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WDMK (105.9 FM broadcasting, "105.9 Kiss-FM") is a commercial radio station licensed to Detroit, Michigan, United States. Owned by Beasley Broadcast Group, it broadcasts an urban adult contemporary format. The studios and offices are on Radio Plaza in Ferndale. KissFMDetroit.com/contact-us
The station's transmitter is on Greenfield Road south of 10 Mile Road in the Detroit suburb of Oak Park. WDMK broadcasts in HD Radio: the HD-2 digital subchannel has an urban gospel format known as "The Detroit Praise Network" which is relayed over two : W252BX (98.3 FM) and W260CB (99.9 FM), both in Detroit.
WCHD was programmed separately from WCHB, airing a Jazz format. Early jazz announcers on WCHD included Ken Bradley, Jo Ray, and Ed Love (who later hosted a weekend jazz program on public radio station WDET).
By this time, WJZZ and WCHB were owned by Bell Broadcasting. WJZZ was one out of four radio stations in the market (along with WMXD, WMUZ and WRIF) that was used on Barden Cablevision's character generated line-up throughout the 1980s and 1990s (which would later become Comcast).
On August 23, 1996, WJZZ flipped to Mainstream Urban. It took the WCHB-FM call sign and the slogan "105.9 The Beat," in an attempt to go after longtime urban leader WJLB. Urban One acquired WCHB-AM/FM in July 1998, and the following month, WCHB-FM became WDTJ, "105.9 Jamz." WDTJ aired the Russ Parr morning show syndicated from co-owned WKYS in Washington, D.C. "105.9 Jamz" did respectable in the ratings, but could not beat WJLB.
On June 26, 2005, at 3 a.m., Radio One made a major change in its Detroit cluster. The company moved the "Old School" rhythmic oldies format of WDMK (102.7 FM) to 105.9; 105.9 took on the WDMK calls and the "Kiss-FM" moniker, as the "Kiss" format was updated to a gold-based Urban AC. Detroit Pistons announcer John Mason (formerly of WJLB), who had done mornings at 102.7, was switched to afternoon drive time to accommodate the syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show, on the new "105.9 Kiss-FM." (Joyner was previously heard on Clear Channel-owned WMXD.) The "105.9 Jamz" hip-hop music format moved to 102.7, which took on the new call letters WHTD and the moniker "Hot 102-7."
After WMXD dropped the syndicated Michael Baisden show in late 2009, WDMK added the show for afternoons.
John Mason, WDMK's former afternoon drive personality, left the station in September 2006 and shortly afterward announced that he would be looking to syndicate his own morning show, most likely based at independently owned Detroit urban AC outlet WGPR. After Radio One successfully took Mason to court to uphold a non-compete clause, Mason began broadcasting on WGPR. After that station was taken over by Radio One in 2011, Mason hosted early evenings on WCHB. In addition, the station reduced its frequent playing of R&B oldies by playing more currents and recurrents.
In April 2018, after a four-year hiatus, WDMK returned to airing the Tom Joyner Morning Show after the cancellation of Mason and CoCo in the Morning. Mason moved to the midday slot, hosting the only locally originating weekday daytime airshift. WDMK carried syndicated programming, Joyner, Hughley, and "Love and R&B" evenings with recording artist Al B. Sure!, in all other dayparts except overnights, which were locally automated. Joyner retired in December 2019, with Mason moved back to the morning slot hosting "Mason & Starr" with Angie Starr.
The sale closed on September 4, 2019. WDMK retained its Urban AC format since the sale, but with a few tweaks during locally originating programming, with many hip-hop titles removed to avoid overlap with WMGC, and placing a greater emphasis on R&B hits and "slow jams" from the 1980s and 1990s.
HD Radio Guide for Detroit The HD2 sidechannel has continued to feed the 99.9 translator since WCHB was sold to Crawford Broadcasting.
In May 2018, Urban One announced that the company would be selling then-sister WPZR to the Educational Media Foundation. EMF planned to flip WPZR to the K-Love Contemporary Christian network. In return, EMF would sell three translators to Urban One. At that time, WDMK-HD2 dropped its "Soul 99.9" urban oldies format and began simulcasting WPZR.
On August 9, 2018, the urban gospel format from WPZR officially moved to WDMK-HD2 and rebranded as the Detroit Praise Network, simulcast on three translators: W228CJ (93.5 FM), W252BX (98.3 FM) and W260CB (99.9 FM). On August 30, 2021, W228CJ flipped to Fox Sports Radio as "The Roar", and is now fed by WCSX-HD2. In September 2023, WCSX's HD2 sub-channel flipped to "Podcast Radio US", airing an all-podcasts format. Two months later, W228CJ again flipped, this time to a simulcast of sister station WMGC-FM, which airs a tropical music format called "Playa". Both formats are presented by Beasley in select markets across the country, on translators and HD radio subchannels.
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