WOMC

Infobox Radio station
name = WOMC


city = Detroit, Michigan
area = [http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WOMC&service=FM&status=L&hours=U]
branding = Oldies 104.3
slogan = Detroit's Greatest Hits!
airdate = March 5, 1948
frequency = 104.3 MHz HD Radio
104.3 HD-2: History Of Rock & Roll
50's & 60's Rock
format = 60's-70's Oldies
power = 190,000 watts
haat = 110 meters
class = B
facility_id = 28623
coordinates = coord|42|28|10|N|83|06|54|W|type:landmark
callsign_meaning = Wayne, Oakland, & Macomb Counties
former_callsigns = WEXL-FM (1948-?)
owner = CBS Radio
sister_stations = WVMV, WWJ, WXYT, WXYT-FM, WYCD
webcast = [http://player.play.it/player/player.html?id=140&onestat=womc-fm Listen Live]
website = [http://www.womc.com/ www.womc.com]
affiliations =

WOMC is an FM radio station broadcasting on 104.3 in the Detroit, MI, 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 flagship station (along with CKLW-AM) of [http://www.mgoblue.com/clubs/article.aspx?id=73506 The University of Michigan Sports Network] .

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.

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 [http://www.easylisteninghq.com/downloads/kalamusic_hist.pdf (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.

Oldies 104.3/The Motor City's 104.3

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. Even further linking the two stations is the fact that many of the former disc jockeys that worked at the "Big 8" currently work at WOMC-FM. Other names familiar to Detroit radio aficionados now working at WOMC include Fred "Boogie" Bryan of Detroit's first all-oldies station, WHND ("Honey Radio"), and Lisa "Lisa Lisa" Orlando, who plays disco and classic dance during the "Saturday Night Dance Party" and was known as "The Party Princess" during her tenures at WDRQ and WHYT in the 1980s and 1990s.

WOMC Today

The station is home to Detroit radio legend Dick Purtan, who has hosted WOMC's morning show since 1996 and has signed a new five-year contract to keep him on the airwaves until 2011. Another former Detroit radio legend, Ted "The Bear" Richards hosts the afternoon drive. While the station is sometimes criticized by oldies aficionados for its tight playlist, it is usually a top ten-rated station in Detroit and on at least one occasion has made it to #1 overall.

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.

Airstaff

The current lineup (as of August 2008) is as follows

* Morning Show: Dick Purtan & Purtan's People - Dick Purtan, Big Al Muskavito, Dana Mills, John Ankles Stewart,
Jackie Purtan, Rebekah Rhodes, Dave Zoran & Larry Lawson
* Mid-Days: John "JT" Thomas
* Afternoon Drive: Ted "The Bear" Richards
* Nighttime: Beau Derek
* Overnights: Lisa "Lisa Lisa" Orlando
* Fri Nghts: The Tom Kent Show - Tom Kent
* Sat Nights: Saturday Night Dance Party - Lisa "Lisa Lisa" Orlando
* Weekend's/Fill-ins: Boogie Bryan, Rick Hunter, Joe Johnson, Scott Moore, Jon Ray and Ron T.
* Program Director: Scott Walker

Current Station Rating

Oldies 104.3 currently ranks at #7 in the Detroit market according to the Summer 2008 Phase II ratings release

According to a preliminary Arbitron report released September 16, 2008

Logo Gallery

Sources

* [http://www.michiguide.com/dials/rad-m/womc.html Michiguide.com - WOMC History]

External links

*FMQ|WOMC
*FML|WOMC
*FMARB|WOMC
* [http://www.w9wi.com/articles/grand_fm.htm List of "grandfathered" FM radio stations in the U.S.]