the schedule in December 2020, announcing a merger of FM 100.5 and AM 790's programming, effectively making WSGW-FM a 24-hour simulcast of its sister station with the exception of sporting events.[11] In 2022, longtime program director Dave Mauer and news director Ann Williams resigned from WSGW.[12]