WBFH Represents
at Fall Farm Fest!
Over the last couple of years, whenever The Biff showed up to broadcast from the Fall Farm Fest, the staff was met with cold, windy and rainy conditions. Last year, the Saturday broadcast—and the festival itself—ended midway through the day when the downpour intensified. It was a disaster!
This year’s installment the weekend of October 5th and 6th was different! It was perfect.
Ronald Wittebols, Jaden Ryke, Magdalena Leonard, Eugene Belski and Evie Keough anchored the Saturday and Sunday broadcast beginning each day at 10:00 a.m.
There were thousands in attendance and the WBFH air talent welcomed two surprise guests: Superintendent Rick West and former WBFH General Manager Pete Bowers! Both stopped by to comment on the crowds, the weather and all the fun activities available.
Pete Bowers revealed that the day after he signed WBFH on the air, the station’s first remote was an ox roast from the school farm! And back then, there was no such thing as remote broadcast equipment; everything was done by phone lines and transformers. Bowers said that he had to order those phone lines to terminate in the root cellar of the barn that still stands today, several hundred feet from the visitor center where that day’s broadcast originated.
Visitors and new staffers often ask how did WBFH/The Biff acquire its nickname. Who better to settle the call than Mr. WBFH, himself: Pete Bowers.
So...why “The Biff”?
How WBFH become known as “The Biff”
For marketing purposes, radio and television station licensees often use a nickname rather than their station’s actual call letters. This offers a more memorable way to brand their operation and allow an easier recall for ratings diaries and sales calls. In Detroit, past examples of this practice would include stations such as WLLZ, “Detroit’s Wheels,” WMGC, “Magic” and WRIF, “The Riff.”
The call letters W-B-F-H were selected to bring attention to the location, hence W-BloomField-Hills. When giving the Legal Station ID at the top of the hour, we would have to say WBFH, Bloomfield Hills. Other times, the W may be dropped and one would just say “BFH.”
At some point—and I’m not sure what year—someone said “BFH” often enough and fast enough that it evolved into “BIFF.” That led to the nickname The Biff. There was never an official staff vote on accepting The Biff as our nickname; it was just generally agreed that The Biff was cool enough to use all the time and people might remember The Biff over the call letters WBFH.
I do know that a Biff staffer, Jeff Lawson, designed a BIFF bumper sticker and he graduated in 1995. That may be the first logo using The Biff, 19 years after we went on the air.
The name Biff was a character in the Back to the Future film trilogy but there were no radio or TV stations using The Biff so we ran with it and still use it to this day.
—Pete Bowers
April 3, 2024
Driven to Be the Best!
Audio Archives
Getting More Material
Soon, more historic audio will be published to the WBFH.fm web page. Staff members have been busy dubbing off and archiving many a fragile cassette, reel-to-reel and digital tape. Each week, a new selection of tapes will be published to the Audio section. Check back regularly, by clicking on the link above.
Hey, Biff Alums...Let Us Hear from You!
Just because you graduated and left the friendly confines of the WBFH Studios doesn’t mean you’re never welcome back. We’d love for you to stop by for a visit and bring us up-to-date with how The Biff helped to prepare you for your career! Make arrangements next time you are in the neighborhood to spend some time with us.
