WFGR was previously a classical music station throughout the 1990s, broadcasting the World Classical Network from WFCC-FM in Chatham, Massachusetts. It changed its format to oldies music as "Oldies 98.7" on October 11, 2004 when Grand Rapids' current oldies station at the time, WODJ, was displaced by rock station WKLQ.
When WFGR debuted its oldies format, it was satellite-fed using ABC Radio's "Oldies Radio" feed. Shortly thereafter, they debuted a mostly-local lineup of DJs, playing music from the 1960s and early 1970s.
On June 29, 2009, the station changed its name to Classic Hits "98.7 WFGR" and began to focus more on the 1970s and 1980s. The change left the Grand Rapids market without a local outlet for oldies in the traditional sense of the format, until Grand Valley State University stepped in to fill the void by flipping its WGVU from NPR news and talk to "Real Oldies" a few months later.
WFGR logo 2022-2024
The wide-ranging classic hits playlist ran for a number of years, becoming increasingly centered on the 1980s as time went by.
On July 3, 2024, the station changed its name once again, calling itself “98.7 the Grand”, focusing on “timeless tracks from the 1970s and 1980s”. The station began to feature music from well-known classic rock artists with multi-generational appeal. [2][3]
Staff/Programming History
On October 5, 2009, The Bob & Tom Show premiered on the morning lineup, Monday through Saturday mornings. The show was added when Clear Channel's 101.3 The Fox WBFX did not renew the contract for the show.
On October 5, 2012, three years to the day after their premiere, Bob and Tom were replaced with local talent Andy O' Riley and Dave Kaechele.
In late 2013, local Mid-Day DJ Matt Hendricks was cut from the staff and replaced with a company voice-tracked personality “Big Joe Henryl” based out of New Jersey.
Andy and Dave were also cut from the staff in January 2014, due to low ratings.
In early 2014, part-time Jock Lauren was promoted to middays, and Jo Jo Girard, formerly of Mix 106.5 Baltimore and 104.5 WSNX (Sunny FM) was introduced as the new WFGR Morning show host.
With the changes in July 2024, there will be no remaining morning show hosts, and the station will use local staff for announcements in the mid-day and afternoon time slots.
Jingles
In recent years, WFGR has used re-sung versions of cuts from several classic JAM Creative Productions jingle packages from the 1970s and 1980s. Among these is a version of WHTZ New York's legendary "Serving the Universe" top-of-the-hour ID, with "Serving the Universe" replaced by "Serving West Michigan."
