its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations . please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations . january 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message wdvd city detroit michigan broadcast area metro detroit 1 branding 96 3 wdvd slogan today s best hits frequency 96.3 mhz also on hd radio 96.3 hd 2 wjr am simulcast first air date june 1 1948 format hot ac erp 20 000 watts haat 240 meters 790 ft class b facility id 8631 transmitter coordinates 42 27 13 n 83 09 50 w 42.45361 n 83.16389 w 42.45361 ; 83.16389 former callsigns wjr fm 1948 1982 whyt 1982 1997 wplt 1997 2001 owner cumulus media radio license holdings llc sister stations wjr wdrq webcast listen live website 963wdvd . com wdvd is a hot adult contemporary radio station in detroit michigan broadcasting at 96.3 mhz on the fm dial . owned and operated by cumulus media wdvd s studios and offices are located in the fisher building in detroit s new center district near downtown while its transmitter is located in oakland county in royal oak township at 8 mile road and wyoming avenue . wdvd broadcasts with an effective radiated power of 20 000 watts from an antenna that is 787 feet in height and transmits its signal from the same tower from which five other detroit fm radio stations broadcast . wdvd is licensed for hd radio operations . 1 contents 1 history 1.1 wjr 96 fm california radio 1.2 hot hits 96 whyt 1.3 power 96 96.3 fm 1.4 96.3 jamz 1.5 the planet 96.3 1.6 96 3 wdvd 1.6.1 wdvd today 1.6.2 competition 2 hd radio 3 airstaff 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit wjr 96 fm california radio edit on june 1 1948 the station signed on as wjr fm simulcasting wjr 760 am detroit s cbs radio network affiliate . in 1966 wjr fm separated programming from wjr am and began airing the young sound a beautiful music format featuring instrumental covers of contemporary hits which was used on many cbs affiliated fm stations . in 1969 the station adopted the solid gold rock and roll automated format from drake chenault a mix of soft rock current easy listening adult contemporary chart hits and rock and roll oldies and began to brand itself as california radio . after almost three years the station reverted to beautiful music with which it was quite successful for a time as their moniker was wjr fm where the beautiful music is . competitors at this time were wldm fm now wkqi wwj fm now wxyt fm and wknr fm later wnic fm . hot hits 96 whyt edit in june 1982 billboard magazine reported that wjr fm s owner capital cities communications had hired consultant mike joseph to implement his widely successful hot hits format on wjr fm by the fall of that year taking note of the success the format was having in philadelphia wcau fm and in chicago wbbm fm . in july 1982 wjr fm applied to the federal communications commission fcc for a call letter change to whyt . the call letter change was approved on august 16 1982 and oddly the new calls coexisted with the station s beautiful music format capital cities abc tried to assure fans of the beautiful music format that the easy listening was not going away and that the hyt calls stood for height as in the height of beautiful music which obviously was a lie as even billboard had confirmed the format change by then . on september 15 1982 at 5 pm whyt signed off the beautiful music for good with fly me to the moon by frank sinatra followed by the first song of the new format you dropped a bomb on me by the gap band . hot hits was a fast moving jingle intensive format that featured a tight rotation of 50 current hits no recurrent hits or oldies unless they happened to be featured on currently charting albums . the station used the on air names 96 now the same slogan used by wbbm fm which still operates on the same frequency in chicago to this day and 96 whyt . the hot hits format in detroit was a moderate ratings success but did not approach the popularity that wcau or wbbm fm were enjoying with hot hits probably due in part to heavy competition from detroit s urban contemporary and album oriented rock stations . in response whyt s chr format went through several metamorphoses in the next few years dropping the mike joseph formatics though they continued to use the slogan hot hits on the air through 1986 and adopting several different on air monikers including whyt 96 hit fm the station that plays the hits 1983 and hitradio 96 whyt 1984 . one of the noteworthy whyt personalities during this time was joey reynolds who had last worked in detroit radio at wxyz am eighteen years earlier . power 96 96.3 fm edit in 1985 the station retooled itself as power 96 . the station added more dance music and urban contemporary product to its chr playlist and listenership increased perhaps due to urban powerhouse wdrq s switch to an adult contemporary format earlier that year leading the station to be a regular top 10 ratings finisher through the end of the decade . in 1989 the station dropped the power 96 name and became simply known as 96.3 fm taking on even more of a rhythmic contemporary lean . for much of the 1980s whyt was detroit s local affiliate for casey kasem s and then shadoe stevens american top 40 . whyt s major competitors from the mid 1980s through the early 1990s were z95 .5 and 99.5 the fox as well as then churban powerhouse wjlb . the station s peak of popularity came during its days as both power 96 and then 96.3 fm from roughly 1986 to 1991 when the station moved its music mix toward rhythmic chr while not totally abandoning mainstream pop and rock frequently racked up top five arbitron ratings 12 and was one of the top stations in the 12 24 age demographics often neck and neck with wjlb with z95 .5 coming in a distant third despite often beating whyt 12 . michael j. foxx not to be confused with actor michael j. fox sonny joe fox bo the jammer jackson not to confused with the sports star bo jackson dave fogel and lisa lisa the party princess orlando not to be confused with the musical artist lisa lisa of lisa lisa & cult jam were all popular dj s at whyt . in 1991 however the debut of 89x as well as foxx s departure took substantial market share away from whyt as teens and young adults flocked to the cutting edge modern rock format of 89x . 96.3 jamz edit in 1992 the station delved even farther into rhythmic chr territory becoming known as 96.3 jamz . whyt eliminated most of the mainstream pop and rock from its playlist and began to focus almost exclusively on hip hop r & b and dance hits as well as some dance remixes of mainstream hits . the planet 96.3 edit with the july 4th weekend in 1994 came a formatic shift at whyt as the station modified its rhythmic chr format into a sound it tagged planet jams evolving into a hybrid of hip hop and alternative rock while dropping all r & b product . this format known in radio trades as channel x also implemented at kube in seattle among other stations was described by some as a radio version of mtv . alternative bands such as soundgarden nine inch nails and pearl jam were played alongside coolio snoop dogg and da brat and the station also continued to sprinkle in some dance hits from the likes of real mccoy madonna ace of base and 2 unlimited . within a few months though the station had dropped all hip hop songs from rotation ; eventually the dance cuts were also phased out and whyt now known as the planet 96.3 became a more straightforward alternative station . in reference to the format shift program director rick gillette who had guided whyt to high ratings during its power 96 and 96.3 fm days in the late 1980s claimed that the station was merely responding to the popularity of the hot music of the time which happened to be alternative . in addition to pearl jam alice in chains soundgarden and the other popular rock bands of the day the planet played a number of local detroit acts that never achieved major national stardom such as the suicide machines and charm farm as well as some non mainstream dance and ambient artists such as vanessa daou . citation needed after completing a deal with a college radio station in plattsburgh new york the station s calls were switched to wplt to match the planet moniker on june 30 1997 . the whyt calls are now used at a contemporary christian music station near lapeer michigan . with the call letter change however the station tweaked its format to more of a modern adult contemporary sound to distinguish it more from competing alternative rock station cimx and later in 1997 wxdg . the planet dropped white zombie the offspring and other harder edged artists from its playlist and focused more on alternative pop rock acts such as jewel sheryl crow and barenaked ladies . the planet also played classic alternative music heavily with the hour long flashback lunch middays at noon ; saturday night flashbacks with dance and extended versions of classic alternative and 80s songs broadcast live from the nightclub clutch cargo s in suburban pontiac ; and holiday weekend countdowns of the coolest flashbacks of all time . during this time the station identified itself as modern hits of the 80s and 90s . a popular feature on wplt was big sonic heaven a sunday night program of ambient trance chill and non mainstream dance music hosted by dj darren revell . the planet made some ratings headway with the modern ac sound but was never a major player in the market . on september 6 1999 at 4 30 pm after finishing their labor day weekend flashback 500 countdown with in your eyes by peter gabriel being the 1 song the station began a 3 hour stunt of a loop of it s the end of the world as we know it and i feel fine by r.e.m. . at 7 30 pm wplt relaunched as alternative classics an attempt to convert the station s popular 1980s flashback shows into a full time format by combining 1980s new wave and punk with more recent but non current 1990s grunge alternative while keeping the planet moniker . the first song on the relaunched planet was plush by stone temple pilots . 2 core artists of alternative classics included u2 depeche mode the cure the go go s peter gabriel erasure and echo & the bunnymen . the change failed to raise ratings and within a year wplt had begun to re add current music into its rotation such as smooth by santana and rob thomas under the guise of future alternative classics . citation needed 96 3 wdvd edit in response to continued low ratings the station dropped its planet moniker in early 2001 changed its calls to wdvd on march 14 and gradually shifted its playlist towards a more mainstream hot ac direction though still heavy on alternative rock . 3 the shift was completed on june 29 when the station adopted the new 96.3 dvd moniker and the today s best variety slogan . the flashback programs and big sonic heaven were cancelled shortly afterward . the