WSRW-FM

For the FM radio station in Hillsboro, Ohio that held the call sign WSRW-FM from 1979 to 2009, see WQLX.
WSRW-FM
City Grand Rapids, Michigan
Broadcast area Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo
Branding West Michigan's Star 105.7
Slogan Grand Rapids' Listen at Work Station
Frequency 105.7 MHz (also on HD Radio)
First air date February 26, 1962 (as WOOD-FM)
Format Adult Contemporary
Christmas music (Nov.-Dec.)
HD2: Smooth Jazz
ERP 265,000 watts
HAAT 247 meters (810 ft)
Class B
Facility ID 73605
Callsign meaning W StaR West Michigan
Former callsigns WOOD-FM (1962-2010)
Owner iHeartMedia, Inc.
(CC Licenses, LLC)
Sister stations WBCT, WBFX, WMAX-FM, WOOD, WSNX-FM, WTKG
Webcast Listen Live
Website star1057online.com

WSRW-FM (105.7 FM, "Star 105.7"), Grand Rapids, Michigan, is an adult contemporary music formatted radio station on the frequency of 105.7 FM. It is heard as far east as Fowlerville, Michigan, and as far north as Big Rapids, Michigan. The station can also be heard as far south as Lagrange, Indiana

WSRW-FM is a Class B "grandfathered superpower" station.[1] The maximum ERP that would be granted today, using the same antenna height of 247 meters, would be 19,000 Watts.[2]

The smooth jazz format available on HD2 is also available online at: http://www.iheart.com/live/smooth-jazz-4242/

History

The station signed on for the first time as WOOD-FM in 1962. WOOD-FM aired a beautiful music format for decades, which in the early 1990s evolved into the AC format.

WSRW-FM is promoted as Star 105.7 FM. Prior to adopting the "Star" name on November 12, 2001, the station had been known as "EZ 105.7." Presumably the name change was made to help dispel the station's image of being an "elevator music" station. The station's playlist was tweaked to become a brighter, more upbeat AC, which also meant dropping songs by "MOR" or "easy listening" artists such as Barbra Streisand, Barry Manilow and the Carpenters.

WSRW-FM also picked up Delilah's syndicated love-songs show (replacing its locally based "EZ Love Songs") after Delilah was dropped by competitor WLHT.

former logo

Like many other AC and Hot AC stations around the country, Star 105.7 plays continuous Christmas music through the holiday season, a practice that began in 2001 with the station's changeover from "EZ 105.7" to "Star." At the time, it was not common for AC stations to adopt all-Christmas formats so early in the year, though WSRW-FM was not the first station to do so, nor was it even the first station in Grand Rapids to do so; competitor WTRV 100.5 FM had already done continuous Christmas music through the holiday season for a number of years, and still does today. However, Star 105.7 successfully promoted its holiday music marathon as musical "comfort food" after the catastrophic events of September 11, and the station has gone all-Christmas every holiday season since. As with many other stations that do the same, WSRW-FM generally experiences an uptick in ratings during their Christmas-music marathons.

WSRW-FM competes for Grand Rapids' Adult Contemporary audience with the Townsquare Media-owned combo of Adult Top 40 WLHT and Soft AC WTRV. WSRW's AC playlist consisted of music from 1980 until today, with a few exceptions from just before 1980. As a consequence of Clear Channel ownership, WSRW has aired American Top 40: The '80s on weekends in recent years; that has since been moved to WFGR.

On November 15, 2010 WOOD-FM changed their call letters to WSRW-FM, to go with the "Star 105.7" branding. It is legally WSRW-FM due to Clear Channel's also owning WSRW in Hillsboro, Ohio. The former WSRW-FM, at 106.7 FM in Hillsboro, is now 106.5 WQLX in Chillicothe, Ohio. By 2012, WSRW-FM was delisted from the Mediabase add board.[3] Clear Channel changed its name to iHeartMedia, Inc. in the fall of 2014.

Jingles

Since the launch of Star 105.7 in 2001, WOOD-FM/WSRW has aired almost every WLIT-FM (93.9 FM Chicago, Star 105.7's sister station) package from Reelworld, starting with WLIT 2000. in 2004 the station broke away from the WLIT logo and aired RW'S WNIC package, only to return to the WLIT logo later that November. The WLIT logo has long been a favorite for west Michigan radio listeners for years, even when WSRW goes all Christmas every year. Since 2008, WSRW-FM used ReelWorld One AC.

HD Radio

WSRW-FM is licensed for HD Radio operations[4] and features Broadcast Architecture's "Smooth Jazz Network" programming on its HD2 side channel. The last time Smooth Jazz was available as a full-time format in the market was in the late 1990s, on the former WQFN 100.5 FM (now WTRV).[5]

References

Coordinates: 42°39′18″N 85°31′37″W / 42.655°N 85.527°W / 42.655; -85.527

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