Detroit radio station promises to steer clear of ‘lame Canadian rock’

A few radio wars have been fought along the Windsor-Detroit border.

The most infamous one involved AM station CKLW, whose sensationalist "20/20" newscasts of the '60s and '70s gruesomely detailed crimes on the other side of the river.

Now, a Detroit frequency has exacted revenge upon the airwaves with the promise of not playing any "lame Canadian rock."

The new FM outlet 94.3 The Bone signed on last week with the promise of playing 10,000 American songs in a row. What made the boast possible was the fact its Windsor-rooted rival is bound by Canadian content regulations.

Tim Martz, owner of the station, would certainly know. Previously, he targeted Ottawa audiences with 101.5 The Fox, which was licensed to nearby Massena, N.Y.

The company has continued to own 94.7 FM in Malone, N.Y., which has not only identified itself as a Montreal hit music station, but adopted the airport code-inspired call letters WYUL.

Such tactics proved successful enough for San Francisco-based Martz to sell an ownership stake to Gary Slaight, whose Toronto-based family sold its 82-station Standard Broadcasting chain to Astral Media in 2007, although these smaller American outlets weren't part of the deal.

Few would have noticed the debut of 94.3 The Bone were it not for a website that baited Windsor's longtime modern rock outlet 89X.

"As a Canadian radio station, their programming is controlled by the Canadian government," read the explanation, in reference to its requirement to play 20 per cent CanCon, a regulation set lower in Windsor in order for its stations to remain competitive in Detroit.

"You want to listen to the best music, not what some jerkwad bureaucrat in a foreign country wants you to listen to," taunted The Bone. "Hockey players maybe, but would you buy a crappy imported car like a Yugo? Of course not."

Furthermore, it was pointed out 89X is now owned by "the phone company," following the recent takeover of CTV by Bell Media.

"It's like AT&T owning radio stations. They can't even tell you when they'll show up to install a phone line and they think they know good music??"

Despite the stunt, The Bone's affect in the regional ratings will likely be limited, since its low-power FM frequency will cover a relatively limited area.

Also, its website boasts there will be no on-air announcers, since "our owner is a cheapskate and no DJs mean no payroll for him."

(Windsor Star Photo)