 | |
| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Metro Detroit |
| Frequency | 106.7MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | 106-7 WLLZ: Detroit's Wheels |
| Programming | |
| Format | Classic rock |
| Subchannels | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WDFN,WJLB,WKQI,WMXD,WNIC | |
| History | |
First air date | October 16, 1960; 65 years ago (1960-10-16) |
Former call signs |
|
Call sign meaning | sounds like "wheels" |
| Technical information | |
| Facility ID | 59952 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 61,000watts[1] |
| HAAT | 155 meters (509 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 42°19′55″N83°2′42″W / 42.33194°N 83.04500°W /42.33194; -83.04500 |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | 1067wllz |
WLLZ (106.7MHz,Detroit's Wheels) is acommercialFMradio stationlicensed toDetroit, Michigan. It is owned byiHeartMedia and it broadcasts aclassic rockradio format, focusing mostly onactive rock titles from the 1980s and 1990s. Itsstudios are in the Detroit suburb ofFarmington Hills on Halsted Road.
WLLZ has aneffective radiated power (ERP) of 61,000watts. It is one of several Detroit FM stations that aregrandfathered at a higher power than the maximum 50,000 watts that would be permitted today. Thetransmitter is atop theCadillac Tower on Cadillac Square at Bates Avenue inDowntown Detroit.[2]
The station began operations on October 16, 1960, as WDTM, airingclassical music andjazz.[3] It was owned by Taliesin Stations and was anaffiliate of theWQXR Network, based at the leadingNew York City classical station.[4]
In 1966,Gordon McLendon purchased the station, changed thecall sign to WWWW ("W4"), and installed abeautiful music format.[citation needed] The station was located at 2930 E. Jefferson Avenue in Detroit, in a building now housing the marijuana law firm Cannabis Counsel, P.L.C.[5]
By 1970, McLendon changed W4's format from easy listening to "Solid Gold" (oldies-orientedTop 40) as "W4 Stereo." Thedisc jockey staff included Don Schuster and Detroit radio legendTom Clay. During its Solid Gold period, W4 was one of the first stations to pick up Detroit radio veteranCasey Kasem's newly syndicated countdown show,American Top 40.
In 1971, "W4" became an album oriented rock station. In 1974, it briefly styled itself "W4 Quad" during its brief use of quadrophonic transmission. In the late 1970s, album-rock W4 was one of the top-rated radio stations in Detroit.
Shamrock Broadcasting purchased W4 in July 1979.[6] The station is most remembered today as one of the early radio jobs forHoward Stern, who was brought in fromHartford, Connecticut, to host mornings, beginning April 21, 1980. However, W4 was one of four Detroit stations with an AOR format, and faced with increasing competition and rapidly falling ratings, management decided to make a change.[7]
With no advance notice, Shamrock changed the station's format tocountry music on January 18, 1981.[8] At first, the DJs, including Stern, were kept on to play country hits. The station reportedly planned to brand Howard Stern as "Hopalong Howie," which he declined after two weeks, moving toWWDC-FM inWashington, D.C. In the filmPrivate Parts, Stern announces his departure in the middle of a song, claiming he didn't understand country music.[9][10]
The move to country music paid off; the Detroitradio market, the nation's fifth largest at the time, had no FM country music station. In addition, Detroit and its suburbs had a sizable percentage of the population whose families hailed from theSouthern United States and grew up with the genre. W4 Country's first years coincided with the rise in popularity of country music, even outside the South. At the time of the country format's launch, the immediate Detroit area's only country music station was on AM,WCXI at 1130 kHz. WWWW became the first FM country station in Detroit sinceWCAR-FM's andCKLW-FM's brief tries at the format in the mid-1970s. As a result, WCXI's ratings fell. By the early 1990s, AM 1130 was being used as asimulcast for W4.
"W4 Country" lasted almost two decades and did reasonably well in the ratings, under the leadership of programmer Barry Mardit, who joined the station in late 1981. The station posted a #1 finish in the Fall 1992 DetroitArbitron radio ratings with an 8.7 share. The following year, the station gained a strong competitor inWYCD, causing WWWW's ratings to decline. Recording artistHolly Dunn served as morning co-host on W4 Country during the late 1990s. Declining ratings and revenue led owners AMFM (which became part of Clear Channel Communications in August 2000) to drop the country format at 6 p.m. on September 1, 1999. The final song played on "W4 Country" was "The Dance" byGarth Brooks, followed by "The Star-Spangled Banner."[11]
For two days, WWWWstunted with a 400-Hz tone, and ran a contest to correctly guess the day and time that the tone would end. On September 3, 1999, at 2:05 p.m., the station relaunched as "Alice 106.7," featuring "Rockin' Hits of the '80s and '90s." The first song was "All Right Now" byFree.[12][13]
The callsign WWWW remained for another year until the new call sign WLLC was adopted on October 2, 2000. Emphasis was eventually put on the "C" during reciting the legalstation identification ("WLL..See") due to listeners mistakenly believing the station picked up call letters WLLZ, which had been used on 98.7 (nowWDZH). In September 2000, the WWWW call sign moved to102.9 MHz, the former WIQB, in nearbyAnn Arbor, also owned by Clear Channel.
While WYCD benefited from the end of "W4 Country," ratings for "Alice" remained anemic.
In July 2002, WLLC changed its call letters to WDTW-FM and relaunched as "106.7 The Drive."[14] It mainly featured classic hard rock tracks from the 1970s through the 1990s with a more upbeat and harder-edged presentation thanclassic rock rivalWCSX. WDTW-FM's ratings continued to be poor.
At noon on May 17, 2006, "The Drive" signed off with "Too Late For Love" byDef Leppard, followed by an announcement from legendary Detroit TV news anchorBill Bonds, talking about "building a brand new radio station" at 106.7 and "letting you, the listeners, choose the music." For the next week, listeners who registered at 1067needshelp.com picked the newradio format, the station's name, logo, voice of the station and number of commercials per hour.[15]
On May 19, after playing two days of music from many formats, then narrowing it down to just rock and country, it was announced at 3 p.m. that the format would becountry music. The first official song played under the country format was "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)" byBig & Rich.[16] On May 22, the station became "106.7 The Fox." Finally, on May 26, 2006, the format change appeared complete as the voice of the station and minutes of music per hour were announced. Radio insiders believed the station had adopted a country format only to steal listeners from WYCD, and keep co-ownedWNIC in the #1 slot.[17] Ratings for The Fox remained low during its entire run and had little impact on WYCD. On April 29, 2009, WDTW-FM went jockless and soft-relaunched under the branding of "Detroit Fox Country 106-7." The station also began putting more focus on newer country music.
On September 4, 2009, at noon, WDTW flipped torhythmic adult contemporary asThe Beat of Detroit. The final song on “The Fox” was “Shuttin’ Detroit Down” byJohn Rich, while the first song on “The Beat” was “Into the Groove” by Detroit nativeMadonna. The station featured a mix of current and hit rhythmic anddance music, mostly from the 1980s and 1990s, with some 1970sdisco hits.[18][19]
By 2010, withCBS Radio'sWVMV's flip to top 40, and sister stationWKQI's shift in a mainstream top 40 direction, WDTW began pivoting towards a conventionalrhythmic contemporary direction by adding more current music and cutting back on the heavy amount of gold product. WDTW-FM still featured many Rhythmic AC elements in its presentation. The station would later reintroduce some 1980s and 1990s gold into rotation, usually two or three songs per hour, although 1970s disco music was not part of the format. The station also introduced the "Back In The Day Lunch Party" at Noon and "90s at 9" every evening. In addition, it blended in a few Dance cuts as well.Sean "Hollywood" Hamilton's syndicatedRemix Top 30 aired on Sunday evenings. The Beat also brought in some well known personalities including WDRQ vet Lisa Lisa Orlando for middays, Joe Rosati ofZ100 inNew York for afternoons, and Jevon Hollywood, also from WDRQ, for late nights. Mornings and evenings werevoicetracked by Paul "Cubby" Bryant ofWKTU inNew York and Billy The Kidd of106.1 Kiss-FM inDallas. Former WDRQ morning host Jay Towers was hired as program director.
Ratings throughout The Beat's history were moderate, usually peaking in the mid-3 share range or lower. In the last ratings book as a Rhythmic Top 40, WDTW-FM was ranked #18 with a 2.2 share of the market.
On November 4, 2011, at 10 a.m., WDTW-FM changed its format back toclassic rock, branded as106.7 The D.[20] The final song on "The Beat" was "End of the Road" byBoyz II Men, while the first song on "The D" was "For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)" byAC/DC.
The station described the new format as "The Next Generation of Classic Rock," meaning the station included more 1980s rock, along with the usual 1970s titles, as well as early 1990s' rock material. The station remainedautomated until early 2012, when the station began assembling a DJ staff. WDTW-FM brought in radio vet Sheri Donovan for middays andWGRD vet Dave Dahmer for afternoons. Alan Cox hosted the morningdrive time shift live from a studio inCleveland.
On May 26, 2017, WDTW-FM segued to avariety hits format, while still branding as "The D."[21] Following the switch, the station's ratings share fell from 2.7 to a 2.2 share, putting it at #19 in the market by October 2017.[22]
On November 20, 2017, at 9:24 p.m., after playing "Closing Time" bySemisonic, WDTW-FM flipped to analternative rock format asAlt 106-7, launching with a 10,000 songs commercial-free promotion. The first song was "Seven Nation Army" by Detroit bandThe White Stripes. The new format gave Detroit its first alternative rock station sinceWMGC-FM's period as105.1 The Edge from 1997 to 1999, while also co-existing withBell Media's active rock-leaning alternative stationCIMX (which targetsWindsor).[22]
It was speculated that the flip was intended to preempt Entercom'sWDZH from flipping to alternative under the company's ownAlt brand,[22] which it had done withAmp Radio stations in several other markets immediately after its merger withCBS Radio (the station would instead switch to soft adult contemporary, before finally switching to alternative in 2020 in reaction to CIMX's flip tocountry).[23][24][25][26][27]
WDTW-FM's alternative rock format had fallen to a 1.5 share by January 2019, putting it well behindBeasley's market-leadingWRIF, which airs an active rock format. On March 1, 2019, at Noon, after playing "In Bloom" byNirvana, the station began stunting with a loop of "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" byAC/DC. At 1 p.m., the station returned to classic rock once more as106.7 WLLZ, Detroit's Wheels, reviving a brand that had previously been used on WDZH prior to its switch to smooth jazz in 1995. The first song on the revived WLLZ was "Back in Black", also by AC/DC.[28][29]
The station's call letters were officially changed to WLLZ on March 8, 2019. Both the WLLZ and WDTW-FM call signs were briefly warehoused bya sister station in North Carolina.[30][31]
On April 22, 2022, iHeartMedia filed a construction permit with the FCC to reduce WLLZ’s power to 39,000 watts, along with a relocation of their transmitter and antenna to a tower shared withNPR affiliateWDET. According to the filing with the FCC, this move would allow WLLZ to gain some antenna height versus their old setup, and transmitting from 169 meters HAAT, as opposed to their old setup of 155 meters from atop the Cadillac Tower. If approved, WLLZ will lose its "grandfathered" status.[32][33]
WLLZ broadcasts in theHD Radio format. WLLZ's HD2 subchannel has changed several times since its inception in 2006. From January 2006 to December 2009, the HD2 channel was known as "The Mother Trucker" and featured a mix of country and rock music. In December 2009, the format was changed to Clear Channel'sPride Radio which featureddance music geared toward theLGBT community.
On November 4, 2011, after the main frequency changed to classic rock, the HD2 format changed as well.[34] This time, it began carrying Clear Channel's "Alternative Project" feed fromiHeartRadio. The HD2 channel's format was changed again to the "Rock Nation Top 20" fromiHeartRadio after the analog/HD1 channel's format switched to alternative rock.
Sometime after the main frequency switched to "Alt 106.7," WDTW-FM added an HD3 subchannel known as "WLLZ-Detroit Wheels" which playedoldies and has remained in place even after the main channel adopted the "WLLZ" branding.
With the main channel's switch to classic rock on March 1, 2019, the HD2 channel briefly switched to a feed of iHeartRadio'sSmells Like the 90s channel (which focused on alternative rock from the 1990s), before switching to arhythmic contemporary format asWild 106.7 in July.
On March 14, 2025, the "iHeart 80s" and "iHeart 90s" stations were added to the HD2 and HD3 channels.
