| 28 August 2009
I received a Facebook alert today from the RobInge Hood forums, an enclave for dispossessed WDFN listeners. I had hunch as to what was up, as rumors have been swirling the purged of almost all talent 1130 AM, running nationally syndicated content all but 2 hours a day, would soon go back to a mostly local sports talk format.
Truns out my spider sense was tingling for good reason.
As of September 8th, the late, lamented WDFN will rise from the ashes! But...there's always a "but" when it comes to Cheap Channel...before you get all tingly in your special place, take a look at The Fan's M-F lineup first.
Morning drive: Sean Baligian - 7-10 AM
Mid-days: FOX 2's Ryan Ermanni - 10AM-Noon
Afternoons: ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd - Noon-2PM
Afternoon drive: Matt Shepard & Drew Sharp - 2PM-6PM
Are you still tingly in your special place?
CC is asking Baligian to do 6 hours of radio a day, as he's already doing afternoon drive on 96.1 ESPN in Grand Rapids. Jebus, that's a ton of sports talk for anyone. Baligian's a good listen, more than capable of doing a solo show and the only choice for pure sports talk in the AM. But dealing with callers of questionable IQ for that many hours a week will turn his brain into mush. It's the equivalent of a do-it-yourself lobotomy, only in slow motion.
All I know of Ermanni is from his WJBK, FOX 2 work. He's local, which is necessary in this market. Otherwise, Ermanni is an unknown entity, to say the very least. All I can say is the last time WDFN asked a TV anchor to carry a 2 hour, full-time radio gig, we ended up with the train wreck that was Van Earl Wright's show.
Colin Cowherd is unlistenable. The last thing this market needs is this know-nothing about Detroit nationally syndicated lout pushing an ESPN agenda (IE: constant prattle over east coast and L.A. teams, while ignoring the teams from flyover states, save for those from Chicago). Say what you will about the annoying Jim Rome, he's a better listen than The Herd. Adding Cowherd to the lineup is a HUGE mistake. No one will listen to The Herd. No one with half a brain or an interest in anything other than the Yankees, Red Sox, Giants, Jets and Patriots, anyway.
Shepard's a professional, but his dry style is better suited for updates and play by play. Sharp is there to do what he does best, stir up controversy, and get a rise out of listeners. It's his job at the Freep, it'll be his job at DFN. Honestly, it seems like an oil and water partnership. It's as far from a Stoney & Wojo pairing as you can get.
In the end, Cheap Channel gutted what had been a mostly profitable and entertaining sports talk station, ditching damn near every single listener in the process, and allowing WXYT to runaway and hide in the ratings race, just to eliminate the salaries of Jamie Samuelsen, Mike Stone and Bob Wojnowski. I'm sure there were other, less expensive, casualties. But those 3 were the most well known, and most listened to, big guns.
Without Samuelsen, Stoney and Wojo, will anyone listen to the new WDFN? Baligian has a fanbase, and little competition for those wanting pure sports talk in the morning (You sure as Hell won't get it from the so-called "man talk" with Jay & Bill on XYT). But what about the rest? Probably not.
An even bigger question is, will anyone listen to a low powered, highly directional, unlistenable at night, done on the cheap AM station when the competition has blowtorch FM signal 24/7 and broadcast rights to all 4 of the pro sports teams?
If WDFN moved to FM, as should have been done years ago, they might have a chance. As things currently stand, The Fan still has one foot in the grave.
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