Latitude Media launched an all-talk commercial station on 92.3 FM on Feb 26. The station simulcasts the content from 830 WMMI AM while adding late night shows to the station’s line-up.
The company decided to go with this approach in order to expand the content that is offered on WMMI by making the station 24/7. They also chose an FM format to broadcast WMMI in stereo sound.
“We decided to do this in August and we got approved to make the station in January,” Latitude Media owner Bob Peters said.
They hired an engineer to determine which radio dial numbers would work best and they chose 92.3 because it would not interfere with any other station.
Peters and his team started a 7 week process that including securing late night shows, programming and re-working the station to suit a late-night format.
“We have a unique format that allows us to have all of these different shows covering all of these different topics,” Peters said
Sean Powers, one of the co-hosts of 104.3’s “That Show with Tina and Shawn,” said that he was excited to get some popular late night shows.
“We’re going to be broadcasting ‘Coast 2 Coast,’ which covers topics related to UFOs, paranormal activity and other odd occurrences,” he said, “It airs in a lot of places around the United States.”
Daytime syndicated shows on the station will include “Mayo Clinic Radio”, “The Rush Limbaugh Show” and “The Michael Patrick Shiels Show,” all of which already ran on WMMI.
The station will also include a show from “That Show” co-host Tina Sawyer called “The Topic.” The show will feature non-profit organizations and talk about local issues.
Latitude Media will also move all of it’s coverage of local high school sports to the new station. They will continue covering games as well as their “High School Sports Highlight,” which features a single high school team.
The station is meant to be a Shepard station, but it also reaches Gratiot, Midland, Clare and Gladwin counties.
“The future is bright for this station,” Peters said, “I’ve gotten a lot of good feedback from a lot of business people who drive to far places who listen to the station,”
The introducion of the new station marks the first station to be introduced to Isabella county since 1992.
“We always look to add to the central Michigan community and I feel the launch of this station will help in that aspect,” Peters said.