The station signed on July 31, 1948 at 6:00 p.m. and originally was owned by six Holland-area businessmen: I.H Marsilje, Nelson Bosman, W.A. Butler, Millard Westrate, Willard Wichers and P.T. Chef. All are since deceased. Michael Walton of Milwaukee, Wisconsin purchased the station from the original owners in 1981. On September 20, 2000 Walton sold his four-station operation to Midwest Communications, Inc. WHTC-FM, which signed on in 1961 and later went by the call letters WYXX and WKEZ, was sold to Federated Communications in 1994. It was subsequently acquired by Clear Channel Communications and has undergone a number of call letter and format changes, currently operating as WMAX-FM, with an all-sports format. WHTC is an affiliate of CBS Radio and carries Detroit Tigers Baseball, area high school football and basketball, the Detroit Lions and Red Wings. In February 2016 the station was granted a construction permit to operate an FM translator, W259CO, on 99.7 FM. The translator debuted on March 10, 2017.
Personalities
Juke Van Oss worked at WHTC from August 12, 1951 until his passing on March 7, 2016, logging nearly 65 years. During his career he served as an engineer, program host and assistant-station manager. In 1961 Juke became co-host of Talk of the Town, a daily two-hour call-in program developed by Bill Gargano in 1959. Van Oss and Gargano shared hosting duties until Van Oss became sole host of the program in 1981. Van Oss was inducted into the of Fame on July 14, 2009. The induction ceremony was held at the Michigan Association of Broadcasters Conference at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. Van Oss was 92 at the time of his passing. Learn more about . Long-time WHTC broadcaster Ed VerSchure began hosting Talk of the Town after the passing of Van Oss. VerSchure hosted mornings on WHTC in the early 1960s and also worked for over 25 years at WZZM-TV Grand Rapids. VerSchure was also co-owner of WEVS Saugatuck, now owned by Midwest Communications and known as 92 7 The Van WYVN. The Van is WHTC's sister station. The WHTC Morning News debuted in July 2014 and features news, weather, sports, traffic reports and various segments including local sponsors, community events and history. Among the many guests featured on a weekly basis are the Mayor Of Holland, Congressmen Bill Huizenga and Fred Upton, authors, political figures and many other local and national guests. WHTC's news director Gary Stevens hosts the show. Peg McNichol is the news anchor. On September 2, 2008 WHTC began carrying The Huge Show, a local sports talk show hosted by Bill Simonson, which is syndicated to stations in Michigan and originates in Grand Rapids. Lupita Reyes developed and hosted Alegria Latina, an all Spanish language music, news and information program on WHTC which aired from 1965 to 2009. On July 5, 2009 the program moved to 92.7 The Van WYVN. Lu continues as host. WHTC's talk line-up also includes Clark Howard, The Joe Pags Show, Mark Levin, and Red Eye Radio. In April 2011 WHTC began live streaming of its programming which can be accessed on desktop, tablets, the station smartphone app, Alexa, Apple and Google devices. Former Michigan Congressman Guy Vander Jagt and Detroit sportscaster Al Ackerman are among the notable figures who worked at WHTC in the 1950s.
Anniversaries
On July 31, 2018, WHTC celebrated its 70th anniversary by renaming the building the Juke Van Oss Building. Approximately 100 guests attended this special event broadcast live between 9:30 and 12 noon. WHTC celebrated 60 years of the Talk of the Town program on November 19, 2019. The show included interviews with the program's creator Bill Gargano and many highlights of past broadcasts.
