WMYI
 | |
| City | Hendersonville, North Carolina |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville |
| Frequency | 102.5 MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | 102.5 The Lake |
| Programming | |
| Format | Variety hits |
| Subchannels | HD2: Lullabies Radio |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | iHeartMedia, Inc. (iHM Licenses, LLC) |
| WGVL, WESC-FM, WROO, WSSL-FM | |
| History | |
First air date | April 15, 1958 (as WKIT-FM) |
Former call signs | WKIT-FM (1958–1987) |
Call sign meaning | W MY I (former branding) |
| Technical information | |
| Facility ID | 59818 |
| Class | C1 |
| ERP | 43,000 watts (Analog) 44,000 watts maximum (Analog) 1,750 watts (Digital) |
| HAAT | 416 meters (1,365 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 35°13′20.00″N 82°32′58.00″W / 35.2222222°N 82.5494444°W |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen Live HD2: Listen LIve |
| Website | 1025thelake.iheart.com |
WMYI (102.5 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Hendersonville, North Carolina. It serves the Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina regions, including Greenville, Spartanburg and Asheville. WMYI airs a variety hits radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. Its studios and offices are located in downtown Greenville.
WMYI has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 43,000 watts. The transmitter is shared with sister station WESC-FM's tower, off YMCA Road, near the South Carolina/North Carolina border east of Cedar Mountain.[1] WMYI also has an auxiliary transmitter that operates at 20,000 watts ERP, on the WUNF-TV tower on Pinnacle Mountain.
History[edit]
Before moving its studios to Greenville, South Carolina, the station was WHKP-FM with 7,800 watts[2] and then WKIT-FM "Kit Country" in Hendersonville, North Carolina, signing on the air April 15, 1958. Once a newer and much higher transmitter site was complete in 1987, the station stunted an all Beatles format then a 102-day music marathon playing over 41,000 songs in a row. After the stunt, the adult contemporary format on the station, known as "MY 102.5", was born and launched with a 102-day music marathon.
WMYI-FM enjoyed large success shortly after it was born in 1987 with the popular "Love and Hudson" Morning Show. During the mid to late 1990s, the station, while still successful, had slipped in Arbitron rankings, but enjoyed a return to the top of the ratings by 2006. In Fall 2006, WMYI-FM was #1 both in age groups 12+ and 25-54 in the Greenville-Spartanburg market, surging past in-house country sisters WESC-FM/WSSL-FM, and even market leader WJMZ-FM. The station's ratings slipped after 2006, and have not returned to number one status since.
For several years until February 2009, the station aired all-1970s music on weekends until they were dropped in February 2009, however the station brought theme weekends back in August 2009 with "Flashback Weekends", playing 1970s and 1980s music. The station aired a Smooth Jazz brunch program on Sunday mornings. The station has "Commercial Free Music Hours" every weekday, running approximately every other hour, starting at 8:00AM.
On July 15, 2011 at midnight, the station updated its traditional adult contemporary format to a more hot adult contemporary format, dropping the 1970s music and a lot of the softer 1980s music that was once a staple of the station, launching with the updated positioner “The Fresh New Sound”, focusing on upbeat 1990s to present music, with some 1980s music sprinkled in. The first song played on the updated format was “Raise Your Glass” by Pink. Artists to be heard on the station include Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Daughtry, and P!nk. The station also debuted new jingles and liners (voiced by Sean Caldwell), and dismissed some of the staff, including morning co-host Bill Love, who had been at the station for nearly 25 years. The station carried the Delilah program nights for many years until January 2012.
In April 2012, after almost a year of continuing to report as adult contemporary after the format adjustment, the station started reporting as Hot AC to Mediabase. Ratings have slipped to all-time lows under the Hot AC format. Most recently WMYI brought back Delilah, a once night time staple of the station back to boost ratings.[citation needed]
On October 31, 2019, WMYI began their annual Christmas music stunt, but this time under the temporary branding of "Christmas 102.5".[3] The name change would foreshadow a more dramatic shift at the end of the year - WMYI debuted a variety hits format on December 31, 2019 at 4:00pm, branded as 102.5 the Lake and primarily targeting the Upstate South Carolina Region. The first song played on "The Lake" was John Mellencamp's "Hurts So Good".[4] Since the switch, they have no local/in-person DJs in the studio.
References[edit]
- ^ Radio-Locator.com/WMYI
- ^ Cooley, Art (January 7, 2014). "About Us". WHKP. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
- ^ WMYI Drops 'My' Branding For "Christmas 102.5"- RadioInsight
- ^ My 102.5 Debuts in Greenville, https://radioinsight.com/headlines/182801/102-5-the-lake-debuts-in-greenville/
External links[edit]
- 102.5 The Lake Facebook
- Official website
- WMYI in the FCC FM station database
- WMYI on Radio-Locator
- WMYI in Nielsen Audio's FM station database