WBCT

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WBCT

City	Grand Rapids, Michigan
Broadcast area	Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo
Branding	B-93
Slogan	Michigan's #1 For New Country
Frequency	93.7 MHz (also on HD Radio)
First air date	October 1951
Format	Country HD2: Classic Country
ERP	320,000 watts
HAAT	238 meters
Class	B
Facility ID	73606
Callsign meaning	World's Biggest Country Transmitter
Former callsigns	WJEF-FM (6/25/51-7/24/63) WJFM (7/24/63-7/21/92)
Owner	iHeartMedia, Inc. (CC Licenses, LLC)
Sister stations	WBFX, WMAX-FM, WOOD, WSNX-FM, WSRW-FM, WTKG
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	b93.com

WBCT (93.7 MHz, "B-93") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Grand Rapids, Michigan and owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The station has had a country music radio format since July 24, 1992.

WBCT's transmitter is at the WWMT TV Tower in Yankee Springs Township near Gun Lake. WBCT has the distinction of broadcasting with the highest power of any North American radio station, at 320,000 watts effective radiated power (ERP). The antenna is approximately 800 feet (240 m) up the 1,100-foot (340 m) structure. The station's signal can be heard as far east as Howell, Michigan, as far south as Rome City, Indiana, and as far north as Reed City, Michigan, providing a coverage area of 25,000 square miles (65,000 km²) over 20 counties in Michigan. WBCT is a Class B "Superpower Grandfathered" station, meaning its power was granted before the Federal Communications Commission set maximum standards for FM radio stations. The maximum ERP that would be granted today, under FCC rules, using the same antenna height of 238 meters, would be 20,000 watts.^[1] Grand Rapids has two other superpower grandfathered stations, 105.7 WSRW-FM at 265,000 watts and 104.1 WVGR at 96,000 watts.

WBCT is licensed for HD Radio operation, and carries a classic country format on its HD2 subchannel.^[2]

History

WJEF-FM/The Modern Sound

The station began operations in October 1951^[3] as WJEF-FM, simulcasting its sister station 1230 AM WJEF (now WTKG). In 1960, WJEF-FM broke away from the simulcast and began playing classical music. That year, the station increased its power to 500,000 watts. This was under the ownership of John Fetzer, who also previously owned WKZO-TV (now WWMT), WWTV-FM (now WJZQ) in Cadillac, Michigan, and the Detroit Tigers baseball team. WJEF also owned and operated a Muzak franchise on a subcarrier.

In the mid-1960s, the station, then known as WJFM, switched to a MOR/news/talk/sports format, and in 1967 became more music-intensive, adopting the moniker "The Modern Sound," which Fetzer reportedly soon did away with because he felt the station played too much "rock and roll." From that point and through much of the 1970s, apart from an automated country format in 1971-1972, WJFM was primarily a Beautiful Music station. Despite its strong signal, the station usually hovered near the bottom of the ratings during this time.

Mellow 93/Joy FM/Classic Rock

WJFM changed to an automated Top 40 format in 1977 and then adult contemporary music the following year as "Mellow 93", picking up the format that had been abandoned by WMLW in its switch to WFFX earlier that year. "Mellow 93" proved a moderate ratings success, with the station usually around fifth or sixth place.

The AC format lasted until the station called in a consultant, who attempted a Contemporary hit radio (CHR) format change in 1984. The change on the airwaves not only included the music selection, with most of the staff either quitting or being let go. With the Grand Rapids area flooded with CHR stations at the time, with WGRD, WSNX and WKLQ all playing Top 40 music, WJFM's CHR format lasted only two years before the station went back to Soft AC as "The New Joy FM." The "Joy" format also proved a failure, and in 1988 WJFM became a Classic Hits station. Ratings for the Classic Hits format were initially very good but soon dropped off, and in 1990 the station evolved to Classic rock.

B-93

In 1992, John Fetzer sold the station. In June 1992, Billboard magazine reported that a number of key WJFM staffers, including general manager Joel Schaaf, program director and midday host Sean Stevens, and morning man Jeff France, had left the station, and rumors began swirling to the effect that the classic rock station would go country to take on incumbent country powerhouse WCUZ. Sure enough, on July 24, 1992 the classic rock format was dropped for country and WJFM became WBCT as "B93". Lee Cory was the original program director, and Neal Dionne and Reese Rickards were the original B-93 morning show hosts. B-93 became a consistently top five-ranked station in the Grand Rapids market. Despite recent competition in the format from Cumulus Media's "Nash FM 94.5" WTNR, B93 remains consistently one of the top-rated stations in West Michigan.

References

↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 6, 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
↑ http://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=66 HD Radio Guide for Grand Rapids
↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1977

External links

Query the FCC's FM station database for WBCT

Radio-Locator information on WBCT

Radio stations in the Grand Rapids, Michigan market

By AM frequency	640 810 1140 1230 1260 1300 1340 1410 1480 1530 1570 1680

By FM frequency	88.1 88.5 88.9 89.3 89.7 89.9 90.9 91.3 91.9 92.9 93.3 93.7 94.1 94.5 94.9 95.3 95.7 96.1 96.5 96.9 97.3 97.9 98.7 99.3 99.9 100.5 101.3 102.9 103.7 104.1 104.5 105.3 105.7 106.9 107.3

By callsign	W225BL W227CG W231DD W235BN W237CZ W243BD W260CQ WBBL-FM WBCT WBFX WBLU WCSG WDPW WFGR WFUR WFUR-FM WGNB WGRD-FM WGVU WGVU-FM WHTS WJQK WJRW WJWC-LP WLAV-FM WLHT-FM WMAX-FM WMFN WMJH WNHG WNWZ WOOD WOOD-FM WPNW WPRR WSLI WSNH-LP WSNX-FM WSRW-FM WTHS WTKG WTNR WTRV WVGR WVHF WYCE WYGR

Defunct stations	WKLQ

Nearby radio markets Battle Creek Benton Harbor–St. Joseph Chicago Detroit Kalamazoo Lansing Muskegon North Central MI Tri-Cities See also List of radio stations in Michigan

Radio stations in the Kalamazoo, Michigan market

By FM frequency	88.3 89.1 89.5 89.9 91.7 92.5 93.7 96.5 98.5 100.3 100.9 102.1 103.3 104.1 105.7 106.5 107.7

By AM frequency	590 980 1360 1440 1560 1660

By callsign	W219CA W262AF WAKV WBCT WCXK WIDR WKDS WKFR-FM WKMI WKPR WKZO WMUK WNWN WNWN-FM WOFR WQLR WQXC-FM WRKR WSRW-FM WVFM WVGR WZOX WZUU

Nearby radio markets Battle Creek Benton Harbor–St. Joseph Chicago Ft. Wayne Grand Rapids Lansing South Bend South Central MI See also List of radio stations in Michigan

Radio stations in the Battle Creek, Michigan market

By FM frequency	89.7 90.1 90.9 91.9 92.3 93.1 93.7 94.1 95.3 96.3 96.7 98.5 99.5 102.1 102.7 103.3 104.1 104.9 105.7 106.1 106.5 107.7

By AM frequency	930 1400

By callsign	W222BB W242BH W274AQ WBCK WBCT WBFN WBXX WCFG WFPM-LP WJXQ WKFR-FM WMJC WMLY-LP WMUK WNWN-FM WRKR WSPB WSRW-FM WTOU WUFN WVFM WVGR WWDK WYBA

Defunct	WOLY

Nearby radio markets Benton Harbor–St. Joseph Detroit Ft. Wayne Grand Rapids Lansing South Bend South Central MI See also List of radio stations in Michigan

Radio stations in the Lansing–East Lansing, Michigan market

By AM frequency	730 870 1110 1180 1240 1320 1390 1580

By FM frequency	88.1 88.5 88.9 89.7 90.5 90.9 92.1 92.9 93.7 94.1 94.9 95.3 95.9 96.5 97.5 98.3 99.1 99.9 100.3 100.7 101.7 105.7 106.1 106.9

By callsign	W215CH/W240CG/W295BP W252CN WBCT WDBM WFMK WHZZ WILS WITL-FM WJIM WJIM-FM WJOM WJXQ WLMI WKAR WKAR-FM WLCM WLGH WLNZ WMMQ WQHH WQTX WSRW-FM WUNN/W260BX WVFN WWDK WWSJ/W262BD WXLA

Nearby radio markets Ann Arbor Battle Creek Detroit Flint Grand Rapids Kalamazoo North Central Michigan South Central Michigan Tri-Cities See also List of radio stations in Michigan

Country radio stations in the state of Michigan

Stations	WFYC - Alma WATZ-FM – Alpena WBCH-FM – Hastings WBCM – Boyne City WBCT – Grand Rapids WBGV – Marlette WBMI – West Branch WCEN-FM – Hemlock WCMM – Gulliver WCUP – L'Anse WCZE - Harbor Beach WDRQ - Detroit WFBE – Flint WFXD – Marquette WGDN-FM – Gladwin WGNC-FM - Constantine/South Bend, IN WGRY-FM – Grayling WHKB – Houghton WIBM - Jackson WIKB-FM - Iron River WITL-FM – Lansing WJMS – Ironwood WJNR-FM – Iron Mountain WJPD – Ishpeming WKCQ – Saginaw WKFR-HD2/W273AR - Paw Paw/Kalamazoo WKJC – Tawas City WKKM-LP - Harrison WKZC – Scottville WLAW – Newaygo WLCO – Lapeer WLEW – Bad Axe WLST – Marinette, Wisconsin WMIC – Sandusky WMIM – Luna Pier WMKC – Indian River WMKD – Pickford WMLM – Saint Louis WMRP-LP - Mundy Township WMUS – Muskegon WNBY – Newberry WNWN-FM – Coldwater WQTE – Adrian WRCI/W246BW – Three Rivers WRGZ – Rogers City WSAQ – Port Huron WTCM-FM – Traverse City WTIQ - Manistique WTNR – Holland WTWS – Houghton Lake WUPG - Republic WUPY – Ontonagon WWBR – Big Rapids WWDK – Jackson WWSS – Tuscarora Township WWWW-FM – Ann Arbor WYCD – Detroit WYKX – Escanaba WYTZ – Bridgman

See also adult contemporary classic hits college country news/talk NPR oldies religious rock sports top 40 urban other radio stations in Michigan

iHeartMedia

Corporate officers	Bob Pittman (Chairman/CEO)

Board of directors	Lowry Mays Irving Azoff B. J. "Red" McCombs J. C. Watts John H. Williams

Radio stations	List of radio stations owned by iHeartMedia

Radio networks	Fox News Radio Fox Sports Radio NBC News Radio Premiere Networks Premium Choice Total Traffic and Weather Network

Miscellaneous	Clear Channel Outdoor Clear Channel UK iHeartRadio List of programming syndicated by iHeartMedia Mediabase Radio Computing Services

Coordinates: 42°37′55″N 85°32′17″W / 42.632°N 85.538°W / 42.632; -85.538

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