Changes are coming to Traverse City’s airwaves with the launch of a station playing a new musical format for the region, planned tweaks to two high-profile rock and sports stations, and the reemergence of a popular former morning show host on a new podcast.

Mitten Media of Manistee has announced the debut of a new station in Traverse City called 106.3 FM The Mitten. The station will be only the second in Michigan playing a format called triple-A, or Adult Album Alternative, according to Mitten Media President Todd Mohr.

“The format has been around for a number of years, but as to the number of stations playing it in Michigan, it’s really only two,” says Mohr, citing WQKL 107one in Ann Arbor as the other station to feature the format. Triple-A “hovers on the fringe of mainstream pop and rock,” according to Mohr, featuring genres including Americana, singer-songwriter, alternative rock, alternative country, blues, folk and world music. Artists could range from Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel and U2 to Mumford & Sons, Black Keys and Avett Brothers, as well as “a lot of cuts not heard anywhere else,” according to Mohr.

The Mitten will also feature a mix of both national and local artists, according to Mohr – one of the reasons Mitten Media targeted Traverse City as its market. “West Michigan is such a big local music scene with so many venues having live music, and Traverse City is probably the biggest venue in the north for that,” Mohr says. “Our playlist is going to be growing quite notably over the next six to eight months, and we will be playing cuts from local artists here as the station grows.”

The Mitten will also eventually add local news and event updates – though it will not be personality-driven, says Mohr, who compares the format to that of an NPR morning show. “It’s one person (reading news and giving updates), it’s not a lot of talk,” he says. “The focus is on the music. It’s simple, clean and uncluttered.”

Local listeners could also soon hear changes coming to classic rock station WKLT 97.5 FM and sports station WGRY 101.1 FM. Gaylord’s Blarney Stone Broadcasting is close to finalizing its purchase of Northern Broadcast, including KLT – a deal first announced in The Ticker in September. When the merger is complete, Blarney Stone plans to make programming changes to KLT to mirror the company’s rock station WQON in Grayling.

“I don’t know if you’d classify it as a format change, but we’ll be tweaking (KLT) a little bit,” says Jerry Coyne, who owns Blarney Stone with his wife, Sheryl. “We’ll be integrating deeper cuts here into the KLT format.” Station personnel have signaled the tweaks will likely significantly expand KLT’s library of songs.

As part of a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requirement for the merger, Blarney Stone will sell ESPN Northern Michigan station WSRT 106.7 FM to Baraga Broadcasting, a non-profit Catholic radio ministry. Coyne says Blarney Stone will also revisit the format of its own existing sports station, WGRY. “We’re not sure yet what’s going to happen with the other sports station,” he says. “We’re not sure if it’ll stay with ESPN or not.”

Coyne says format decisions and changes will be implemented once the sale is complete, which he anticipates occurring in April.

Finally, a former popular radio talk show host is back in the broadcasting booth – albeit one of his own creation. Steve “Omelette” Normandin of morning show Omelette & Friends, which parted ways with KLT in September following a ten-year relationship with the station, has launched his own twice-weekly podcast called Omelette Radio. Debuting in November, the program features Omelette talking about issues both local and national, taking calls and featuring in-studio guests, including former recurring guests of Omelette & Friends like Rick Coates and Mr. Windy.

“What made me want to do a podcast is I can continue to broadcast in northern Michigan, in a certain way, and keep up my chops,” says Omelette. “It’s a new technology I’m fascinated with…and I’m getting a wide audience.”

Omelette says the podcast has received over 10,000 downloads since launching. He plans to keep the program going while he continues to explore his next career move. “As I look for a radio job, and I’m looking all over the state as well keeping my options open here locally, I’m going to podcast and explore that format,” he says.