On the morning of Friday, November 2nd, thousands of radio listeners in the Kalamazoo, MI market were surprised to find the airwaves of local favorite WZOX 96.5 FM playing an unfamiliar tune.

For over 5 years, WZOX played alternative and Modern Rock, advertising themselves as a station on which to "Discover New Music". Playing new, non-Top 40 music from bands such as The Lumineers, Broken Bells, Dirty Heads, Big Data, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats and more, Z965 was a unique and much-needed change of pace on the dials of West Michigan.

On the aforementioned date, the format of the station was changed from its unique blend of alternative/rock and new music from lesser-known bands to a format similar to, if not exactly the same as, several stations playing "Adult Contemporary" and "Variety Hits" in the area. There are no comparable stations in the area to play such a diverse mix of music as the previous format of WZOX.

Listeners in the area have reached out on social media channels to voice their dissatisfaction of this change. We, the signers of this petition, want the station operator - Midwest Communications, Inc - the company's listed brand manager - Mark Hamlin - or even the head of the family-run MWC, Inc. - Duke E. Wright - to restore the format from the licensed "Jack FM" to the previous Alternative/Modern Rock format heard on Z965FM.

While we understand that Midwest Communications, Inc. has likely paid fees to license the Jack FM brand, the creator of this petition posits a suggestion to keep your licensing deal from possible default with the owners of the Jack FM brand. Move the station from 96.5 to one of two stations currently rebroadcasting the AM signal of WNWN - The Touch: 95.5 FM or 102.7 FM. Both stations are within adequate distance from listeners in both the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo markets for listeners to not notice a change in reception.

Please bring back the Alternative/Modern Rock category of music to Kalamazoo. We have enough stations in the area playing music from the 60's up to now - Kalamazoo prefers unique and different music. To think otherwise is a gross misunderstanding of the culture of our city.