WCZE (103.7 FM) is a Commercial broadcasting,

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

FM radio station, with an FCC community of license of

Harbor Beach, Michigan Harbor Beach is a city in Huron County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,703 at the 2010 census. History The earliest settlers to this area arrived in 1837 and established a sawmill for processing lumber. The settlement event ...

, however the

Ubly, Michigan Ubly is a village in Huron County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 858 at the 2010 census. The village is within Bingham Township. On February 25, 2004, a wolverine was spotted near Ubly, the first one sighted in Michigan in o ...

transmitter site is located centrally to the Thumb's three main counties of Huron, Tuscola and Sanilac. WCZE is licensed by the FCC to Jennifer and Edward Czelada. Jennifer and Edward Czelada are the founders of non-commercial Superior Communications, Michigan Community Radio, Northland Community Broadcasters, and

Smile FM Smile FM is a network of non-commercial, contemporary Christian radio stations owned by Superior Communications, a nonprofit organization. Most programming originates from studios in Williamston, Michigan (just east of Lansing) and is relayed (wi ...

. WCZE began broadcasting in April 2005 from a 450-foot tower near

, which is one of the highest land areas in the thumb. The combined tower height and land elevation gives WCZE a total antenna height of 1289 feet above sea level. The station has a signal that covers the thumb area of Michigan and can be heard out to Bay City,

Imlay City Imlay City is a city in Lapeer County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 3,869 at the 2000 census and 3,585 at the 2020 census. History Imlay City was founded on April 1, 1850 by Charles Palmer, the chief engineer of the Port Huro ...

, Tawas City and often as far as

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

. Oddly, the station broadcast without a license to cover for nearly 7 years due to a complaint filed by Thumb Broadcasting, Inc. (owners of WLEW and WLEW-FM in Bad Axe, Huron County's only other commercial radio stations) with the FCC stating the station wasn't providing a strong enough signal to Harbor Beach. The station disputed the claim, but also offered to slightly increase power to 47 kW. On March 26, 2012, the FCC found in WCZE's favor and granted a license of the original construction permit. WCZE relayed

until the new Smile FM station, WSMB (FM) 89.3 Harbor Beach came on the air. On December 12, 2012, at 12:12 pm WCZE began operating as a commercial station with a country music format. The morning DJ is Dennis Edwards. Morning News is by Vivian. The afternoon DJ is Jenni Jackson. Afternoon/Evening News is by Jim Miller. Weather is by meteorologist Rob Dale.

References

Michiguide.com - WCZE Historyprod/getimportletter_exh.cgi?import_letter_id=32855

External links

Positive Country Facebook
* CZE Radio stations established in 2005 Country radio stations in the United States {{Christian-radio-station-stub