Radio came to Detroit on August 20 of 1920 when The Detroit News, owner of radio station 8MK (later WWJ), began broadcasting. The broadcast originated from the second floor of the newspaper's headquarters on Lafayette Boulevard.
From that day, many predicted radio's success would succumb to advances from new technologies. In 1927, the challenge came from talking movies. In the 1940s, the predators were 13-inch TV sets. In the 1970s, it was 8-track and cassette tapes. In the past 20 years, there was a multi-flank attack from iPods, Zunes, YouTube, Sirius, XM, Pandora, Spotify,
So far, all of these challengers have failed. Not even a pandemic has been able to remove radio as a vital force in the life of Southeast Michigan consumers.
Every week, according to Nielsen, more adults tune-in to Detroit radio than watch TV or cable. Use social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram. Read newspapers. Or, stream music from Pandora or Spotify.