WCHB
Encyclopedia
WCHB is an American
AM radio station licensed to Taylor, Michigan
, at 1200 kHz, and serving the Detroit market. Owned by Radio One, WCHB identifies as NewsTalk 1200 WCHB and airs a News/Talk
format.
. The call letters stood for Dr. Wendell Cox and Dr. Haley Bell, who owned and operated the station under the Bell Broadcasting banner.
WCHB was the first radio station in the United States to be built from the ground up by black owners, and with an R&B format, quickly became a visible presence in Detroit's black community. Early on, WCHB aimed to be an all-purpose full-service station for Detroit's African-American community, featuring not only R&B hits but also gospel music, jazz, talk shows, and even a "Tweeny Time" show for two-to-six-year-olds. By the late 1960s, however, the popularity of the Motown sound, in addition to competition from WJLB (then an AM station at 1400 on the dial, now WDTK
) and FM upstart WGPR
, led WCHB to adopt a more Top 40-style presentation to the soul format. Locally owned for many years by Bell Broadcasting, WCHB signed on an FM sister, 105.9 WCHD, in 1960, which later changed its calls to WJZZ and became Detroit's most popular jazz
station. 105.9 is still co-owned with the AM station by Radio One as WDMK
.
WCHB-AM experimented with a disco
-based format for a time during the late 1970s and early 1980s. However, WCHB saw its ratings sink during the 1980s as FM urban contemporary stations like WJLB
(which moved its format from the AM to the FM dial in 1980) and WDRQ
grabbed away much of its audience. The station eventually returned to its roots of being a full-service voice for the African-American community.
).
In 1998, Bell Broadcasting sold WCHB-AM and WCHB-FM (formerly WJZZ, later WDTJ and now WDMK
) 105.9 to Radio One. Radio One then set about the process of upgrading WCHB-AM's signal, which involved taking the station off the air for several months in August 1998 to upgrade the equipment and purchasing WKNX-AM 1210 in Frankenmuth and moving it to Kingsley
, near Traverse City in northern Michigan (see also WLDR
), to allow the 1200 signal to upgrade. WCHB resurfaced in March 1999 with a new 50,000-watt daytime/15,000-watt nighttime signal and with a format of mainly gospel music, with a morning talk show, "Inside Detroit," hosted by outspoken Detroit personality and former WJLB
-FM newscaster Mildred Gaddis.
Beginning on January 30, 2006, Radio One debuted Syndication One, a joint venture of Radio One and REACH Media which featured urban talk show hosts Reverend Al Sharpton
, Michael Eric Dyson and Doug & Ryan Stewart – the 2 Live Stews
sports show. Mildred Gaddis' "Inside Detroit" remains a part of the schedule and airs from 6-10 a.m. weekdays. Another local show, "Your Voice with Angelo Henderson," hosted by Wall Street Journal columnist Angelo Henderson also airs weekdays from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
The shows were also simultaneously placed on other Radio One stations, including: WILD-AM
1090 in Boston, WOL-AM
1450 in Washington, DC., WVCG-AM 1080 in Miami, WERE
-AM 1300 in Cleveland and WROU-AM 1240 in Richmond, Va. Cox Radio's Birmingham station, WPSB-AM 1320, is also picked up each of the shows.
In March 2007, Michael Eric Dyson left the show and Syndication One. He was replaced by The Warren Ballentine Show, hosted by attorney Warren Ballentine, who is refers to himself as The People’s Attorney and radio Truth Fighter.
On April 30, 2007, WCHB welcomed Parker & the Man to the weekly line-up. The show, hosted by sports journalist Rob Parker
and broadcaster Mark Wilson
. Parker is a columnist for the Detroit News and a regular contributor on ESPN2
's First Take. Wilson is a former Associated Press and Michigan Association of Broadcasters' "Michigan Sportscaster of the Year." Parker & the Man, who were previously heard on Detroit FM station Live 97.1 WKRK, initially ran from 9 p.m-12 a.m. They were consistently among the top shows with men 25-54 while at WKRK, which is now known as 97.1 The Ticket.
In the fall of 2007, after the 2 Live Stews syndication deal was not renewed by Syndication One, Parker & the Man shifted to 4-7 p.m.
In June 2008, Parker and The Man disappeared from the airwaves of WCHB.
. Both Gaddis and Sharpton's shows are repeated after 8PM on weekdays. Gospel programming has been reduced to two hours, airing from 4 to 6 AM daily.
At some time during Saturday, October 15, 2011, WCHB moved an FM repeater station, W206BI, from 89.1 to 99.9 FM and began testing on that frequency. W206BI was a translator of Toledo's National Public Radio affiliate, WGTE-FM
, owned by the Bell Broadcasting Company (owned by Haley Bell, former co-owner of WCHB) and licensed to Hamtramck at 89.1 FM, with an application to move up to 99.9 and repeat WDMK-FM. While in testing mode, the station is currently repeating WDMK-HD2, which is a slightly delayed simulcast of WCHB.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
AM radio station licensed to Taylor, Michigan
Taylor, Michigan
Taylor is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 63,131 at the 2010 census. Taylor was originally known as Taylor Township and residents of the township voted to incorporate as the City of Taylor in May 1968...
, at 1200 kHz, and serving the Detroit market. Owned by Radio One, WCHB identifies as NewsTalk 1200 WCHB and airs a News/Talk
Talk Radio
Talk Radio can refer to:*Talk radio, a call-in discussion format for radio broadcasts*Talk Radio UK, a former national UK talk station**talkSPORT, a British radio station formerly called "Talk Radio"...
format.
AM 1440 WCHB
The WCHB call letters date back to 1956, when the station signed on as a 1,000-watt daytimer at 1440 on the AM dial licensed to Inkster, MichiganInkster, Michigan
Inkster is a city in Wayne County of the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2010 census, the city population was 25,369. It is one of several suburbs in Metro Detroit whose population is majority or plurality African American.- History :...
. The call letters stood for Dr. Wendell Cox and Dr. Haley Bell, who owned and operated the station under the Bell Broadcasting banner.
WCHB was the first radio station in the United States to be built from the ground up by black owners, and with an R&B format, quickly became a visible presence in Detroit's black community. Early on, WCHB aimed to be an all-purpose full-service station for Detroit's African-American community, featuring not only R&B hits but also gospel music, jazz, talk shows, and even a "Tweeny Time" show for two-to-six-year-olds. By the late 1960s, however, the popularity of the Motown sound, in addition to competition from WJLB (then an AM station at 1400 on the dial, now WDTK
WDTK
WDTK, known on the air as NewsTalk 1400, is a conservative-oriented news/talk radio station broadcasting at 1400 kHz on the AM dial in Detroit, Michigan, United States...
) and FM upstart WGPR
WGPR
WGPR is an FM radio station in Detroit, Michigan brodacasting a Mainstream Urban format. Owned by the International Free and Accepted Modern Masons and operated under local marketing agreement by Radio One, the station operates on 107.5 MHz....
, led WCHB to adopt a more Top 40-style presentation to the soul format. Locally owned for many years by Bell Broadcasting, WCHB signed on an FM sister, 105.9 WCHD, in 1960, which later changed its calls to WJZZ and became Detroit's most popular jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
station. 105.9 is still co-owned with the AM station by Radio One as WDMK
WDMK
WDMK is an FM radio station in Detroit, Michigan broadcasting at 105.9 mHz, owned by Radio One. The station is positioned as 105-9 Kiss, Detroit's Best R&B with a current-based Urban Adult Contemporary format playing mostly current R&B with some Neo Soul and a little old school mixed in...
.
WCHB-AM experimented with a disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
-based format for a time during the late 1970s and early 1980s. However, WCHB saw its ratings sink during the 1980s as FM urban contemporary stations like WJLB
WJLB
WJLB, is a Clear Channel-owned Urban Contemporary radio station in Detroit that broadcasts on 97.9 megahertz frequency. The station is known on-air as FM98 WJLB. This is the station that began the career of Urban radio legend and video jock, Donnie Simpson...
(which moved its format from the AM to the FM dial in 1980) and WDRQ
WDRQ
WDRQ is an FM radio station in Detroit, Michigan. The station is branded as 93.1 Doug FM. Doug FM broadcasts from the Fisher Building just north of downtown Detroit and transmits its signal from an antenna 669 feet in length located at the intersection of Ten Mile and Greenfield Roads in suburban...
grabbed away much of its audience. The station eventually returned to its roots of being a full-service voice for the African-American community.
AM 1200 WCHB
The WCHB calls moved to their current home at 1200 kHz in February 1990, as AM 1440 moved into a gospel format as WMKM (now WDRJWDRJ
WDRJ is an AM radio station broadcasting at 1440 kHz licensed to Inkster, Michigan, and serving the Detroit radio market. Owned by Davidson Media Group, the station airs an Urban Gospel format branded as Rejoice 1440 AM...
).
In 1998, Bell Broadcasting sold WCHB-AM and WCHB-FM (formerly WJZZ, later WDTJ and now WDMK
WDMK
WDMK is an FM radio station in Detroit, Michigan broadcasting at 105.9 mHz, owned by Radio One. The station is positioned as 105-9 Kiss, Detroit's Best R&B with a current-based Urban Adult Contemporary format playing mostly current R&B with some Neo Soul and a little old school mixed in...
) 105.9 to Radio One. Radio One then set about the process of upgrading WCHB-AM's signal, which involved taking the station off the air for several months in August 1998 to upgrade the equipment and purchasing WKNX-AM 1210 in Frankenmuth and moving it to Kingsley
Kingsley, Michigan
Kingsley is a village in Paradise Township, Grand Traverse County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,517 as of 2009.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , all land...
, near Traverse City in northern Michigan (see also WLDR
WLDR
WLDR-FM 101.9 Traverse City, MI, simulcast on WARD 750 Petoskey, MI, is a station that airs a country music format as "Sunny Country 101.9". The stations are owned by broadcaster Roy Henderson, who is WLDR's third owner in its 40-year history....
), to allow the 1200 signal to upgrade. WCHB resurfaced in March 1999 with a new 50,000-watt daytime/15,000-watt nighttime signal and with a format of mainly gospel music, with a morning talk show, "Inside Detroit," hosted by outspoken Detroit personality and former WJLB
WJLB
WJLB, is a Clear Channel-owned Urban Contemporary radio station in Detroit that broadcasts on 97.9 megahertz frequency. The station is known on-air as FM98 WJLB. This is the station that began the career of Urban radio legend and video jock, Donnie Simpson...
-FM newscaster Mildred Gaddis.
NewsTalk 1200 WCHB
In April 2005, WCHB cut back its gospel programming to 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. weekdays and around the clock on weekends to make way for Radio One's syndicated lineup.Beginning on January 30, 2006, Radio One debuted Syndication One, a joint venture of Radio One and REACH Media which featured urban talk show hosts Reverend Al Sharpton
Al Sharpton
Alfred Charles "Al" Sharpton, Jr. is an American Baptist minister, civil rights activist, and television/radio talk show host. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. presidential election...
, Michael Eric Dyson and Doug & Ryan Stewart – the 2 Live Stews
2 Live Stews
The 2 Live Stews is an American syndicated sports talk radio show originating from WQXI, AM 790 the Zone, in Atlanta, Georgia hosted by brothers Doug and Ryan Stewart.-The hosts and cast:...
sports show. Mildred Gaddis' "Inside Detroit" remains a part of the schedule and airs from 6-10 a.m. weekdays. Another local show, "Your Voice with Angelo Henderson," hosted by Wall Street Journal columnist Angelo Henderson also airs weekdays from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
The shows were also simultaneously placed on other Radio One stations, including: WILD-AM
WILD (AM)
WILD 1090 AM is a radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts. It broadcasts on 1090 kHz and airs programming from China Radio International under a lease agreement...
1090 in Boston, WOL-AM
WOL (AM)
WOL is an Urban Talk radio station in Washington, DC. Broadcasting on 1450 AM, this is the flagship radio station of Radio One.The station was Washington's top rated rhythm and blues music station through the 1960s and 1970s...
1450 in Washington, DC., WVCG-AM 1080 in Miami, WERE
WERE
WERE — branded News/Talk 1490 WERE-AM — is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland Heights, Ohio broadcasting a news/talk format. The station is owned by Radio One, and has studios at 2510 St. Clair Avenue, while the transmitter is along Euclid Avenue near East 118th Street, adjacent to...
-AM 1300 in Cleveland and WROU-AM 1240 in Richmond, Va. Cox Radio's Birmingham station, WPSB-AM 1320, is also picked up each of the shows.
In March 2007, Michael Eric Dyson left the show and Syndication One. He was replaced by The Warren Ballentine Show, hosted by attorney Warren Ballentine, who is refers to himself as The People’s Attorney and radio Truth Fighter.
On April 30, 2007, WCHB welcomed Parker & the Man to the weekly line-up. The show, hosted by sports journalist Rob Parker
Rob Parker (sports journalist)
Rob Parker is an American sports columnist for ESPNNewYork.com and ClickOnDetroit.com. Parker is also a regular on ESPN's First Take, where he debates Skip Bayless on the 1st and 10 segment...
and broadcaster Mark Wilson
Mark Wilson (radio broadcaster)
Mark Wilson is a Detroit sports radio broadcaster and a former Associated Press and Michigan Association of Broadcasters' "Michigan Sportscaster of the Year" and former columnist in Detroit's cultural weekly Real Detroit and The Observer & Eccentric newspapers...
. Parker is a columnist for the Detroit News and a regular contributor on ESPN2
ESPN2
ESPN2 is an American sports cable television network owned by ESPN. The channel debuted on October 1, 1993.Originally nicknamed "the deuce," ESPN2 was initially branded as a network for a younger generation of sports fans featuring edgier graphics as well as extreme sports like motocross,...
's First Take. Wilson is a former Associated Press and Michigan Association of Broadcasters' "Michigan Sportscaster of the Year." Parker & the Man, who were previously heard on Detroit FM station Live 97.1 WKRK, initially ran from 9 p.m-12 a.m. They were consistently among the top shows with men 25-54 while at WKRK, which is now known as 97.1 The Ticket.
In the fall of 2007, after the 2 Live Stews syndication deal was not renewed by Syndication One, Parker & the Man shifted to 4-7 p.m.
In June 2008, Parker and The Man disappeared from the airwaves of WCHB.
Gospel goes full time on AM 1200
On June 9, 2008 at 10AM News-Talk AM 1200 flipped formats to a full time gospel music station. Of its News-talk line-up only morning host Mildred Gaddis remained with the station continuing her morning drive show. She is the only host on the station, after her show the station is automated. WCHB is known as AM 1200 WCHB, Mildred In The Morning and Inspiration All Day.Return of NewsTalk 1200
In 2009 WCHB reimaged itself as a News/Talk station again after failing to attract listeners with its Gospel format (the format was later relaunched in October 2011, this time on sister station WHTD). Gaddis remained in mornings, followed by Henderson, the syndicated Shapton, Ramona Prater's "F Club Radio Show" (a program geared towards a female audience), and Gayle KingGayle King
Gayle King is editor-at-large for O, The Oprah Magazine and the best friend of Oprah Winfrey. She has previously worked as a television news anchor and talk show host...
. Both Gaddis and Sharpton's shows are repeated after 8PM on weekdays. Gospel programming has been reduced to two hours, airing from 4 to 6 AM daily.
At some time during Saturday, October 15, 2011, WCHB moved an FM repeater station, W206BI, from 89.1 to 99.9 FM and began testing on that frequency. W206BI was a translator of Toledo's National Public Radio affiliate, WGTE-FM
WGTE-FM
WGTE-FM is an American public radio station in Toledo, Ohio, and is the radio partner of WGTE-TV, Toledo's PBS affiliate. It features news, classical music, jazz and folk music. It also airs programs from National Public Radio and Public Radio International...
, owned by the Bell Broadcasting Company (owned by Haley Bell, former co-owner of WCHB) and licensed to Hamtramck at 89.1 FM, with an application to move up to 99.9 and repeat WDMK-FM. While in testing mode, the station is currently repeating WDMK-HD2, which is a slightly delayed simulcast of WCHB.