Detroit sports radio changing
Look for some major shake-ups in Detroit sports radio in the new year.
Art Regner, one of the signature voices at all-sports-talk WXYT, was fired last week in a cost-cutting move.
The man whose rants are legendary was the best thing going for the station, but the size of his contract made him the most expendable. Regner was one of the original talkers when all-sports radio began in Detroit at WDFN 12 1/2 years ago.
WDFN (1130-AM) and WXYT (1270-AM) are still limping along, leaving us to wonder how much longer the Detroit market can support two sports talkers.
WDFN has gotten stale. Mike Stone and Bob Wojnowski have been together for a decade in afternoon drive and still have the city's franchise sports show.
But WDFN no longer gives sports fans a compelling reason to tune in during the daytime. It's even worse after sunset. Most of Monroe County can't hear the Pistons on their flagship station.
The success of the Detroit Tigers helped WXYT, and the station finally cracked the top 20 in the Arbitron ratings. But WXYT keeps shuffling its schedule.
Effective Jan. 2, mid-day "Sports Inferno" hosts Mike Valenti and Terry Foster move to afternoon drive, replacing the "Big Show." Regner's former partner Doug Karsch is demoted to mid-days and will join Scott (The Gator) Anderson in a pairing of dull and duller.
Foster and Valenti are developing chemistry but lack star power. Their arguments seem forced. Putting them opposite Stone and Wojnowski will be the beginning of the end for the WXYT duo.
The Karsch-Anderson pairing is a mismatch made in hell. Anderson is as boring as all get-out. His Detroit Tiger postgame shows last summer sounded like they came from a member of the Tigers' PR staff. Karsch is as condescending as Gary Danielson was during the years of the horrible "Locker Room" show (with Eli Zaret and Kirk Gibson) on WXYT.
Meanwhile, the Tigers' six-year contract with WXYT has expired. The station grossly overpaid when it bid $50 million to broadcast the Tigers and Red Wings. With Regner gone, one has to wonder how much longer WXYT will remain a sports station. After all, it drew far better ratings a decade ago as a conservative talker.
Closer to home, Toledo's all-sports WLQR (1470-AM) has become a better alternative. The home of the Red Wings, Mud Hens, Tigers (when the Hens aren't playing), Lions and Ohio State suffers from a lack of local programming. Norm Wamer is solid, but he's only on for two hours in the afternoon.
Toledo's WDMN (1520-AM) has now added Detroit Pistons broadcasts with its Toledo Storm play-by-play. Mostly sports WCWA (1230) is left with Bowling Green, Toledo women's basketball and the Cleveland Indians.
The trouble with Detroit sports radio is all the hosts seem the same. All try too hard to sound hip. When former Tiger reliever Larry Sherry died last week, no one talked about him because nobody remembered him.
Detroit sports radio needs an old sage, a Ron Cameron or Denny McLain type, who is a little older, knowledgeable and outspoken. There aren't many of those available so the best move would be to hire Cameron or McLain.
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