Detroit area radio already has 4 all sports stations.  Two of them had a 0.1 share in the last rating.  Doesn't look like there is much of a market for 5th all sports station.

Some on the Michigan Radio and TV Buzzboard are saying that the station should have gone to a classic Motown/Soul format.  Seems strange but in the home of Motown and so many classic soul artists, nobody is doing this in Detroit.  For oldies Detroit listeners need to tune in two out of town stations with CKWW being one.  And CKWW as an oldies station is likely not long for this world.  

RadioActive wrote:

I know we have some Windsor folks here and they've probably already heard about this - Detroit radio station WFDF at 910 AM that has catered to an urban Black audience for years has announced it's suddenly switching formats to all-sports, throwing several controversial talents off the air. 

And the audience who listened to them is not taking it lying down. In a remarkable piece on WDIV-TV (when was the last time a TV station covered any radio story?) a former staffer accuses the owner of being racist, dishonest and having an ulterior motive. The man in question is already being investigated by authorities for allegedly not paying his taxes and many audience members don't trust his motives.  

There are suspicions the sports format is just a cover for what he really wants to do with his station. 

Details here and make sure to watch the embedded video.

Link doesn’t work for me

haydenmatthews14 wrote:

RadioActive wrote:

I know we have some Windsor folks here and they've probably already heard about this - Detroit radio station WFDF at 910 AM that has catered to an urban Black audience for years has announced it's suddenly switching formats to all-sports, throwing several controversial talents off the air. 

And the audience who listened to them is not taking it lying down. In a remarkable piece on WDIV-TV (when was the last time a TV station covered any radio story?) a former staffer accuses the owner of being racist, dishonest and having an ulterior motive. The man in question is already being investigated by authorities for allegedly not paying his taxes and many audience members don't trust his motives.  

There are suspicions the sports format is just a cover for what he really wants to do with his station. 

Details here and make sure to watch the embedded video.

Link doesn’t work for me

Interesting. The link is correct - I checked it myself. But yes, the story appears to be gone. I strongly suspect the guy in the video that was embedded in the story may have said something that could get them sued and they took it down. I checked their site and it's no longer there. 

That was why I suggested watching the video, because you rarely hear anyone openly accuse a former boss of being a crook and a racist on TV. 

I wonder if a lawsuit threat led to it being removed. 

RadioAaron wrote:

The programming on the station was all paid or brokered, but probably pretty high maintenance - requiring ops and studios and such.

A switch to one of the sports syndicators would be a much leaner operations with decent revenue if they get in with some of the sports betting programming.

WFDF is fully affiliating with ESPN; they already carried its programming in the overnight hours.

This again from one of the Detroit radio forums (Radio Discussions) mentioned that WFDF a few years ago had a weekly cume of 30,000 listeners.  One paper had reported that listenership had plummeted to as low as 2,200 and the station had very few advertisers.  This is a 50,000 watt outlet.  Don't really understand why the owner just wouldn't sell the station or close it down and sell the building and land.  With four other sports stations in the Detroit area, can't see how a fifth would be a success. 

RadioActive wrote:

Some of the articles I read noted the ex-employees don't believe it will be all-sports for long. They think the owner is secretly planning to switch to a Conservative talk station in the near future, perhaps as soon as this Fall. They say the sports thing is just a temporary place holder. We'll see.

That would be JUST as dumb as giving Detroit a 5th sports talk station. Because, you see, Detroit already HAS a conservative talk outlet, WDTK/1400(with an FM translator at 101.5); it's owned by Salem.

ckg927 wrote:

RadioAaron wrote:

The programming on the station was all paid or brokered, but probably pretty high maintenance - requiring ops and studios and such.

A switch to one of the sports syndicators would be a much leaner operations with decent revenue if they get in with some of the sports betting programming.

WFDF is fully affiliating with ESPN; they already carried its programming in the overnight hours.

Which makes sense. I don’t know where people are getting the “Detroit has 5 sports stations” talking point from when ESPN affiliation is available.

Right now, Detroit has the following Sports radio stations.

1. WXYT-FM, 97-1 The Ticket, 
2. WCSX-HD-2 and 93.5 W228CJ, The Roar 
3. WXYT AM 1270 The Bet (Gambling)
4. WFDF 910 AM with ESPN

104.5 FM would be impossible in Detroit due to WOMC being one channel away. In the radio ratings 1130 WDFN is still listed as a Sports station, which is incorrect. That must be why people thought there was a fifth Sports station. It became a B.I.N. affiliate in 2020. 

RadioAaron wrote:

So there is one sports radio station going for ratings in the market.

Correct.  WXYT "The Ticket" currently sits 3rd with a 6.7 share. Their stream has a 1.8 share in 18th. The "Competition" WXYT has a 0.1 share and is tied or behind the streams of WWJ, WJR, WOMC, WDRQ, WDFN, WYCD and WRCJ.

The sports programming on WFDF 910 Detroit was short lived...it is going conservative talk on Sept 5th.  So the suspicions of the sports programming being just a cover were true.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/adell-media-announces-debut-of-910-am--detroits-news-talk-superstation-301915177.html

Last edited by paterson1 (September 1, 2023 11:15 am)

 WFDF only had 2,100 listeners per month?  Didn't know they could measure numbers that low.  On some given days or weeks they would have nobody listening.  Hard to believe that an AM station with good dial position and 50,000 watts in a market of over 3.5 million could be tracking so poorly.  So this owner Kevin Adell has been losing money for years? 

Also, the racism accusation seems weak.

Either:
-He isn't racist and this was a business decision, or
-He is racist, but setting up or buying a Black-oriented talk station in the first place was a business decision in itself

Marc1178 wrote:

Right now, Detroit has the following Sports radio stations.

1. WXYT-FM, 97-1 The Ticket, 
2. WCSX-HD-2 and 93.5 W228CJ, The Roar 
3. WXYT AM 1270 The Bet (Gambling)
4. WFDF 910 AM with ESPN

104.5 FM would be impossible in Detroit due to WOMC being one channel away. In the radio ratings 1130 WDFN is still listed as a Sports station, which is incorrect. That must be why people thought there was a fifth Sports station. It became a B.I.N. affiliate in 2020. 

The latest update to this old story is that WXYT will be abandoning its all-betting format and instituting something a bit different for Detroit radio - an all Black-hosted all-sports radio station. 

Detroit’s 1270 WXYT To Debut As ‘Sports Rap Radio’ On May 16

This long awaited change to Detroit radio - a mostly all-Black sports format - will finally debut next week. WXYT 1270 AM will become Sports Rap Radio at 7 AM on Monday, June 3rd, and has been the subject of much speculation as to whether it will attract a big audience with its new focus. 

And it really does appear to be an experiment - owner Audacy has effectively "leased" the station to those behind the new format. What happens after those initial two years depends entirely on how successful the idea winds up being in the ratings. And they might even network it to other outlets across America if it takes off. 

But unlike other sports stations, this one won't just be asking "what's wrong with the Tigers?"

"In the overnights, Parker says the station will carry podcasts combined with old-school rap music. Yes, there will be rap music on Sports Rap Radio; there’ll even be a house DJ, “DJ Whutever.” 

Podcasters can purchase one-hour blocks of airtime between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. The podcasts must deal with Black life, not necessarily sports, and must be clean. “We decide if the podcast fits our station’s structure,” says Parker."

Black-owned Sports Rap Radio readies to launch in Detroit

RadioActive wrote:

The latest update to this old story is that WXYT will be abandoning its all-betting format and instituting something a bit different for Detroit radio - an all Black-hosted all-sports radio station. 

Detroit’s 1270 WXYT To Debut As ‘Sports Rap Radio’ On May 16

Well, it turns out they're not entirely dumping the All Betting format, after all. 

Audacy Launches The Bet Detroit on WXYT-HD3