Down Goes Liz (and the Republic)
Liz Copeland is (soon to be was) one of the only bastions of all things hip and indie on Detroit radio. Her program Alternative Take on WDET (101.9 FM) has been the singular source for anything Un-Clear Channel and Un-RIAA in Detroit. Because of her, everything from Decemberists, to Richie Hawtin, to Fugazi has gotten a spin, two, or three on late night radio since 1995. Soon, this will be no more.
In 2005 WDET cut much of its music programming in favor of more talk and more news. I saw the decision as a double edged sword. On one side less public radio music equates to less independent artists being played. On the other, This American Life and Car Talk are great shows that suffered from terrible time slots (or none at all) prior to the change. That change obviously wasn’t enough to fulfill the “goal to make WDET the public affairs and information voice for the Detroit area.” After April 2nd all music programming aside from Ed Love’s Destination Jazz is dead.
I don’t know about you but this decision makes me want to climb atop my roof with some duct tape and a large antenna. I’d like to go all Christian Slater on Detroit and start spinning some non-Daughtry turned up to 11. Of course, that’s illegal (even though airwaves are public domain) and I wouldn’t dare break the laws of this beautiful country. Suddenly I feel the urge to recite the pledge…
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
And to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible
With liberty and justice for all… Amen.
WDET: More news, less music (Free Press)
That is so wrong. I can see trying to achieve a balance between music and news as well as fitting in lifestyle/entertainment programming, but getting rid of everything but Ed Love is a bit much. This is an attack on artistry in Detroit and WDET has to know this is a bad move. They also have to know that if they got rid of Ed Love, they’d have a city-wide mutiny on their hands.
Wow, I work with one of the DJs who is being let go and I did not even hear about this until now! In fact, we have two former DJs from the station that now work at the Museum. I’m sad to hear that Liz Copeland is being let go too. She really brought so much to Detroit.
WDET has really lost what made the station so appealing. It’s surprising that this news is coming during the membership campaign. Actually, I guess it’s not that surprising. If I recall correctly, the last time they changed formats the news of the change was broken right after the membership drive.
At least one former WDET DJ has found success at an Ann Arbor station. When it comes to news, I’ll stick with Michigan Public Radio!
Yeah, exactly. When we lived in Michigan, we listened to Michigan Public Radio for all the news programs and such. For all other purposes such as music, local band/DJ/whatever spotlights, WDET was it. It’s strange to me to have WDET deconstruct into what Michigan Public Radio already is. Believe me, WDET is(was) a gem amongst stations. Of course, I realize this now after living in too many parts of this country since our exeunt…
I’ve read a few comments along the lines of, “Copeland was on so late, hardly anyone listened to her anyway.” Which is somewhat true (for me at least). But I’d like to point out that WDET launched their On Demand service quite a while ago and Alternative Take was included in that service. Although I missed the live broadcast I still listened to AT while at work. I assume many others did as well.
I just don’t get why ‘DET would cancel Liz.. I mean, is that 4-5AM time-slot that in demand? Don’t they realize that anyone can listen to the BBC broadcast they’re replacing her with over the ‘net already? In all honesty, I personally don’t mind losing the other shows, but Alternative Take has been there for me since high school. I discovered quite a lot of music from that show. It’s horribly unfortunate that Liz Copeland will no longer be on air.