area metro detroit branding 106 7 the d slogan whatever rocks frequency 106.7 mhz also on hd radio first air date october 16 1960 as wdtm format classic rock analog hd1 alternative rock hd2 erp 61 000 watts haat 155 meters 509 ft class b facility id 59952 transmitter coordinates 42 19 55.00 n 83 2 42.00 w 42.3319444 n 83.0450000 w 42.3319444 ; 83.0450000 callsign meaning dtw is the iata airport code for detroit metropolitan airport former callsigns wdtm 1960 66 wwww 1966 92 wwww fm 1992 2000 wllc 2000 02 wdtw 2002 05 affiliations iheartradio premium choice owner iheartmedia inc. amfm radio licenses l.l.c. sister stations wdfn wjlb wkqi wmxd wnic webcast listen live website 106.7 the d wdtw fm 106.7 fm 106 7 the d is a radio station licensed to detroit michigan ; broadcasting a classic rock format . the station is owned by iheartmedia inc. . in addition to a standard analog transmission wdtw fm broadcasts over hd radio and is available online via iheartradio ; the hd2 digital subchannel airs alternative rock via the premium choice network as the alternative project . wdtw fm studios are located in the detroit suburb of farmington hills while the station transmitter resides atop cadillac tower in downtown detroit . contents 1 history 1.1 wdtm 1.2 w4 stereo w4 quad 1.3 w4 country 1.4 alice 106.7 the drive 1.5 106.7 the fox 1.6 106 7 the beat of detroit 1.7 106.7 the d 2 hd radio 3 airstaff 4 references 5 external links history edit wdtm edit the station began operations on october 16 1960 as wdtm airing classical and jazz music like many other fms of the time . gordon mclendon purchased the station in 1966 changed the call letters to wwww w4 and installed a beautiful music format . the station was at that time located at 2930 e. jefferson avenue in detroit in a building now housing the marijuana law firm cannabis counsel p.l.c. 1 w4 stereo w4 quad edit by 1970 mclendon changed w4 s format from easy listening to solid gold oldies oriented top 40 as w4 stereo with an airstaff that included don schuster and detroit radio legend tom clay . during its oldies period w4 was one of the first stations to pick up detroit radio veteran casey 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 . it is most remembered today as one of the early radio jobs for howard stern . stern was the morning dj in 1980 . shamrock broadcasting purchased w4 in july 1979 and faced with increasing competition . w4 was one of four detroit stations broadcasting in the aor format . w4 country edit shamrock changed the station s format to country music on january 18 1981 . the new management reportedly planned to brand then morning host howard stern as hopalong howie which he declined after two weeks moving to wwdc fm in washington d.c. in the film private parts stern announces his departure in the middle of a song claiming he didn t understand country music . 2 the move to country music paid off though . the detroit market the nation s fifth largest at the time was bereft of fm country music stations despite the market containing a sizable percentage of population whose families hailed from the southern united states and grew up with the genre . w4 country s first years coincided with the rise in popularity of country music as a whole from a genre concentrated in the south and other parts of rural america into one with a nationwide following . at the time of the country format s launch the immediate detroit area s only country music station was an am station wcxi on 1130 khz . wwww became the first fm country station in detroit since wcar fm s and cklw fm s brief tries at the format in the mid 1970s and as a result wcxi s ratings fell . by the early 1990s am 1130 was being used as a simulcast for w4 . from 1982 1986 w4 had competition from wcxi fm coincidentally the former wcar fm separately programmed from the am but the fm station never took off . w4 country lasted for 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 detroit arbitron ratings with an 8.7 share . the following year the station gained a strong competitor in wycd and thereafter wwww fell into the lower reaches of the top ten . recording artist holly dunn served as morning co host on w4 country during the late 1990s . the dropping ratings combined with low advertising revenue led owners amfm which became part of clear channel in august 2000 to drop the country format on september 1 1999 at 6 pm . the final song played on w4 country was the dance by garth brooks followed by the star spangled banner . alice 106.7 the drive edit logo 1999 2002 logo 2002 06 then on september 3 1999 at 2 05 pm after two days of stunting with a 400 hz tone which also involved a contest to correctly guess the day and time that the tone would end the station relaunched as alice 106.7 featuring rockin hits of the 80s and 90s with all right now by free being the first song played . the wwww calls remained for another year until the new calls wllc were adopted on october 2 2000 . emphasis was eventually put on the c during reciting the legal id wll . . see due to listeners mistakenly believing the station picked up call letters wllz which used to be for 98.7 now wdzh . in september 2000 the wwww callsign was moved to 102.9 mhz in nearby ann arbor by clear channel as they relaunched w4 country on that frequency . it had been a rock station prior to that as wiqb . while wycd was the chief ratings beneficiary of the death of w4 country ratings for alice remained anemic and in july 2002 the station changed its calls to wdtw and relaunched as 106.7 the drive with not much change in format . the drive featured mainly classic hard rock tracks from the 1970s through the 1990s with some more recent material with a more upbeat and harder rocking presentation than classic rock rival wcsx . yet the station s ratings continued to be poor . 106.7 the fox edit at noon on may 17 2006 the drive signed off with too late for love by def leppard followed by an announcement by legendary detroit tv news anchor bill bonds stating that they were building a brand new radio station at 106.7 and letting you the listeners choose the music . for the next week the listeners who registered at 1067needshelp . com picked first the new radio format then the station s name logo voice of the station and number of commercials per hour . 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 pm that the format was country music . the first official song played under the country format was save a horse ride a cowboy by big & rich . by may 22 the name of the station would be 106.7 the fox and the new logo for the station was picked on may 24 . the logo was very similar to vancouver rocker cfox fm . 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 competitor wycd which was starting to challenge clear channel s adult contemporary wnic in revenue and ratings . 3 but ratings for the fox remained low during its entire run and never really took away from wycd s audience . on april 29 2009 in a similar move to what had been done at sister station wdfn wdtw dropped all on air talent and soft relaunched under the branding of detroit fox country 106 7 . the station also began putting more focus on newer country tracks . 106 7 the beat of detroit edit on september 4 2009 at noon after three years of struggling with the country format the fox was dropped in favor of rhythmic adult contemporary as 106 7 the beat of detroit . the final song on the fox was shuttin detroit down by john rich while the first song on the beat was into the groove by madonna . the station also began running 10 000 songs in a row commercial free . in an announcement made by til levesque president and market manager of clear channel radio detroit the station described the new sound as a unique ac adult contemporary format built especially for detroit to become 106.7 the beat . the station targeted the 25 54 adult audience with an upbeat mix of today s hits and feel good memories ... mostly current rhythmic and dance hits with a balanced emphasis on recurrents from the 1980s and 1990s and some 1970s disco hits . 4 the station s format was also similar to that of detroit s own 93 1 drq when it relaunched in 1996 as a rhythmic ac outlet . on october 6 2009 the beat finished up their 10 000 songs commercial free . the station would still offer commercial free hours . about a year after wdtw s flip to rhythmic ac its playlist and direction switched over to a conventional rhythmic top 40 direction by adding more currents and cutting back on the heavy amount of gold . this change was likely due to changes in the detroit radio landscape involving sister station wkqi s shift to a broader chr pop presentation and competition with cbs radio s wdzh which changed formats from smooth jazz a month after the beat was launched . wdtw still featured many rhythmic ac elements in its music . the station would reintroduce some 1980s and 1990s gold back into rotation to the tune of two or three songs per hour although 1970s disco music was no longer in rotation ; the station featured many old school 80s and 90s rhythmic hits with the back in the day lunch party at noon and the 90 s at 9 every evening . in addition it blended in a few dance cuts as well . sean hollywood hamilton s syndicated remix top 30 aired on sunday evenings . the beat also brought in very well known personalities including 93 1 drq vet lisa lisa orlando for mid days joe rosati of z100 in new york for afternoons and jevon hollywood also from wdrq for late nights . mornings and evenings were voicetracked by paul cubby bryant out of wktu in new york and billy the kidd of 106.1 kiss fm in dallas respectively . 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 was ranked 18 with a 2.2 share of the market . this is most likely because wdtw and wkqi had a very similar playlist as wdtw complimented wkqi which hurt them from gaining any ratings strength . 106.7 the d