DETROIT - December 8, 2003 - Thousands of loyal WDET listeners answered the call to save programming on Detroit Public Radio and pledged their collective financial support of $300,000 during the station's S.O.S. pledge drive. The "Save Our Station - Save Our Shows" pledge drive was scheduled to go through Saturday, December 6th at 5pm, but it ended more than five hours early when the $300,000 goal was reached at 11:42am on December 6th.

"We're enormously grateful for the generosity of our listeners," said Caryn Mathes, WDET General Manager. "We were confident that if we told listeners the financial situation and what was at stake, they'd support the programming that's so important to them."

The budgetary shortfall stemmed from a fall fundraising campaign that did not meets its goal. Without going back and asking listeners for support, the station was facing cutting programming in order to balance the budget. Listeners pledged their support for WDET at an average of $6,818 an hour during the 44 - hour S.O.S. pledge drive.

Listeners can show their support of WDET by calling 1-800-959-WDET or by making a donation on the station's secure website at WDET.