Detroit loses a top 40 radio station and gains a... Doug radio station? Huh?

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From the Detroit News:

It's no joke. WDRQ-FM (93.1) switched Friday from its Top-40 pop format to a new automated format with a playlist that includes the Beatles, U2, Prince and Madonna, and is meant to resemble an iPod in shuffle mode. The station will market itself as "DOUG-FM."

The abrupt change had many believing the station was pulling an elaborate April Fool's Day stunt. "It's not an April Fool's prank at all -- if it was, it was a pretty cruel one," says WDRQ morning show co-host Rachel Hunter, who, along with the majority of the station's on-air staff, was fired Friday afternoon.

Morning show host Jay Towers was not let go. He will stay on in at the station in a to-be-determined role.

The DOUG format resembles a format other stations across the country have switched over to in recent weeks. WRQX-FM in Washington, D.C., KCBS-FM in Los Angeles and WMWX-FM in Philadelphia have recently switched over to the format, which is popular in Canada and carries names like "Jack" and "Bob."

ABC-owned WDRQ-FM had been on the losing end of its head-to-head war with Clear Channel's WKQI-FM (95.5) for a number of years.

"But DRQ was not on life support," said Detroit radio veteran Lisa Lisa, who'd been with WDRQ eight years. "We were still competitive in a number of areas."

The move makes WKQI the only Top-40 station in town.

Selections by 10,000 Maniacs, Chumbawamba, matchbox 20 and the Cardigans were heard on DOUG Friday, while station IDs compared DOUG to your MP3 player, bragging it plays "everything."

As for the new playlist, Lisa said Friday, "It's horrid!"

― David Allen (David Allen), Monday, 4 April 2005 12:43 (twenty years ago)

...I don't get it. What do they mean that it resembles and Ipod in shuffle mode? Where do they actually get their song selection from? How is top 40 not doing well? It's TOP 40!

― David Allen (David Allen), Monday, 4 April 2005 12:44 (twenty years ago)

By the way: 10,000 Maniacs, Chumbawamba, matchbox 20

All those songs sound like shit that 96.3 The Planet (Detroits old "alternative station" back in the early to mid 90s) used to play.

― David Allen (David Allen), Monday, 4 April 2005 12:45 (twenty years ago)

So does it shuffle hits (i.e. top 40) or does it play album tracks too? Sounds horrid. "Some loser's Ipod on shuffle, except WITH commercials!"

― dave225 (Dave225), Monday, 4 April 2005 13:05 (twenty years ago)

It's kind of odd to listen to, though the best part is the lack of dj banter. From what I can tell is it's only singles tracks from the 70s onwards.

You cut out the djs and save a few grand a month.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Monday, 4 April 2005 13:38 (twenty years ago)

This is hilarious. I totally imagine some lame-o with a triple masters in marketing, psychology, and entrepreneurship coming up with this idea and writing a 100-page business plan about it.

It would be cool if more radio station played "everything" though.

― mrjosh (mrjosh), Monday, 4 April 2005 13:39 (twenty years ago)

Good news for all of us who dislike the current Top 40 style, I guess.

Not that I am able to hear any Detroit stations anyway....

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 4 April 2005 13:39 (twenty years ago)

Jack/Bob basically includes up to 1000 or 1200 songs that were big hits over the last 40 years, as opposed to the maybe 200 more narrowly focused hits of your typical station for 35-44-year-olds. And usually doesn't include a host, since, well, you know all the songs already. I assume Doug is a local variant.

don't call me Doug,

― Douglas (Douglas), Monday, 4 April 2005 15:49 (twenty years ago)

Chaki, Vic and I were listening to some of it yesterday -- the Jack station in LA -- and actually it wasn't that bad for what it was, due to the broader playlists. It's like Muzak with the original songs and more potential (relative) surprises.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 4 April 2005 15:54 (twenty years ago)

In other radio programming news Billboard offered the following:

* Modern KDLD/KDLE (Indie 103.1) Los Angeles is in danger of switching formats in April when its LMA with Clear Channel expires.

"I don't think that modern rock radio is going to its grave, but I do think it could use another revolution," Morrison's partner Preston Elliot says. "If there were another Nirvana or someone to step up and give a breath of fresh air to it, it could explode all over again."

As Goldstein says, "Everything is cyclical."

"At the moment," he continues, "the format's in trouble. I'm doubtful that it's a permanent thing and that rock is going to disappear from the landscape. I do think that until we have the next-generation artists or some releases that relaunch interest in current rock music, we're definitely in a lull. It makes me crazy that radio has been criticized widely over the past year or so for not exposing new music. Active rock has been one of the better formats in new-music exposure, and the audience is rejecting it."

― steve-k, Monday, 4 April 2005 16:27 (twenty years ago)

This is different though -- it's top 40. Are people just not liking new popular music?

― David Allen (David Allen), Monday, 4 April 2005 16:31 (twenty years ago)

What do they mean that it resembles and Ipod in shuffle mode?

What they mean is that they have loaded up an iPod with a bunch of old hit songs, set playback mode to "shuffle", and have plugged it into the board.

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Monday, 4 April 2005 16:35 (twenty years ago)

They didn't really do that though.

― David Allen (David Allen), Monday, 4 April 2005 16:50 (twenty years ago)

Actually, Chicago's modern rock station Q101 just did something similar. Despite being one of the first "alternative rock" stations in the country (1992), they've lately been facing stiff competition from 94.7 The Zone, and thus moved to a Shuffle format this past weekend.

The difference between their 1000-song playlist and the Bob/Jack/Doug playlists is that the new Q101 draws exclusively from modern rock hits of the last 25 years, which to me makes more sense, because it still establishes a specific personality and tone. I can't imagine ever being in the mood to hear U2 followed by Kanye West followed by the Thompson Twins followed by Michael Bolton. But yesterday on Q101, I heard a new Green Day single into Alice in Chains into the Talking Heads' "Take Me to the River."

I think what's appealing to me is less the variety of the playlist as much as the expansion of it.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 4 April 2005 16:51 (twenty years ago)

The sad thing is that WDRQ had a much better song selection than the sucktastic Clear Channel owned-WKQI, so now there's no real decent top 40 station in the area. Doug is terrible, playing a lot stuff like 4 non blondes and Asia. Not exactly progress.

― Leon Bluth (Ex Leon), Monday, 4 April 2005 17:19 (twenty years ago)

If the new Q101 will please put a block on "I Melt With You", then they may have something that I can occasionally turn to when I have no other choice.

― dave225 (Dave225), Monday, 4 April 2005 17:22 (twenty years ago)

Radio still exists????

― peepee (peepee), Monday, 4 April 2005 17:57 (twenty years ago)

...anyway...

I will probably be switching to WJLB, they basically play much of the top 40 anyway.

― Leon Bluth (Ex Leon), Monday, 4 April 2005 18:04 (twenty years ago)

What a bummer...some of my friends from Central Michigan University college radio (circa 1990-1992...Brent Cogswell, "Man At Large" Adams, etc.) were among the higher-ups at DRQ, and they were some of the nicest & most intelligent music fans I've ever encountered at commercial radio.

But of course, I can remember hearing 89X in that early '90s time frame and thinking it was the coolest, and look how that turned out. And why do I want to hear someone else's iPod shuffle when I have mine? Hopefully the print ads for the new 93.1 will have a listener from the "target demographic" flailing in the Detroit River grasping at straws.

― Erick H (Erick H), Monday, 4 April 2005 19:15 (twenty years ago)

The same thing happened to a station in Des Moines on April 1! The only commercial hip-hop/r&b station suddenly switched from being "106.3 The Beat" to "106.3 The Bus" and they're claiming it's 2500 songs played in "iPod shuffle style." One of the DJs for the former station was interviewed and he didn't even know about the format change until he turned on the radio that morning!

I haven't passed judgement on the new station yet (although by all accounts, it's bad), but they killed my source for hearing all the top 20 hip-hop songs I'd normally not hear. Supposedly the top 40 station will pick up the slack, but there's no way they'll toss in as many early 90s songs.

― mike h. (mike h.), Monday, 4 April 2005 19:56 (twenty years ago)

I want to like MCR, and they are aaiiite.

― Lethal Dizzle (djdee2005), Monday, 4 April 2005 20:01 (twenty years ago)

there is a jack station here in denver, it's my favorite station on fm. blue oyster cult to young mc to yaz. not many repeats either.

― keith m (keithmcl), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 03:12 (twenty years ago)

Selections by 10,000 Maniacs, Chumbawamba, matchbox 20 and the Cardigans were heard on DOUG Friday, while station IDs compared DOUG to your MP3 player, bragging it plays "everything."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

― Hurting (Hurting), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 03:41 (twenty years ago)

Are people just not liking new popular music?

People have good taste

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 10:20 (twenty years ago)

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