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|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Metro Detroit |
| Frequency | 99.5MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | New Country 99-5 YCD |
| Programming | |
| Format | Country music |
| Affiliations | United Stations Radio Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | May 4, 1960 (1960-05-04) |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | "Young Country Detroit" |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 1089 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 17,500 watts |
| HAAT | 240 meters (790 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 42°27′13″N83°09′50″W / 42.45361°N 83.16389°W /42.45361; -83.16389 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (via Audacy) |
| Website | www |
WYCD (99.5FM, "New Country 99-5 YCD") is acommercialradio stationlicensed toDetroit, Michigan. It broadcasts acountry musicformat and is owned byAudacy, Inc. WYCD's offices andstudios are on American Drive inSouthfield, Michigan.
WYCD has aneffective radiated power (ERP) of 17,500watts. Thetransmitter, which shares atower with several other Detroit-area FM stations, is on Radio Plaza inFerndale.[2] WYCD broadcasts usingHD Radio technology; its HD-2digital subchannel formerly aired "New Country", while the HD-3 subchannel formerly carriedContemporary Christian music as "The Crossing."
In 1948, the 99.5 FM frequency was used by WCAR-FM inPontiac, Michigan. It was the FMsister station of WCAR (nowWDFN). In 1956, WCAR moved from Pontiac to Detroit. But few people owned FM radios in that era, so the FM signal was dropped, leaving 99.5 FM open in Detroit. (In 1964, WCAR bought WLIN-FM 92.3 and rename that station WCAR-FM. 92.3 is now known asWMXD.)[3]
The 99.5 frequency returned to the air on May 4, 1960, as WABX, which began as aclassical music station. It switched toMiddle of the Road music in 1964. For a short period beginning in August 1967, the station adopted an all-femaledisc jockey staff during the day, in an era when women were rarely heard on the radio. They played jazz-oriented pop music and humorous bits. The idea came from Mickey Shorr, who was program manager and creative director of Century Broadcasting Corp., the station's owner.
During the fall of 1967, WABX began airing a new music show called "Troubadour" from 7 to 8 p.m., hosted by station manager John Small. The show featuredblues,folk music androck music. During this time, WABX was still airing an MOR format, with an emphasis on jazz-influenced music from artists likeFrank Sinatra,Nat King Cole,Mel Tormé,Nancy Wilson andJoe Williams.
The strong, positive response generated by "Troubadour" was enough to convince the station's owners to adopt a full-timefreeformprogressive rock format. On February 1, 1968, aplaylist of acceptable tunes went out: the DJs picked their own music, and Century Broadcasting Corporation bit its tongue. With a progressive rock format, WABX became a springboard for the new music that no other station in the market aired. During the 1960s, the top music stations wereWJR, with its MOR format, andCKLW, theTop 40 leader.
The ABX revolution was one of style as well as sound. The station made itself a community catalyst for fun: free concerts and movies, kite-flying and bike-ins. The station played a role in giving many artists the recognition that they did not have at the time, includingThe Doors,Jimi Hendrix,Cream,Iron Butterfly, andThe Who. The success of WABX inspired other Detroit stations such asWKNR-FM andWXYZ-FM to adopt the progressive-rock approach. One of the WABX DJs was "Air Ace" Dave Dixon, himself a musician who co-wrote thePeter, Paul and Mary hit "I Dig Rock and Roll Music."
During the 1970s, WABX evolved into a more mainstreamalbum oriented rock (AOR) station playing the biggest selling albums. WABX took a softer, more laid-back approach than its competitors. The station was branded as "WABX 99" during this era with alogo featuring yellow lettering on a black background.[4] The station's studio moved from its original location in theDavid Stott Building in downtown Detroit to a new facility in suburbanOak Park during this period.
By 1982, WABX was third in the ratings out of three album rock stations in Detroit (behindWRIF andWLLZ). Century Broadcasting sold the station toLiggett Broadcasting that year. Under new program director Paul Christy, WABX shifted from album rock to "Hot Rock," aTop 40/rock hybrid, known on the air as "Detroit's New Music." It played a wide variety of new wave, pop, rock and urban product with a slick,CHR-style presentation. However, the station's market share continued to decline throughout 1983. A little over a year after WABX debuted "Hot Rock," Liggett decided to change the station's format and call letters.[5]
On January 9, 1984, WABX's era as a rock station came to an end with the song "When the Music's Over" byThe Doors. The station then became "Class FM", WCLS, with asoft adult contemporary format. However, the adult contemporary field in Detroit was as crowded as the rock format had been, and "Class FM" was not successful. Around this time, Liggett sold the station to Metropolis Broadcasting.
The following year, the station became WDTX, reverting to a rock-based Top 40/CHR format meant to be a radio version ofMTV.[6][7] Eventually, the format evolved into mainstream CHR. However, its success against CHR rivalsWCZY andWHYT was limited.
On July 25, 1988, shortly after Hoker Broadcasting bought the station, WDTX changed its call letters to WDFX, and rebranded as "99.5 The Fox".[8][9] Part of the branding for this format included a logo with red lettering and a fox tail coming off the letter X. A cartoon fox was featured on some logos wearing a checkered shirt reclining on "The Fox" logo while holding akeytar.[4] Part of the station's formula also involved taking frequent on-air pot shots at competitors Z95.5 (referring to the station's previous identity as "Cozy FM" and for featuring too much talk) and Power 96 (referring to it as "Disco 96" for its rhythmic lean).
The station had a promising start, rocketing from 15th to third place 12+ in the fall 1988Arbitron ratings report and leaping ahead of WCZY and WHYT to become the number one hit station in the market. The ratings then cooled off when The Fox tweaked its CHR format into "Rock 40," a variation of Top 40 heavy onhair bands and other rock-oriented acts. Afterwards, The Fox tweaked its format back to mainstream CHR, and at the same time, added somehip hop to compete withPower 96. (Z95.5 had left the CHR format by then to flip to anAdult Top 40 format.) Ratings improved and the station posted frequent Arbitron top 10 showings in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, advertising revenue was poor and, in September 1990, the station went intoreceivership. In addition, WDFX's ratings were adversely affected (as were WHYT's) by the debut of modern rock station89X in 1991. In August 1992, Alliance Broadcasting bought the station.[10][11]
On December 24, 1992, WDFX startedstunting by having a character named "Cowboy Hugh Chardon" (played by Dr. Don Carpenter) play "Friends In Low Places" byGarth Brooks repeatedly (for his good buddy Bobby Stalls inBirmingham) and try to kill "The Fox" using various methods suggested by "listeners".[12] At midnight on Christmas Day, the station switched its stunting to an electronicCommodore 64 basedtext-to-speech voice counting down from 63,752 to number one on December 28. (This was apparently done so the staff could rebuild the studios.)[13]
Instead of debuting a new format when the countdown ended, it stunted for another week with a six-hour loop of novelty songs they called "goofy loops" played repeatedly.[14] This continued until the early morning of January 4, 1993 (the first Monday after New Years), when the station finally finished changing formats and became "99-5 Wow-FM" WOWF (the call letters had actually been in place since October 1992). It was atalk radio station with broadcasters such as Art Vuolo and Ed Tyll hosting shows. However, by popular demand, the "goofy loops" track was brought back at weekends for the life of the station.[15][16]
WOWF promoted its talk format as an alternative toWWJ andWJR by touting the station's FM signal as clear and static-free, including using theSteely Dan song "FM (No Static at All)" in its promos.[17] Station management described the format in radio trade papers as "hip full service," combining approaches of CNN and MTV/VH1, and avoided the label "news/talk" as it was thought that such a label branded the station as being "old" and "stodgy." However, the station could never make any significant inroads, and in less than five months' time, the talk format was abandoned.
On May 28, 1993, at 3 p.m., the station abruptly dropped the talk format in favor of "Young Country", with the first song being "Small Town Saturday Night" byHal Ketchum. With the change, the station switched its call letters to WYCD.[18][19] Part of the branding for this format included the logo for "Young Country" with red and blue lettering and blue background and a star in the middle of the word "Young".[4] Dr. Don Carpenter was one of the few air staffers (afternoons) who remained from the "Wow FM" format. Other personalities included in the original lineup were Jim "JD" Daniels and Katie Marroso (mornings), Mark Elliot (middays), Jyl Forsyth (nights) and Eddie Haskell (weekends). The DJ schedule was later shifted, with Doctor Don still in afternoons, Joe Wade Formicola in mornings, Jyl Forsyth in middays, Su-Anna in evenings and Brian Hatfield on overnights.
WYCD positioned itself as a younger-leaning alternative to crosstownW4 Country, which had been enjoying big ratings as the only country station in town. WYCD kept the personality elements from the previous "Wow FM" format and combined it with younger-sounding country music to create "Morning Shows" all day that highlighted listener calls, requests and fun jock talk. It was all a part of owner Alliance's "Young Country" concept that it had on the air inDallas,Seattle, andSan Francisco. While not a powerhouse in those days, WYCD was successful in its quest to cut into W4's sizable audience share, forcing WWWW to switch to aclassic rock format in September 1999.
In September 1995, Alliance was bought out byInfinity Broadcasting. (Infinity was renamedCBS Radio in December 2005).[20]
On February 16, 2001, WYCD dropped the "Young Country 99.5" moniker in favor of "Country 99.5".
During the9/11 attacks, the station simulcasted news coverage from sister-stationsWWJ-TV andWWJ (AM).[21]
In April 2002, the station rebranded itself as "99.5 WYCD, Detroit's Best Country"; by June 2006, the station refined its branding to simply "99.5 WYCD."
With the country format all to itself in Detroit from 1999 to 2006, WYCD was consistently a Top 10-rated station. In the spring of 2006, WYCD had its best ratings book when it tied for first place 12+ withhip-hop stationFM98 WJLB.
The high ratings at WYCD are probably what ledWDTW-FM to switch formats back to country in May 2006. After three years of competing in the format, WDTW dropped country music for Rhythmic AC, due to low ratings, making WYCD once again the only country station in Detroit. Then, in December 2013,WDRQ flipped to the format as "Nash FM 93.1".
In 2007, WYCD was nominated for the top 25 marketsCountry musicRadio & Records magazine station of the year award. Other nominees includedWUSN Chicago,KYGO-FM Denver,KEEY-FM Minneapolis,WXTU Philadelphia, andKSON-FM San Diego.[22]
In early 2017, WYCD was the first station in Michigan to add the "Country Fried Mix" with DJ Sinister to its lineup.
On February 2, 2017,CBS Radio announced it would merge with Entercom.[23] The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on November 17.[24][25] In 2021, Entercom changed its name to Audacy, Inc.
On January 2, 2020, WYCD tweaked its branding after 19 years to simply "99-5 YCD, Detroit's #1 For Country". On February 18, 2020, to combat againstWDRQ's relaunch as "New Country 93-1," WYCD once again tweaked its branding to "New Country 99-5 YCD."
Since 2000, WYCD has been the hosts for one of the largest free country music festivals in the world. The Hoedown takes place one weekend every May in downtown Detroit's Hart Plaza. It is a major showcase of new upcoming artists and some very well recognized ones as well.
The Hoedown was established back in 1983 by former Detroit country outletWCXI/WCXI-FM. Its first event featured artists likeHank Williams Jr.,Tanya Tucker andMel Tillis. This event soon would attract people from all across the country. When WCXI was sold by Gene Autry's Golden West Broadcasters to Shamrock Broadcasting, Shamrock's Detroit stationW4 Country took over the event.
In May 2000, WYCD took over hosting the Hoedown. The station's first year hosting saw artists likeTrace Adkins,Montgomery Gentry andRascal Flatts. Over the years, the Hoedown has had its share of very well known artists kicking off their careers at the concert. Some of these includeReba McEntire,Luke Bryan,Travis Tritt,Toby Keith, andLonestar, and in 1989, came an unknown artist by the name ofGarth Brooks.
The audience at the event has always increased every year. In 2010, the Hoedown saw its biggest audience yet with over 1.3 million people showing up over the three-day period. 2010 would also be the last year the Downtown Hoedown was a free festival. In years after, WYCD would charge $25 to $30 for admittance.
In 2010, at the 28th annual Downtown Hoedown, WYCD welcomed nationally known recording artistsUncle Kracker,Zac Brown Band,Dierks Bentley,Darryl Worley andJustin Moore, among many others.
In 2012, due to a big audience, the Hoedown was relocated to in front ofComerica Park. In 2015, it was announced that it would be moving to West Riverfront Park and would be cut down to only two days.
In 2015, it was announced that it would move yet again, this time toDTE Energy Music Theater. The event will also be shortened to a 1-day concert on Sunday July 31, 2016. After moving to DTE Energy Music Theater, the "Downtown Hoedown" name was dropped and changed to "WYCD Hoedown" or "99.5 WYCD Hoedown".
