History of Michigan Radio & TV Broadcasting

Michiguide.com's History of Michigan Radio & TV Broadcasting

The Roots of Michigan Broadcasting

Michigan Television history timeline (from 1947)

Michigan FM history timeline (from 1940)

Michigan AM history timeline (from 1920)

From Fledgling to Floundering to Flourishing: A history of FM Broadcasting in Michigan from the 1930s through the 1960s: Written by George Bednarik, a comprehensive look back at how FM radio developed in Michigan

Call Sign Changes: Every call sign change in Michigan from 1996 on, plus others that are known from before 1996

Call Sign Origins: Learning what call signs 'stand for' can be interesting- some are very obvious, some a bit surprising!

Silenced Stations: A still-incomplete list of broadcast stations in Michigan that have signed off forever.

On the Air! Michigan Radio and TV Broadcasting 1920-2000: Presented by the Michigan Historical Center

Detroit Radio Flashbacks: A look back at Detroit radio complete with multiple airchecks

Detroit Kid-Show Web Page: Remember the kids programming from the 1950's and 60's?

Tuning out: Detroit radio loses local flavor- Detroit News

Return to top of page

Individual Station Histories:

CKLW AM 800 Windsor, ON: The Classic CKLW Page; Visit this web site devoted to 'The Big 8'

The Hits Just Keep on Coming: an NPR special on CKLW from 1999

WKNR AM 1310 Dearborn: Keener13.com; A 1960's Detroit Rock Legend

WJEF-FM (now WBCT-FM) 93.7 Grand Rapids: A very interesting station for radio techies- at one time they broadcasted with an effective radiated power of 500,000 watts, 10 times the current maximum for stations in southern Michigan. Because of grandfathering rules, WBCT still booms out at 320,000 watts.

WBBP AM Petoskey: One of the country's first radio stations (1923-1928)

WHGR-AM and WJGS-FM Houghton Lake

WMTE AM 1340 Manistee and WCEN AM 1150 Mt. Pleasant

msucampusradio.org: A celebration of student radio at Michigan State University

WIDR Alumni.org: Internet home to the WIDR (Kalamazoo) Alumni Society

For information on the history of Michigan stations that are still broadcasting, please visit the Michiguide.com Dials section

Return to top of page

Archived Dial Pages:

Dec 31, 2007: TV, FM, AM, FM Translators, Owners, Christmas

Dec 31, 2006: TV, FM, AM, FM Translators, Owners, Christmas

Dec 31, 2005: TV, FM, AM, FM Translators, Owners, Christmas

Aug 31, 2004: TV, FM, AM, FM Translators

Dec 31, 2003: TV, FM, AM

Dec 31, 2002: TV, FM, AM

Dec 31, 2001: TV, FM, AM

Dec 31, 2000: TV, FM, AM

Dec 31, 1999: TV, FM, AM

Dec 31, 1998: TV, FM, AM

1989: FM

1988: FM

1976: FM

Return to top of page

Michigan Broadcast News Archives

Michiguide.com has been Michigan's most comprehensive source for broadcasting news and information since 1997. Starting in 1999, all of the news and notes that have been posted on this site have been archived so that they can easily be referenced.

To view this information, please visit this page.

Return to top of page

General Broadcasting History Links:

Return to top of page

The content for the History section of Michiguide.com has been gathered from various sources, including: the History of American Broadcasting, Barry Mishkind's Broadcast Archive, George Bednarik (history of WBBP Petoskey and the FM history 1930s-60s), Mike Lewis' original Radio/TV Dial Pages, and from various Michiganders and DX-ers that have been kind enough to pass along tidbits they've picked up along the way. I have tried to verify as much of the information as possible, however it is likely that there are errors. Should you know of a mistake or would just like to add more information to this site, please contact me.

The goal is this section of Michiguide.com is to document as much Michigan radio and TV history as possible and provide an archive of it here for all to use and share. Please be patient as this is always an ongoing project.

You can contact Michiguide.com via this e-mail form.

History of Michigan Radio & TV Broadcasting

Pages

Annual Archives