WKQZ (93.3 FM The Rock Station, Z93) is an

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

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 ...

serving east-central Michigan, 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 licensed to

Midland, Michigan Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Michigan. The city's population was 42,547 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Midland Micropolitan Statistical Area, part of the larger Saginaw-Midland-Bay City Comb ...

, although its studios are in

Saginaw 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 ...

. WKQZ is the Tri-Cities affiliate for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

.Detroit Lions Official Site: Detroit Lions Radio Network Affiliates
NFL.com

Programming

Z93 plays mostly

tracks, but also frequents in some

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 ...

. Since November 2016, Z93 mornings have been known as "The Morning After with Matt and Adam", hosted by longtime morning show host Adam Shilling and program director Matt Bingham, who returned to the station after he was downsized in 2011. The show replaced "Joe and the Poorboy" as long time morning show mainstay Joe Volk was terminated for sexual harassment in August 2016 after being with the station for over 25 years. Middays [10am - 3pm) are hosted by Breck and afternoons (3pm - 7pm) are voice tracked by 97.9X Wilkes Barre, PA program director Mike “Duffy”.

History

What is now Z93 was originally WRCI "Easy 93.5", an adult contemporary music station at 93.5 FM in Midland. WRCI was locally programmed at first, but in 1982, affiliated with the "Hits & Favorites, Star Station" adult contemporary format delivered via satellite by

Satellite Music Network Satellite Music Network was the first satellite delivered network to provide complete live 24-hour-a-day music programming to local stations, under several different formats. History Affiliate stations, mostly in small and medium markets, co ...

. The station then tried a country format, known as "Kickin' Country 93.5 WRCI", for a very short period of time. After going off the air briefly, the station changed its calls to WKQZ, and in February 1986, returned to the air as "Z93-5 The Rock Station." Brian Maloney was the Program Director who launched the station and held morning drive. Detroit radio consultant

Paul Christy Paul Christy (born Paul Christerson, March 20, 1939 – May 24, 2021) was an American professional wrestler known mainly for his work in the National Wrestling Alliance and International Championship Wrestling as well as a stint in the World Wre ...

was influential in starting the station. Under its new rock format, "Z93-5" got off to a fast start and was well received by rock radio listeners in the Tri-Cities. The station became presenting sponsor for many shows at the Saginaw Civic Center including Alice Cooper with Slaughter, Triumph, Ted Nugent and more. The station soon afterward shifted from 93.5 to 93.3, enabling a boost in power from 3,000 to 39,000 watts.

References

Michiguide.com - WKQZ History

External links

* KQZ Active rock radio stations in the United States Midland, Michigan Cumulus Media radio stations Radio stations established in 1986 1986 establishments in Michigan {{Michigan-radio-station-stub