WRIF

Infobox Radio station
name = WRIF


city = Detroit, Michigan
area = [http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WRIF&service=FM&status=L&hours=U]
branding = 101 WRIF
slogan = Everything That Rocks!
frequency = 101.1 MHz HD Radio
101.1 HD-2: RIFF2
Local Rock & Hip-Hop
airdate = January 1, 1948
format = Active Rock
erp = 27,000 watts
haat = 268 meters
class = B
facility_id = 11278
coordinates = coord|42|28|15.00|N| 83|15|0.00|W|region:US_type:city
callsign_meaning = After a musical term, guitar riff
former_callsigns = WXYZ-FM (1/1/48-2/14/71)
owner = Greater Media
sister_stations = WCSX, WMGC-FM
webcast = [http://www.wrif.com/wriflive.asx Listen live]
website = [http://www.wrif.com wrif.com]

WRIF (101.1 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a Active Rock format. Licensed to Detroit, Michigan, USA, the station serves the Detroit area. The station is currently owned by Greater Media [ cite web|url=http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?call=WRIF |title=WRIF Facility Record |work=United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division ] The signal can also be heard as far as Flint, Port Huron, Jackson, Chatham-Kent and Lambton County, Ontario, Northern Toledo and sometimes as far south as Delaware, OH. WRIF is a grandfathered Class B station with a signal equivalent to 92,000 watts at 500ft. HAAT

History

WXYZ-FM

It was 1948 when WXYZ-FM signed on at 101.1 MHz in Detroit. For most of the station's early years, the station was simply a simulcast of WXYZ-AM 1270 (now WXYT-AM). That changed in 1966 when the FCC decreed separate programming for at least half of the broadcast day on FM stations that had previously been simulcasts of their AM sisters. WXYZ-FM separated programming and aired first a MOR/adult standards format, then later went to a rock-based Top 40 approach called "Boss 101," which featured mostly harder rock hits with little to no pop or soul product. Then in 1970, the station's then-owner, ABC made WXYZ-FM an affiliate of the "Love" network, a nationally syndicated underground rock format from ABC that predated today's satellite-fed radio formats (another "Love" affiliate was sister WLS-FM in Chicago). WXYZ-FM hired at least one local jock for this format - Arthur Penhallow.

101 WRIF

On February 14, 1971, the station changed its call letters to WRIF. It's widely believed that ABC made a mistake when applying for these calls - they had intended the WRIF calls for their 94.7 in Chicago, while 101.1 in Detroit was supposed to have been WDAI (Detroit Auto Industry), and they mixed up the two stations when applying for the call letters. Chicago got the WDAI calls, and their 94.7 frequency (now WLS-FM) was destined for years of failure through many format and call letter changes.

WRIF was a pioneer in the album-oriented rock format, utilizing many elements of progressive rock radio while maintaining a tight, Top-40 style playlist. Other ABC stations with a similar sound included WPLJ in New York and WDVE in Pittsburgh. WRIF was not a pure rocker in its early years - you could hear such artists as KC & The Sunshine Band and the Bee Gees alongside Alice Cooper, Traffic, and the Allman Brothers. After 1975, WRIF dropped most of the pop artists to concentrate on rock, but they would play a pop or disco song if it were extremely popular. "Stayin' Alive," for example, got many spins on WRIF in 1977-78.

Many young people in the Detroit area considered WRIF to be a stepping stone in those years - if you were too hip for Top-40 800 CKLW or 93.1 WDRQ, but not quite ready for progressive rock 99.5 WABX or 106.7 WWWW (W4), you listened to WRIF.

The 1980s was probably the decade that saw the most change in the Detroit radio dial. Among other changes a new rocker was installed at 98.7, WLLZ "Detroits Wheels" and it proved so popular that it took out two other Detroit rock stations. 106.7 WWWW went country in 1980, and WABX as we knew it was gone in 1983 when it switched to a CHR format called "Hot Rock" and then went adult contemporary as WCLS. But WRIF soldiered on, even though it was sold twice in the 1980s and its rock format was on the chopping block more than once (rumors persisted in the late '80s that the station was to switch to an urban contemporary format, especially after the debut of classic rock WCSX in 1987, but it did not). In May 2006, WRIF outlasted yet another rock station but with a twist. 106.7 "The Drive" switched to country (this time as "106.7 The Fox") just as it did back in 1980 when it was known as "W4".

The station served as a backdrop for the Kevin Costner film The Upside of Anger.

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 allowed one company to own more than one station on the same band in the same market for the first time, and Greater Media, who already owned Detroit's classic rocker 94.7 WCSX, wasted no time purchasing WRIF. They own the station to this day.

Morning Crews

The 1980s saw the Morning Crew—Jim Johnson ("JJ") and Dick The Bruiser (AKA George Baier)—in their prime, spoofing songs with hits such as "96 Beers", "Beer Frame", and "Bars", and lampooning Meet the Press with "Meet the Bruiser". Despite WRIF's playing of disco songs, JJ and the Morning Crew created DREAD: Detroit Rockers Engaged in the Abolition of Disco.

In 1991, WRIF hired a new morning team from Phoenix, AZ - Drew & Zip. Zip was gone by 1994 and was replaced by local personality Mike Clark. Drew and Mike went on to become the #1 rated morning show in Detroit. In September 2007 Drew Lane left WRIF for an indefinite length of time to take care of his girlfriend. In April 2008, it was announced that Drew would not be returning to WRIF. The show is now named "Mike In The Morning".

WRIF Today

In the Summer 2008 Phase II rating release, WRIF ranks as the #9 (Arbitron rated) radio station in the Detroit market. WRIF's format, according to Arbitron, is Active Rock, and includes a wide variety of modern rock and classic hard rock. Arthur Penhallow, the local DJ that WXYZ-FM hired way back in 1970, is still doing the afternoon drive at WRIF. He has thus been hosting the same radio time slot at the same station for over 35 years.

In 2007, the station was named "Active Rock station of the year in a top 25 market award" by Radio & Records magazine. Other nominees included WIYY in Baltimore, WAAF in Boston, KBPI in Denver, WMMR in Philadelphia, and KISW in Seattle. cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=2007 Industry Achievement Awards | date=Sept 28, 2008 | publisher= | url =http://www.radioandrecords.com/Conventions/con2007/awards/rockFinal.asp | work =Radio and Records]

WRIF's HD Radio multicast signal is called "RIFF2" and features music by local Detroit artists, both rock and hip-hop, as well as other non-mainstream artists largely ignored by commercial radio.

Airstaff

The current lineup (as of May 2008) is as follows

* Morning Show: Mike In The Morning - Mike Clark, Mike Wolters, Marc Fellhauer & Trudi Daniels
* Mid-Days: Doug Podell
* Afternoon Drive: Arthur Penhallow & "Rock Girl" Cristy Lee (Traffic)
* Nighttime: Meltdown
* Overnights: Screaming Scott Randall
* Weekenders: Allen "Slayer" Beck, Steve Black, Anne Carlini, Suzy Cole, Gerri Gerardi, Hightower, Juline Jordan, Taylor Robinson & Peter Werbe (NightCall)

References

* [http://www.michiguide.com/dials/rad-p/wrif.html Michiguide.com - WRIF History]

External links

*FMQ|WRIF
*FML|WRIF
*FMARB|WRIF