WDRQ

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WDRQ
City of license	Detroit, Michigan
Broadcast area	[1]
Branding	93.1 Doug FM
Slogan	We Play Everything
First air date	July 9, 1947
Frequency	93.1 MHz
Format	Variety Hits
Power	26,500 watts
Class	B
Former callsigns	WLTI (4/15/85-8/10/96) WDRQ-FM (6/25/80-4/15/85) WDRQ (1972-6/25/80) WDEE-FM (1970-1972) WJBK-FM (1947-1970)
Owner	Disney/ABC, being acquired by Citadel Communications
Website	http://www.931dougfm.com/

WDRQ is the callsign for the Detroit, Michigan, radio station 93.1 Doug FM. The station is currently owned by ABC Radio, although a sale to Citadel Broadcasting is pending.

The station's current slogan is "93.1 Doug FM: We play…everything."

Contents 1 History 1.1 1972-1978: Beginnings 1.2 1979-1984: Disco/Top 40/Urban Contemporary format 1.3 1985-1996: Lite FM 1.4 1996-2005: DRQ and the dance music revival 1.5 2005-present: The introduction of Doug-FM 2 Former WDRQ Air Personalities, 1970s-1980s 3 Former WLTI "Lite FM" Air Personalities, 1980s-1990s 4 Former WDRQ Air Personalities, 1990s-2000s 5 Media (2003) 6 Old Logo 7 Sources 8 External links

[edit] History

[edit] 1972-1978: Beginnings

WDRQ originally came to Detroit in 1972 as Detroit's first FM talk radio station, with all-news programming weekdays during morning and afternoon drive-time hours (the station's slogan was "'DRQ Has News For You"). Prior to 1972, the station had been WJBK-FM and then WDEE-FM, mostly simulcasting the programming of then-sister AM 1500. (WJBK-AM was Detroit's first top 40 station, playing hit music from 1956 to 1964.) Soon after WDRQ moved to become a top 40 station, chalking up top 10 ratings and seriously challenging market leader CKLW until they jumped on the all-disco bandwagon in late 1978.

[edit] 1979-1984: Disco/Top 40/Urban Contemporary format

The move to disco was not received well in Detroit, and WDRQ tumbled out of the top 20 within a few months. Despite plummeting ratings, WDRQ stuck with all-disco through 1979, returned to top 40 in 1980, then adopted an urban contemporary format (with danceable mainstream hits mixed in) in 1982. The station rebounded nicely, soaring to #2 overall in its debut book with the urban format in the summer of 1982, although the ratings cooled off shortly afterward. "Continuous Music - 93FM WDRQ" was a success, and the opening of "Beverly Hills Cop" features an advertisement for this version of WDRQ on a city bus.

[edit] 1985-1996: Lite FM

The urban format lasted until 1985 when it was replaced by the light rock station WLTI "93.1 The Light FM." WLTI initially positioned itself as a cross between more up-tempo AC competitor WNIC and beautiful music WJOI, featuring a blend of soft hits and oldies from artists like Barry Manilow, the Carpenters, Anne Murray, Olivia Newton-John, and Frank Sinatra. By 1994, most of the easy MOR artists were gone and WLTI had become more contemporary, but the station could never match WNIC for dominance in the AC market.

[edit] 1996-2005: DRQ and the dance music revival

In July 1996, WDRQ returned to the 93.1 frequency as a Top 40 music station and would remain so for nine years. Initially the station called itself "The New DRQ: Detroit's Station For Women." With only an announcer used for on-air bumper promos and without any disc jockeys, the station chiefly played a random mix of programmed dance and pop music from late 1980s and early 1990s, with some new music factored in sporadically. More current dance-oriented Top 40 music was added to the play list into the fall. By early 1997, a lite mix of pop-friendly R&B and hip-hop music was also adopted to further cement the stations mainstream hook. With this being the first time a Top 40/Dance music station had been on Detroit radio since the implosion of WHYT-96.3 two years earlier, DRQ immediately attracted a large listening audience upon its re-launch. Thus, the station quickly abandoned the 'for women' angle, steadfastly recruited a line-up of radio personalities, and began calling itself "Detroit's Dance Music Station" (later "Today's Best Music," then "Today's Hit Music.")

By 2000, the station had evolved into more of a mainstream Top 40 (albeit still geared more toward playing dance music than other like-formatted stations in the area) and was eating away at its adult-leaning Top 40 competitor WKQI (95.5). By 2002, both WDRQ and WKQI were leaning very heavily toward Rhythmic CHR. For a time, WDRQ consistently defeated WKQI in the ratings, but after Clear Channel re-launched WKQI as "Channel 9-5-5" in February 2002, WKQI once again surged ahead of DRQ, which saw its ratings and revenue slumping big-time.

[edit] 2005-present: The introduction of Doug-FM

Due to continued poor ratings, at 1 p.m. EST on April 1st, 2005, ABC Radio (who holds the 93.1 FM FCC radio broadcasting license in Detroit) abruptly pulled WDRQ off the air, without any warning being given to the listeners or employees. Some thought this was a bad April Fools prank. This, though, was no joke. ABC Radio replaced WDRQ with the variety hits format - "93.1 DOUG FM - We Play…EVERYTHING!" The genre setup for the music played on the new iteration is very broad like 96.3 WDVD, 100.3 WNIC and Magic 105.1, combining a wide variety of songs from the 1960s through the 2000s ranging from Led Zeppelin to ABBA to Laura Branigan to Nickelback.

While many former DRQ listeners were both confused and disgruntled over the format change, DOUG FM eventually attracted its own following and began absorbing market share of the other aforementioned radio stations, though its overall ratings have stayed more or less flat since the format change.

[edit] Former WDRQ Air Personalities, 1970s-1980s

• Early/mid-1970s jocks on the original WDRQ included: Joey Ryan, Al Casey, Bill Bailey (formerly of WLS Chicago, now Program Director/PM Drive at WLHT Grand Rapids, MI), "Rockin" Ron Baptist, Ken Levine ("Beaver Cleaver"), Don Cristi, Howard Hoffman, Ted Ferguson ("China Jones"), Jonnie King, Bill Vogel (as "Jack O'Neill," later a longtime morning fixture at WKHQ in Northern Michigan as "The Captain"), Mick Rizzo, Brian White
• Some late 1970s DRQ jocks: Kim Carson, Tom Jeffries, Scott Moore, Eddie Rogers (formerly of CKLW)
• Some 1980s DRQ jocks: Kim Carson (now at WLHT), Chris O'Brien, Kevin O'Neill (now mornings at WNIC), Art Morrison, Jay Michael McKay, Valery Fox,

[edit] Former WLTI "Lite FM" Air Personalities, 1980s-1990s

• Kim Carson
• Eddie Rogers
• Jeff Silvers
• Barry Zate
• Tom Summers
• Doug Boynton
• Gail McKnight
• Julie Foster

[edit] Former WDRQ Air Personalities, 1990s-2000s

• Tic Tak (moved to WIOQ in Philadelphia, then back to Detroit to move to 93.1 DRQ's rival station WKQI, but was fired after it was discovered he had criminal charges pending against him in another state). *Jake Edwards (now Mid-Day host on WDRQ's sister station 96.3 WDVD)
• Dave Fuller (who was recently morning show host on WDTW 106.7FM when they also abruptly changed formats.)
• Hugh Holesome
• Rachel Hunter (now on mornings on WYCD FM 99.5)
• Jason "The 300-Pound Intern"
• Lisa Lisa(also the announcer of The Detroit Shock of the WNBA and a veteran of the former WHYT during the '80s and early '90s)
• Man @ Large (now PD at KFAT in Anchorage Alaska)
• Jay Towers (hosted DRQ's "Jay Towers and the Morning Revolution," now the host of Motor City Middays on WKRK in Detroit)
• Clark Kent (now the Monkeyboy on WYSP, Philadelphia)
• Keith Curry (now PD at WDKS Evansville)
• "Joe Mama" and drag queen "Trixie DeLuxxe" (the first morning show on the "new" DRQ of the late 1990s)
• Brent Carey (now at sister station 96.3 WDVD)
• Terri McCormick (now Midday host at KKMG in Austin, TX)
• Mile High (now the Night Show host on WIOG in Saginaw, MI)
• Josh
• J-Kruz (now Program Director at X 107.1FM in the Grand Cayman Islands)
• Rob Kelley (now at sister station 96.3 WDVD)
• Renee Vitale (now at sister station 96.3 WDVD)
• Domino
• Crystal Harris
• Gelman
• Ol' Dirty (Ooooh, look at me...I eat Cannolis and talk on the radio)
• Stick
• Steve Grunwald (Now on mornings on 99.5 WYCD)

[edit] Media (2003)

• WDRQ - Jingle Package
  • Sample of jingles used throughout the year to give DRQ a familiar image to Detroiters
• WDRQ - Without Stanley
  • Motivational song parodying Eminem's song "Without Me" as the Detroit Red Wings attempt to become 2003 repeat Stanley Cup champions
• WDRQ - Downriver Girls
  • A ridiculous rap song by Man @ Large and Jason the 300lb intern

[edit] Old Logo

[edit] Sources

• Michiguide.com - WDRQ History

[edit] External links

• Query the FCC's FM station database for WDRQ