WLUN
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| City | Pinconning, Michigan |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Bay City-Midland-Saginaw |
| Branding | ESPN 100.9 |
| Slogan | Your Local Sports Leader |
| Frequency | 100.9 MHz |
| First air date | November 1983 |
| Format | Sports radio |
| Power | 2,600 watts |
| HAAT | 151 meters |
| Class | A |
| Facility ID | 52616 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 43°50′46″N 84°05′32″W / 43.84611°N 84.09222°W |
| Callsign meaning |
LUN = "Loon" (in reference to "Great Lakes Loons") |
| Former callsigns | WYLZ (1999-2008) WMJK (1995-99) WBTZ (1992-95) WMJT (1990-92) WLFS (1987-90) WWRM (1984-87) WFXZ (1983-84) |
| Affiliations |
ESPN Radio Great Lakes Loons |
| Owner | Michigan Baseball Foundation (Michigan Radio Communications, LLC) |
| Webcast | Listen Online |
| Website | ESPN1009.com |
ESPN 100.9-FM (WLUN) is a radio station broadcasting a sports radio format in Pinconning, Michigan, USA, owned by the Michigan Baseball Foundation (owner of the Great Lakes Loons), under the licensee name of Michigan Radio Communications.
WLUN has broadcast a variety of different formats since it first signed on, on November 15, 1983. Formats included country music, adult contemporary, and classic hits. For much of its early history, it was the co-owned sister of WXOX (now WHHQ), originally licensed to Essexville, but over time marketed itself as a Bay City station.
The station was originally signed on by Wegerly Broadcasting Corporation, headed by Robert Naismith, who also served as station general manager. However, the construction permit for the station was first issued in 1982 to Wigwam Bay Broadcasting, who chose the call letters WHFU. The permit would later be sold the call letters changed prior to sign-on.
The station is fondly remembered by some in the Tri-Cities market for its time as Top 40/album rock station WFXZ, "Foxy 101," in the early 1980s. The station then changed format to easy listening in 1984, changing its call letters to WWRM, marketing itself as "Warm 101", taking the call letters and format from another station in Gaylord which had abandoned the format and call letters that year in favor of a Top 40 format.
Three years after this format was adopted, the station went through its first ownership change, separating itself from the AM station. The new licensee, BC Communications, acquired the station on May 20, 1987 for $345,000. The company was owned by Floyd Biernat and Milton Carles.
BC Communications then changed the station's call letters to WLFS, shifted its music focus to soft adult contemporary and marketed itself as "Sunny 101", targeting the Saginaw-Bay City market. However, the station ran into financial troubles by the end of the decade and fell silent.
WLFS remained silent for a period of about two years. It was acquired on March 11, 1991 by P & G Media Corporation for $55,000. Much of the next year was spent getting the station back on the air, as much of the station's property had been liquidated through bankruptcy proceedings. The station returned in 1992 under the new call sign WBTZ, and boasting an album rock format, originating from its new FM sister station, WUVE-FM in Saginaw. Unlike the television market, Saginaw and Bay City were separate radio markets and were allowed under the more restrictive FCC ownership limits at the time (though they would be relaxed within a year). Station business was conducted out of WUVE's facilities on Gordonville Road in Midland.
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Wikipedia