106.5 Jack FM

[Realist]

Found this station when I was last in GR for the day, as LAV and GRD were playing songs at the time. I’ll admit that I really like this station! I realize it’s out of K-zoo but I’m wondering if they should target GR more…

[thatonedude]

Audio processing sounds like trash. Higher end treble is crushed, dynamic range is lacking, and the volume is insufficiently loud.

Hope this gets fixed soon. An otherwise good station is a fatiguing listen.

Sounds just like a really low bitrate MP3. It stinks because Jack is a good station.

Whoever set the processing has no ears it seems. How hard is it to give a station decent audio?

[format this]

I realize it’s out of K-zoo but I’m wondering if they should target GR more…

The legal ID they’re using is WVFM Kalamazoo Battle Creek Grand Rapids.


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[Colonel Flagg]

There aren't too many G.R. area businesses who would be willing to purchase advertising on a station where 80%+ of the audience at any given time resides from Allegan County & Barry County southward.

The signal is more difficult to pick up indoors in the heart of the city than WSNX.

To realistically make a "play" at G.R. money, the station would have to invest heavily in local advertising to raise awareness of its existence, and they would also probably (a) need a translator or (b) move their main tower closer to G.R., which would require a COL change.

The second of those items definitely ain't happening.

Coincidentally, I don't know if the original WZUU tower near Hopkins is still standing, but that thing is definitely capable of pumping a Class B-equivalent signal across most of Kent & Ottawa Counties reliably. Tiny WZUU at 860 watts was very listenable on a good car radio as far away as southern Ionia County. Many years ago in my old Saturn, whose OEM receiver was great at rejecting adjacent channel interference, I was picking up that station easily near GVSU's main campus. On US 131, I didn't lose WZUU completely until I got near the M-57 exit (about 14 miles north of downtown).

There's no question in my mind a full Class B from that spot would be capable of delivering a very reliable signal to most of the Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, and Holland areas, with reception as good or better than WSNX and WHTS across most of the G.R. urbanized area.

If you are referring to the tower on 122nd Ave, yes, it's still there.

[Radio Chili]

I had that tower erected in December, 1990 when i got the permit to build WKGH-FM/Country 92. Had it for 4 years and used to get car radio reports of reception from some far-flung places. The HAAT was 600'. Frequently heard past it's 'fringe' limits in many weird places like Bridgeman, Lakeview, Morley, Williamston. Even Ligonier, IN. My Brother-In-Law even picked it up very near Tawas City when he was still driving a Coke truck before the band got completely swamped a little later on! Oh, and Kalkaska too.

Always wished my grant could have been a 'B'. That would have been a real DX generator!

[Greg Buben]

Although I would rather have live announcers on the radio JACK-FM plays the best variety of hits from the 1970's forward.
This "Adult Hits" format short of no live announcers has a musical sound that isn't as stale and tiresome like the commer-
cial FM stations formats in Grand Rapids. Although JACK-FM (WVFM - FM 106.5) has a listenable signal in the GR area
I think the Adult Hits format should be tried on one of GR's FM stations. That would be a good format for "Thunder Country"
or as some say "Blunder Country" to flip to. I still can't believe the Cumulus of G.R. people keep that station with the same
major label country hits of the 2000's that can be heard on B-93 the most powerful FM around. Adult Hits is a good format
for Cumulus of GR to consider instead of trying to be the number two B-93.

[thatonedude]

Jack's whole shtick is no DJs. Howard Cogan's smart ass liners and sweepers fill that void (pretty well, I think). I prefer that over a chatty morning show and getting barely any music during the commute. I wish we had Jack in Detroit, instead of the poor imitation we had with Doug.

Honestly, I don't think Cumulus would launch a variety hits station in GR; looks like for some godforsaken reason they're content with the programming on all of their stations. IMO, except for 94.5, not a single one of their stations in GR is appealing.

[thatonedude]

Cumulus has launched some Jacks in recent years; their one in KC (not sure how long they've had it) was moved to a translator, but I guess it does well enough for them to justify keeping it. Most, if not all, are satellite-fed from my understanding, so if they really wanted to they could cheaply launch Jack in G.R in that manner. I also think they still have "Ed" in ABQ and apparently they have an "Alice" in OKC.

Agreed on Doug-FM toward the end; I could damn near predict what song they would play next. Not a good way to program a format like that. iHeart's attempt with The D 2.0 was much better.