well proven fact, as WTCM-FM maintains market dominance as the #1 rated station. Les Biederman was not a fan of contemporary music or even less so country music, preferring to listen to classical music in his "pad", a private office in the rear of the adjacent co-owned Midwestern Cablevision building (where their "Radio Center" complex now stands). The "pad" was a regular stop for notable politicians like Governor William Milliken and Senator Robert Griffin, among others. It was a short stroll for Les from "the pad" to the trunk of his car where he typically stored a case of his favored Velvo brand cigars. "They stay fresh out there in the trunk" he was known to say. Biederman traditionally came to the WTCM studio (almost nightly) after the conclusion of the TV 7&4 newscast and recorded an editorial on topics of the day, and these editorials and his strong sense of local stewardship culminated (among other things) into a local college (Northwestern Michigan College) and other more abstract realities including the city power plant converting from coal to wood as a source of fuel. In the late 1970s, Biederman also began ambitious plans to increase the power of both WTCM AM and -FM. In 1978, Biederman started turning over more of his duties to his son, Ross Biederman. Because of FCC restrictions and WTCM's growth plans, several properties were sold, including the Petoskey and Cadillac stations (to MacDonald Broadcasting, founded by long-time Biederman broadcast pal Kenneth MacDonald) and the Gaylord station was sold to William Barr, but fell silent several owners later in the early 2000s due to financial troubles. 1980s In 1980, Les Biederman traded WPBN-TV to US Tobacco for stock, and became its largest individual shareholder. In 1982, after years of planning, engineering and FCC permitting, a major change was made to WTCM, which had since started simulcasting with WTCM-FM. The station was moved to its current frequency of 580 kHz and boosted power to 2,500 watts daytime. The 1400 frequency was donated to a local church, who made the station Traverse City's first religious station, WLJN (We Lift Jesus' Name). WLJN broadcast from the original WTCM studio on Morgan Hill ("Radio Hill" to the locals), at the base of the 1400 kHz tower. Les Biederman still considered AM radio to be "the" signal and made many long-term plans to make WTCM the dominant signal in the region,