WCBY (1240 AM and W264CF 100.7 FM) is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

Cheboygan, Michigan Cheboygan ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 4,876. It is the county seat of Cheboygan County. The name of the city shares the name of the county and probably has its origin from the ...

, broadcasting a

classic country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on innov ...

format delivered by

Westwood One Westwood One is an American radio network There are two types of radio network currently in use around the world: the one-to-many (simplex communication) broadcast network commonly used for public information and mass-media entertainment, and ...

"Big Country Gold" is the slogan, which plays off sister country FM WMKC 102.9 known as "Big Country - 102-9". WCBY is owned by Black Diamond Broadcast Holdings, LLC. The station began broadcasting in 1954 as a 250-watt station under the ownership of Straits Broadcasting. For over a quarter-century the station featured a full-service format featuring popular music which was chiefly

MOR Mor or MOR may refer to: Names and titles * Mór (given name), a list of people named Mór or Mor * Mor (surname), a list of people named Mor or Mór * Mor (honorific), or Mar, in Syriac Radio and television * Middle of the road (music) genre * ...

in nature but included some

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

fare to appeal to younger listeners after school hours. An FM sister, 25,000-watt WCBY-FM at 105.1, was added in 1968 and aired a

beautiful music Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator musi ...

format. WCBY-AM/FM were sold in 1981 to Fabiano-Strickler Communications, which implemented format changes at both AM and FM, changing the AM to

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

and the FM to

, eventually changing the FM's call letters to WQLZ and boosting its power to 100,000 watts. In 1989, WGFM and WQLZ came under the ownership of Del Reynolds, who had begun his broadcasting career at WCBY in the 1960s, and his wife Mary. WCBY-AM adopted an MOR/ adult standards format which continued for over two decades, and WQLZ became

WGFM WGFM (105.1 FM) in Cheboygan, Michigan and is an American radio station that airs a mainstream rock format branded as Rock 105 & 95.5. WGFM boasts a 43,000-watt signal which easily covers most of northern Lower Michigan from Grayling northward ...

with a

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

format as "W-Gold FM", later changing to "The Bear" and most recently to "Real Rock 105 & 95-5" (simulcast with WJZJ-FM Traverse City). At various times WCBY featured programming from the

Music of Your Life Music of Your Life is an American syndicated music radio format featuring adult standards music. First created by recording executive Al Ham in 1978, the format achieved popularity in the 1980s among AM radio stations in the United States and Ca ...

network and from

Waitt Radio Networks Dial Global Local (formerly Waitt Radio Networks) was a radio network, national radio network based in Omaha, Nebraska, formerly owned by NRG Media and purchased in April 2008 by Triton Radio Networks. As a subsidiary of Dial Global, they special ...

' " The Lounge" format. In April 2010, WCBY dropped standards in favor of the classic country format formerly heard on FM sister station 94.5 FM. In October 2012, WCBY added a presence on the FM dial with translator 100.7 W264CF Saint Ignace. In the early days of WCBY, the station had a studio in St. Ignace but closed that studio when Mighty-Mac Broadcasting Company's WIDG signed on the air. In February 2015, WCBY became an affiliate of CBS Radio airing hourly national news, complemented by local news, sports, and community information. WCBY airs Cheboygan Chief basketball and football games as well as Detroit Tigers Baseball and Detroit Red Wings Hockey games. WCBY streams on line at www.bigcountrygold.com

References

Michiguide.com - WCBY History

External links

* * * * CBY Classic country radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1954 {{Michigan-radio-station-stub