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WDET-FM
WDET-FM (101.9 MHz) is a public radio station in Detroit, Michigan. It is owned by Wayne State University with its studios and transmitter in the Cass Corridor neighborhood. WDET broadcasts shows from National Public Radio, Public Radio International and American Public Media. The station is the primary provider of news involving the American automotive industry, and the Michigan Association of Broadcasters (MAB) named WDET the 2021 and 2022 Public Radio Station of the Year.
WDET-FM has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 48,000 watts. It is licensed to broadcast using HD Radio technology. WDET-FM's signal covers much of Southeast Michigan and part of Southwestern Ontario.
On weekdays, WDET-FM airs news and talk programming, mostly national shows with local news cut-ins: Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Fresh Air, On Point and Marketplace. It also produces a two-hour talk program, The Metro with Tia Graham and Robyn Vincent. There are five hours of local music programming each day.
On weekends, a mix of talk shows and music programs are heard. Talk shows include Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, Radio Lab, On The Media, and Latino USA. Music programs include Acoustic Café, Ann Delisi's Essential Music, Rob Reinhart's Essential Music, Soul Saturday, This Island Earth with Ismael Ahmed, The Progressive Underground with Chris Campbell, Destination Jazz with Ed Love and Jay's Place with Jay Butler. (Butler was a longtime air personality on WQBH and WJLB.)
The Detroit Radio Information Service (DRIS) broadcasts on a subcarrier of WDET. DRIS serves the visually impaired community with live and pre-recorded readings of daily and weekly print publications via special radio receiver or streaming. There are plans to launch an HD-2 subchannel which would play eclectic music and some news programs.
WDET-FM was dedicated on December 18, 1948. The first air date was Feb. 13, 1949. It was originally owned by the United Auto Workers Union. It mostly broadcast public service programs under station manager Ben Hoberman. The studios were on Capital Street near Rouge Park. The station was not financially viable and the UAW-CIO sought to sell it.
What was then Wayne University (it joined the state university system in 1956) bought the station for one dollar in 1952 and converted it to non-commercial status. The irregular programming schedule included mainly classical music and faculty lectures. In May 1960, WDET began broadcasting from the 15th floor of the Maccabees Building near the Wayne State University campus. Their new studio had previously been used by WXYZ radio. The cramped space, named Back Alley Studios, was too small to house the management staff. They worked from an old house on campus. John Buckstaff, who became general manager in 1968, developed the station's format until he resigned in 1981. Jazz, modern music, and volunteer-produced programming were added. In the early 1970s, WDET-FM began adding shows from the new public radio network, NPR, including All Things Considered and Morning Edition. There were volunteer-produced talk programs geared to a specific audience, such as Gayly Speaking and Indian to Indian. Judy Adams, who would be a music host and program director until 2005, was hired in 1974.
The conflict of programming time for niche audiences or a wider audience would be a theme for many years. Station management and volunteer producers often clashed, and the station struggled financially. Buckstaff said that the station's strength was its variety, and that "you're bound to run into something you don't like." In 1972, the station held a press conference to announce that they needed $65,000 (about $490,000 in 2024 dollars) to avoid going off the air. As of 1975, however, it was the seventh most-listened to public radio station in the country and had a record-setting pledge drive.
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WDET-FM
WDET-FM (101.9 MHz) is a public radio station in Detroit, Michigan. It is owned by Wayne State University with its studios and transmitter in the Cass Corridor neighborhood. WDET broadcasts shows from National Public Radio, Public Radio International and American Public Media. The station is the primary provider of news involving the American automotive industry, and the Michigan Association of Broadcasters (MAB) named WDET the 2021 and 2022 Public Radio Station of the Year.
WDET-FM has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 48,000 watts. It is licensed to broadcast using HD Radio technology. WDET-FM's signal covers much of Southeast Michigan and part of Southwestern Ontario.
On weekdays, WDET-FM airs news and talk programming, mostly national shows with local news cut-ins: Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Fresh Air, On Point and Marketplace. It also produces a two-hour talk program, The Metro with Tia Graham and Robyn Vincent. There are five hours of local music programming each day.
On weekends, a mix of talk shows and music programs are heard. Talk shows include Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, Radio Lab, On The Media, and Latino USA. Music programs include Acoustic Café, Ann Delisi's Essential Music, Rob Reinhart's Essential Music, Soul Saturday, This Island Earth with Ismael Ahmed, The Progressive Underground with Chris Campbell, Destination Jazz with Ed Love and Jay's Place with Jay Butler. (Butler was a longtime air personality on WQBH and WJLB.)
The Detroit Radio Information Service (DRIS) broadcasts on a subcarrier of WDET. DRIS serves the visually impaired community with live and pre-recorded readings of daily and weekly print publications via special radio receiver or streaming. There are plans to launch an HD-2 subchannel which would play eclectic music and some news programs.
WDET-FM was dedicated on December 18, 1948. The first air date was Feb. 13, 1949. It was originally owned by the United Auto Workers Union. It mostly broadcast public service programs under station manager Ben Hoberman. The studios were on Capital Street near Rouge Park. The station was not financially viable and the UAW-CIO sought to sell it.
What was then Wayne University (it joined the state university system in 1956) bought the station for one dollar in 1952 and converted it to non-commercial status. The irregular programming schedule included mainly classical music and faculty lectures. In May 1960, WDET began broadcasting from the 15th floor of the Maccabees Building near the Wayne State University campus. Their new studio had previously been used by WXYZ radio. The cramped space, named Back Alley Studios, was too small to house the management staff. They worked from an old house on campus. John Buckstaff, who became general manager in 1968, developed the station's format until he resigned in 1981. Jazz, modern music, and volunteer-produced programming were added. In the early 1970s, WDET-FM began adding shows from the new public radio network, NPR, including All Things Considered and Morning Edition. There were volunteer-produced talk programs geared to a specific audience, such as Gayly Speaking and Indian to Indian. Judy Adams, who would be a music host and program director until 2005, was hired in 1974.
The conflict of programming time for niche audiences or a wider audience would be a theme for many years. Station management and volunteer producers often clashed, and the station struggled financially. Buckstaff said that the station's strength was its variety, and that "you're bound to run into something you don't like." In 1972, the station held a press conference to announce that they needed $65,000 (about $490,000 in 2024 dollars) to avoid going off the air. As of 1975, however, it was the seventh most-listened to public radio station in the country and had a record-setting pledge drive.