WFDF (AM)

WFDF (910 AM), which brands itself as 910 AM Superstation, is a talk radio-formatted radio station licensed to Farmington Hills, Michigan, serving Metro Detroit. The station is owned and operated by Kevin Adell and provides sports, entertainment news, news updates, local community news, online podcasts, and live streaming content from a Detroit perspective. The station broadcasts in HD,[1] and since 2017 broadcasts its show on Facebook with live video news coverage. WFDF is also broadcast on a subchannel of WADL.

WFDF
CityFarmington Hills, Michigan
Broadcast areaMetro Detroit
Flint, Michigan
The Thumb
Southwestern Ontario, Canada
Frequency910 kHz (HD Radio)
Branding910 AM Superstation
SloganThe Most Powerful Voices in the Urban Community" "We Do Radio Our Way"
Programming
FormatUrban Talk/Music
AffiliationsESPN Radio
Ownership
OwnerKevin Adell
(Adell Radio Group, Inc.)
WADL (TV 38)
History
First air date
May 25, 1922 (in Flint. WFDF moved to Farmington Hills in 2006)
Former call signs
WEAA (1922-1925)
Call sign meaning
Frank D. Fallain (original owner)
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID13664
ClassB (regional)
Power50,000 watts (day)
25,000 watts (night)
Transmitter coordinates
42°03′57″N 83°23′39″W
Links
Public license information
Profile
LMS
WebcastListen Live
Website910amsuperstation.com

History

The station began broadcasting in 1922 as WEAA in Flint. WEAA was licensed on May 25, 1922, but did not make its first broadcast until July 8, 1922.[2] The call letters were changed to WFDF in 1925, in honor of the founder of the station, Frank D. Fallain (1890-1968).[3] WFDF is a Class B station broadcasting on a regional (not clear-channel) frequency.

For many years the station featured a middle-of-the-road music format targeting Flint. It experimented with a Top 40 rock format (using the nickname "Giant 91") for a time in the early 1970s, but the station shifted its music mix back toward Adult Contemporary by 1975.[3] In the 1980s, as popular music formats on AM were increasingly shifting to FM, WFDF became an Adult Standards station aimed at older demographics. The format shifted to news and talk radio in 1993. By 2001, the station was owned by Cumulus Broadcasting.[4]

Move to Detroit

In 2002, Cumulus sold the station to ABC and in August, the station began featuring programming from Radio Disney. In 2003, ABC began preparations to move WFDF to the Detroit market. It announced plans for a new eight-tower array in Monroe County, south of Detroit.[5] Originally, ABC applied to use the new site only for daytime operation (with Flint in the northwest corner of the proposed daytime coverage area) and to continue using the extant site in Burton, east of Flint, during nighttime hours (since providing an interference-free nighttime signal to Flint from the Monroe County site, without exceeding the 50,000 watt maximum power limit, would have been practically impossible). Shortly after WFDF started broadcasting with this two-site operation, ABC applied to change WFDF's city of license change their city of license to Farmington Hills, a Detroit suburb, with 50,000 watts of daytime power and 25,000 watts at night, both from the Monroe County site.

In order for this change to take place, some channels had to be deleted that would have interfered with the station's present signal. ABC purchased the AM license of WFRO in Fremont, Ohio, which operated at AM 900, while its FM sister station was spun off to a new owner. Also operating on AM 900 was WSNQ in Gaylord, Michigan. This station was silenced shortly after its FM station, WMJZ, was spun off to a new owner. With the two AM 900 frequencies now silenced, this paved the way for WFDF to substantially increase its power and move into the more profitable Detroit radio market.

The new array still covers Flint with a city-grade signal during daytime hours. The license for the new facilities was granted by the Federal Communications Commission in January 2006.[6] The city of license was changed in February 2006. The former towers in Burton were taken down and dismantled in April 2006.

The station's office is located in Southfield, moving away from Genesee County in the spring of 2006.

Transition and growth

On August 13, 2014, Disney put WFDF and twenty-two other Radio Disney stations up for sale, in order to focus more on digital distribution of the Radio Disney network.[7][8]

On November 18, Radio Disney Group announced the sale of the station to The Word Network, owned by Adell (who also owns the TV station WADL).[9][10]

On January 20, 2015, The Word Network closed on the purchase of 910 AM at a price of $3 million and changed the existing format to its religious format.[9] The changeover took place with no prior announcement at 5 p.m. on January 20.[11] WFDF was the last Michigan-based Disney O&O broadcast station.

On November 9, 2015 Adell re-launched the station with an "Urban Talk Radio" format. After purchase of WFDF from Radio Disney, Adell rebranded 910 AM as "the Superstation", with an African American talk radio format.[12]

Programming

WFDF has over 30 on-air show hosts,[13] with programming and content broadcast 24 hours a day.

In the fall of 2017, the station hired reporters Andre Ash, Detroit News editorial page editor Nolan Finley,[14] and Steve Neavling, editor and publisher of the investigative news site MotorCityMuckraker.com.[15] The station began providing a local news roundup at the beginning of each show, providing on-scene coverage of crime, schools, local government, protests, entertainment, traffic and weather.

"The Nolan Finley Show," which airs each morning features breaking news, analysis of current events and regular interviews with lawmakers, business leaders, educators, nonprofits and journalists. Neavling's "Muckraker Report," which is broadcast from late mornings, focuses on corruption, government abuse, poverty and racial disparities.

Weekend programming begins on Saturday and includes as hosts Minister Louis Farrakhan, Dr. Billy Taylor, Horace Sheffield, Adolph Mongo, Henry Payne "Car Show", Thaddeus McCotter, Chuck Bennett, Christine Beatty "Perspectives", Peter Henning, Wade McCree "No Shame", Malik Shabazz, and Real Talk with Dr. J "Sex, Gambling & Everything Else".

The Sunday show host lineup for the station includes Minister Louis Farrakhan, Elena Herreda, Robert Ficano, Minister Troy Muhammad, Margaret, Trimer-Hartley, Steve Neavling "Muckraker Report", Angela More, Alexander Zonjic, The Leah Live Show, Michael Imhotep, Paster Mo, and Real Talk with Dr. J "Sex, Gambling & Everything Else". Former Detroit City Council President Monica Conyers joined the Sunday show host line-up on September 25, 2016.[16][17]

On October 5, 2016, morning show on air host Ralph Godbee walked off the air in the middle of his broadcast because of a dispute with the owner and CEO Adell. The disagreement was a result of Adell not allowing Godbee to have a show about "Relationships" on Adell's worldwide television network "The Word Network", since Adell intended the Word Network to be religious and believed the content to be inappropriate.[18]

The daytime coverage for 910 AM Superstation includes the metro Detroit area and extends to the northern lower peninsula of Michigan, south to northern Ohio and Indiana, west into the Grand Rapids area, and east into Ontario, Canada.[19]

The nighttime coverage for 910 AM Superstation includes the metro Detroit area and extends north to mid-Michigan and the Thumb area, south to northern Ohio, west to Lansing, and east into Ontario, Canada.[20]

In 2018 the station provided live coverage of the 2018 Detroit Grand Prix on Belle Isle from June 1–3.[21]

Community work

The station attends and participates at public events and rallies, such as live broadcasts during Susan G. Komen's Race for the Cure Detroit[22] and the 2016 Mackinac Policy Conference Detroit Regional Chamber.[23] During the fold out of the Flint Water Crisis, 910 AM hosted a town hall meeting at the University of Michigan-Flint campus. The meeting was aired on 910 AM, WADL, and The Word Network.[24][25]

In June, 2016, the station broadcast every game of the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball program for the 2016-2017 season. Cliff Russell, one of the station's talk show hosts, was the play-by-play announcer.[26]

Ratings

CEO Kevin Adell's format change to Urban Talk Radio resulted in the station being included in the Nielsen Audio ratings for the Detroit market. The ratings became available starting June 2016, generating a 0.1 (AQH).[27] According to Vice President and General Manager David Bangura, the station had an average total reach of 11.9 million people[28] with 25,200 unique listeners per week, and of those, 15,600 were black.[29] According to Crain's Detroit Business, Nielsen Audio also reported 17,000 of the station's listener base resided in Oakland County.[29]

See also

References
  1. http://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=10 Archived 2015-11-23 at the Wayback Machine HD Radio Guide for Detroit
  2. “New Broadcasting Station Ready for Opening Tonight.” Flint (MI) Daily Journal, July 8, 1922, p. 1.
  3. "WFDF AM 910 Farmington Hills/Detroit - Michiguide.com". www.michiguide.com. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  4. "October 2000 News and Notes - Michiguide.com". www.michiguide.com. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
  5. "Detroit's newest radio station getting closer to reality - Michiguide.com 2005 News Archives". www.michiguide.com. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  6. "Disney/ABC: Michigan television and radio - Michiguide.com Dials (owners)". www.michiguide.com. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  7. Lafayette, Jon (August 13, 2014). "Exclusive: Radio Disney Moving Off Air to Digital". Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  8. "Radio Disney to Sell the Majority of Its Stations". Billboard. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  9. "WFDF Detroit Joins The Word Network - RadioInsight". radioinsight.com. 21 January 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  10. "Radio Disney Sells WFDF/Detroit To The Word Network". allaccess.com. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  11. "Adell's WFDF buy boosts reach, rates". crainsdetroit.com. 23 January 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  12. http://www.910amsuperstation.com/?p=1033
  13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-06-23. Retrieved 2016-06-09.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. "Detroit News' Nolan Finley to host morning show on 910AM Superstation". crainsdetroit.com. 21 August 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  15. "Nolan Finley, Muckraker's Neavling to host daily talk shows on 910AM Superstation". motorcitymuckraker.com. 21 August 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  16. "Former Detroit City Council president Monica Conyers new host for 910AM Superstation". wxyz.com. 21 September 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  17. "Monica Conyers to host weekly radio show on 910 AM". freep.com. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  18. "910 AM radio host Ralph Godbee quits on air". detroitnews.com. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  19. "WFDF-AM Radio Station Coverage Map". radio-locator.com. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  20. "WFDF-AM Radio Station Coverage Map". radio-locator.com. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  21. "Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix A Welcomed Tradition In MoTown - Detroit Sports Media". www.detroitsportsmedia.com. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  23. Detroit Chamber [@DetroitChamber] (1 June 2016). ".@bankieT w/ @onetoughnerd #MPC16 @910Superstation" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  24. "Detroit radio station to host town hall Flint water crisis meeting at U of M-Flint". mlive.com. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  25. "Businesses, nonprofits provide assistance to Flint". crainsdetroit.com. 3 February 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  26. "Titans Announce New Radio Partner In 910 AM Superstation". DetroitTitans.com. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  27. "Nielsen Audio Ratings". ratings.radio-online.com. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  28. "WFDF-AM Radio Station Coverage Map". radio-locator.com. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  29. "Black talk radio station WFDF breaks into listener rankings". crainsdetroit.com. 17 July 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
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