WSDS (1480

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base uni ...

) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

in Salem Township,

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. Known as "La Explosiva," WSDS carries a

Spanish-language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

Contemporary Music Contemporary music is whatever music is produced at the current time. Specifically, it could refer to: Genres or audiences * Adult contemporary music * British contemporary R&B * Christian adult contemporary * Christian contemporary hit radio * Con ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

, featuring

Regional Mexican Regional Mexican music refers collectively to the regional subgenres of the country music of Mexico and its derivatives from the Southwestern United States. Each subgenre is representative of a certain region and its popularity also varies by ...

, Romantica, Spanish

Rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

Salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (food), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: Arts and ent ...

Hurban Hurban is a radio programming format from radio chain giant iHeartMedia and Senior VP Alfredo Alonso. Hurban radio stations target young Hispanics in the United States, primarily consisting of reggaeton, Latin trap, Latin rap, and Latin dance. ...

, and

Reggaeton Reggaeton (, ) is a modern style of popular music, popular and electronic music that originated in Panamanian reggaetón, Panama during the late 1980s, and which rose to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s through a plethora of Puert ...

. It is

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

with

WCAR WCAR (1090 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial Radio broadcasting, radio station licensed to Livonia, Michigan, and serving the Metro Detroit media market, radio market. It airs a Spanish language format as a simulcast of WSDS in Salem Townshi ...

1090 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1090 kHz: 1090 AM is a United States and Mexican clear-channel frequency. KAAY Little Rock, WBAL Baltimore and XEPRS-AM Rosarito-Tijuana share Class A status on 1090 AM. In Argentin ...

Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...

. By day, WSDS is powered at 750

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s. But in unusual move, it increases its power to 3,800 watts at night. To protect other stations on

1480 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1480 kHz: 1480 AM is a Regional broadcast frequency. Argentina * Radio Centro Dolores in Dolores, Buenos Aires. * APP1480 in La Matanza, Buenos Aires. Mexico * XECARH-AM in Cardonal, ...

from interference, it uses a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna that radiates or receives greater radio wave power in specific directions. Directional antennas can radiate radio waves in beams, when greater concentration of radiation in a certain directio ...

with a three-

tower array A tower array is an arrangement of multiple radio towers which are mast radiators in a phased array. They were originally developed as ground-based tracking radars. Tower arrays can consist of free-standing or guyed towers or a mix of them. Tower ...

. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

is on West Clark Road at Laforge Road in Superior Charter Township,

History

The station began broadcasting in 1963 as WYSI. This

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

stood for the original

city of license In U.S., Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American broadcast ...

, YpSIlanti. The first format was

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

hits. By 1966, the station switched to a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

format. In 1968, WSDS adopted a strategy of focusing on the western suburbs of Detroit, using the slogan "We Serve Detroit's Suburbs" and sending its broadcasting van to events in the area. By the early 2000s, "Suds" was still playing country music but had become a classic country station. Weekends included specialty programming in Chinese and Spanish, as well as some classic rock and roll oldies. "La Explosiva" was born in July 2001 when Alex Resendez and Rafael Barrios, two local Mexican-American radio personalities, leased time on WSDS for three hours of

music programming weekly. By 2005, the station, by then sold to ethnic broadcaster Sima Birach of

Birach Broadcasting Birach Broadcasting Corporation is a company based in Southfield, Michigan, USA, that owns several AM radio stations and, formerly, one low-power television (LPTV Low-power broadcasting is broadcasting by a broadcast station at a low transm ...

, was airing five hours of "La Explosiva" programming six days a week. In June of that year, "La Explosiva" became a 24-hour format over WSDS. As of February 2011, programming was simulcast on WWCS in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. But on January 1, 2012, that station's format changed to

Fox Sports Radio Fox Sports Radio is an Radio in the United States, American Sports radio, sports radio network. Based in Los Angeles, California, the network is operated and managed by Premiere Networks in a content partnership with Fox Corporation's Fox Sports ...

In April 2012, Birach sold WSDS, pending

FCC The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains ju ...

approval, to Vazquez Broadcasting. The sale was consummated on July 1, 2013, at a price of $1.45 million. Until WDTW 1310 AM adopted a similar format in 2016, WSDS was the only full-time Spanish-language radio station on traditional analog radio serving the

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

area.

References

Michiguide.com - WSDS History

External links

{{coord, 42, 15, 42, N, 83, 37, 10, W, type:landmark_region:US, display=title Mexican-American culture in Michigan SDS Radio stations established in 1963 1963 establishments in Michigan Spanish-language radio stations in the United States