WRCJ-FM

WDTR

WRCJ went on the air for the first time on January 8, 1948 as WDTR, and was Michigan's first educational FM station. By the dawn of the 21st century, the station's programming consisted largely of urban contemporary music with public affairs programs concerning the school district and a variety of specialty shows, including the "Old 'n' Gold" rare oldies show, Safe and Secure Detroit-a show dedicated to Public Safety and Personal Security after the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks, and the Sunday big band/nostalgia showcase "Somewhere In Time". WDTR changed its call letters to WRCJ on July 1, 2004, and the station cut back its broadcast time to 8AM-5PM weekdays only. At the same time, the school district announced it would draft a contract with a third party to operate the station while the school district continued to own the frequency. Accordingly, they put out an RFP (Request for Proposal), stipulating the station's format change to classical and jazz, to which several area organizations responded, including WUOM and WTVS. In April 2005, the Detroit Public Schools announced that Detroit Public TV would take control of WRCJ in July. The change happened at noon on August 1, 2005. On March 1, 2017, the FCC approved the transfer of WRCJ 90.9 FM's license from Detroit Public Schools to the non-profit Detroit Classical and Jazz Educational Radio LLC.

90.9 WRCJ

The current format of classical and jazz music began August 1, 2005. The station plays Classical music from 5AM to 7PM and Jazz music from 7PM to 5AM, daily.

The station is staffed by local presenters from 6AM-7PM weekdays. The morning and afternoon show host Dave Wagner was a longtime air personality on former commercial classical music station 105.1 WQRS. Midday (11a-4) host Chris Felcyn is a longtime public radio personality known for his show "The Listening Room," which is now heard the first Sunday of each month at 10AM on WRCJ. Former classical WQRS host and frequent fill in host for WRCJ, Jack Goggin hosts the 6PM Sunday show "Film Classics", a show that aired for nine years on 105.1 WQRS. The award-winning Music Director for WRCJ is Jim Dantzer.

WRCJ's nightly jazz programming includes Detroiters Maxine Michaels hosting "Maxology" every Friday 7-11pm and John Penney, who hosts "JazzFest Detroit" every Saturday 7-10pm. The remaining jazz hours include various hosts from the Jazz Satellite Network from WFMT in Chicago. The station also carries WFMT's "Exploring Music" with Bill McGlaughlin, weekday mornings from 5-6AM. With the exceptions of "The Listening Room," "DSO and MOT Unmasked", "Film Classics", and Detroit Symphony Orchestra live broadcasts and "The Civic in Concert," WRCJ's classical-music programming on weekends is satellite-fed from the Classical 24 network. WRCJ also broadcasts programs from other providers, such as "MSU in Concert" Saturdays at 9a; "What's New in Classical" Sundays at 9a; "Sunday Baroque" Sundays 5-9a; and "Wind & Rhythm" Sundays at 5p. WRCJ also broadcasts four hours of programs each month produced by Detroit Public Schools students and staff. Those programs air 7pm Wednesdays.

90.9 WRCJ currently ranks at #22 (1.6) in the Detroit market according to the September 2017 PPM Ratings release. Approximately 150,000 people listen to WRCJ-FM each week. The signal is streamed worldwide on http://www.wrcjfm.org.