WCHB trades its talk shows for gospel music

BY JOHN SMYNTEK • DETROIT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • June 7, 2008

WCHB-AM (1200) announced a format change, effective Monday, that eliminates its news and sports talk lineup except for its well-rated morning show, helmed by outspoken political commentator Mildred Gaddis.

Among the weekday casualties are syndicated shows by Warren Ballentine and Rev. Al Sharpton and local chat fests featuring Detroit-based talkers Rob Parker and Mark Wilson, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Angelo Henderson, who may be retained for a Sunday-only show, according to station marketing director Kathie Stonehouse. She said the station retained Gaddis — the only nonmusic show on the station — because “Mildred Gaddis is an institution. It’s an award-winning show.”

Gaddis is also responsible for the best ratings of WCHB’s broadcast day. Among all listeners in the latest Arbitron ratings survey, WCHB scored a 1.1 rating, good for 20th place; Gaddis’ show lured a 2.5 among all morning listeners, ranking 15th.

Gaddis has been a vocal critic of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, and her ratings have shot up since the text-message scandal broke.

After Gaddis’ show ends at 10 a.m., the rest of the day will be filled with gospel music — with no program hosts. The station’s slogan will be “”Mildred in the Morning and Inspiration All Day — AM 1200 WCHB.”

“Our decision to change format will not only give the station a clearer focus, it will also fill an obvious void in the marketplace,” said station general manager Kathy Stinehour in a statement.

“The Detroit market is underserved in this format, and so we are following the lead of our parent company, Radio One Inc., who now leads the nation in this compelling space.”

Actually, there is some gospel competition from Clear Channel-owned WMXD-FM (92.3), which offers an all-gospel music format on its High Definition Channel 2.

Detroit is known as one of the nation’s top producers of gospel talent. WCHB will feature gospel music from artists like Yolanda Adams, Donnie McClurkin, Marvin Sapp, Kirk Franklin and homegrown acts such as Fred Hammond and the many artists in the Winans family stable.

TBGB NOTE: The logo above is from an old station survey. Finally…a win for gospel radio! And over talk radio. Hallelujah!