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WFDF (AM)

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Coordinates: 42°03′57″N 83°23′39″W / 42.06583°N 83.39417°W / 42.06583; -83.39417
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WFDF
Broadcast areaMetro Detroit; Flint; The Thumb
Frequency910 kHz (HD Radio)
Branding910 AM Superstation
Programming
FormatConservative talk radio
AffiliationsABC News Radio
NBC News Radio
Fox News Radio
Fox Sports Radio
Premiere Networks
Ownership
Owner
  • Kevin Adell
  • (Adell Radio Group, Inc.)
WADL
History
First air date
July 8, 1922; 102 years ago (1922-07-08) in Flint. Moved to Farmington Hills in 2006.
Former call signs
WEAA (1922-1925)
Call sign meaning
Frank D. Fallain (original owner)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID13664
ClassB
Power50,000 watts day
25,000 watts night
Transmitter coordinates
42°03′57″N 83°23′39″W / 42.06583°N 83.39417°W / 42.06583; -83.39417
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen Live
Website910amsuperstation.com

WFDF (910 kHz), which brands itself as 910 AM Superstation, is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Farmington Hills, Michigan, and serving Metro Detroit. The station is owned and operated by Kevin Adell. It currently airs a conservative talk radio format with programming from ABC News Radio, Fox News Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and Premiere Networks. The studios and offices are on West Ten Mile Road in Southfield, Michigan.

By day, WFDF is powered at 50,000 watts, the maximum for AM stations in the United States. To avoid interference to other stations on 910 AM, it reduces power at night to 25,000 watts. It uses a directional antenna with an eight-tower array. The transmitter is on Maxwell Road in Carleton, Michigan.[2]

History

WEAA and WFDF

The station first licensed on May 25, 1922. Its original call sign was WEAA and it was located in Flint. It made its first broadcast on July 8, 1922.[3] The call letters were changed to WFDF in 1925, in honor of the founder of the station, Frank D. Fallain (1890-1968).[4] WFDF is a Class B station broadcasting on a regional (not clear-channel) frequency.

For many years[when?] the station featured a full service, middle of the road format of popular adult music, news and sports, 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.[4] 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 talk radio in 1993. By 2001, the station was owned by Cumulus Broadcasting.[5][citation needed]

Move to Detroit market

In 2002, Cumulus sold the station to ABC, Inc., a subsidiary of Disney. That August, the station began featuring programming from Radio Disney. In 2003, Disney began preparations to move WFDF to the Detroit radio market. It announced plans for a new eight-tower array in Monroe County, south of Detroit.[6] Originally, Disney applied to use the new site only for daytime operation with Flint in the northwest corner of the proposed daytime coverage area. It would continue using the existing transmitter site in Burton, east of Flint, during nighttime hours. (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, Disney applied to change WFDF's 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.

For this change to take place, two radio stations operating at AM 900 that would have interfered with a relocated WFDF had to be deleted. Disney purchased the AM license of WFRO in Fremont, Ohio, while its FM sister station was spun off to a new owner. In Gaylord, Michigan, WSNQ went silent shortly after its FM station, WMJZ, was spun off to a new owner. With the two AM 900 stations 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 FCC granted a license for the new facilities in January 2006.[7] The city of license 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, to focus on digital distribution of the Radio Disney network.[8][9]

On November 18, Radio Disney Group (the Disney subsidiary that held the license of the station) filed to sell WFDF to Adell Radio Group, Inc., an affiliate of The Word Network, owned by Kevin Adell. Adell also owns TV station WADL channel 38.[10][11]

On January 20, 2015, The Word Network closed on the purchase of 910 AM at a price of $3 million and changed the programming to its Christian radio format.[10] The changeover took place with no prior announcement at 5 p.m. on January 20.[12] WFDF was the last Michigan-based Disney O&O broadcast station.[citation needed]

On November 9, 2015, Adell re-launched the station as "the Superstation", with an African American talk radio format.[13] The station later carried ESPN Radio programming in the overnight hours.[14]

Switch to conservative talk

On August 11, 2023, Adell suddenly announced that the station would rebrand to an "all-sports format" with a local morning show host to be named,[15] though several media outlets speculated that Adell's financial issues (including the sale of WADL-TV to Mission Broadcasting) was a part of him selling off assets during a personal financial crisis.[16][17] At this time, the station began to carry ESPN Radio full-time.[14]

On September 1, 2023, Adell Media instead announced that WFDF would flip to a conservative talk format on September 5, featuring a local morning show hosted by Justin Barclay (formerly of WOOD), along with most of the standard Premiere Networks daily syndicated schedule, including Glenn Beck, Clay Travis and Buck Sexton, Sean Hannity, and Jesse Kelly, along with several other syndicated programs.[14] The format change would place the station in direct competition with WDTK.[18]

Former personnel

WFDF formerly had a thirty-person staff during Adell's ownership. In the fall of 2017, the station hired reporters Andre Ash, Detroit News editorial page editor Nolan Finley,[19] and Steve Neavling, editor and publisher of the investigative news site MotorCityMuckraker.com.[20]

On October 5, 2016, morning show host Ralph Godbee quit in the middle of his show because of a content dispute over programming conflicts the two had regarding the Word Network.[21]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WFDF". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ Radio-Locator.com/WFDF
  3. ^ “New Broadcasting Station Ready for Opening Tonight.” Flint (MI) Daily Journal, July 8, 1922, p. 1.
  4. ^ a b "WFDF AM 910 Farmington Hills/Detroit - Michiguide.com". www.michiguide.com. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
  5. ^ "October 2000 News and Notes - Michiguide.com". www.michiguide.com. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  6. ^ "Detroit's newest radio station getting closer to reality - Michiguide.com 2005 News Archives". www.michiguide.com. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
  7. ^ "Disney/ABC: Michigan television and radio - Michiguide.com Dials (owners)". www.michiguide.com. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
  8. ^ Lafayette, Jon (August 13, 2014). "Exclusive: Radio Disney Moving Off Air to Digital". Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  9. ^ "Radio Disney to Sell the Majority of Its Stations". Billboard. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  10. ^ a b "WFDF Detroit Joins The Word Network - RadioInsight". radioinsight.com. January 21, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  11. ^ "Radio Disney Sells WFDF/Detroit To The Word Network". allaccess.com. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  12. ^ "Adell's WFDF buy boosts reach, rates". crainsdetroit.com. January 23, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  13. ^ "WADL-TV owner Kevin Adell buys radio station, plans for mega water park". April 16, 2016.
  14. ^ a b c "WFDF Makes Move To Conservative Talk". RadioInsight. September 1, 2023. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  15. ^ Venta, Lance (August 14, 2023). "WFDF Drops All Staffers Ahead Of Sports Flip". RadioInsight. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  16. ^ "910 AM Superstation radio in Detroit abruptly changes format". Detroit Free Press. August 14, 2023. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  17. ^ "910 AM Superstation cancels all shows, goes to all-sports programming". The Detroit News. August 14, 2023. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  18. ^ "Detroit's 910 AM switching from local hosts to conservative talk". Detroit Free Press. September 1, 2023. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  19. ^ "Detroit News' Nolan Finley to host morning show on 910AM Superstation". crainsdetroit.com. August 21, 2017. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
  20. ^ "Nolan Finley, Muckraker's Neavling to host daily talk shows on 910AM Superstation". motorcitymuckraker.com. August 21, 2017. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  21. ^ "910 AM radio host Ralph Godbee quits on air". detroitnews.com. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
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