It should be pointed out that the call letters had already changed to WHYT about two or so months before the format change to Hot Hits (which by the way was called “96 Now” on the air and not specifically “Hot Hits 96.3”; it later became “96 Hit FM,” “The Hot Rockin’ Flame Throwin’ 96 WHYT,” “Power 96” and then just “96.3 FM” by 1989). I remember reading an archived Detroit Free Press article from the summer of 1982 in which Cap Cities/ABC tried to assure fans of the beautiful music format that the easy listening was not going away and that the “HYT” calls stood for “height” (as in “the height of beautiful music”). Which obviously was a lie, as even Billboard confirmed the format change in July.
Chris
It should be pointed out that the call letters had already changed to WHYT about two or so months before the format change to Hot Hits (which by the way was called “96 Now” on the air and not specifically “Hot Hits 96.3”; it later became “96 Hit FM,” “The Hot Rockin’ Flame Throwin’ 96 WHYT,” “Power 96” and then just “96.3 FM” by 1989). I remember reading an archived Detroit Free Press article from the summer of 1982 in which Cap Cities/ABC tried to assure fans of the beautiful music format that the easy listening was not going away and that the “HYT” calls stood for “height” (as in “the height of beautiful music”). Which obviously was a lie, as even Billboard confirmed the format change in July.