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Radio One did indeed change the format of it's two FM stations in Detroit overnight: The Adult Urban sound of Kiss FM has moved from 102.7 to 105.9. The popular Tom Joyner morning show will have its new home at 105.9 Kiss FM, where the call sign WDMK will move, and it appears that the new sound will not emphasize Oldies as heavily as before- the station's new positioner is "Detroit's R&B Leader".
Back at 102.7, that station has titled itself "Hot 102-7" and features the positioner "Detroit's Hip-Hop Station". Russ Parr remains in morning drive and the station has applied for the call sign WHTD. It appears to me that the new 102.7 could be considered as Rhythmic CHR; my knowledge of the difference between that format and what others would call mainstream Urban is limited however.
The changes early this morning heat up the competition between Radio One and Clear Channel- Kiss 105.9 with Tom Joyner in the morning will create a strong competitor for CC's WMXD-FM 92.3 and Hot 102.7 appears to be positioned in between CC's Urban WJLB-FM 97.9 and CHR WKQI-FM 95.5 - perhaps filling some of the void left when WDRQ-FM 93.1 flipped formats from CHR to Adult Hits 'Doug'.
In addition to the frequency swap, the jock lineup at 105.9 Kiss FM will change on Monday- gone is middayer Randi Myles. The new schedule: Joyner 6-10am, A.J Parker 10am-2pm, former morning host John Mason 2-6pm, and Lady BG 6-11pm.
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From today's Detroit News:
Old school R&B fans were undoubtedly jolted out of their beds this morning by a blast of hip-hop. The fault is not with your receiver. At 3 a.m. today, Radio One performed a switcheroo of frequencies between two of its FM stations, WDTJ (105.9 JAMZ) and its sister station, WDMK (102.7 KISS FM)... You're not hearing things: That's hip-hop, not R&B
