By Jeff Moss
DetroitSportsRag@GMail.com
February 22, 2014

Back in the good old days of the DSR when folks at sports talk radio stations would actually talk to me — as opposed to assaulting me inside of Grand Circus Park — I would regularly post the radio ratings of WDFN and WXYT.

Readers of this website seemed to crave the winners and losers of the most recent Arbitron battles like they were a Lions or Tigers box score and I was more than happy to provide the raw numbers and my commentary.

I had an awesome system working back in the day. When 1130 was excelling in the books, I would receive the figures from an underling of then-program director Rona Danziger; when 1270 was killing it, one of Gregg Henson’s subordinates would provide me with the dish.

But that river ran dry as this site became more toxic, thereby cementing my pariah status. Hell, forget about any CBS Radio employee providing me with the numbers today, I doubt they’d piss on me if they saw me rolling on the ground, ablaze.

And it’s not like I have any allies at the new Detroit Sports 105.1 either, so getting any DETAILED breakdown of the one-sided ratings fight was next-to-impossible.

I basically had the same damn information as any schnook off the street:

VERY PRIMITIVE PORTABLE PEOPLE METER RATINGS

The most basic ratings data. All that chart demonstrated was 12+ listeners. No breakdown by any sort of demographic or segregated by the various shows. It was such garbage information that I refused to even blog about it.

In the meantime though, I kept working leads trying to get the good shit that we used to mainline during the peak of the WDFN/1270 days.

Well, I am happy to say that I finally have the info for you.

Now, before we delve into all of the minutia of the advanced numbers, let me provide you with the very basic data gleaned from the link above.

Station	November 13	December 13	Holiday 13	January 14
97.1	7.6	6.1	5.4	4.6
105.1	1.3	1.2	0.8	1.1

As you can see, the new sports station in town is struggling mightily. Not only are they getting crushed by “The Ticket,” but they aren’t even performing anywhere close to the numbers that Greater Media was receiving with Billy Ocean and Billy Joel on the playlist when the station was Adult Contemporary.

In fact, the only FM station they are beating in the ratings is WDET, a public radio station being broadcast out of Wayne State. Well, I am pretty sure they are also crushing WBLD 89.3. The West Bloomfield High School station I used to work at.

The other interesting trend is the downward spiral that WXYT-FM is currently experiencing. The only thing missing from that backwards countdown over the last few months is a stroked out Dick Clark vibrant Ryan Seacrest reading the numbers aloud on a platform in Times Square.

But this information was so generic that I didn’t really know what it meant in the grand scheme of things. For example, were 105.1’s local shows being dragged way down by the national ESPN programming that they are obligated to air?

Were the numbers at 97.1 down across the board because Red Wings and Pistons games don’t do as well as Tigers broadcasts?

I needed more information so I could better disseminate these figures to you people … the unwashed masses.

So, just like the old days, we will compare the 105.1 and 97.1 shows head-to-head. We will focus on morning through afternoon drive because nobody gives a shit about Pat Caputo, Eric Thomas or Dan Leach’s ratings.

The one difference from the past is that these figures are for the 25-to-54 demographic and not just limited to males. Back when the sports stations were on AM radio, it didn’t matter if one woman tuned in or not. Now that these “sports stations” are on the FM dial, it is important to attract both sexes.

(Yeah, Scott Anderson, I know I just wrote “sexes” ….. stop freaking giggling, ya virgin.)

One last warning. There is some crossover between shows. For example, Colin Cowherd’s national show on 105.1 bleeds into “Mike and Mike.” But for the most part, this is a pretty good representation of the performance of the individual programs over the last four months …..

AM Drive	October 13	November 13	December 13	January 14
97.1	7.2	7	6.1	5.7
105.1	1.6	1.9	2.2	1.8

97.1 — “Stoney and Bill” vs. 105.1 — “Mike and Mike”
Michael Stone and Bill McAllister vs. Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg

The ratings slide for WXYT’s morning show is pretty indicative of the station as a whole. As you will see shortly, every 97.1 program has progressively lost audience since the Tigers season ended.

The ratings are so shocking in that regard that you have to wonder how reliant “The Ticket” is on Tiger baseball. Are drivers SO FREAKING lazy that they listen to the Tigers the night before and just never bother to flip the station the next day? Hell, most cars now have radio controls on the steering wheel so you don’t even have to REACH!!

The good news for Stoney and McAllister is that their ratings decline hasn’t been that steep in comparison to the station’s other programs. They have only lost 20% of their audience since October. It probably has something to do with it not being a sports show. Like, at all. Not even masquerading as one.

Meanwhile, up the dial, I was shocked that the ESPN national morning program is performing even this well. Not that an average of 1.88 is setting the world on fire, but considering both that you can listen to this show on SiriusXM and the provincial nature of Detroiters, I figured they’d be hovering around a 1.0.

On the other hand, you would have thought Golic and Greenberg might have performed slightly better in January, when the Lions were a national story due to the Jim Schwartz firing and Jim Caldwell hiring.

While McAllister and Sara Fouracre were discussing pedicure protocol.

Middays	October 13	November 13	December 13	January 14
97.1	8.8	7.3	6.5	4.6
105.1	1.4	2.1	1.8	1.8

97.1 — “Karsch and Anderson” vs. 105.1 — “The Discussion”
Doug Karsch and Scott Anderson vs. Matt Dery

This really isn’t a direct comparison since Benedict and The Whale’s show airs between 10am and 2pm while their former co-worker, Matt Dery, is on between noon and 3pm. But for the purposes of a chart, I will lump them together.

WOW!!!! From that lofty 8.8 during the Tigers playoff run, Aldrich Ames and Hungry, Hungry Hippo have taken a precipitous fall. How do you lose 48% of your audience in just a few months?

Actually, how did these horrible broadcasters have that large of an audience in the first place? There are that many imbeciles in town willing to listen to Anderson’s anti-math crusade — when he is not giggling about the number 69?

Anyway, if the 97.1 midday show continues on this horrid trajectory, by June, the only actual listeners will be the dead hookers in Gator’s trunk.

I KID!!!!! Deceased prostitutes can’t hear a radio show from the trunk, silly. They’re dead!!!!

Anyway, the former “Bowling for Dollars” co-conspirator host is struggling to gain an audience at 105.1. How is Diesel’s LOCAL show not outperforming the national ESPN programs?

Dery’s format is actually pretty decent, but he could use a co-host and less interaction with the human snoozefest, Tom Mazawey. But it doesn’t seem like Greater Media is in any hurry to spend money on fresh talent. Or on anything for that matter, which we will get to a little later.

PM Drive	October 13	November 13	December 13	January 14
97.1	10	9.4	8	6.3
105.1	2.5	2.6	2.7	2.5

97.1 — “Valenti and Foster” vs. 105.1 — “The Drew Lane Show”
Mike Valenti and Terry Foster vs. Drew Lane and Marc Fellhauer

There is not much to add here regarding Gucci Mike and The Pathological Liar’s ratings, as they basically mirror the rest of the station’s decline. It will be interesting to see if Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and Miguel Cabrera will be able to resuscitate the local hosts’ poor winter performance next month, though.

(One theory on why 97.1’s ratings have Demon Dropped is that Detroit’s harsh winter has driven listeners to WWJ for updates. I don’t buy it. Are you telling me 40% of Valenti and Foster’s audience don’t have a weather app on their SmartPhone?)

The other interesting item to keep a crooked-eye on is the rampant rumor inside the CBS compound that Valenti is fed up with Foster’s continued lack of professionalism, his rejection of basic show prep and his humiliating social media presence.

I have had multiple sources inform me that Valenti would prefer if Foster were replaced with Bob Wojnowski. From what I have been told, Valenti genuinely respects Wojo and would prefer to broadcast a more intellectual show, not the lowest-common-denominator garbage his current partner is comfortable with.

I still believe this swap to be a longshot, at best. First, Foster is the only minority voice on the station, unless face-painters who piss their pants are somehow a protected class.

Second, it really wasn’t a secret that Wojo only wanted to come out of radio retirement if he could work with his good friend, Jamie Samuelsen. Does Wojo even want the promotion?

Stay tuned, as this story could get really interesting.

Regarding 105.1’s signature show, well, I will say this …. Drew Lane is amazingly consistent. 2.5/2.6./2.7/2.5.

Consistently bad. It goes to show you that the market is only so big for a show featuring homophobia, the bashing of potential rape victims and ad nauseam interviews with Mickey Redmond and Herman Moore.

Seriously, where did this guy’s audience go? It wasn’t that long ago that he had the #1 morning show in Detroit and now he is getting stomped on by the Flaming Tomahawk and African-American Matt Prentice?

Look, when Howard Stern switched from terrestrial radio to satellite, I had to retrofit my car for Sirius. It cost me $200 to install a new tuner. Then I had to pay around $15 a month for the privilege to listen to the King of All Media. Then I had to get a boom box for my house and a walkman-type device, which set me back another $500. Not to mention that whenever something went sour with my account, I had to converse with some Pakistani customer service representative who speaks English less intelligibly than Dennis Rodman.

And MILLIONS of listeners went through the same costly, time-consuming experience that I just mentioned. So many made the switch that Stern almost single-handedly forged the SiriusXM merger.

And yet when Lane ONLY moved up the FM dial and switched timeslots, his audience said, “Nah … not worth the hassle. Do you know how long it takes to make 105.1 a preset?”

2.5/2.6./2.7/2.5

That’s it? You had a press conference to announce Lane’s 105.1 debut and have paid for billboards across the city and Drew can’t even match the Lionel Richie/Elton John numbers that the station used to put up?

Like, the WHOLE PURPOSE of making the switch to sports talk was so Greater Media could find a new home for Drew Lane. And based on these numbers, the experiment has failed miserably.

And don’t expect management to throw any money at this problem in the near future. I have been told by radio insiders that Greater Media’s entire plan is to make a run at the Tigers and Red Wings package next year.

Not that they want the Wings at all, but the Ilitch properties come as a package deal and Greater Media believes the key to competing with 97.1 is to snatch the Tigers away from CBS Radio.

The Tigers contract with WXYT runs through the 2015 season, but negotiations will most likely commence next spring and run through the summer as the Wings will require a deal before the 2015-16 season starts in October.

So in the meantime, it would appear that 105.1 is going to do everything on the cheap and save up enough money to make a very serious run at the Tigers broadcast radio rights — which means you probably shouldn’t expect an expansion of local programming anytime soon.

And if you look at the above charts displaying the recent ratings of 97.1, can you freaking blame 105.1 for attempting to execute this strategy?

(You can follow me on Twitter @JeffMossDSR. This is the link for the DSR Facebook Group. And you can make a donation to the DSR here.)