WFMK (99.1 FM) is 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 ...
radio station licensed to
East Lansing, Michigan
East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County. At the 2020 Census the population was 47,741. Located directly east of the state capital ...
and serving the
Lansing
Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, maki ...
radio market. The station 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 broadcasts in HD radio.
WFMK is one of the United States' oldest adult contemporary stations, having programmed the format for almost four decades. The station signed on in 1959 as WSWM, and offered a
MOR format.
WSWM was purchased by Robert G. Liggett Jr. owner of
Liggett Communications in 1971. Liggett changed the station's call sign to WFMK, and initially programmed a mix of
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 ...
music as "Stereo Island, WFMK 99" during the day (using the ''Stereo Island'' approach pioneered at
WKNR-FM
WNIC (100.3 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial Radio broadcasting, radio station city of license, licensed to Dearborn, Michigan and serving the Metro Detroit media market. Owned by iHeartMedia, WNIC broadcasts an Adult contemporary music, adu ...
in Detroit), and
Album Oriented Rock overnight. The
AOR portion of the format was dropped in the mid-1970s, and the
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 expanded to 24 hours a day, under the moniker ''Easy Rockin' FM 99''.
Over the years WFMK's adult contemporary format has evolved to the point that the station's current slogan is "A Variety From the '80s to Now." WFMK has long been one of the most popular and most highly rated stations in the Lansing area.
When
WHZZ in
Lansing, Michigan abruptly changed format from
Contemporary Hit Radio to
Adult Hits in 2005, WFMK, along with
WQHH
WQHH (96.5 FM), branded "Power 96.5" is a Commerce, commercial FM broadcasting, FM radio station located in DeWitt, Michigan, DeWitt, a suburb of Lansing, Michigan. The station broadcasts with 6,000 watts. The station plays hip hop as well as rhyt ...
and
WJXQ
WJXQ (106.1 FM, "Q106") is a commercial radio station licensed to Charlotte, Michigan, and serving the Lansing radio market. WJXQ is owned by Midwest Communications and airs an active rock radio format. Studios and offices are located on Cedar ...
temporarily took advantage of the format switch, touting the many CHR artists on the station until WFMK's sister station,
WJIM-FM changed format from
oldies
Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as w ...
to CHR a few days later.
In 2010, WFMK shifted to an all-
Christmas Music format for the holiday season. It was the first time the station had ever gone all-Christmas around the clock. This move was most likely due to crosstown
WLMI
WLMI is a radio station licensed to Grand Ledge, Michigan, serving Lansing. Owned by Midwest Communications, it broadcasts a classic hits format branded as ''Cruisin 92.9''.
History
What is now WLMI began life as WCER-FM in Charlotte, Michi ...
going all-Christmas as well, just a few weeks before. After going all-Christmas in 2012, WFMK replaced its long-running Saturday Night Retro Show with ''
Backtrax USA'', which is syndicated by
Cumulus Media Networks and features hits of the 1980s and 1990s.
WFMK has had its jingle melody changed over the years. During the mid and late 1980s, WFMK's jingles were by
JAM Creative Productions and used the WENS melody. In the 1990s, WFMK's jingles, by
TM Century
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 ...
, also used the WENS melody, which also was the call sign melody for WMXV. WFMK's jingle melody was changed again when the station began using the "Cuddle" jingle package from
Thompson Creative; this package remained for seven years. The most recent jingle melody change came in 2007 when WFMK began using Reelworld's 2007
WLIT
WLIT-FM (93.9 MHz, "93.9 Lite FM") is a radio station in Chicago, Illinois. Owned by iHeartMedia, it broadcasts a soft adult contemporary format. Its studios are located at the Illinois Center complex in the Chicago Loop, while the station trans ...
jingle package; WFMK has stayed with Reelworld and the WLIT melody ever since. Their current jingle package to this day is Reelworld One AC and the KVIL package, both using the same WLIT melody.
On August 30, 2013, a deal was announced in which
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 ...
would acquire 53
Cumulus Media stations, including WFMK, for $238 million. The deal is part of Cumulus' acquisition of
Dial Global; Townsquare and Dial Global are both controlled by
Oaktree Capital Management.
The sale to Townsquare was completed on November 14, 2013.
Sources
Michiguide.com - WFMK History
External links
*
{{Townsquare Media
Mainstream adult contemporary radio stations in the United States
FMK
Townsquare Media radio stations
Radio stations established in 1959
1959 establishments in Michigan