WTNR

WTNR

City of license	Holland, Michigan
Broadcast area	Grand Rapids, Michigan
Branding	Nash-FM 94-5
Slogan	"Grand Rapid's Country Station"
Frequency	94.5 MHz
First air date	1961 (as WJBL-FM)
Format	Country
ERP	50,000 watts
HAAT	152 meters
Class	B
Facility ID	41678
Callsign meaning	ThuNdeR 94.5 (previous branding)
Former callsigns	WKLQ (1/9/84-10/11/04) WJBL-FM (1961-1/9/84)
Owner	Cumulus Media (Radio License Holding CBC, LLC)
Sister stations	WBBL-FM, WHTS, WJRW, WLAV-FM
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	nashfm945.com

WTNR (94.5 MHz, "Nash FM 94.5"), is a Country radio station located in Grand Rapids, Michigan and licensed to Holland, MI, owned by Cumulus Media. WTNR is one of two Country music stations in the Grand Rapids market, the other being B93.

History

See also: WKLQ

Prior to the country music format, 94.5 was occupied by WKLQ, with a CHR format, and in 1984 the station flipped formats to hard rock format. In 1996, the station added Howard Stern to the morning lineup. By 1999 the station had tweaked into Alternative and became known as "The Rock@94.5 KLQ". After a few years of struggling with the rock format, the station flipped to country on October 11, 2004 as "94.5 The New Thunder Country".

On October 27, 2011, WTNR completely revamped the station's playlist by adding gold tracks not previously played on the station. These included songs by artists from the 1990s and early 2000s like Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, Brooks & Dunn, Alan Jackson among others. The station also dropped all tags at the end of each song, which gave the title and artist for each track. The station is now simply called "Thunder 94-5" as well.

On July 1, 2012 WTNR re-labeled its brand as "Grand Rapids Country Station, Thunder 94-5".

On February 3, 2014 at 12pm, WTNR along with 9 other Cumulus owned country music stations, dropped the "Thunder 94-5" brand for the Nash-FM branding, with first song as "Nash-FM 94-5" being "Barefoot Blue Jean Night" by Jake Owen.

Former airstaff

WKLQ (Rock/Alternative) Era 1984-2004

• Steve Aldrich (Overnights/Weekend Host 1996-2004) - now at sister WLAV.
• Darrin Arriens (Program Director/Mid-Day Host 2003-2004) - now at KSKS/Fresno, CA.
• Cristi Cantle (Evenings/Afternoons/Night Host 1999-2004)
• Suzy Cole (Morning News 1997-1999/Weekends 2000-2001) - Now weekends at 101 WRIF in Detroit
• Nick Dorsey (Overnight Host 2000-2003)
• Brian Downs (Weekend Host/Fill In Host 1991-2004)
• Mark "The Head" Feurie (Afternoon/Mid-Day Host 1997-2003)
• Flea (Late Night Host 1997-1998)
• Matt Gilcheck (Overnights/Evening Host/Afternoon Host 1996-1999) - Now mornings at WBCT/Grand Rapids.
• Aris Hampers (Afternoon/Mid-Day Host 1993-1998)
• Steve Hynes (Overnight Host 1999-2000)
• Sean Kelly (Afternoon Co-Host/Evenings/Afternoon Host 2003-2004)
• Daisy Mae (Weekends/Late Nights/Evening Host 1995-1998)
• Don O'Neill (Morning Co-Host "Ron & Don" 2003-2004)
• Andy O'Riley (Mid-Day/Weekends/Afternoon Host 1990-1999)
• Brad Michael Owen (Overnight Host 1995-1997)
• Tom Robinson (Production Director/Mid-Day/Evening Host 1984-2000)
• Ty Rosenow (Morning Co-Host 2003)
• Hunter Scott (Program Director/Afternoon Host 2003-2004)
• Tom "The Wiz" Stavrou (Weekends/Morning News/Late Nights/Night Host 1995-2004)
• Howard Stern (Morning Host "The Howard Stern Show" 1996-2002)
• Ron Upshaw (Morning Host "Ron & Don" 2003-2004)
• Bill Waters (Afternoon Host 1991-2002 & Afternoon/Mid-Day Host 2002-2003)
• Bill Watson (Morning News 1998-2002)

Thunder 94-5/Nash-FM Era 2004–Present

• Cody Alan ("CMT Radio Live" Host 2012-2013)
• Nick Alan (Weekends/Nights/Afternoon Host 2005-2010) - Now middays at 100.7 The Wolf in Seattle, Washington
• Brad Austin (Program Director/Afternoon Host 2012-2013) - now at WXCY/Wilmington, DE.
• Ashley Asphalt (Morning Co-Host "Scrubs In The Morning 2007-2009)
• Rob Brandt (Afternoon Host 2010) - Now afternoons at 97 LAV-FM
• Marty Brooks (Morning Show Host 2012-2014) - Now mornings at WLFP/Memphis, TN.
• Donna Britt (Kickin' It With Kix Co-Host 2012-2014)
• Brother Dave (Morning Co-Host "Scrubs In The Morning 2007)
• Bud Ford (Mid-Day/Morning Host 2005-2007)
• Shane Goad (Afternoon Host/Program Director 2011-2012)
• Dan "The Tall Man" Hardee (Night Host 2010-2011) - Now production director for Wilks Broadcasting in Denver, Colorado
• "Party Paul" Longuski (Weekends/Nighttime/Afternoon/Morning Host "The Wake Up Call" 2008-2012) - Now afternoons at Whistle 100 in Greenville, South Carolina
• Dawn Michaels (Mid-Day Host 2007)
• Joe "Flounder" Piez (Morning Show Co-Host 2007-2014) - Now morning host at Hot 96 in Evansville, Indiana
• April Rose (Morning Show Co-Host 2009-2014) - Now program director and Middays at Nash-FM 95-1 in Flint
• Brian Sims (Mid-Day/Afternoon Host 2007-2008)
• Steve "Scrubs" Stewart (Program Director/Morning Host "Scrubs In The Morning" 2007-2011) - Now program director at 93.7 The Bull in St. Louis, Missouri
• Matt Stryker (Afternoon Host 2004-2006)
• Chris Tyler (Afternoons/Nights 2009-2010, 2011, 2012-2013) - Now afternoons at 100.7 WITL in Lansing
• Ellen Tailor (Weekends 2007-2012) - Now mornings at 100.7 The Wolf in Seattle, Washington
• Tim Wall (Morning Co-Host "Wilhite & Wall" 2005-2006)
• Darren Wilhite (Morning Host "Wilhite & Wall" 2005-2006)
• Wingnut (Nighttime Host "The Wingnut Show" 2008-2009)

References

• Michiguide.com - WTNR History

External links

• Query the FCC's FM station database for WTNR
• Radio-Locator information on WTNR
• Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for WTNR