City Lansing, Michigan Slogan We Play Everything | Branding 101.7 Mike FM Frequency 101.7 MHz | |
Broadcast area Lansing-Jackson, Michigan First air date January 1967 (as WILS-FM) | ||
WHZZ (101.7 FM, "Mike FM") is a radio station licensed to Lansing, Michigan. It first began broadcasting in 1967 as WILS-FM. Prior to the adoption of the current format in September 2005, WHZZ had programmed a CHR/top 40 format for over a decade as "Z101.7." After WHZZ's change to "Mike FM", the CHR format was picked up by 97.5 WJIM-FM.
History
The station has gone through many different formats over the years. After beginning as a simulcast of WILS 1320 AM in 1967, the station separated programming in the late 1960s with an automated MOR format (with the exception of the Jerry Marshall morning show, which was simulcast with WILS-AM from 6 to 10 am). In 1972, WILS-FM launched an automated Country format which was branded as "Hit Country", although the morning simulcast continued. In 1975, WILS-FM abandoned the Country format in favor of a 12-hour daily simulcast with WILS-AM, followed by split programming in the evening, which included an Album Rock format from 6 pm to midnight, and a Jazz format from midnight to 6 am. In 1978, WILS-FM abandoned the overnight Jazz and ended the simulcast with WILS-AM, programming the Album Rock format full-time. The Album Rock format proved to quite successful for the station, resulting in respectable ratings despite WILS-FM's 3KW signal.
In August 1983, WILS-AM/FM's original owner, Lansing Broadcasting, sold the station to Sentry Broadcasting (a division of Sentry Insurance) The new management made changes quickly, deciding to automate sister station WILS-AM with a Nostalgia format. In December 1983, most of the WILS-FM air staff, including the highly rated morning team of Doug Burton and Dan Ballard, were let go and replaced by announcers from WILS-AM. Four months later, on April 14, 1984, WILS-FM abruptly changed to an adult contemporary "Love Songs" format using the brand name "LS-102" to compete with top-rated WFMK. The station's ratings plummeted and would not recover for over a decade, as 101.7 FM went through unsuccessful tries at Hot AC as WKKP and WLYY, and country formats (the latter with a return to the WILS-FM calls in the early 1990s). The station also went through a number of ownership changes during this period. Sentry Insurance dissolved their radio division and sold WILS to Northstar Broadcasting in 1986, and after going through an upper-management shakeup, Northstar sold the station to its current owner, MacDonald Broadcasting, in 1989.
In the spring of 1995, WILS-FM became WHZZ "Z101.7," restoring the CHR/Top 40 format to the Lansing airwaves after 94.9 WVIC-FM dropped its longtime CHR format to compete with country market leader WITL. Z101.7 was frequently criticized by CHR aficionados for featuring an overly conservative, adult-oriented playlist heavy on Hot AC chart currents and 1980s and 1990s gold, but the station enjoyed good Arbitron ratings during its run and even reached #1 overall (12+) at least once.