Now I still support WDET, but not as much as I used to. And it's not just because of finances on my end, it's just because WDET doesn't play as much interesting music as they used to. I absolutely adore Ann Delisi's Essential Music Show on the weekend and have contributed during her pledge drive. I still enjoy the morning drive into work by listening to the NPR feeds and I occasionally can catch a real informative Detroit Today show, but that's about it that really catches my ear. And I appreciate the Ed Love, Michael Julien, Robert Jones, and Matt Watroba shows but they're all very much one genre.

What I really miss were the 9 to 5 diverse and informed musical radio shows hosted by Judy Adams, Martin Bandyke, John Penney, and even the late Dave Dixon. Now I didn't always agree or even like every bit of music they played; Lord knows Judy Adams has a massive adoration of Jimi Hendrix and Martin Bandyke played Los Lobos far too much, BUT they played other stuff as well. They played it because they thought it was good music. I liked to think that they actually took the time to listen to it and then made informed choices to play it for us. It wasn't just a pre-formatted playlist sent down from the corporate masters off in some ivory tower.

I also think the time slot is critical too. For a lot of people working the 9 to 5 grind, having access to some form of music is a luxury. Having access to the old WDET music selection was a god send! I can't speak for other workers but as the day progresses I can only catch small snippets at best- and if it was even the last few minutes of a song I could always follow through to see who it was on the posted playlists. I would have to say that nearly half of my music collection has been gleaned off of knowledge gained from listening to WDET. They literally played stuff that I would've never have had the chance to get listening to regular commercial radio in this market. When WDET played their diverse music back in the day, it truly was educational as well as being entertaining. And even if I was away from my desk for a bit I knew that when I'd come back, there would be new interesting bits to be heard. Now if it's a half hour news show like they have now, they're essentially asking us to listen from the beginning to end thereby asking for a dedicated listener.

I'm not saying those shows aren't top quality and some of the subject matter is dry but it's much more difficult for those of us who work 9 to 5 to listen to. Work still comes first for many of us- listening to informative talk shows requires a much much more dedicated ear than passively listening to music.

And I like my news too, but not just all day. I like it for my commute times where I can devote that half hour to hearing a more in depth news story. I do miss the eclectic music between 9 to 5. They can still keep the news at the commute times and they can still keep the wonderful genre shows on as well. And as much as I miss Liz Copeland's intellect and diverse music, it was sometimes difficult to listen to her stuff just because of the time slot. Like with so many television shows I think time slots as to where and when shows are broadcast are critical. Great shows can die and flop if given a horrific time frame.