From the MCRFB news archives:
WGPR Station on Move, Has 36 Remotes a Week
DETROIT — A radio station that’s “kinda movin'” gets listeners and WGPR-FM is a station constantly on the move. Floyd M. Jones, station manager, said the station is “No. 1 among FM stations and No. 3 among stations — period.”
Probably the strongest example of how this station moves, however, is a countdown of its remotes — 36 a week. Jones handle a two-hour daily, three hours every Saturday evening doing a jazz record show from the Disk Jockey Lounge. Dan (Bull Frog) Harrison does a R&B record show from the Chit Chat Lounge. Deejay Larry Dixon may handle a random remote every now and then, but nothing steady at the moment; however, he does have a weekly record hop.
The 50,000-watt FM station broadcasts about 20 hours a day covering a radius of 75 miles around the Detroit metropolis. One reason for the tremendous success enjoyed by the station, Jones said, is that some 87 per cent of Detroit’s Negro element has FM radios. “But it’s more than that. We’re creating the image here that FM is more than just a background medium. We’re putting out a new sound.”
While the station programs record shows for the diverse Detroit populace such as Greeks, Italians, Hungarians, Polish and Mexicans, the main portion of each day is used for programming R&B — a total of three programs a day for a total of seven hours. Jazz takes up about four hours each day. Gospel music is played early in the morning. Sunday morning is devoted to remote broadcasts throughout most of the day through local churches. The station employs about 40 people. Bob Longwell is the station’s general manager.
Another reason the station is moving, according to Jones, is that programming and air personalities aims at three important and large audience segments. “I take care of the jazz fans,” Jones said. “Larry Dixon is a teen-oriented personality. And “Bull Frog” is for the rhythm and blues fans.” END.
(Information and news source: Billboard; July 17, 1965).
