Danielle Tier
Broadcast Educator
Joining the WBFH team in 2017, Mrs. Tier has embraced the the radio arm of broadcast media. Advising The Biff staff joins nicely with her other positions in communications here at Bloomfield Hills High School: BHS-TV News Advisor and BHHS Head Forensics Coach.
Ronald Wittebols
Operations Manager
Ronald has a long and storied association with the successful WBFH broadcasting program. Of the people who have passed through the doors of The Biff, Ronald has the second-longest record of service, behind legendary manager Pete Bowers and just ahead of retired staff engineer Randy Carr.
WBFH State and National Awards
WBFH is proud of its state and national broadcast awards:
John Drury High School Radio Awards
2015: 1st Place, Best High School Radio Station
2014: 1st Place, Best High School Radio Station
2012: 2nd Place, Best High School Radio Station
2010: 1st Place, Best High School Radio Station
2009: 2nd Place, Best High School Radio Station
2008: 1st Place (tie), Best High School Radio Station
2007: 1st Place, Best High School Radio Station
2006: 1st Place, Best High School Radio Station
2005: 3rd Place, Best High School Radio Station
Michigan Association of Broadcasters
2016: High School Station of the Year
2015: High School Station of the Year
2013: High School Station of the Year
2011: High School Station of the Year
2010: High School Station of the Year
2008: High School Station of the Year
2007: 1st in the State: More awards than any other school in Michigan!
2006: High School Station of the Year
2005: High School Station of the Year
2004: High School Station of the Year (tie)
2003: High School Station of the Year
Michigan Association
of Educational Broadcasters
2006: Carl V. Jacobson Educational Broadcasting Achievement Award
2003: High School Station of the Year
1995: High School Station of the Year
1990: High School Station of the Year
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.
