WILS
- This article is about the radio station. Wils is also the abbreviation for the orchid genus Wilsonara. For the radio station in Lansing, Michigan, formerly known as WILS-FM, see WHZZ.
| City of license | Lansing, Michigan |
|---|---|
| Branding | 1320 WILS |
| Slogan | Lansing's More Compelling Talk Radio |
| Frequency | 1320 kHz |
| First air date | February 19, 1947 |
| Format | News/Talk |
| Power | 25,000 watts (Daytime) 1,900 watts (Nighttime) |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 39537 |
| Transmitter coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Affiliations | Fox News Radio Michigan Radio Network |
| Owner | MacDonald Broadcasting |
| Sister stations | WHZZ, WQHH, WXLA |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | 1320wils.com |
WILS (1320 AM) is a news and talk radio station in Lansing, Michigan that broadcasts on AM 1320 with 25,000 watts. WILS is owned by MacDonald Broadcasting and features a local news department and a mixture of local and national talk personalities.
WILS is home to the locally produced Morning Wakeup with Dave Akerly and the Capital City Recap with Michael Cohen. WILS focuses heavily on local issues and personalities, including business, culture, entertainment, sports, education and politics. Syndicated talkers Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham also can be heard on WILS. The station is an affiliate of Fox News Radio and the Michigan Radio Network.
Contents
History
WILS was a popular Top 40 music station in Lansing during the 1960s and 1970s, becoming an adult contemporary station in the '80s, and enjoying success as an Urban Contemporary station in the late 80's and early 90's. The station switched briefly to a Country music format (simulcast with WILS-FM) in 1992, and then flipped to Adult Standards in 1993. One popular WILS personality during the '60s Top 40 era was John Records Landecker, who later went on to great popularity at WLS in Chicago and CFTR in Toronto. http://www.tomotoole.com Tom O'Toole], another popular Chicago radio personality, worked at WILS from 1969-1971. He left Lansing for 101 WRIF, Detroit, and later WLUP, 97.9 "The Loop" in Chicago. He currently does Weekends on True Oldies 94.7 WLS FM in Chicago.
WILS-AM was a fully staffed live radio station until January 17, 1984, when the station switched to mostly automation (the original automated format was Drake-Chenault's "Hitparade", a Big Band/Nostalgia format). WILS later became an affiliate of ABC Radio's satellite-delivered adult standards/MOR music package known as "Timeless Classics" (formerly "Stardust"). The station had had this format since the early 1990s and was quite successful in the ratings with it. The Timeless Favorites format moved to sister WXLA 1180 AM after that station was purchased by MacDonald Broadcasting; WILS and WXLA essentially simulcast each other with separate IDs and imaging until WILS changed to its current "More Compelling Talk Radio" format.
On January 25, 2008, WILS turned on their new Windsor Township transmitter and became the most powerful AM station in Lansing. The new daytime signal covers all of mid-Michigan including Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Mt. Pleasant, and Jackson, and can be heard as far south as Bryan, Ohio. The new night power and footprint provides improved coverage in the Lansing area.
Programming
Since switching to news-talk, WILS has become Lansing's premiere news radio station, offering more local news and local talk shows than any other station in the market.
WILS has been in competition with Townsquare Media's (formerly Cumulus Media) WJIM also licensed to Lansing. 1240 WJIM features a similar format with a conservative personalities. When Cumulus dropped Sean Hannity from WJIM in favor of Cumulus' Michael Savage, WILS gave Hannity a new home in the capitol city. Also, WILS is the only Lansing radio station with news reporters covering Ingham County commission, East Lansing and Lansing City Council, and the Lansing School Board.
Dave Akerly, former Lansing television personality begins the day at WILS with the "Morning Wake Up" from 6am to 9am. Michel Cohen anchors the "Capital City Re-Cap" weeknights from 6pm to 7pm. Both programs also tackle a wide variety of issues involving state and national government and feature guest experts that share opinion from all sides of the political spectrum. Syndicated personalities Laura Ingraham, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Coast to Coast AM and other also can be heard on WILS in addition to hourly reports from Fox News Radio.
