WDET-FM
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| WDET-FM | |
 |
|
| City of license | Detroit, Michigan |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | [1] |
| Branding | WDET 101.9FM |
| Slogan | Detroit Public Radio |
| Frequency | 101.9 MHz (Also on HD Radio) 101.9 HD-2: WDET2 Diverse Music & News |
| First air date | December 18, 1948 |
| Format | Public: News/Talk |
| Power | 48,000 watts |
| HAAT | 169 meters |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 71189 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Callsign meaning | Detroit |
| Affiliations | NPR |
| Owner | Wayne State University |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | www.wdetfm.org |
WDET-FM is the NPR member radio station of Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. It broadcasts on the FM dial at 101.9 mHz The university holds the broadcasting license for the station through a grant from the United Auto Workers, which originally ran the station from its sign-on (December 18, 1948) until 1952. The UAW originally broadcast public-service programming on the station. Wayne State University bought the station for $1 in 1952 and converted it to non-commercial status. It is one of the few public radio stations in the nation that operates on a commercial frequency.
WDET transmits its signal from an antenna 550 feet in height near the intersection of Cass Avenue and Canfield Street in Detroit's Midtown area. WDET broadcasts with an ERP of 48,000 watts, and covers all of southeast Michigan, and claims to reach a potential audience of 4 million people.
In 2004, WDET implemented extensive programming changes. They dropped many NPR-produced programs such as Fresh Air and Car Talk, as well as some popular local music shows such as Folks Like Us and Arkansas Traveler. This was done to promote more locally-produced music programming. However, it was followed by a decline in listener pledges. In the fall of 2005, new general manager Michael Coleman (replacing Caryn Mathes, who departed for WAMU in Washington, DC) changed WDET's format again, dropping many of the new music programs in favor of a more news-oriented format, bringing back all of the previously dropped programming and adding new NPR-produced programs. Particularly controversial was the dismissal of long-time mid-day host Martin Bandyke. Local media outlets reported he may have violated conflict of interest rules by accepting gifts from record companies. Bandyke has since resurfaced in morning drive at Adult Alternative-formatted WQKL-FM (107.1) in Ann Arbor.
As a result of the 2005 format change, some listeners are filing a class action lawsuit against the station for fraudulently taking donations for programming that was planned on being discontinued. Disgruntled former listeners have also held two protests. The first occurred in front of WDET's offices a few days after Christmas. The second occurred near Cobo Hall during the North American International Auto Show. Organizers promised that rally would draw 5000 people, though less than 100 showed up. A plan to protest WDET's changes during the Super Bowl XL festivities was apparently nixed.
Only one weekday music show does remain on WDET, Ed Love's nighttime jazz show, "Destination Jazz," which features old and modern jazz music. The station has archived recent editions of these shows as well as their weekend music programming and made them available for listening at any time via its Website.
On Thursday May 11, 2006, Michael Coleman announced another major shake-up at WDET. Six employees were laid off including long-time music host John Moshier. Several others were forced to accept paycuts, demotions, or reductions in hours.
On Monday April 2, 2007, WDET implemented several programming changes. Gone from their schedule are the following programs: "Day to Day," "Front Row Center," "Live From Studio A," "The Best of the DSO," Liz Copeland's "Alternate Take," Chuck Horn's "Seventh Journey," "The Ralph Valdez program," Mick Collin's "Night Train," and "The W. Kim Heron Program." New additions include the locally produced "Detroit Today" as well as NPR programs "Talk of the Nation," "Marketplace," "Marketplace Money," "BBC World Service," "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me," and "The Changing World." "Destination Jazz: The Ed Love Program" is reduced from 5 to 3 hours. Michael Julien's "Global Mix" is reduced from 5 to 2 hours. Combined with previous changes, the station has transitioned over to a more news oriented format. WDET now has less local and indie music coverage, although they continue to offer a niche for Jazz, Gospel, Folk, Rhythm and Blues, and Bluegrass. The move is somewhat controversial with the dedicated music listeners, as finding stability with the changing program schedule will continue to be a challenge for those listeners. The move will hope to bring in a more politically apt listener base for a source of news, of which studies show NPR news to be less misleading than other news sources.
On September 15, 2007 WDET added the show "Tell Me More" with Michel Martin from NPR News, weekdays at 1pm, which will replace "World Have Your Say" from BBC. Michael Juliens "Global Mix added one hour to the show on saturday nights. "Deep River" with Robert Jones moved to sunday afternoons and The Tavis Smiley Show is now heard twice during the weekend on friday evenings and sunday mornings.
WDET is licsenced for HD Radio operations. Its secondary channel, branded as WDET2, features very diverse music along with news.
[edit] Sources
[edit] External links
|
||||||||||||||||||||
