page_title: WPON
section_title: Programming shifted to WCXI
hierarchical_section_title: WPON / Programming shifted to WCXI
caption_attribution_description: English: Staff of radio station WPON in 1960
context_page_description: WPON is a radio station in the Detroit market, broadcasting from a 6-tower array in Walled Lake, Michigan. WPON was founded in September 1954, with studios in Pontiac, Michigan, and towers located at the corner of Square Lake Road and Telegraph Road in neighboring Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
  The station was owned for many years by Chief Pontiac Broadcasting, broadcasting such formats as top-40 and Country music. Broadcasting at 1000 watts omnidirectional, the station covered the majority of Oakland County. The station was sold in 1986 to Algis Zaparakis, who in turn sold the land containing the tower array in Bloomfield Hills to developers, and moved the tower array to a swamp near Wolverine Lake in Walled Lake, Michigan. The move forced WPON to change its power to 1000 watts directional daytime, and 760 watts directional nighttime. This change in power saw many of WPON's listeners unable to pick up the station's signal in much of its former coverage area. The format was changed to ethnic in 1986, and stayed this way until the station was purchased in 1995 by Foreign Radio Programs, Inc.
context_section_description: On October 2010, WPON went silent so the station could make improvements to its broadcast signal. Programming has been shifted to co-owned WCXI in Fenton broadcasting from the WPON studio and still streaming from the WPON web site. Birach relocated WPON and WCXI to the same broadcast tower near Wixom, Michigan, a few miles west of the old WPON site (which has been razed).  Both WPON and WCXI were issued construction permits for new facilities from the new site, WCXI for 15,000 watts days and 1,000 watts nights, and WPON for 670 watts days and 175 watts nights. As of December 2019, WPON has been on the air for the last two months, offering oldies in the morning.
caption: 1960 WPON Staff
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