WJR
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| City of license | Detroit, Michigan |
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| Broadcast area | Great Lakes Region |
| Branding | News/Talk 760 WJR |
| Slogan | The Great Voice of the Great Lakes From the Golden Tower of the Fisher Building |
| First air date | May 4, 1922 |
| Frequency | 760 (kHz) |
| Format | News/Talk |
| ERP | 50,000 watts |
| Callsign meaning | W Jewett Radio & Phonograph Co. |
| Affiliations | ABC Radio News Premiere Radio Networks MSU Sports Network |
| Owner | ABC Radio |
| Website | www.wjr.com |
WJR is a radio station in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It broadcasts in the AM radio band at 760 kHz and has a news/talk format. As a clear channel, broadcasts from WJR are heard throughout the Midwestern United States.
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[edit] History
WJR began as WCX on May 4, 1922, owned by the Detroit Free Press newspaper, operating at 580 kHz. It shared this frequency with WWJ-AM, another station owned by the Detroit News newspaper. In 1925, WCX was bought by the Jewett Radio & Phonograph Company in Pontiac, Michigan, and the station became known as WCX/WJR. Also by 1925, WWJ was at 850 kHz, and both stations were broadcasting at 5000 watts of power. On November 11, 1928 it moved to 750 AM as a result of the FRC's General Order 40.
On December 16, 1928, the station moved from the newspaper's offices to the Fisher Building and began its callsign, "WJR Detroit, from the Golden Tower of the Fisher Building," which soon became famous across the country (and is literally still used to this very day). Goodwill Stations Inc., formed by George A. Richards (who also owned the Detroit Lions), acquired WJR in 1929, and it became known as "The Goodwill Station" (along with WGAR in Cleveland and KMPC in Los Angeles). WCX ceased to exist as all the assets are acquired by WJR. In 1931, the station raised its power to 10,000 watts; four years later, it would broadcast at 50,000 watts. On March 29, 1941, WJR moved from 750 to 760 kHz in accordance to the NARBA frequency reallocations. Before North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement of 1941, 750 kHz was a clear channel under 1928 rules.
Richards died in May 1951, and in 1964, Goodwill Stations was sold to Capital Cities Broadcasting Corporation which later merged with ABC and later with the Walt Disney Company. Upon the sale, WJR's air slogan became "The Great Voice of the Great Lakes," which is also still in use today. Also in 1964, WJR acquired full rights to Detroit Tigers baseball games, with announcers Ernie Harwell and George Kell, who had begun broadcasting Tiger games in 1960. Previously WJR had carried only night games with day games on WKMH and WJBK. The station became the flagship of the "Tiger Baseball Network."
The station is also remembered among many Metro Detroiters for its sometimes kitchy advertising campaigns and jingles including "It's always savings time at Farmer Jack." Another: "W-J-R ... Radio 76 ... Cares About Detroit." Another: "This is America's finest - AM stereo 76." WJR had broadcast in "AM Stereo" from 1982 to 2006, and was received in (C-Quam) stereo AM at great distances at night. WJR's Detroit Tigers home games were broadcast in stereo, as were the Thanksgiving Day Parades.
Most of WJR's broadcast studios, along with its newsroom and offices, are in the Fisher Building. The station also has a satellite studio in the Wintergarden of the GM Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit. The station also has a mobile unit, formerly known as "The Spirit of 76".
[edit] Current programming
For many years, WJR was a powerhouse in Michigan radio. However, recently, the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings broadcasting rights were sold to Infinity's WXYT-AM 1270 (once owned by ABC as WXYZ-AM). And in 2005, the 30-year-old relationship with the University of Michigan basketball and football programs were dropped in favor of a five-year contract with rival Michigan State University - which had been broadcast on WJR until 1976. When asked why the switch occurred, WJR responded that The University of Michigan football broadcasts brought in listeners 13 days a year with meager ratings for the basketball broadcasts. In contrast WJR is gambling on Spartan basketball to bring in a higher number of listeners. WJR has dropped much, but not all, of its news programming, leaving WWJ-AM 950 as the main AM source for radio news in southeast Michigan. Music programming on WJR has also been phased out almost entirely over the past two decades. Middle-of-the-road and adult contemporary music was for decades an integral part of WJR's broadcast day; as of July 2006, the only music-oriented show on the station is the Renfro Valley Gathering, aired early Sunday mornings.
Early in the summer of 2006 WJR management announced several program changes including the dropping of long time Home Improvement host Murray Gula from the station. A new schedule was announced, some of which still can't be streamed live on the WJR website at the request of the program distributors.
In October of 2006 WJR picked up the nationally-syndicated "Handyman Show" with Glenn Haege, which originates from Detroit, and previously aired on WXYT and WDFN. "The Handyman Show" will eventually originate from WJR's own studios, as is also the case with several other weekend shows such as "The C.A.R. Show," "Startup Nation" and "The Real Estate Insiders."
WJR was sold with other ABC Radio stations to Citadel Broadcasting in January 2006.
[edit] Famous personalities at WJR
- Novelist and Detroit Free Press sports writer Mitch Albom
- Past morning host J.P. McCarthy
- Current midday talk show host Frank Beckmann (also currently the play-by-play voice for University of Michigan football, which originates from CKLW and WOMC)
- Roman Catholic Priest Father Coughlin
- Detroit Tigers announcer Ernie Harwell
- Musicologist Karl Haas, the Austrian-born host of the classical music magazine Adventures in Good Music (later originating from Cleveland station WCLV)
- Mike Whorf, the host of the music magazines Kaleidoscope and Patterns In Music, which focused on various music genres, themes, and eras
[edit] Program schedule
[edit] Monday-Friday
- 4:00 a.m. - 5:30 a.m.: The WJR Morning NewsCenter¹
- 5:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.: Paul W. Smith¹
- 9:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.: Frank Beckmann¹
- 11:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.: Paul Harvey³
- 12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.: Rush Limbaugh³
- 3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.: Sean Hannity³
- 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.: Mitch Albom¹
- 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.: Monday Sports Albom (Monday)¹
- 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.: The Big Story, anchored by Lloyd Jackson (Tuesday - Friday)¹
- 8:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.: Dr. Laura Schlessinger³
- 11:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m.: Mark Levin³
- 1:00 a.m. - 4:00a.m.: The Midnight Radio Network³
[edit] Saturday
- 5:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.: Warren Pierce¹
- 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.: The CAR Show with Steve Stewart, Roger Kwapich and Dan Pietras²
- 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.: The Doctor Is In with Dr. Mark Moyad¹
- 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.: The Internet Advisor¹
- 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.: The Gardening Show with Dr. Dean Krauskopf¹
- 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.: Dailey and Stearn Law Show¹
- 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.: Ken Stern & Your Money²
- 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.: Moneytalk with Bob Brinker³
- 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.: Start-up Nation²
- 8:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m.: Dr. Dean Edell³
- 1:00 a.m. - 5:00 a.m.: The Midnight Radio Network³
[edit] Sunday
- 5:00 a.m. - 5:30 a.m.: Renfro Valley Gathering³
- 5:30 a.m. - 6:00 a.m.: Down Gilead Lane³
- 6:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.: Warren Pierce¹
- 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.: The Real Estate Insiders with David Hall²
- 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.: The Handyman Show with Glenn Haege²
- 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.: Dailey & Stearn Law Show¹
- 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.: Easy Street¹
- 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.: Moneytalk with Bob Brinker³
- 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.: In the Driver's Seat with Rod Alberts and Joe Rohatynski¹
- 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.: Travel Michigan with John McCullogh¹
- 8:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.: The Wild Life with Steve Gruber and Debra Hart¹
- 9:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.: Anything is Possible with Jack Krasula¹
- 10:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m.: Matt Drudge³
- 1:00 a.m. - 5:00 a.m.: The Midnight Radio Network³
[edit] Footnotes
- ¹ - locally-based program
- ² - nationally syndicated program, of which WJR is the flagship station
- ³ - nationally syndicated program based elsewhere
[edit] External links
| AM Radio Stations in the Detroit / Windsor Market (Arbitron #10)
By Frequency: 540 | 560 | 580 | 630 | 690 | 760 | 800 | 910 | 950 | 1030 | 1090 | 1130 | 1200 | 1270 | 1310 | 1340 | 1400 | 1440 | 1500 | 1550 By Callsign: CBE | CBEF | CFCO | CKLW | CKWW | WCAR | WCHB | WDFN | WDTK | WDTW | WEXL | WFDF | WJR | WLQV | WMKM | WNZK | WRDT | WUFL | WWJ | WXYT Detroit (FM) (AM) | Grand Rapids | Lansing | Flint | Saginaw-Bay City-Midland | Ann Arbor | Kalamazoo | Traverse City-Petoskey | Muskegon | Battle Creek |
| Radio stations in the Toledo, Ohio Market (Arbitron #87)
By Frequency: 730 | 760 | 800 | 1230 | 1370 | 1470 | 1520 | 1560 | 88.1 | 88.3 | 88.3 | 88.5 | 88.7 | 89.3 | 89.5 | 90.3 | 91.3 | 92.5 | 93.5 | 94.5 | 95.7 | 96.1 | 96.9 | 97.3 | 97.9 | 98.1 | 98.3 | 98.7 | 99.9 | 100.5 | 100.7 | 101.1 | 101.5 | 102.3 | 102.9 | 103.7 | 104.7 | 105.5 | 106.5 | 107.3 | 107.9 By Callsign: CIMX | CKLW | W264AK | WBCY | WBGU | WCKY | WCWA | WDFM | WDMN | WGTE | WIMX | WIOT | WJR | WJLB | WJUC | WJYM | WJZE | WKKO | WKXA | WLQR | WMLZ | WMTR | WNKL | WOTL | WPOS | WRIF | WRQN | WRVF | WRWK | WSPD | WTOD | WTWR | WVKS | WVMV | WWWM | WWWW | WXKR | WXTS-FM | WXUT | WYSA | WYSZ |
