WWWW-FM
 |
|
| City | Ann Arbor, Michigan |
|---|---|
| Branding | 102.9 W4 Country |
| Slogan | "Good Times, Great Music" |
| Frequency | 102.9 MHz |
| First air date | March 1, 1962 |
| Format | Country |
| Power | 49,000 watts horiz 42,000 watts vert |
| HAAT | 152 meters |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 41080 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 42°15′4″N 83°48′28″W / 42.25111°N 83.80778°W |
| Callsign meaning | W 4 times |
| Former callsigns | WFOR-FM (7/4/06 – 7/31/06) WWWW (10/2/00 – 7/4/06) WIQB-FM (2/1/92 – 10/2/00) WIQB (3/1/75 – 2/1/92) WNRZ (2/14/70 – 3/1/75) WOIA (3/1/62 – 2/14/70) |
| Affiliations |
Nash FM Michigan IMG Sports Network |
| Owner |
Cumulus Media (Cumulus Licensing LLC) |
| Sister stations | WLBY, WQKL, WTKA |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | w4country.com |
WWWW-FM – "W4 Country" – is a country music radio station based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, broadcasting on 102.9 MHz.
The 102.9 frequency began operations in or on March 1, 1962 as WOIA and was (and still is) co-owned with WOIB 1290 in Saline, Michigan. Originally, WOIA and WOIB simulcast a middle of the road music format with some Top 40 music played on weekends. The format changed to full-time Top 40 in 1967. WOIA personalities during this time included John Records Landecker, later to become a legend in Chicago radio, and Art Vuolo Jr., later to become known as "Radio's Best Friend."
In 1970, the stations became WNRS AM/WNRZ FM "Ann Arbor's Winners." The "Winners" airstaff included a young Arthur Penhallow, who later became a fixture at WRIF in Detroit for nearly 40 years; at WNRS/WNRZ, his air name was "Cicero Grimes." "Winners" took advantage of Ann Arbor's status as a breakout market for songs that later went on to success in the Detroit market, proclaiming: "Winners Plays... Detroit Watches."
The WNRS/WNRZ format remained Top 40 at first, but the two stations soon separated programming, with WNRS adopting a country format and WNRZ becoming a full-time 24-hour free-form progressive rock station. Former WABX Detroit personalities Jerry Goodwin and Ann Christ worked at WNRZ in 1972, and John Sinclair also hosted a Sunday-evening show. The station built up a loyal following in Ann Arbor's "hippie" community, but was financially unsuccessful, leading then-owner Thomas Boodell to change the station to a simulcast of WNRS's country programming and change the locks at the station to keep the former progressive-rock hosts out of the studio. After a petition to restore the progressive programming generated 10,000 signatures, Boodell threw progressive-rock listeners a bone by reinstating progressive rock on the station nightly from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. This split format continued until November 1974, when the station became again temporarily a full-time simulcast of WNRS as preparations were made for the stations' sale to Rochester, New York-based Community Music Services and the FM station's facilities were upgraded.
...
Wikipedia