WMC-FM

Infobox radio station
name = WMC-FM
city = Memphis, Tennessee
area = Memphis, Tennessee
frequency = 99.7 MHz
branding = "FM100"
slogan = "Today's Best Mix"
airdate = May 22, 1947
format = Hot AC
erp = 290,000 watts horizontal
96,000 watts vertical
haat = 277 meters
class = C
callsign_meaning = W-Memphis Commercial Appeal (founding and former sister newspaper)
facility_id = 59449
owner = Entercom Communications
webcast = [http://wmc2.liquidcompass.cc/WMCFM Listen Live]
website = http://www.fm100memphis.com|

WMC-FM (99.7 FM, known as "FM 100") is a "Hot AC" radio station serving the market of Memphis, Tennessee. The station is notable for being an FM "superpower," with a transmitter that greatly exceeds current Federal Communications Commission restrictions. Of stations in the FCC's Zone II, WMC is the most powerful. The station's license is currently held by Entercom Communications, which purchased it and sister WMC-AM from CBS Radio; the stations were originally owned by Scripps Howard Broadcasting, as was television station WMC-TV, prior to 1993.

Taking beam tilt into account, the station's effective radiated power is rated at 300,000 watts horizontal polarization and 100,000 watts vertical. The station's transmitter is 277 meters (909 ft) high. Current FCC restrictions were passed in 1962 and mandate a 100 kW maximum across most of the country on the FM band (though some of the more densely populated areas are limited to 50 kW). The station is calculated to exceed power restrictions by 4.6 decibels. However, WMC was grandfathered in, since it had started broadcasting on the FM band on May 22, 1947 and was upgraded to its current power level prior to 1962.

Unlike many other stations, WMC-FM has retained its same general format since the 1970s. In fact, many of the staff members of the radio station have worked there a decade, or even longer. Most notably, Ron "Hey Now" Olson has been the station's morning man since the 1980s, and partnered with Steve Conley and Karen Perrin on the morning show since the early 1990s. In November 2006, Conley was laid off by the station in a cost-cutting move, ending Conley's affiliation with the station, which dated back to 1979. Tom Prestigiacomo had been the afternoon host since 1979, the same year that Conley arrived, but Prestigiacomo left in 2007 for crosstown rival WKIM-FM.

WMC-FM was also the first radio station in the market to play the Progressive Rock format on the FM band, beginning in the late 1960s. In the early 1970s, the station was responsible for regionally breaking many new artists such as David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top and other rock acts of the day. By the beginning of the next decade, however, WMC-FM transmuted the AOR format into a reliance on the Top 40 playlist; the next 25 years witnessed this in turn mutate into the present Hot AC musical orientation.

WMC-FM is one of six radio properties in the Memphis market held by Entercom; the others are WMC-AM, WRVR-FM, WSMB-AM, WSNA-FM, and WMFS-FM. WMC-FM maintains studios at 1960 Union Avenue in Memphis.

Current Weekday On-Air Lineup

5:30am-10:00am Ron Olson & Karen Perrin (W/Producer Brett)
10:00am-3:00pm Jill Bucco
3:00pm-7:00pm Lance Ballance
7:00pm-12:00am Syndicated program Your Time with Kim Iverson
12:00am-5:30am Anthony Glover

Weekend duty is handled by Rob Grayson and Garner Miller.

External links

* [http://www.fm100memphis.com/ WMC FM 100 official website]
*FMQ|WMC-FM
*FML|WMC
*FMARB|WMC
* [http://www.w9wi.com/articles/grand_fm.htm List of "grandfathered" FM radio stations in the U.S.]
* [http://www.fcc.gov/oet/info/maps/fmzones/ FCC Office of Engineering and Technology: FM Broadcast Zones]
* [http://www.entercom.com/markets.php?marketid=10# Entercom Memphis stations]