WMC-FM

WMC-FM (99.7 FM) – branded FM100 – is a commercial hot adult contemporary radio station licensed to Memphis, Tennessee, serving the Memphis metropolitan area and much of surrounding West Tennessee. Owned by Entercom, the station also serves as the Memphis affiliate for the Rick Dees Weekly Top 40. The WMC-FM studios are located in Memphis' Colonial Acres neighborhood, while the station transmitter resides in the nearby suburb of Bartlett. Besides a standard analog transmission, WMC-FM is also available online via Radio.com.

WMC-FM
CityMemphis, Tennessee
Broadcast areaMemphis metropolitan area
BrandingFM100
SloganToday's Best Mix
Frequency99.7 MHz
First air dateMay 22, 1947 (1947-05-22)
FormatHot adult contemporary
ERP300,000 watts (Horiz.)
100,000 watts (Vert.)
HAAT277 meters
ClassC
Facility ID59449
Transmitter coordinates35°10′09″N 89°53′10″W
Call sign meaningCarried over from WMC (AM); originally an extension of the Memphis Commercial Appeal
Former call signsWMCF (1947–60)
OwnerEntercom
(Entercom License, LLC)
Sister stationsWLFP, WMC, WMFS, WMFS-FM, WRVR-FM
WebcastListen Live
Websitefm100memphis.radio.com

Founded by The Commercial Appeal, WMC-FM is notable for being an FM "superpower station," with an output exceeding Federal Communications Commission (FCC) restrictions;[1][2] of FM stations operating in the FCC's Zone II, WMC-FM is the most powerful.[3]

History

The Memphis Publishing Company, a subsidiary of Scripps-Howard Newspapers which owned the Memphis Commercial Appeal and founded WMC (790 AM), launched this station as WMCF on May 22, 1947.[4] WMCF was the first FM station established in Memphis and the second in the state of Tennessee, after WSM-FM/Nashville, which signed on in 1941. From its establishment, WMCF had an output of 515,000 watts; this would be adjusted multiple times before setting at their current power output of 300,000 watts. As the FM adjunct to WMC, WMCF largely simulcast the AM station's programming.

On December 11, 1948, a TV station was added, WMCT. WMC, WMCF and WMCT moved to studios at 1960 Union Avenue in Midtown Memphis in 1959 and celebrated with a broadcast hosted by comedian George Gobel. WMCF changed their call sign to WMC-FM on May 27, 1960; WMCT would become WMC-TV in 1967.

WMC-FM was the first FM radio station in the market, and the first in Tennessee, to play progressive rock, beginning February 6, 1967. Personalities on the station included Greg Hamilton, Ron Michaels, Jon Scott, David Day, and the program director was Mike Powell. Artists included King Crimson, It's a Beautiful Day, and Quicksilver Messenger Service. The versions of "Light My Fire" by The Doors and "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" by Iron Butterfly (with its extended drum solo) were longer than the one most stations played.[5] 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 Billy Joel. By 1978, WMC-FM evolved to a Top 40 format, which would transition to a hot adult contemporary format on September 1992.

Scripps Howard sold WMC, WMC-FM and WMC-TV to Atlanta businessman Bert Ellis in 1993. Ellis, in turn, sold his station group in the spring quarter of 1996 to a new broadcasting group formed by the Retirement Systems of Alabama, also composed of Aflac's broadcast holdings and Ellis' Raycom Sports operations;[6] this was subsequently named Raycom Media.[7]

Raycom Media sold off WMC and WMC-FM in 2000 to Infinity Broadcasting, a subsidiary of CBS Radio, while keeping WMC-TV. WMC and WMC-FM relocated to the Entercom complex in the Moriah Woods Business Park, near the intersection of I-240 and Mount Moriah Road in Memphis. In 2006, Entercom Communications purchased WMC and WMC-FM from CBS Radio; this preceded both companies merging a decade later.[8]

Superpower status

Current FCC restrictions were passed in 1962 and mandate a maximum 100,000 watts across most of the country on the FM band, with most of the Northeast and much of California limited to 50,000 watts.[9] WMC-FM is calculated to exceed power restrictions by 4.6 decibels. However, WMC-FM was grandfathered at the high power since it went on the air before the restrictions began.

Personalities

WMC-FM personalities include: the morning team of Ryan Anderson and Michelle Lewis; Sheryl Stewart middays; Chris Michaels afternoons; Chase Daniels evenings; and Bennett Doyle overnights. WMC-FM also carries the Rick Dees Weekly Top 40, syndicated via Compass Media Networks, on weekends.

Many of the station's air personalities worked there for a decade or longer. Most notably, Ron "Hey Now" Olson had been the station's morning host since the 1980s, partnered with Steve Conley for some of that time, until leaving the station to join co-owned WRVR. Tom Prestigiacomo had been the afternoon host since 1979, staying for nearly three decades; Prestigiacomo left in 2007 for rival AC outlet WKIM.

References
  1. "Grandfathered Super-power FM Stations". www.bostonradio.org. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  2. ""Superpower" Grandfathered FM's". www.w9wi.com. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
  3. "OET --FM Broadcast Zones". web.archive.org. February 9, 2005. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
  4. Broadcasting Yearbook 1948 page 318
  5. "The Commercial Appeal - Memphis Breaking News and Sports". Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  6. Treaster, Joseph B. (August 14, 1996). "Venture in Accord to Buy 7 TV Stations From Aflac". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  7. Colman, Price (February 4, 2015). "Raycom: Succeeding By Evolving, Innovating". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  8. Hicks, Ed (August 21, 2006). "Entercom Buys 3 CBS Radio Stations in Memphis". Memphis Business Journal.
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 6, 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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