WWBN (101.5 FM, "Banana 101.5") is a radio station broadcasting

mainstream rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...

and

The Thumb The Thumb is a region and a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, so named because the Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten. The Thumb area is generally considered to be in the Central Michigan region, east of the Tri-Cities and north of M ...

areas of

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. Syndicated shows on Banana include the morning comedy program ''

The Free Beer and Hot Wings Show ''The Free Beer and Hot Wings Show'' is a syndicated morning talk radio show broadcast primarily from the Townsquare Media radio station WGRD-FM in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The show is hosted by Gregg "Free Beer" Daniels, Chris "Hot Wings" Michels ...

'', and music programs '' Loudwire Nights with Toni Gonzalez '' and '' Hard Drive with Lou Brutus''. It is also the home of the weekly coach's show of the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overag ...

Flint Firebirds The Flint Firebirds are a major junior ice hockey team based in Flint, Michigan. The team plays home games at the Dort Federal Credit Union Event Center, and operates as a member of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The team began play for the 2 ...

. It is owned by

Townsquare Media Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...

and is a member of the Michigan Association of BroadcastersFirebirds Hockey, Townsquare Media Announce Multi-Year Radio Broadcast Partnership
MLive.com, February August 21, 2017

History

The station began operations in 1987 as WGMZ-FM with an

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 ...

music format, reviving the call sign and format formerly used on 107.9 FM (now

WCRZ WCRZ (107.9 FM, "Cars 108") is a commercial radio station in Flint, Michigan, broadcasting an adult contemporary format and switching to Christmas music for much of November and December. WCRZ is the top-rated heritage station in the market. It ...

) from 1961 to 1984 and also in the 1980s on 1570 AM (now WWCK). In 1991, WGMZ-FM became

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 ...

WKMF-FM, simulcasting 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. ...

). The "Banana" name, album-oriented rock format and the WWBN calls debuted in 1994. Subsequently, WWBN moved from 101.7 to 101.5 in a frequency swap with

WPRJ WPRJ is the callsign for an FM radio station in Coleman, Michigan which is licensed to Spirit Communications, Inc. and broadcasts at 101.7 FM. WPRJ is a non-profit Christian Rock station which retransmits the Radio U network based at WUFM in Co ...

, a

contemporary Christian Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

music station in

Coleman, Michigan Coleman is a city in Midland County of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,243 at the 2010 census. History Coleman began with the building of a sawmill in 1870. The following year a station of the Pere Marquette Railroad was opened. ...

, and both stations were also able to increase their power. WWBN's owner, Regent Broadcasting (now Townsquare Media), took control of

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 ...

station WRXF 103.1 FM "Radio X" in

Lapeer, Michigan Lapeer ( ') is a City (Michigan), city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is the county seat of Lapeer County, Michigan, Lapeer County. As of the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census, the city population was 8,841. Most of the city was incorporat ...

in December 2001. After a short three-month period of simulcasting the Banana on 103.1, WRXF debuted a new

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 as "U.S. 103.1"

WQUS WQUS (103.1 FM, "U.S. 103.1") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Lapeer, Michigan, and broadcasting a classic rock radio format. It is owned by Townsquare Media and the home of two local sports teams: the Ontario Hockey League's Flint ...

in February 2002, and the Banana evolved from mainstream AOR into its current

sound. Current program director and air personality Tony LaBrie is a veteran of WRXF's "Radio X" days and is the recipient of the RadioContraband Rock Radio Award for Small Market Radio Program Director of the Year in both 2011 and 2012. The Banana was voted "Small Market Radio Station of the Year" for the RadioContraband Rock Radio Award in 2011.

Sources

Michiguide.com - WWBN History

References

External links

Banana 101.5 on Facebook
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wwbn WBN-FM Mainstream rock radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1994 Townsquare Media radio stations 1994 establishments in Michigan