WCRZ (107.9
FM, "Cars 108") is a
commercial
Commercial may refer to:
* a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television)
** Radio advertisement
** Television advertisement
* (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...
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 ...
in
Flint, Michigan
Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. Located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. At the 2020 census, Flint had a population of 8 ...
, broadcasting an
adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
format
Format may refer to:
Printing and visual media
* Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements
* Paper formats, or paper size standards
* Newspaper format, the size of the paper page
Computing
* File format, particular way that informatio ...
and switching to
Christmas music
Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...
for much of November and December. WCRZ is the top-rated heritage station in the market. Its
studio
A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...
s and offices are on East Bristol Road in
Burton, east of Flint.
WCRZ has an
effective radiated power
Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would hav ...
(ERP) of 50,000
watt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...
s, the maximum for most of Michigan. It is the only station in Flint that broadcasts using
HD Radio
HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...
technology. The
transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...
is on South Vassar Road in Burton.
Programming
WCRZ has local
DJs on weekdays. It is also the Flint outlet for the
syndicated call-in and request show, "
Delilah
Delilah ( ; , meaning "delicate";Gesenius's ''Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon'' ar, دليلة, Dalīlah; grc, label=Greek, Δαλιδά, Dalidá) is a woman mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. She is loved b ...
," heard evenings. Cars 108 features "
John Tesh, Intelligence for Your Life" during overnight hours. It also is the local affiliate for "
American Top 40
''American Top 40'' (previously abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally syndicated, independent song countdown radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs. The program is currently hosted by Ryan Seacr ...
with
Ryan Seacrest
Ryan John Seacrest (born December 24, 1974) is an American media personality and producer. He is the co-host of ''Live with Kelly and Ryan'', as well as the host of multiple media shows including ''American Idol'', ''American Top 40'', and '' ...
."
History
WGMZ
On , the station
signed on
Signing may refer to:
* Using sign language
* Signature
A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...
as WGMZ. It had a long-running and successful
MOR/
easy listening
Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...
format. The station played quarter-hour sweeps of soft, instrumental music, mostly
cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
s of popular songs, as well as
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
and
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
show tunes.
WGMZ was originally co-owned with WAMM AM 1420 (now
WFLT
WFLT (1420 AM) is a radio station broadcasting an Urban Gospel format. Licensed to Flint, Michigan, it first began broadcasting as WAMM in 1955.
As WAMM, 1420 AM was the area's premier African-American-oriented R&B station for years. The station ...
). The owner of WAMM at that time sold WGMZ in 1966. By 1968, WGMZ was co-owned with WKMF AM 1470 (now
WFNT
WFNT (1470 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Flint, Michigan. It is owned by Townsquare Media and broadcasts a talk radio format. The studios and transmitter are on East Bristol Road in Burton.
By day, WFNT is powered at 5,000 watts. ...
).
WCRZ
On June 25, 1984 at 1 am, the
call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...
changed to WCRZ and the format became adult contemporary. "
Fame" by
Irene Cara
Irene Cara Escalera (March 18, 1959 – November 25, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and actress of Black, Puerto Rican and Cuban descent. Cara rose to prominence for her role as Coco Hernandez in the 1980 musical film '' Fame'', and f ...
was the first song played in the new format. The call letters WGMZ were assumed by a station in
Tuscola, Michigan, three years later, and that station is known today as
WWBN
WWBN (101.5 FM, "Banana 101.5") is a radio station broadcasting mainstream rock to Flint and The Thumb areas of Michigan. Syndicated shows on Banana include the morning comedy program '' The Free Beer and Hot Wings Show'', and music programs '' ...
, and has been a
sister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement.
Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...
to WCRZ since the mid-1990s.
Since the mid-1990s, WCRZ has been the number one radio station in Flint, off and on, and was the first station in the market to broadcast in
high definition. Since then, sister stations
WWBN
WWBN (101.5 FM, "Banana 101.5") is a radio station broadcasting mainstream rock to Flint and The Thumb areas of Michigan. Syndicated shows on Banana include the morning comedy program '' The Free Beer and Hot Wings Show'', and music programs '' ...
and
WRCL
WRCL (93.7 FM) is a commercial broadcast radio station serving the mid Michigan area (Flint, Saginaw and Bay City). It plays Rhythmic Contemporary Hits on the FM dial at 93.7 MHz, naming itself ''Club 93-7''. The transmitter is in Tuscola ...
have also added HD broadcasting, as has competing station
WDZZ
WDZZ-FM (92.7 MHz, "Z92.7") is a radio station broadcasting an urban adult contemporary format, licensed to Flint, Michigan, and under ownership of Cumulus Media. Its studios are located south of the Flint city limits and its transmitter is nort ...
.
Vandalization
In the Spring of 1995, WCRZ went off the air for some time due to a vandalizing of the station's transmitting antenna. During this time, the frequency of 107.9 was
dark
Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown.
Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low lum ...
for roughly a week. However, sister station 101.7 (now 101.5) WWBN allowed WCRZ to share signals until repairs were made on the antenna.
Jingles
WCRZ's jingle melody was adapted from
KVIL
KVIL (103.7 FM, ''Alt 103.7'') is a commercial radio station dual-licensed to Highland Park and Dallas, Texas. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and it serves the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in North Texas. The station's studios are located along N ...
in
Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...
. For much of the 1990s,
JAM Creative Productions
JAM Creative Productions, Inc., is an American company that produces radio jingles, promo music for television, and commercial jingles for advertisers. It has made more radio jingles than any other jingle company and has become part of American ...
produced WCRZ's jingles; it was TM Century that chose to sing the station's nickname, "Cars 108" to the melody of KVIL. For over a decade, however, WCRZ's jingles have been by
TM Studios
Jones Radio Networks & Jones Media Group were branches of Jones International before being sold to Triton Media Group. JRN and JMN provide local radio stations with satellite-delivered formats. They also offer other services to local radio such a ...
.
The KVIL jingles were originally produced from the TM Century package "KVIL: The '90s". KVIL-FM in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas market first aired that jingle package in January 1991 and continued to do so until Late Spring or Early Summer 1993, when JAM introduced the "Celebrate" package for that station. Before that time, however, that jingle package was first tested by TM on a radio station in country of Japan in late 1990, but TM later decided to shift the jingle package to American radio stations, just so that they could more easily syndicate that package to radio stations in several American markets. Following that, the "Memphis' Best Music" package from Thompson Creative was used.
Jam Jingles were not used until the mid/late 1990s, and the package was Q95-Detroit's "Q Cuts" and "Quick Qs." Cars 108 returned to the KVIL packages from TM Century around the turn of the century. In 2008, Cars 108 had a custom jingle package produced by the world-famous jingle expert, Johnny Hooper. The RadioScape Package, simply called "Cars 108," was originally produced in 2008, with 5 new cuts added in 2010. The current jingle package is another adaptation of a KVIL jingle package, which is the "103.7 Lite FM"-era jingle package produced by Reel World Productions.
References
Michiguide.com - WCRZ History
Previous Logos
External links
*
{{Townsquare Media
CRZ
Mainstream adult contemporary radio stations in the United States
Radio stations established in 1961
Townsquare Media radio stations