WDVD
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 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.
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.
In reference to the format shift, program director Rick Gillette, who had guided WHYT to high ratings during its "Power 96" and "96.3FM" 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.
[3] 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.
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.
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.
At 7:30 p.m., 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.
[4] 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".
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.
After the transition to Hot AC and the WDVD calls, the station continued to feature a heavy alternative-rock base for several years, while playing "hair bands" such as Poison and Aerosmith and pop artists like Kelly Clarkson and Christina Aguilera, and remained in the lower echelons of the Detroit ratings.
Songs by Hot AC artists with hip hop guest stars, such as "California Gurls" by Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg, typically have the rap breaks edited out.
After several years in the ratings doldrums, the station subsequently saw its share of the Detroit market increase, as they added more pop music from artists such as Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, and Britney Spears to their playlist to compete with both Channel 9-5-5 and 98-7 Amp Radio, while rotations of 1980s and 1990s titles were decreased.
By June 2012, the station had moved even closer to Adult Top 40 by adding pop-friendly hip hop artists such as Nicki Minaj, LMFAO, and Flo Rida into rotation.
The station's morning show hosts, Allyson Martinek and Blaine Fowler, were featured on the syndicated television program Dish Nation until November 2012.
