City Riverside, Michigan Branding Smile FM First air date November 22, 2008 | Broadcast area [1] Frequency 88.7 MHz | |
Slogan Michigan's Positive Hits | ||
WSIS is a radio station which is part of the Smile FM radio network licensed to Riverside, Michigan. It began operation on November 22, 2008, and was granted a license on January 8, 2009. With a transmitter located just north of Benton Harbor, the station uses the same tower as WCXT. WSIS broadcasts the Smile FM programming. It officially retransmits the signal of WHYT, however, much of the programming comes from flagship station WLGH in Lansing. WSIS is owned by Smile FM.
An application to construct the station was filed with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on May 12, 1998, for 25 kW with a directional signal from a 184' tower just south of St. Joseph. A Construction Permit was granted on November 15, 2005, however, in the 7 years between the filing of the application and granting of a construction permit the tower location was no longer available. A modification was filed with the FCC to move the station to the WCXT tower north of Benton Harbor. This was rejected and the construction permit was canceled on August 5, 2008, by the FCC on the grounds that the new coverage area did not include the southern portion of the original coverage area which was a violation of the 307(b)preference they had received. Superior Communications filed a request for reconsideration with a waiver of the 73.2002(c) rules. The waiver stated it was impossible to duplicate the original coverage area since land was no longer available for a tower near the 1998 proposed site. Furthermore, it said the new location would cover 87% of the original population, add 30,000 to the total population served, and provide a first non-commercial radio service to over 2,000 people. The FCC granted the modified construction permit on November 13, 2008, and the station filed for a license on November 25, 2008.