The 105.1 Sports Rumor That Won’t Go Away

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Drew and Mike

By Jeff Moss
DetroitSportsRag@gmail.com
July 1, 2013

They say where there is smoke there is fire.  Well, with this story, where there is smoke there is possibly a forest fire.  Ummm, probably not a good day for that reference.

But the speculation that 105.1 is going to switch from an old lady’s music format to some sort of sports talk station continues to gather steam.   The DSR’s story even got picked up by Detroit radio aficionado Gregg Henson on Monday.   (The person despite our personal animus I believe should be the program director of the revamped station if they make the switch.  As long as he stays way clear of a hosting gig.)


So here is the latest that I have learned from my reporting into this story.

1) I have confirmed from one source that Drew Lane and Mike Clark (formerly of WRIF-101) have told people close to them that they are done with morning drive forever and that their next gig will be in the afternoon.   This source hasn’t been able to confirm what station will be the perennial number one morning hosts new home.

2) A completely separate source has informed me that Greater Media (the owners of both 105.1 and 101.1) have had this 105.1/Drew and Mike plan for awhile now and that WMGC-FM will definitely be switching formats before the fall.

3) I’ve learned from a THIRD source that ESPN Radio is currently attempting to pull the national syndication rights from AM1090 due to various breaches of contract by 1090’s “owner” Sima Birach, Jr.  And that ESPN is in negotiations with an FM station in Detroit to partner with once they have dislodged themselves from the 1090 clusterfuck.

4) I have independently learned that for a couple of months now, 105.1’s Twitter feed has been “following” fans of Drew and Mike’s old WRIF program.

Now, add all of that up and tell me that there isn’t something going on at 105.1.

We might finally have an FM alternative to the garbage radio that is being spewed on the 97.1 airwaves and it can’t come soon enough for many in the Detroit area who aren’t fans of the bought-and-paid for by the home team™ (Gregg Henson) nonsense over at WXYT-FM.

Update as of 4:36pm

  • According to Gregg Henson at GreggHenson.com, part of the holdup in Greater Media going all sports is Birach, Jr. is demanding an exorbitant amount of money for the ESPN franchise he currently owns the rights to.  Meanwhile, I have learned that ESPN Radio believes that 1090 violated the terms of the syndication contract in a variety of ways including numerous “dead-air” issues, over billing advertisers, etc.

  • It is not a guarantee that the Greater Media sports station will be on 105.1  There is a chance that they will buy another FM station and leave 105.1  alone.  But this is happening without a doubt.
  • According to what I am hearing, Sean Baligian will be a part of whatever Greater Media is doing sports related in Detroit.   There is a big Drew Lane/Baligian connection as Sean used to partner with Tom Kowalski on WDFN-1130 before Killer’s death.   Tom’s best friend and the person who runs his charity events and organized his memorial service (Matt Riley) is also extremely tight with Drew.  Not difficult to connect those dots.

Stay tuned for more details …….