On Oct. 16, 1948, Paul A. Brandt, a Mount Pleasant, Mich., businessman, applied to the Federal Communications Commission for a broadcast stationconstruction permit. On April 21, 1948, the FCC granted a construction permit for station WCEN and building began. On Aug. 8, 1949, WCEN-AM went on the air for the first time as a 500-watt, AM daytime only station on 1150 kHz. The studios were located in downtown Mount Pleasant at 112½ E. Broadway, above Voisin's Jewelry store. The transmitter was located about one mile south of the then city limits, just east of U.S. 27 on Bluegrass Road. In late 1949, Steve Cole became the chief engineer and general manager. On Dec. 17, 1951, the FCC granted a construction permit for WCEN improvements. On Feb. 26, 1952, the station began full-time operation on 1150 kHz with 1,000 watts, non-directional daytime, and 500 watts directional nighttime power. In late 1953, the WCEN studios were moved from downtown Mount Pleasant to the Bluegrass Road transmitter site. In 1959, WCEN-FM went on the air at 94.5 MHz. The FM transmitter and antenna were co-located at the Bluegrass Road location. In 1969, a country format was tried for the first time on the 94.5 frequency; and later a dayparted mixture of country and rock. Afterwards, 94.5 turned into a full-time country station as "94 Country". This came with an upgrade in 1990 which moved both the AM and FM transmitters to a location near Coleman, Michigan. The new thousand-foot FM tower and erp of 100,000 watts for WCEN provided the maximum Class C1 coverage area, reaching much of Mid-Michigan including the Tri-Cities. Later the entire Tri-Cities station group was sold to Wilks Broadcasting for $6 million. In November 2000, WCEN-AM at 1150 went silent after 51 years serving the Mount Pleasant area.
WCEN has a relatively strong signal with the ability to reach the Mid-Michigan Thumb. During certain atmospheric conditions, it has the tendency to reach the Far northern Oakland County area, however the signal is not often strong that far south. WCEN can also be heard in western Sanilac County and under the right conditions, as far east as Marlette. WCEN has a large coverage area, giving local coverage to about thirteen counties.
