Is Detroit Sports 105.1 on Life Support?

Posted on by admin by

hospital_2473904b

By Jeff Moss
DetroitSportsRag@GMail.com
January 14, 2015

Considering this website broke the news a couple of years ago that Greater Media was flipping WMGC-105.1 from an Adult Contemporary channel to an all-sports station, it would only be poetic if the DSR was the first to reports its demise.

Now, I don’t have anything in concrete to report but rumors have been swirling in radio circles over the last few days that Greater Media might be on the verge of cutting bait with Detroit Sports 105.1 after fewer than 18 months on the air.

Over the last couple of days Greater Media (GM) has let go of two Detroit employees, which industry trade website AllAccess.com has characterized as an “effort to downsize amidst reported station restructuring.”

On Monday, we learned that 15-year GM employee Mike Gagliano had been laid off; on Tuesday, AllAccess.com reported that DSR nemesis Julie Law had been fired from her position as Regional Director of Marketing, Promotions and Lying to Poor Joffrey Muss About Matt Dery Charity Golf Outings.

These layoffs coincided with industry insiders reporting to me that GM is taking a financial bath due to the underperformance of 105.1. While WRIF (101.1) is thriving and WCSX (94.7) is holding its own, 105.1 has struggled to gain an audience from the moment Jason Mraz and James Blunt tunes went out the window in favor of Drew Lane and Ryan Ermanni.

The following is a Tweet I sent out on Tuesday comparing WMGC’s ratings with 97.1 down the FM dial …..

105.1 has never even come CLOSE to achieving the ratings the station enjoyed when it was Adult Contemporary. In fact, the 1.4 is a high-water mark for the station — even though the WXYT challenger still is the second lowest-rated FM station in the entire city…

Regularly beating only Wayne State University’s public radio signal!!!

Truth is, while many sports fans clamored for an alternative to 97.1, out-of-town program director Jason Dixon has not taken advantage of that climate with his uninspired hires of Matt Dery and Rico Beard and the nationally-syndicated morning show of “Mike and Mike.”

While most Detroit sports fans desired an FM station that …. ya know, actually discussed sports, GM provided them the Drew Lane program — which has actually out 97.1’d 97.1.

Instead of counter-programming against WXYT-FM’s penchant to discuss anything but Motown athletics, 105.1 built a station around a man who doesn’t know very much about sports and would rather wax nostalgic about 90s pop culture.

Combined with Lane’s massive salary — which drained the budget, not allowing Dixon to hire other local on-air staff — Drew’s absolute failure to get his WRIF listeners to follow him up the dial has made the Detroit Sports 105.1 business model a total disaster.

At this point, the only question that may remain is when the plug will be pulled on Detroit Sports 105.1. Will it occur when Lane and Marc Fellhauer are on the air like these poor saps in Chicago?….

The seemingly imminent news is extremely disappointing. We waited years for a rival to 97.1 and, because of this Hindenburg-esque disaster, you have to wonder if anyone else will challenge CBS Radio with a viable, listenable and entertaining all-sports station in Detroit.

CBS has been able to control the sports talk market in town because they own the rights to the ratings juggernaut known as the Detroit Tigers. At the beginning of the 105.1/Sports experiment there were rumors that GM would go after the Tigers/Red Wings package when negotiations started this spring.

Now, it seems the bidding war the Ilitch Family would have drooled over is not going to materialize; CBS Radio seems to be the only viable option for Mike, Marian and Chris.

A format switch by WMGC would also impact the Detroit Pistons, who moved to 105.1 this season. I’ve been advised by industry sources that most teams have an out in their contract just in case their broadcast partner makes a format switch, but who knows if Tom Gores’ people would have a better alternative or if anyone else even wants the team at this point.

Luckily for 105.1 producer Tom Mazawey, if the speculation is correct, he will still have a lucrative business of unwinding kids, shopping for groceries and lowering cable bills.

This is a developing story and I am working the phones for further information. I will let you know more the moment I learn anything else.