WBLV

WBLV (90.3 FM) and WBLU-FM (88.9 FM), together known as Blue Lake Public Radio, are public radio stations licensed to Twin Lake and Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. Owned by the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, Blue Lake Public Radio offers a fine arts–oriented format with classical and jazz music as well as selected NPR news programs to a large swath of West Michigan, covering Grand Rapids, Muskegon, and areas to the northwest along Lake Michigan.

WBLV and WBLU-FM

WBLV: Twin Lake, Michigan WBLU-FM: Grand Rapids, Michigan United States
Frequencies	WBLV: 90.3 MHz WBLU-FM: 88.9 MHz
Branding	Blue Lake Public Radio
Programming
Format	Public radio: classical, jazz
Affiliations	NPR
Ownership
Owner	Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp
History
First air date	WBLV: July 3, 1982 (1982-07-03) WBLU-FM: August 18, 1979 (1979-08-18)
Former call signs	WBLU-FM: WGNR (1979–1992) WQMB (1992–1993)
Call sign meaning	WBLV: Blue Lake Variety WBLU-FM: Blue Lake
Technical information[1][2]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	WBLV: 5902 WBLU-FM: 5903
Class	WBLV: C1 WBLU-FM: A
ERP	WBLV: 100,000 watts WBLU-FM: 650 watts
HAAT	WBLV: 185 meters (607 ft) WBLU-FM: 122 meters (400 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	WBLV: 43°33′7.6″N 86°2′31.2″W WBLU-FM: 42°59′15.1″N 85°37′26.1″W
Links
Public license information	WBLV: Public file LMS WBLU-FM: Public file LMS
Webcast	Listen live
Website	bluelake.org/radio/

Blue Lake Public Radio began in 1982 with the launch of WBLV, which filled a large gap in NPR coverage. Meanwhile, in Grand Rapids, what is now WBLU-FM was established in 1979 as WGNR by the Grand Rapids School of the Bible and Music, a non-degree-granting Christian college, as a student teaching tool. In 1988, Echo Broadcasting, owner of WXYB in Zeeland acquired WGNR; it was a local ministry rebroadcasting Moody Radio programming. Echo donated its stations to the Moody network in 1991. When the school moved from what had been its campus, the new owners evicted WGNR. As the Zeeland station already decently covered Grand Rapids, Moody sold WGNR to Blue Lake Public Radio, who changed the call sign to WBLU-FM and relaunched it as a full-time satellite for areas closer to Grand Rapids.

History

WBLV: Early years

In January 1980, the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Twin Lake, Michigan–near Muskegon–announced an expansion program to meet what it saw as increased demand for its camps for youth and to promote itself across the Midwest. Locally, it announced its intention to begin an educational FM radio station by 1981 or 1982.^[3] Blue Lake's plan was in part based on Interlochen Public Radio in Northern Michigan. Blue Lake's board of directors envisioned a station powerful enough to reach from Grand Rapids and Holland to Ludington. However, they intended for the station to mainly serve the area between Muskegon and Ludington, an area without any outlets for fine arts programming. At the time, the only clear signal for public radio in the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland corridor was Grand Rapids-licensed WVGR-FM, owned by the University of Michigan as a satellite of WUOM-FM in Ann Arbor. Depending on the location, some listeners could receive WCMU-FM in Mount Pleasant or WKAR and WKAR-FM in East Lansing^[4][5] The first director of Blue Lake Public Radio, Angus Forrester, arrived from Interlochen in January 1981.^[6] Even before the camp had a construction permit, it began applying for federal grants to cover construction and operation costs and identified a site near Hesperia that was suitable to establish a 100,000-watt regional station.^[7] In addition, Blue Lake launched a fundraising campaign,^[8][9] seeking to hedge against possible cuts to the federal grants for which it had applied.^[10]

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted the construction permit in December 1981; its projected federal grant had been cut by a third.^[11] With construction in full swing, Forrester nearly died. On December 18, 1981, a furnace being installed malfunctioned, and Forrester and a supervisor were found unconscious after being overcome by carbon monoxide; though he did not die, he resigned before the station started, owing to health problems.^[12]

On July 3, 1982, WBLV began broadcasting during a benefit for Blue Lake featuring comedian Bob Hope.^[13] For much of its first month on the air, the station had to rely on telephone lines to receive NPR programming after the National Telecommunications Information Agency refused to help fund a satellite dish. The result left much to be desired, leading Blue Lake to drop NPR programming altogether until a satellite link was completed in November. Until then, it had to depend on a jazz and classical music library containing only 1,000 records as well as a music syndication service.^[14][5] In 1985, it expanded to a 24-hour broadcast day.^[15]

The station had high turnover in management in its early years. After Forrester departed, four people managed the station in five stints between 1982 and 1985.^[15] This changed in 1987 when program director Buck Matthews was promoted to general manager. Matthews was familiar to West Michigan TV viewers as a weatherman, talk show host, and community relations director for WOOD-TV/WOTV in Grand Rapids.^[16] That same year, WBLV received FCC approval to add 200 feet (61 m) to its tower, extending its range.^[17]

WGNR: Christian radio

On October 19, 1979, WGNR began broadcasting on 88.9 MHz in Grand Rapids. It was owned by and located at the Grand Rapids School of the Bible and Music, a non-degree-granting institution^[18] whose students primarily staffed the outlet and used it as a training tool for Christian ministry. It aired a mix of student-produced music programming and student-produced and syndicated Christian talk and teaching programming.^[19] Originally a 10-watt station, the station increased its power in 1983.^[20] By then, there were seven Christian radio stations in the Grand Rapids area, two of which (WGNR and WCSG at the Grand Rapids Baptist Academy) were owned by educational institutions.^[21] Later that year, WGNR began carrying The Sight Seer, a new local radio reading service, on a subcarrier for the benefit of the blind community.^[22]

Another Christian radio station began broadcasting in the region on January 20, 1989: WXYB 89.3, licensed to Zeeland. It was owned by Echo Broadcasting, whose backers sought to restore the programming of the Moody Radio network to West Michigan. Moody Radio flagship WMBI from Chicago had once been audible in this area, but was crowded out by new local stations.^[23] Two months before WXYB signed on, Echo purchased WGNR from the Grand Rapids School of the Bible and Music and flipped it to Moody programming.^[24] The addition of WGNR expanded Echo's service area inland from the lakeshore to include Grand Rapids.^[25]

Echo Broadcasting sold WXYB and WGNR to Moody Radio itself in 1991 for a titular purchase price of $1.^[26] The call letters on WXYB were changed to WGNB after Moody acquired the stations.^[27] While Moody was acquiring the stations, the Grand Rapids School of the Bible and Music—where the WGNR transmitter was still located—was looking to move off its campus on Franklin Street, which no longer met its needs or current fire code.^[28] The former campus was sold to Grand Rapids Public Schools, which ordered WGNR to be relocated elsewhere. Moody had every intention of relocating the transmitter. However, Moody found site selection difficult due to the crowded state of the Grand Rapids radio market. While it ultimately found a site, FCC regulations would have required a significant drop in power from its already modest 3,000 watts. Additionally, according to general manager Scott Keegan, the Grand Rapids market was "amply served" by WGNB; he estimated that only five percent of WGNR's audience would be unable to receive the Zeeland station, meaning "it didn't make economic sense to keep putting in the money" for a second signal. This led Moody to put WGNR on the market.^[29]

Combination

On December 17, 1992, Moody announced it was selling WGNR to the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, which desired to improve its signal in parts of Grand Rapids. Despite its 100,000-watt ERP, WBLV provided only marginal coverage to much of the city. Blue Lake had already identified a new tower site in northeast Grand Rapids to house the station. To prepare for the move, WGNR left the air on December 28.^[29] Sight Seer was not broadcast while WGNR was out of service.^[30] WGNR returned to the air at the end of June 1993 under a new callsign, WBLU-FM.^[31]

In 2015, after a lightning strike to WBLV's tower forced reduced power, it was discovered that the 33-year-old mast needed replacement. The station was on reduced power for six months before the new tower was completed and put into service.^[32]

Programming

Outside of airing Morning Edition and All Things Considered, most of Blue Lake Public Radio's weekday programming is classical music during the day and overnight with a late-night jazz music block, Jazz from Blue Lake. The station also airs a variety of syndicated classical and jazz music programs.^[33] Blue Lake Public Radio broadcasts the Grand Rapids Symphony and the West Michigan Symphony Orchestra in Muskegon, and during the summer it airs performances from the arts camp's Summer Festival.^[34]