WCHB
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| WCHB | |
| City of license | Taylor, Michigan |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | [1] (Daytime) [2] (Nighttime) |
| Branding | AM 1200 WCHB |
| Slogan | Mildred In The Morning and Inspiration All Day |
| Frequency | 1200 kHz |
| First air date | November, 1956 |
| Format | Gospel |
| Power | 50,000 watts (Daytime) 15,000 watts (Nighttime) |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 4598 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Callsign meaning | Wendell Cox & Haley Bell (founding owners) |
| Owner | Radio One |
| Sister stations | WDMK, WHTD |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | www.wchb1200.com |
WCHB is an American AM radio station licensed to Taylor, Michigan, at 1200 kHz, and serving the Detroit market. Owned by Radio One, WCHB identifies as AM 1200 WCHB and airs a Gospel music format.
WCHB is home to detroit radio legend Mildred Gaddis, who can be heard on the station during the morning drive.
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[edit] History
[edit] AM 1440 WCHB
The WCHB call letters date back to 1956, when the station signed on as a 1,000-watt daytimer at 1440 on the AM dial licensed to Inkster, Michigan. The call letters stood for Dr. Wendell Cox and Dr. Haley Bell, who owned and operated the station under the Bell Broadcasting banner.
WCHB was the first radio station in the United States to be built from the ground up by black owners, and with a full-service R&B format, quickly became a visible presence in Detroit's black community. Locally owned for many years by Bell Broadcasting, WCHB signed on an FM sister, 105.9 WCHD, in 1960, which later changed its calls to WJZZ and became Detroit's most popular jazz station. 105.9 is still co-owned with the AM station by Radio One as WDMK.
WCHB competed with WJLB-AM 1400 and WGPR-FM 107.5 for the R&B/soul audience in Detroit for decades. The station reached its peak of popularity during the mid- and late-1960s due to the nationwide popularity of Detroit's homegrown Motown sound. WCHB-AM also experimented with a disco-based format for a time during the late 1970s and early 1980s. However, WCHB saw its ratings sink during the 1980s as FM urban contemporary stations like WJLB-FM and WDRQ grabbed away much of its audience. The station would eventually move into a more full-service voice for the African-American community.
[edit] AM 1200 WCHB
The WCHB calls moved to their current home at 1200 kHz in February of 1990, as AM 1440 moved into a gospel format as WMKM (now WDRJ).
In 1998, Bell Broadcasting sold WCHB-AM and WCHB-FM (formerly WJZZ, later WDTJ and now WDMK) 105.9 to Radio One. Radio One then set about the process of upgrading WCHB-AM's signal, which involved taking the station off the air for several months in August 1998 to upgrade the equipment and purchasing WKNX-AM 1210 in Frankenmuth and moving it to Kingsley, near Traverse City in northern Michigan (see also WLDR), to allow the 1200 signal to upgrade. WCHB resurfaced in March 1999 with a new 50,000-watt daytime/15,000-watt nighttime signal and with a format of mainly gospel music, with a morning talk show, "Inside Detroit," hosted by outspoken Detroit personality and former WJLB-FM newscaster Mildred Gaddis.
[edit] NewsTalk 1200 WCHB
In April 2005, WCHB cut back its gospel programming to 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. weekdays and around the clock on weekends to make way for Radio One's syndicated lineup.
Beginning on January 30, 2006, Radio One debuted Syndication One, a joint venture of Radio One and REACH Media which featured urban talk show hosts Reverend Al Sharpton, Michael Eric Dyson and Doug & Ryan Stewart – the 2 Live Stews sports show. Mildred Gaddis' "Inside Detroit" remains a part of the schedule and airs from 6-10 a.m. weekdays. Another local show, "Your Voice with Angelo Henderson," hosted by Wall Street Journal columnist Angelo Henderson also airs weeknights from 7-9 p.m.
The shows were also simultaneously place on other Radio One stations, including: WILD-AM 1090 in Boston, WOL-AM 1450 in Washington, DC., WVCG-AM 1080 in Miami, WERE-AM 1300 in Cleveland and WROU-AM 1240 in Richmond, Va. Cox Radio's Birmingham station, WPSB-AM 1320, is also picked up each of the shows.
In March 2007, Michael Eric Dyson left the show and Syndication One. He was replaced by The Warren Ballentine Show, hosted by attorney Warren Ballentine, who is refers to himself as The People’s Attorney and radio Truth Fighter.
On April 30, 2007, WCHB welcomed Parker & the Man to the weekly line-up. The show, hosted by sports journalist Rob Parker and broadcaster Mark Wilson. Parker is a columnist for the Detroit News and a regular contributor on ESPN2's First Take. Wilson is a former Associated Press and Michigan Association of Broadcasters' "Michigan Sportscaster of the Year." Parker & the Man, who were previously heard on Detroit FM station Live 97.1 WKRK, initially ran from 9 p.m-12 a.m. The were consistently among the top shows with men 25-54 while at WKRK, which is now known as 97.1 The Ticket.
In the fall of 2007, after the 2 Live Stews syndication deal was not renewed by Syndication One, Parker & the Man shifted to 4-7 p.m.
In June 2008, Parker and The Man disappeared from the airwaves of WCHB.
[edit] Gospel goes full time on AM 1200
On June 9, 2008 at 10AM News-Talk AM 1200 flipped formats to a full time gospel music station. Of its News-talk line-up only morning host Mildred Gaddis remained with the station continuing her morning drive show. She is the only host on the station, after her show the station is automated. WCHB is known as AM 1200 WCHB, Mildred In The Morning and Inspiration All Day.
[edit] Sources
[edit] External links
- Query the FCC's AM station database for WCHB
- Radio Locator Information on WCHB
- Query Arbitron's AM station database for WCHB
- Rev. Al Sharpton's Official Website
- Mildred Gaddis' Official Website
- Detroit Free Press - WCHB Trades its talk shows for gospel
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