Sunday, April 6, 2014

99.5 The Fox, Detroit (1988)

Unused bumper sticker from 1988, sheet measures approximately 22 cm by 7.5 cm.
Front side: background: white; text "99.5", The Fox logo.

Back side: Hungry Howie's, Sound Warehouse discount coupon.



99.5 The Fox (WDFX) was a CHR/Top 40 station in Detroit, USA, circa 1988-1992.

Part of the branding of this station included a logo with red lettering and a fox tail coming off the letter X. For a short time, The Fox tweaked its CHR format into "Rock 40," a variation of Top 40 heavy on hair bands and other rock-oriented acts, and saw its ratings slide after a promising beginning.

Afterwards, The Fox tweaked its format back to mainstream CHR, and at the same time, added some hip hop to compete with Power 96. Ratings did improve and the station posted frequent Arbitron top 10 showings in the late 1980s and early 1990s - but advertising revenue was poor and, in September 1990, the station went into receivership. In addition, WDFX's ratings were adversely affected (as were WHYT's) by the debut of modern rock station 89X in 1991.

On December 24, 1992, the station started stunting by having a character named "Cowboy Hugh Chardon" (played by Dr. Don Carpenter) play "Friends In Low Places" by Garth Brooks repeatedly (for his good buddy Bobby Stalls in Birmingham) and try to kill "The Fox" using various methods suggested by "listeners". This was followed by an automated countdown that started at Midnight on Christmas Day, beginning with 63,752 and ending with number one on December 28, 1992. (This was apparently done so they could rebuild the studios.) Instead of changing formats when the countdown ended, it stunted for another week with a six-hour loop of novelty songs they called "goofy loops" played repeatedly. This continued until the early morning of January 4, 1993 (the first Monday after the holiday week), when the station finally finished changing formats and became "99-5 WOW-FM" WOWF (the call letters had actually been in place since October 1992), a news/talk station with broadcasters such as Art Vuolo and Ed Tyll coming to the station. However, by popular demand, the "goofy loops" track was brought back at weekends for the life of the station.


99.5 FM is currently Country WYCD.

*Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WYCD

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