Everything about Wjr totally explained
WJR (760
AM) is a
radio station in
Detroit,
Michigan,
United States. It broacasts a news/talk format. It is a
class A clear channel station whose broadcasts can be heard throughout most of the eastern
United States and
Canada at night.
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 still used to this 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 Communications 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." In the late 1960's, WJR also became the flagship station for
Detroit Red Wings hockey.
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." Regularly on his show,
J.P. McCarthy would state in a nonchalant way "This is the world's greatest radio station, WJR Detroit," with a manner that made it seem like the most obvious of facts. 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". In addition to JP McCarthy, other WJR personalities included Jimmy Launce, Warren Pierce, Joel Alexander, Jay Roberts and many others. WJR Program Directors during the Capital Cities era included Joe Bacarella, Curt Hahn and AC radio consultant Gary Berkowitz.
WJR signed on an FM outlet in
1948 at 96.3 MHz. The station was known as WJR-FM until
1982 when it became WHYT. It is now
WDVD.
Current programming
For many years, WJR was a powerhouse in Michigan radio. However, in recent years, the station lost the rights to
Detroit Tigers and
Detroit Red Wings, who both moved to
WXYT. And in 2005, the 30-year-old relationship with the
University of Michigan basketball and
American 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 Michigan's 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 (mainly during the overnight period) leaving WWJ 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 Murray Gula not re-signing the popular long time running Home Improvement with Murray Gula show. Gula announced he'll sign with WXYZ TV, Detroit to host the new Murray Gula’s Home Improvement Team on wxyz.com, and host the Home Improvement with Murray Gula show on WDFN AM1130. 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, and also programming may be pre-empted due to special events or sports programming.
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" originates from WJR's own studios, as is also the case with several other weekend shows such as "The C.A.R. Show" and "The Real Estate Insiders."
WJR was sold with other
ABC Radio stations to
Citadel Broadcasting in
January 2006.
Fall 2007 (Phase 1) Arbitron rating: #3
Famous personalities at WJR
Sources
Michiguide.com - WJR History
The History of WJR: 1922-2007Further Information
Get more info on 'Wjr'.
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