| WOMC | |
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| City of license | Detroit, Michigan |
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| Broadcast area | [1] |
| Branding | 104.3 WOMC |
| Slogan | "Detroit's Greatest Hits!" |
| Frequency | 104.3 MHz (Also on HD Radio) 104.3 HD-2: History Of Rock & Roll 50's & 60's Rock |
| First air date | March 5, 1948 |
| Format | Classic Hits |
| ERP | 190,000 watts |
| HAAT | 110 meters |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 28623 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 42°28′10″N 83°06′54″W / 42.46944°N 83.115°W |
| Callsign meaning | Wayne, Oakland, & Macomb Counties |
| Former callsigns | WEXL-FM (1948-?) |
| Affiliations | Michigan Wolverines Sports Network (co-flagship) |
| Owner | CBS Radio |
| Sister stations | WVMV, WWJ, WXYT, WXYT-FM, WYCD part of CBS Corp. cluster w/ TV stations WWJ-TV & WKBD-TV |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | womc.com |
WOMC (104.3 FM, "104.3 WOMC") is a Classic Hits radio station broadcasting in the Detroit, Michigan, USA area. WOMC's transmitter and studios are located on Woodward Heights (9 1/2 Mile Rd). near Interstate 75 in Ferndale, Michigan. WOMC broadcasts with an effective radiated power of 190,000 watts from an antenna height of 361 feet. It is the co-flagship station (along with CKLW) of the Michigan Wolverines Football Network [1]
WOMC's FM signal has been heard as far north as Gaylord, Michigan and Northern Ontario, and as far south as Columbus, Ohio and Central Ohio during certain atmospheric conditions.
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History
WEXL-FM/WOMC
The station began operations on March 5, 1948 as WEXL-FM. The calls changed to WOMC ("Wayne, Oakland and Macomb Counties") a few years later. WOMC programmed a Beautiful Music format for many years but was typically mired toward the bottom of the local ratings until 1973, when it was purchased by Metromedia. Metromedia retooled WOMC's easy listening format to include brighter and more uptempo material, an approach modeled after the successful WQLR-FM "Clear 106" in Kalamazoo.
According to Bill Wertz of WQLR's former owner Fairfield Broadcasting (the station is now WVFM owned by Midwest Communications), WOMC's sales manager at the time, Bob Reinhardt, was impressed with WQLR's sound, especially when he learned that the station was programmed in-house and not using a syndicated service, and requested that WQLR's programmers create a similar format for WOMC. WOMC's revised beautiful music format was an instant success, lifting the station from twenty-eighth place in the Detroit Arbitron ratings into the top three (1). This marked the beginning of the beautiful-music syndication service known as KalaMusic.
104 WOMC
By 1980, WOMC had evolved its format from easy listening to a soft, gold-based Adult Contemporary sound, with which it continued to be quite successful. The adult-contemporary format field in Detroit was rather crowded during the 1980s, with WOMC competing against 100.3 WNIC, 94.7 WMJC and 93.1 WLTI among other stations, and WOMC differentiated itself from its competitors by emphasizing Oldies.
104.3 WOMC
By 1990, WOMC had become almost exclusively an oldies station, and, despite the fact that Detroit had several other oldies stations at the time (including 102.7 WKSG-FM, 93.9 CKLW-FM, and 560 WHND-AM), eventually came to dominate as the most popular choice for oldies in the market.
WOMC has also had many memorable slogans, like "WOM-SEE" and "Detroit's Big O", and when the call letters are said, they're said with emphasis on the O ("W Ohhh M C").
In 2006, the station removed the word "Oldies" from all station imaging and jingles and rebranded as "The Motor City's 104.3" In early 2007, under the guidance of station consultant, Gary Berkowitz, the station started using the word "Oldies" again in jingles and imaging, but the heritage WOMC call letters are only used for the top of the hour legal ID.
Berkowitz's switch back to Oldies was very successful for the station. They used Randy Reeves as the station voice, and used a combination of "Do It Again and "Home of the Hits" jingle packages from JAM Creative Productions.
However, the station hired a new program director, Scott Walker, who wanted to put his own mark on the station. He changed the station voice twice, and fired 4 longtime DJs.
In August 2007, WOMC-FM had begun airing brief jingles and "retromercials" that formerly aired on CKLW during its famous tenure as the "Big 8", especially with much of the same music being played on WOMC-FM today as on CKLW in the 1960s to the 1980s.
In April 2009, WOMC once again dropped the "Oldies" branding from the station. Also replacing voiceover guy Charlie Van Dyke for Jeff Davis. The station changed to "104.3 WOMC, Detroit's Greatest Hits."
Today, the station is home to Detroit radio legend Dick Purtan, who has hosted WOMC's morning show since April 1996 and has signed a new five-year contract to keep him on the airwaves until 2011.
104.3 WOMC currently ranks at #8 (4.6) in the Detroit market according to the October 2009 PPM Ratings release.
HD Radio
WOMC is licensed for HD Radio operations and has a multicast channel on WOMC-HD2. Originally, this station featured hits of the 50s and 60s. Gradually, the format began to evolve into pop hits of the 60s, 70s and 80s. WOMC had changed its station voice twice, and at one time, all three station voices could be heard doing liners for WOMC-HD2. In January 2008, WOMC-HD2's format changed back to the hits of the 50s and 60s. Every day, beginning at 1:00 p.m., the station plays an hour of Elvis music. Also, the station will occasionally play a retro PAMS jingle.
WOMC is apparently re-creating the sound of Top-40 legend WKNR Keener 13 for its HD2 stream. On November 8, 2008, a Keener Radio logo appeared on WOMC'S website, but the channel has not been launched as of yet.
Airstaff
The current lineup (as of October 5, 2009) Starting out the day on the morning drive is Dick Purtan & Purtan's People with Dick Purtan, Big Al Muskavito, Jackie Purtan, Rebekah Rhodes and Larry Lawson. During the workday its John "JT" Thomas. On the ride home its Dave Fuller. Wrapping up the day on nights is Brother JJ Walker
Other programming includes The Tom Kent Show with Tom Kent on friday nights. Weekend's/Fill-ins include Fred “Boogie” Bryan and Scott Moore. WOMC Program Director is Tim Roberts (interim basis). The stations voice is Jeff Davis.
References
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This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (October 2009) |
External links
- Query the FCC's FM station database for WOMC
- Radio Locator information on WOMC
- Query Arbitron's FM station database for WOMC
- List of "grandfathered" FM radio stations in the U.S.
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