WHNN

For the AM radio station in Bay City, Michigan that used to use the WBCM callsign, see WMAX (AM).

Radio station in Bay City, Michigan

WHNN

* Bay City, Michigan

Broadcast area| Saginaw-Bay City-Midland-Flint
Frequency| 96.1 MHz
Branding|  96.1 WHNN
Programming
Format| Adult contemporary
Affiliations| Premiere Networks
Westwood One
Ownership
Owner|

* Cumulus Media
* (Radio License Holding CBC, LLC)

Sister stations

| WILZ, WIOG, WKQZ
History

First air date

| 1947 (as WBCM-FM)

Former call signs

| WBCM-FM (1947–1973)
Technical information[1]

Licensing authority

| FCC
Facility ID| 37458
Class| C0
ERP| 100,000 watts
HAAT| 311 meters

Transmitter coordinates

| 43°33′10″N 83°41′24″W﻿ / ﻿43.55278°N 83.69000°W﻿ / 43.55278; -83.69000
Links

Public license information

* Public file
* LMS

Webcast| Listen live
Website| whnn.com

WHNN (96.1 FM, "96.1 WHNN") is a radio station serving the Saginaw, Bay City, Midland and Flint, Michigan areas with an adult contemporary format. The transmitter for WHNN is located on Dutcher Road near Van Buren Road in the northwest corner of Tuscola County. WUCX, a Central Michigan University owned NPR member station, also occupies the same tower as WHNN.

## History

[edit]

### Super Win and Sunny 96

[edit]

WBCM-FM was one of Michigan's pioneer FM stations, initially signing on in 1947. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, 96.1 FM broadcast a beautiful music format. On August 27, 1973 the calls were changed to WHNN and the station adopted a Top 40 format as "Super Win." The first program director was Bruce Buchanan (Big Jim Edwards air name) and the first song played was American Band. Many listeners remember that for several years, WHNN boasted "a winner an hour, sometimes even more". At least once an hour they would award a prize to a designated caller, and announce the current tally of prizes awarded by giving the winners name, hometown and announcing that he or she was "super-Win winner number 12,384 or whatever number the current count was. Many of the prizes were fast food meals or car washes, but occasionally better prizes such as concert tickets or meals at high end restaurants were awarded. When the hourly prizes were phased out in 1979, WHNN announced it was in "the interest of public safety" as they didn't want to overwhelm the phone company's resources.

WHNN evolved into an AOR station in 1976. In 1981, despite being the top rated station in the area at the time, the station changed format from AOR to adult contemporary, with the first song being Gino Vannelli's "Living Inside Myself". Station owners stated at the time that this was because they could not sell enough ad time. As a popular AC station during the 1980s, the station was known as "Sunny 96, Lite Rock, Less Talk."

### Oldies 96

[edit]

WHNN switched to an oldies format in the fall of 1990 following a period of stunting with various versions of Richard Berry's song "Louie, Louie" including the hit version by The Kingsmen. As time went on, WHNN, like many stations of its kind, evolved from "traditional" oldies to a "classic hits" direction focusing on pop, rock and soul hits from roughly 1965-1990 in the hope of reaching younger demographics, and dropped most if not all pre-1965 music from its playlist. Unlike other classic hits stations which are essentially hit-based versions of Classic rock, WHNN became a Top 40 Classic Hits station. Through the changes to the music, the station's ratings remained high.

WHNN garnered attention in the fall of 2006 when it switched to a format of all Christmas music, in response to crosstown AC competitor 106.3 WGER's announcement that they would not go all-Christmas that year. The switch also brought all-Christmas music radio to Flint, owing to continued dominance of the market's AC station, 107.9 WCRZ. WHNN switched to all-Christmas again in early November 2007; WHNN had originally planned to switch to all-Christmas on Thanksgiving Day but moved up the change when WGER opted to return to playing continuous Christmas music ahead of schedule. WGER has since switched to a Hot AC direction as "Mix 106.3" and no longer goes all-Christmas for the holiday season, but MacDonald Broadcasting's AC combo of WSAM 1400 AM and WSAG 104.1 FM ("The Bay") has taken up the Christmas music mantle in recent years to challenge WHNN. WHNN, however, continued to be Flint's only Christmas music station until November 2018, when WCRZ switched to all-Christmas music for the first time.

Cumulus Media acquired Citadel Broadcasting and WHNN in 2011. WHNN's Flint area sales offices are expected to relocate to 6317 Taylor Drive in Flint as a result; the sale also included WHNN's current studios on Champagne Drive in Saginaw.

In addition to its Tri-Cities sister stations, WHNN's other sister stations in its listening area are 92.7 WDZZ, 95.1 WFBE, 1330 WTRX, 1570 WWCK and 105.5 WWCK-FM, all licensed to Flint.

### Today

[edit]

On January 15, 2016, shortly before 5 pm (EST), WHNN flipped to adult contemporary as "My 96-1". The last song on 96 WHNN was "Changes" by David Bowie, while the first song on My 96-1 was "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi.[2] While morning hosts Johnny Burke and Blondie were fired with the change, the rest of the airstaff is expected to stay.[needs update][3] Johnny and Blondie later established their own morning show via Periscope and their website. This led to both Johnny And Blondie filing lawsuits against WHNN for age discrimination, while WHNN sued for stealing advertisement from local businesses as well as potentially using former morning show content.[4] The station launched "My 96-1" by running commercial-free throughout that weekend. On January 18, at 5:30 a.m., when the former Johnny Burke and the Morning Crew was supposed to be on the air, the song "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)" by Green Day was aired, rather fitting considering the nature of the show's departure. In the last few months Johnny and Blondie worked at WHNN, and according to some of the information of the lawsuit, Johnny and Blondie indicated ideas of bringing a younger music format to WHNN which were ignored by airstaff and station management. They later realized that the actions of the station management and air staff meant that they were being set up.[5]

The format change resulted in no Classic Hits formatted radio stations available over the air in either the Tri-Cities or Flint radio markets. Adult Hits station WMJO and gold-based AC combo WMPX/WMRX-FM are the only remaining stations in the immediate Saginaw-Bay City-Midland market playing hits from the 1960s through 1980s. In the Flint market, classic rock WRSR of Owosso continues to play some of the music formerly heard on WHNN. In March 2017, former WHNN morning show host Johnny Burke and news director Hal Maas began hosting the morning show at WRSR.[6]

## Former logo

[edit]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WHNN". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
2. ^ "WHNN Becomes My 96.1 - Format Change Archive". FormatChange.com. February 17, 2016. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
3. ^ Jackman, Caresse. "Two major personalities at Oldies 96 WHNN are out of a job". ABC12.com. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
4. ^ "Johnny and Blondie had WHNN customer, pricing information, ex-boss testifies". MLive.com. June 17, 2016. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
5. ^ "'Johnny and Blondie' allege age discrimination by WHNN - Tuscola County Advertiser". TuscolaToday.com. April 9, 2016. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
6. ^ "WRSR/Flint Gets Johnny Burke For Mornings". AllAccess.com. Retrieved October 15, 2017.

## Sources

[edit]

* Michiguide.com - WHNN History

## External links

[edit]

*   * Facility details for Facility ID 37458 (WHNN) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
* WHNN in Nielsen Audio's FM station database

* v
* t
* e

Radio stations in the Saginaw–Bay City–Midland metropolitan area (Michigan)

By AM frequency|

* 790
* 1250
* 1350
* 1400
* 1440
* 1490

By FM frequency|

* 88.3
* 89.1
* 89.5
* 90.1
* 90.9
* 91.3
* 91.9
* 93.3
* 96.1
* 96.9
* 97.3
* 97.7
* 98.1
* 99.7
* 100.5
* 100.9
* 101.7
* 102.5
* 103.1
* 104.1
* 104.5
* 106.3
* 107.1

| Translators|

* 92.3
* 99.3
* 103.5
* 105.1
* 105.9
* 107.7

|

By call sign|

* W222CQ
* W257EO
* W278BX
* W286CI
* W290DM
* W299CK
* WCHW-FM
* WCMU-FM
* WEJC
* WGDN
* WGDN-FM
* WGER
* WJMK
* WHNN
* WILZ
* WIOG
* WKCQ
* WKQZ
* WLKB
* WLUN
* WMAX
* WMJO
* WMPX
* WMRX-FM
* WPRJ
* WSAG
* WSAM
* WSGW
* WSGW-FM
* WSMO
* WTLZ
* WTRK
* WUCX-FM
* WUGN
* WWCM

Defunct|

* KFPZ

Radio stations in Central Michigan
Flint
Lansing-East Lansing
North Central Michigan
Saginaw-Bay City-Midland
South Central Michigan
Thumb of Michigan

Other nearby regions
Alpena-Tawas City
Grand Rapids

See also
List of radio stations in Michigan

* v
* t
* e

Adult contemporary radio stations in the state of Michigan

* Adrian
* WLEN
* Ashley
* WJSZ
* Bay City
* WHNN
* Big Rapids
* WYBR
* Brooklyn
* WKHM-FM
* Cadillac
* WJZQ
* Detroit
* WDVD
* WNIC
* Dimondale
* WXLA
* East Lansing
* WFMK
* Escanaba
* WDBC
* Flint
* WCRZ
* Grand Haven
* WGHN-FM
* Grand Rapids
* WLHT-FM
* WSRW-FM
* WTRV
* Hancock
* WKMJ-FM
* Hartford
* WCXT
* Hillsdale
* WCSR-FM
* Ironwood
* WUPM
* Ishpeming
* WMQT
* Linwood
* WSAG
* Marquette
* WUPK
* McBain
* WCDY
* Negaunee
* WKQS-FM
* Newaygo
* WWSN
* Niles
* WNIL
* Norway
* WZNL
* Pentwater
* WMOM
* Petoskey
* WLXT
* Plymouth
* WSDP
* Port Huron
* WGRT
* Saginaw
* WGER
* WSAM
* Sault Ste. Marie
* WSOO
* Tawas City
* WTZM
* Three Rivers
* WLKM-FM

See also
adult contemporary
classic hits
college
country
news/talk
NPR
oldies
religious
rock
sports
top 40
urban
other radio stations in Michigan

* v
* t
* e

Cumulus Media

AM radio
stations|

* KAAY
* KABC
* KAOK
* KARN
* KBED
* KBGG
* KBOI
* KCMO
* KCSF
* KCUB
* KESP
* KFAY
* KFOG
* KFRU
* KIKR
* KKAT
* KKOB
* KKOH
* KLIF
* KLIK
* KMAJ
* KMJ
* KNBR
* KNML
* KPUR
* KRMD
* KSFO
* KTBL
* KTCK
* KTCT
* KTIK
* KTOP
* KTUC
* KUGN
* KVOR
* KWPN
* KZAC
* KYNG
* WAAV
* WAPI
* WARM
* WAYS
* WBAP
* WBBF
* WBBW
* WCOA
* WDUZ¹
* WFAS
* WFNC
* WFTW
* WGOC
* WGOK
* WGOW
* WGPC
* WHGB
* WHLD
* WICC
* WISW
* WJBC
* WJCW
* WJOX
* WJR
* WJRW
* WKY
* WLAW
* WLBY
* WLS
* WLWI
* WLZR
* WMAC
* WMSP
* WNAM
* WNML
* WOSH
* WPIC
* WPRO
* WPRV
* WRQX
* WRIE
* WSBA
* WSBN
* WSKO
* WSSO
* WTKA
* WTMA
* WTRX
* WUMP
* WVEL
* WVLK
* WVNN
* WWCK
* WXLM
* WXNT
* WXOK
* WXQW
* WXSM
* WYMB
* WYNN

FM radio
stations|

* K279BI
* KAMO-FM
* KARN-FM
* KARX
* KATC-FM
* KATM
* KATT-FM
* KAYD-FM
* KBBM
* KBBQ-FM
* KBBY-FM
* KBCY
* KBEE
* KBER
* KBIU
* KBOI-FM
* KBUL-FM
* KBXR
* KCDD
* KCFX
* KCHZ
* KCJK
* KCMO-FM
* KDJK
* KDRF
* KDVV
* KEHK
* KENZ
* KGGO
* KHAY
* KHKI
* KHKK
* KHOP
* KHTB
* KHXS
* KHYT
* KIIM-FM
* KIPR
* KIZN
* KJJY
* KJMO
* KJOY
* KKEG
* KKFM
* KKGB
* KKGL
* KKMG
* KKND
* KKOB-FM
* KKPK
* KKWD
* KLAL
* KLUR
* KMAJ-FM
* KMCK-FM
* KMEZ
* KMGA
* KMGV
* KMJ-FM
* KMJJ-FM
* KMJK
* KNBR-FM
* KNEK-FM
* KNEV
* KNRQ
* KNSH
* KOBQ
* KOLI
* KOMS
* KOQL
* KPLA
* KPLX
* KPUR-FM
* KQFC
* KQHN
* KQIZ-FM
* KQLK
* KQRS-FM
* KQSM-FM
* KQXC-FM
* KQXL-FM
* KQXY-FM
* KRBE
* KRMD-FM
* KRMW
* KRRQ
* KRST
* KRUZ
* KSAN
* KSCS
* KSKS
* KSMB
* KSZR
* KTCK-FM
* KTCX
* KTLT
* KTOP-FM
* KUBL-FM
* KUJZ
* KURB
* KVMA-FM
* KVYB
* KWIC
* KWIN
* KWNN
* KWQW
* KWYE
* KWYL
* KXKC
* KXXR
* KYIS
* KYKZ
* KYYI
* KZEL-FM
* KZJF
* KZRK-FM
* WABD
* WAOA-FM
* WAQX-FM
* WARM-FM
* WBAP-FM
* WBHD
* WBHT
* WBLX-FM
* WBNQ
* WBSX
* WBWN
* WBZE
* WBZF
* WCMG
* WCTO
* WDAI
* WDEN-FM
* WDLT-FM
* WDUZ-FM¹
* WDVD
* WDZZ-FM
* WEAN-FM
* WEAS-FM
* WEBE
* WEDG
* WEMX
* WFBE
* WFMS
* WFTK
* WFYR
* WGFX
* WGKX
* WGLF
* WGLO
* WGNI
* WGOW-FM
* WGRF
* WGRR
* WGVX
* WHBX
* WHHY-FM
* WHKR
* WHNN
* WHOT-FM
* WHRP
* WHTS
* WHTT-FM
* WILZ
* WIOG
* WIOV-FM
* WIVK-FM
* WIWF
* WIXO
* WIXV
* WJBC-FM
* WJCL-FM
* WJEZ
* WJJK
* WJOX-FM
* WJQX
* WJTQ
* WKDF
* WKHX-FM
* WKIM
* WKKO
* WKLQ
* WKOR-FM
* WKOS
* WKQX
* WKQZ
* WKRU
* WKSM
* WKXS-FM
* WLAV-FM
* WLAW-FM
* WLCS
* WLEV
* WLFF
* WLLF
* WLS-FM
* WLTO
* WLUP
* WLWI-FM
* WLXC
* WLXX
* WLZN
* WMAL-FM
* WMDH-FM
* WMEZ
* WMGB
* WMGL
* WMGS
* WMGU
* WMIM
* WMNX
* WMOS³
* WMXS
* WMXT
* WMXU
* WNCV
* WNDX
* WNKT
* WNML-FM
* WNMQ
* WNNF
* WNNK-FM
* WNNX
* WNTQ
* WNTR
* WOFX-FM
* WOGB¹
* WOGT
* WOKI
* WOMG
* WORC-FM
* WPEZ
* WPKR
* WPRO-FM
* WQGN-FM
* WQHZ
* WQKL
* WQLH¹
* WQPD
* WQQK
* WQQO
* WQSM
* WQUT
* WQXA-FM
* WQXK
* WRBO
* WRCQ
* WRKN
* WROK-FM
* WRQN
* WRQQ
* WRRM
* WRRX
* WSEA
* WSJR
* WSKZ
* WSM-FM
* WSMS
* WSOX
* WSSX-FM
* WSYN
* WTCB
* WTNR
* WTPA-FM
* WTYB
* WUHT
* WVBO
* WVIB
* WVLK-FM
* WVNN-FM
* WWCK-FM
* WWFF-FM
* WWFN-FM
* WWFX
* WWIZ
* WWKI
* WWKL
* WWKX
* WWLD
* WWLI
* WWLS-FM
* WWWM
* WWQQ-FM
* WWSN
* WWTN
* WWWQ
* WWWW-FM
* WWWX
* WWWZ
* WXBM-FM
* WXFX
* WXKC
* WXKR
* WXKR-HD2/W264AK
* WXLO
* WXMX
* WXTA
* WXZZ
* WYFM
* WYNN-FM
* WYZB
* WZNS
* WZPL
* WZPW
* WZRH
* WZRR
* WZYP

Radio networks|

* Arkansas Radio Network
* CBS Sports Radio*
* Titans Radio Network
* Westwood One (see navpage)

Online assets|

* Country Weekly
* iHeartRadio¹

Television-related assets|

* Nash TV

Other assets|

* Broadcast Software International
* CumulusJobs.com
* San Francisco Giants (minority interest in LP)

See also|

* Citadel Broadcasting
* Cumulus Media Networks
* Susquehanna Radio Corporation

* 1 = Owned by iHeartMedia; operated by Cumulus under an LMA.
* 3 = Operated by the Mohegan Sun under an LMA.

* * = Owned by Paramount Global, operated by Cumulus.

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