• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Kalamazoo/Battle Creek radio - strange formats?

N

new_friends_gr

I occasionally go down to Kalamazoo to visit friends on weekends, and there are really only two radio stations that I will listen to while I'm there...WKFR 103.3 and WVFM 106.5. WKFR is a unique station because it's kind of Adult Top 40...combining Hot AC and mainstream CHR. It's very interesting though, because it will play good songs from many years ago that are definitely not considered Hot AC or current mainstream CHR. (A few examples: "Holiday" by Madonna, "Anytime" by Brian McKnight, and "You Give Love a Bad Name" by Bon Jovi.)

I don't quite know how to classify 106.5... Adult Hits? AC? They tend to play a lot of AC-ish music, but the time span is very big. They play songs from the '60s up through the '00s. But they seem to avoid typical AC artists like Celine Dion, Cher, Michael Bolton, Elton John, etc. I was riding in the car with a friend of mine on Saturday and we had the station on. For a while, they seemed to be only playing music by male artists - until I started hearing The Pretenders, Alanah Miles, and Sarah McLachlan. Lots of Phil Collins/Genesis, Billy Joel, James Taylor, etc.

Kalamazoo doesn't really have a mainstream AC station anymore...unless you count 104.9 WBXX out of Battle Creek. I remember in the late '90s when 106.5 was "Q-Lite 106.5" and when 96.5 (The Fat One) was an AC station. When I lived in Kalamazoo in the late '90s and early '00s, I would also listen to 95.9 out of Three Rivers, which used to be AC and is now a rock station.

It seems like Kalamazoo's radio options are quite limited these days.
 
Depends what you are looking for.

WLKM has a stronger signal from a new site as of last fall. Pretty good mix of music with only a moderate spot load.

If you like news/talk/sports, there's WKZO and WQSN. After bringing in the angry-voiced liner guy and branding themselves as "KZO", management appears to have changed their mind about that and now it's "WKZO" again-- tied into their new FM and WKZO.com. Much more emphasis on their online presence. I don't care for most of their syndicated talk shows, but the local talent and the overall sound of the station is very good.

If you like country, you're in hog heaven. I get at least 6 country stations in the area. WBCK AM 930 is now country with almost no ads.

If you like classical, there's WMUK and you can also pick up WAUS from Berrien Springs.
 
WOOD-FM Star 105.7 comes in clear all over the market. So we technically have an AC.
 
How long has it been since WOOD was an AM and FM simulcast?

I think it was WOOD that was the EZ listening station I'm thinking about, this would
have been in the 80's sometime??
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom