WJLB
Encyclopedia
WJLB, is a Clear Channel-owned
Urban Contemporary
radio station
in Detroit
that broadcasts on 97.9 megahertz (MHz) 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
. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, WJLB was the home of radio legend John Mason
.
WJLB, along with sister WMXD
, had broadcast for 20 years in Detroit's Penobscot Building
, which is located in the heart of Detroit's Downtown Financial District. Clear Channel moved both stations to their corporate consolidated owned building in Farmington Hills
in November 2009.
WJLB's transmitter is located in Highland Park
near the intersection of Hamilton Avenue and Midland Street and transmits its signal from an antenna 489 feet in height with an effective radiated power of 50,000 watts.
FM98 can be heard far north as Flint
and as far west as Lansing
on Interstate 96
, but begins to mix with WGRD (also at 97.9) in Grand Rapids
farther west. WJLB can be picked up further at night in such places as Saginaw
, Battle Creek
and Toledo
.
second FM radio station. It was owned by John Lord Booth.
. In later years, WMZK alternated between beautiful music and foreign-language programming for various ethnic groups.
format from the 1400 kHz AM frequency. WJLB-AM, which went on the air as WMBC in 1926 and adopted the WJLB calls in 1939, had been providing programming geared toward Detroit's black community
for nearly four decades. Now, the stereo FM station became "FM 98 WJLB, Detroit's Strongest Songs". WJLB-AM 1400 continued to program to the African American community in Detroit for nearly a quarter-century afterward as WQBH ("Welcome Queen Back Home," named for longtime air personality and eventual station owner Martha Jean "The Queen" Steinberg), and is now WDTK, owned by Salem Communications with a conservative news/talk format. Within a few years, WJLB-FM had soared into the upper reaches of the Detroit Arbitron ratings and has been there ever since, despite picking up competition from several competitors including WHYT (Power 96), which was mostly dance and Top 40 but in 1992 would flip to "96.3 Jamz" and aired a Rhythmic Contemporary
format, and then in 1996 at the 105.9 frequency, the former jazz-formatted WJZZ, which became WCHB-FM "The Beat" and later WDTJ "105.9 Jamz" (now urban AC-formatted WDMK
"105.9 Kiss-FM"). FM98 was famous for its specialty Friday Mix Shows with "Electrifying Mojo" and its Sunday Night Segway featuring mostly Slow R&B and Motown Soul tracks.
In April 1994, Booth American Company merged with Broadcast Alchemy
to become Secret Communications
. Later in the year in the month of August, Chancellor Media acquired the station from Secret Communications. In 1997, Chancellor Media and Evergreen, which already owned WKQI
"Q95.5" and WMGC later merged to form AMFM, Inc. In November 1999, AMFM, Inc. was purchased by Clear Channel Communications
. WJLB and sister station WMXD "Mix 92.3" have been under the Clear Channel banner ever since.
FM98 WJLB currently ranks at #8 (4.5) in the Detroit market according to the November 2010 PPM Ratings release.
WJLB is also known for Mixin Impossible Weekends during holidays, which includes DJ Kim James, DJ Blast, DJ Fingers, Don Q., DJ Polo and DJ Mo Beatz. Guest DJs include DJ Jinx, Dj Scratch, and DJ James O Steen.
Other notable programming includes The A List - Bushman and Ya Bigg Dog Blast on Friday nights. Weekend's/Fill-ins include Big Tigger, DJ Kim James, Deborah Smith Pollard, Jazzy T., and Ya Bigg Dogg Blast. WJLB's mixshow DJ crew is named The 7 Deadly Technics, which includes DJ Kim James, DJ Blast, DJ Fingers, Don Q., DJ Polo & DJ Mo Beatz.
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
Urban Contemporary
Urban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
in Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
that broadcasts on 97.9 megahertz (MHz) 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
Donnie Simpson
Donnie Simpson is a longtime American radio DJ as well as a television and movie personality. He hosted The Donnie Simpson Morning Show on Washington, D.C. radio station WPGC-FM from March 1993 to January 29, 2010. Simpson is the first urban-format radio personality to have an annual salary over...
. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, WJLB was the home of radio legend John Mason
John Mason (announcer)
John Mason born: Earnest Wooten is the public address announcer for the Detroit Pistons games at The Palace of Auburn Hills. He is known for his colorful introductions, and is credited with coining the popular chant "Deeeeee-troit basketball!" Mason's flamboyant voice has been requested at many...
.
WJLB, along with sister WMXD
WMXD
WMXD is a Clear Channel-owned Urban AC FM radio station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, that broadcasts on the frequency of 92.3 MHz. WMXD, which bills itself as "Today's R&B and the Best Old School Jamz," is consistently a very highly rated station in Detroit's Arbitron ratings reports,...
, had broadcast for 20 years in Detroit's Penobscot Building
Penobscot Building
The Greater Penobscot Building, commonly known as the Penobscot Building, is a skyscraper and class-A office building in downtown Detroit, Michigan. Rising 566 feet , the 47-story Penobscot was the tallest building in Michigan from its completion in 1928 until the construction of the Renaissance...
, which is located in the heart of Detroit's Downtown Financial District. Clear Channel moved both stations to their corporate consolidated owned building in Farmington Hills
Farmington Hills, Michigan
Farmington Hills is a community in southeastern Michigan. It is the largest city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Its population was 79,740 at the 2010 census...
in November 2009.
WJLB's transmitter is located in Highland Park
Highland Park, Michigan
- Geography :According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.- Demographics :As of the census of 2000, there were 16,746 people, 6,199 households, and 3,521 families residing in the city. The population density was 5,622.9 per square mile . There were 7,249...
near the intersection of Hamilton Avenue and Midland Street and transmits its signal from an antenna 489 feet in height with an effective radiated power of 50,000 watts.
FM98 can be heard far north as Flint
Flint, Michigan
Flint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the 2010 population to be placed at 102,434, making Flint the seventh largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the...
and as far west as Lansing
Lansing, Michigan
Lansing is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located mostly in Ingham County, although small portions of the city extend into Eaton County. The 2010 Census places the city's population at 114,297, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan...
on Interstate 96
Interstate 96
Interstate 96 is an intrastate Interstate Highway that is entirely within the US state of Michigan. Its western terminus is at an interchange with US Highway 31 and Business US Highway 31 , on the western boundary of Norton Shores southeast of Muskegon. Its eastern terminus is at I-75 near the...
, but begins to mix with WGRD (also at 97.9) in Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
farther west. WJLB can be picked up further at night in such places as Saginaw
Saginaw, Michigan
Saginaw is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw was once a thriving lumber town and manufacturing center. Saginaw and Saginaw County lie in the Flint/Tri-Cities region of Michigan...
, Battle Creek
Battle Creek, Michigan
Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek Rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle Creek, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area , which encompasses all of Calhoun county...
and Toledo
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
.
Early History
97.9 FM, The station that became WJLB began operation in around May 7, 1941, as a testing station with 1,000 watts of power at 44.9 megahertz frequency. On May 24, it officially began broadcasting as W49D, Michigan'sMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
second FM radio station. It was owned by John Lord Booth.
WLOU/WMZK Years
On September 12, 1945, W49D is finally assigned a full-powered frequency at 96.5 megahertz and renamed with the calls WLOU. In June 1948, the station moved up to the 97.9 freqnency with the new calls, WMZK, which was a play on the word music, "MuZiK" with a format of automated beautiful musicBeautiful music
Beautiful music is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in American radio from the 1960s through the 1980s...
. In later years, WMZK alternated between beautiful music and foreign-language programming for various ethnic groups.
FM98 is Born
In 1980, the WJLB calls migrated back to the FM dial along with an Urban contemporaryUrban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...
format from the 1400 kHz AM frequency. WJLB-AM, which went on the air as WMBC in 1926 and adopted the WJLB calls in 1939, had been providing programming geared toward Detroit's black community
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
for nearly four decades. Now, the stereo FM station became "FM 98 WJLB, Detroit's Strongest Songs". WJLB-AM 1400 continued to program to the African American community in Detroit for nearly a quarter-century afterward as WQBH ("Welcome Queen Back Home," named for longtime air personality and eventual station owner Martha Jean "The Queen" Steinberg), and is now WDTK, owned by Salem Communications with a conservative news/talk format. Within a few years, WJLB-FM had soared into the upper reaches of the Detroit Arbitron ratings and has been there ever since, despite picking up competition from several competitors including WHYT (Power 96), which was mostly dance and Top 40 but in 1992 would flip to "96.3 Jamz" and aired a Rhythmic Contemporary
Rhythmic Contemporary
Rhythmic contemporary, also known as rhythmic top 40, rhythmic contemporary hit radio or rhythmic crossover, is a music radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip-hop and R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary rarely uses rock music or country music in its airplay, but it may...
format, and then in 1996 at the 105.9 frequency, the former jazz-formatted WJZZ, which became WCHB-FM "The Beat" and later WDTJ "105.9 Jamz" (now urban AC-formatted 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 Kiss-FM"). FM98 was famous for its specialty Friday Mix Shows with "Electrifying Mojo" and its Sunday Night Segway featuring mostly Slow R&B and Motown Soul tracks.
In April 1994, Booth American Company merged with Broadcast Alchemy
Broadcast Alchemy
Broadcast Alchemy was a radio broadcasting company that merged with Booth American Company in April 1994 to form Secret communications LP....
to become Secret Communications
Secret Communications
Secret Communications was a radio broadcasting company formed by the April 1994 merger of Booth American Comapay and Broadcast Alchemy. The firm was headed by venture capitalist Frank Wood, who said the name "Secret" was created as a joke, and was eventually acquired by Jacor, and eventually, Clear...
. Later in the year in the month of August, Chancellor Media acquired the station from Secret Communications. In 1997, Chancellor Media and Evergreen, which already owned WKQI
WKQI
WKQI — branded Channel 955 — is a commercial pop/CHR radio station in Detroit, Michigan, owned by Clear Channel Communications. WKQI transmits its signal with an effective radiated power of 100,000 watts from an antenna 430 feet in height located at the intersection of Greenfield Road and 10 Mile...
"Q95.5" and WMGC later merged to form AMFM, Inc. In November 1999, AMFM, Inc. was purchased by Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
. WJLB and sister station WMXD "Mix 92.3" have been under the Clear Channel banner ever since.
FM98 WJLB currently ranks at #8 (4.5) in the Detroit market according to the November 2010 PPM Ratings release.
Airstaff
The current lineup (as of July 2010) includes CoCo, Foolish and Mr. Chase In The Morning with CoCo, Foolish, Mr. Chase & Tracey McCaskill (News). Middays are hosted by Cheron. Afternoon drive is hosted by Bushman. Evening shift is hosted by Dr. Darrius.WJLB is also known for Mixin Impossible Weekends during holidays, which includes DJ Kim James, DJ Blast, DJ Fingers, Don Q., DJ Polo and DJ Mo Beatz. Guest DJs include DJ Jinx, Dj Scratch, and DJ James O Steen.
Other notable programming includes The A List - Bushman and Ya Bigg Dog Blast on Friday nights. Weekend's/Fill-ins include Big Tigger, DJ Kim James, Deborah Smith Pollard, Jazzy T., and Ya Bigg Dogg Blast. WJLB's mixshow DJ crew is named The 7 Deadly Technics, which includes DJ Kim James, DJ Blast, DJ Fingers, Don Q., DJ Polo & DJ Mo Beatz.