Format change on WHTC

[dwp49423]

Holland based WHTC (1450 and its translator on 99.7) appears to have changed formats this week. This is interested as about ten or fifteen years ago, they adopted an all talk format to avoid paying royalties to ASCAP and BMI.

This week, the music is back and just about all of the talk shows have been removed on their website. The tagline of "Holland's Hometown Station" seems to have been replaced with "Michigan Oldies on Holland's Cool FM."

Looking at their website, the only talk portion left is 6am to noon Sunday through Friday, and 6am to 11am and 9pm to 11pm on Saturday. Among the casualties is the He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named Sports Show.

Did not hear a DJ during the hour or so that I listened. The range or songs played makes me wonder if they adopted a toned down version of the Jack format. Sonny & Cher's "The Beat Goes On", Kansas "Carry On My Wayward Son" and Styx "Come Sail Away" being three songs that I heard.

[ChrisWL1980]

It's the same format Midwest is doing on WFAT in the Battle Creek market and WQXC in the Kalamazoo market. Basically an oldies format with a classic rock lean and not much in the way of R&B/soul.
I wonder if this means changes on the way for 92.7 The Van, since there's a little bit of playlist overlap.

[MWmetalhead]

Among the casualties is the He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named Sports Show

Assuming your info is accurate, it's bizarre WHTC would still have been carrying his program. WMAX-FM, a 50 kW directional FM with a city of license of Holland, has been the flagship station of that program for at least five years. Duplicating the exact programming of a major FM makes no sense.

Oldies is a decent choice for the music format given the legacy of the WHTC brand. WBFX and WQXC are both receivable in the Holland/Zeeland area but neither has a particularly strong signal there.

Does WLAV still have signal issues in the Holland area due to a stupid choice of directional antenna system? (WLAV's signal in Holland and in Park Twp when I last visited the area in 2023 was far weaker than FCC predicted signal strength.) If so, WYVN should definitely stick with its current format or should reposition as a straight-up classic rock station.

[GrahamWellington]

Kansas "Carry On My Wayward Son" and Styx "Come Sail Away" being three songs that I heard.

Thank God we didn't lose another radio station to a mega Christian broadcaster playing the same old contemporary Christian music. It's good that we will continue to have a radio station playing unique and fresh music not heard anywhere else.

[MWmetalhead]

In Holland, there are at least four stations on the FM dial that come in clearly that play CCM. Granted, two of the four air the same programming.

Made little sense for WHTC to continue to fill air time with syndicated news/talk or sports talk programming when 106.9 WOOD FM and 96.1 The Game offer a better selection of that programming. Coverage of local topics of interest is where WHTC can continue to make its mark.

[MegaHertz]

Kansas "Carry On My Wayward Son" and Styx "Come Sail Away" being three songs that I heard.

Thank God we didn't lose another radio station to a mega Christian broadcaster playing the same old contemporary Christian music. It's good that we will continue to have a radio station playing unique and fresh music not heard anywhere else.

Let's be honest. We don't need more of either one. Why both of those bands get so much airplay in 2025 perplexes me.

[MWmetalhead]

I hate "Come Sail Away" with a passion.

[ChrisWL1980]

If you're looking for "unique and fresh music not played anywhere else" in Holland, the station you want is probably WTHS.
Overplayed bands aside, I like the Cool FM format a lot better than Big 101.3. At least Midwest doesn't pitch up the music.

[GrahamWellington]

I probably should have been more clear that I was being sarcastic with my previous comment. People on here always lamenting the loss when a Christian broadcaster buys out a commercial signal but never a word when a commercial owner puts yet another tired format on their signal with the same tired, overplayed, shit music like Come Sail Away and Carry On Wayward Son.

[MWmetalhead]

I just tried listening to WHTC's stream. I get nothing but dead air, unless one counts the annoying low volume tone I hear in the chain.

Here's what the Cool FM stations serving Kalamazoo & Battle Creek play. This is actually a pretty good playlist that avoids a lot of material played on Classic Rock radio:

https://onlineradiobox.com/us/wqxc/playlist/

[dwp49423]

Among the casualties is the He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named Sports Show

Assuming your info is accurate, it's bizarre WHTC would still have been carrying his program. WMAX-FM, a 50 kW directional FM with a city of license of Holland, has been the flagship station of that program for at least five years. Duplicating the exact programming of a major FM makes no sense.

Well, I tried looking up WHTC's website on Archive.org and it does not have anything archived other than the main page, nothing from the on air section. The on air section returns a Forbidden error from the most recent webcrawls.

But MSN (the radio one, not the Microsoft version) as of this writing still lists WHTC as an affiliate even though Large Head's sports show is now absent from WHTC's website.

But I could have sworn that I saw that show along with Red Eye Radio and Mark Levin still listed a day or two before my original post on this topic. Someone had asked on a local Facebook group what was going on and had mentioned the "Cool FM" moniker. Because the forementioned shows were still on the website at the time, it had me thinking they were breaking FCC rules by having a different signal on the translator than the parent station.

Friday at work, I got sick of hearing the same songs as the previous day so I tuned in WHTC via their app. Then on the drive home, checked 1450 and 99.7 on the car radio and all three feeds had the same song playing. The three songs I mentioned in my original post being from that day.

[radio_sparty]

WYVN going to Duke could also make sense.

[MWmetalhead]

I agree; that format would likely play well in the area.

[ChrisWL1980]

WYVN going to Duke could also make sense.

Good idea!

[ftballfan]

WYVN going to Duke could also make sense.

Good idea!

It would make a lot of sense as Jethro FM doesn't quite make it to Holland between the 94.9 translator in Grand Haven returning to the air and the 95.1 Spanish religious LPFM signing on.