WILZ (104.5 FM, "Wheelz 104.5") is a radio station broadcasting 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 in

Saginaw, Michigan Saginaw () is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw and Saginaw County are both in the area known as Mid-Michigan. Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of Greater ...

, owned by

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 87 ...

. The station is the local affiliate of morning comedy program ''

The Bob and Tom Show ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', music show ''

Nights with Alice Cooper ''Nights with Alice Cooper'' is a radio show hosted by Detroit born rock and roll artist and shock rock pioneer Alice Cooper. It is syndicated by United Stations Radio Networks and broadcast on a wide variety of affiliate radio stations in the ...

'' and

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the school colors are green and wh ...

football and men's basketball games.Michigan State Spartans Football Radio affiliates
Michigan State Football official site

History

104.5 FM began in the early 1990s as WUVE, an

album oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. Album-oriente ...

station that aired some programming from ABC/Satellite Music Network's "

Z Rock Z Rock was a nationally syndicated radio network based in Dallas, Texas, United States that, from the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s, played heavy metal and hard rock music. The format was one of several 24-hour satellite-delivered music for ...

" network (though not an official "Z-Rock" affiliate). The station became WMJA ("Magic") with a

classic hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980s ...

format in 1995, and then adopted its current calls and format in 1999 (possibly in tribute to former

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

album-rock station WLLZ 98.7 FM, now alternative rock station

WDZH WDZH (98.7 FM broadcasting, FM, "Alt 98-7") is a commercial Radio broadcasting, radio station city of license, licensed to Detroit, Detroit, Michigan and serving the Metro Detroit, Metropolitan Detroit media market, radio market in Southeast Michi ...

). WILZ's format was formerly simulcast on then-sister station WYLZ (100.9 FM) (now

WLUN WLUN (100.9 FM, "ESPN 100.9") is a radio station broadcasting a sports format in mid-Michigan owned by the Michigan Baseball Foundation (owner of the Great Lakes Loons), under the licensee name of "Michigan Radio Communications." The station's a ...

), licensed to

Pinconning, Michigan Pinconning is a city in Bay County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,307 at the 2010 Census. It is included in the Saginaw, Midland, and Bay City metropolitan area. The city is locally noted for its former production of chees ...

. WYLZ has broadcast a variety of different formats since signing on in 1983. 104.5 and 100.9 together were known as "Wheelz 104.5 and 101" from 1999 to 2007. In June 2007, WYLZ was sold by

Citadel Broadcasting Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the country. Only iHeartMedia and Cumulus Media ...

(along with nine other stations) to

The Last Bastion Station Trust, LLC The Last Bastion Station Trust, LLC is a privately owned trust company that temporarily owns 2 radio stations previously owned by Citadel Broadcasting. Citadel absorbed ABC Radio as well as 22 radio stations (not including ESPN Radio and Radio ...

, as part of ABC Radio's absorption into Citadel. Upon ending the simulcast, WYLZ switched to a satellite-fed

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

format ("Mainstream Country" from

Dial Global Westwood One is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1978. The company w ...

) under the "Thunder Country" moniker. Despite the programming changes, WYLZ continued to air play-by-play of

Great Lakes Loons The Great Lakes Loons are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are located in Midland, Michigan, and play their home games at Dow Diamond, which opened in April 2007. Histor ...

baseball during the summer of 2007. In the winter of 2008 the Great Lakes Loons finally took over ownership and changed the station to sports radio under new calls

. Citadel retained WILZ until its merger with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011.

References

Michiguide.com - WILZ history

External links

* {{Cumulus Media

ILZ The Ilz () is a river running through the Bavarian Forest, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Danube and in length ( including its main source river Große Ohe), during which it travels down a height difference of ~140m. The Ilz is formed a ...

Cumulus Media radio stations Classic rock radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1995