OT: Lions Moving to WJR; Apparently Upset That 97.1 Criticizes Them So Much
The Lions are leaving 97.1 next season for WJR. The people at CBS Radio (97.1) are saying it's because the Lions are upset that the talkers on 97.1 criticize them so much. So it would seem the Lions hate Mike Valenti as much as we do.
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2015/11/19/source-lio…
November 20th, 2015 at 10:55 AM ^
No matter be hates Valenti as much as I do... I moved bc of him.
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November 20th, 2015 at 10:57 AM ^
Is there a story here that's more complicated than you just refusing to turn your radio dial?
November 20th, 2015 at 11:25 AM ^
ok, maybe I was being a tad dramatic... moved for professional reasons, but I really did hate listening to Valenti, and in 2011 found the other sports radio options pretty bad in and around the AA area.
November 20th, 2015 at 10:55 AM ^
Are we really going to take what the ditched station says as gospel?
November 20th, 2015 at 11:54 AM ^
Well, they replaced Mark Champion with Dan Miller in 2004 for that exact same reason so I think it's a logical inference. Either way... who really cares? Both stations are unlistenable and the team is garbage.
November 20th, 2015 at 10:57 AM ^
After 50-plus years of being the worst franchise in football, destroying a pedigree that included four NFL Championships, three in the 1950's, what do they expect?
November 20th, 2015 at 10:58 AM ^
This will fix everything.
November 20th, 2015 at 11:08 AM ^
"...the people running the (Lions) nowadays, they make the last bunch look sanctified. I mean, this some shameful shit."
November 20th, 2015 at 11:17 AM ^
Money launderin? They gonna come talk to me about money launderin, in 'West Baltimore'?
November 20th, 2015 at 10:58 AM ^
And of course, the lions should never be criticized as look at all their successes since the fords owned them.
/smh
November 20th, 2015 at 10:58 AM ^
think Valenti is actually becomming a hindrance to that station at this point. He has become so one dimensional (Lions suck, Giants suck, Everbody sucks) that it is a really bad listening experience. I didn't always dislike him just based on Sparty love but he is literally the most negative radio personality I have ever heard. Good for the Lions in this regard. He was and is out of control with his takes.
November 20th, 2015 at 10:59 AM ^
Mike Valenti = Drew Sharp
November 20th, 2015 at 11:12 AM ^
this puts me in extreme peril on this blog, I have to say that the "new Sharp" on 105.1 is actually quite a bit more tolerable than Valenti. Sharp's stint with Shep was absolutely awful, and I really questioned why 105.1 would even give it a roll. He is not as bad as I thought he would be(while still being bad, of course). Look, it is what it is, I listen to sports talk radio and my options on the way home involve Sharp and Valenti. I have to listen to something and meteor is not an option. Valenti is considerably worse than Sharp right now and it is a shame because he is very knowledgeable about sports. He is just completely one track. Everybody and everything is "abysmal" and nobody and nothing is good. At times it sounds as though Foster is actively trying to discourage him from those takes but Valenti takes it as though he is just "playing along." Complete mess of a show.
November 20th, 2015 at 11:12 AM ^
I hope Valenti takes the offer from Philly and 97.1 brings back the Stoney and Wojo show.
November 20th, 2015 at 11:20 AM ^
would be a pretty epic move. I have listened to 97.1 now for a while and my first suggestion would be dumping the early morning show as a "variety show" and commit to it being a legit sports show and move some talent there. Jamie Samuelson is a VERY good morning sports show host and would be perfect for the job with really anybody (except for Bill who is quite literally like nails on a chalkboard to me-can't listen to him). Right now their morning show and their drive home show are both disasters and that is not a good thing at all.
November 20th, 2015 at 11:31 AM ^
Context: I haven't listened to Michigan radio regularly since I left in 2005.
My impression is that the Clear Channel blootletting that axed Stoney and Wojo was a huge mistake in many areas, and the Stoney/Wojo firing was a big one. Their show had become an institution locally; I don't know what the ratings were, but I was under the impression that they crushed the competition. And Clear Channel flushed it.
It's hard to develop high chemistry, well-liked, well-listened-to shows. Some radio management groups seem to think that they can just replace hosts and the listeners won't jump ship, but given how many of those moves get walked back I'd say that they are dead wrong. It happened in LA when I lived out there; I enjoyed the Mason and Ireland show on the ESPN radio flagship, and they dropped the show on a whim. Mason and Ireland were quickly brought back in the earlier pm time slot, and when the guy they originally put in their slot bombed, the station was stuck. They had nuked a good product.
I'm not local, but when I visit town I find Metro Detroit area difficult to listen to. Part of it is familiarity, but part of it is the subjective impression that it's not as good as it was when I left.
November 20th, 2015 at 11:41 AM ^
nearly as good as it was. The Ticket had a really good line up back in the day, but I think part of the reason Clear blew it up is because they were having to pay hosts who had become institutions in their own right. There was a running joke back in the day regarding Stoney's salary and I think there was an undercurrent of truth to it.
Detroit has some good talent still but they do not have it in the right places. Baligan is back midday on 105.1 and appears to have honed his skills and is quite a bit better but he is relegated to a slot when nobody listens.(Disclaimer - in past posts I panned Baligan but I like him so far in his return). Jamie and Wojo are actually really good and have really good chemistry but they come on after everybody is home. Stoney knows a lot about sports but is on a show that never talks about sports. Shep is serviceable if you really want to talk Detroit sports specifically but he is on AM and nobody even knows he still has a show.
November 21st, 2015 at 8:04 AM ^
I think if 105.1, having blown their chance at the Lions, wants to make a real commitment to sports in this market, they would be wise to attempt to reunite Stoney and Wojo at the earliest opportunity when their 97.1 contracts expire. They should also probably pay whatever it takes to get UM or MSU football, just saying.
November 20th, 2015 at 11:27 AM ^
on WTKA is another option and WTKA has mgoblog radio on Mondays. There are options. I actually don't like Huge much so I do podcasts on the way home.
November 21st, 2015 at 8:03 AM ^
Sharp is simply better at his professional troll shtick. Valenti is too clownish, Sharp knows how to agitate while making a coherent argument.
November 20th, 2015 at 11:03 AM ^
Well, the two biggest draws in SE Michigan, the Lions and Wolverines, have both been bad for basically the last ten years (one or two years excepted for each team). I fail to see how saying the Lions suck or Michigan sucks constitutes anything but telling the truth.
That being said, your point stands about negativity getting a bid old after a while. But at least that negativity pushed through change at Michigan.
November 20th, 2015 at 11:15 AM ^
radio host, you have to get past the overall "status" of the team big picture and just focus on games sometimes Many Lions fans tune into talk radio because, despite the teams record, they want to hear discussion about the upcoming game. Like, OK, the Lions are bad, but they play this weekend, so let's look at the Raiders matchup. There is none of that on 97.1 right now and I think listeners are bailing on them.
November 20th, 2015 at 11:24 AM ^
disagree. I used to not be able to stand Valenti, but the last 2-3 years I've gained a bit of respect for him. Personal feelings aside, I believe the Valenti & Foster show is a top 10 rated show nationally, despite not being syndicated. I don't think Valenti is a hindrance to the station at all. Quite the opposite.
The Lions moving to a station where they have more editorial input says more about a flailing franchise than it does the media outlets covering them. It's also somewhat funny to me that this is 2015 and an NFL franchise is moving their broadcasts to the AM dial.
November 20th, 2015 at 11:34 AM ^
like you actually may be Mike Valenti.
I any case, I am the exact opposite with him. I really liked listening to him 5 years ago but cannot do it anymore. I think their rating say more about the kind of commuter city that Detroit is and how sports hungry it is than really reflect on the quality of the show. I listen to those shows because I am a sports fan and have to listen to something, not because I have an affinity for either one.
And if you listen to Valenti, I think you would know that the Lions are not looking to "censure" the content as the station would have you believe, but they cannot put their product on a station that devotes 4 hours per day to panning them pretty much at the expense of actual content. It became personal to Valenti with the Suh interview debacle and he has not let up on the Lions since.
November 20th, 2015 at 1:49 PM ^
He's right actually...last year they were voted the number 1 sports show in the country by Talkers magazine. Also Detroit is the only large metropolitan area in the country that has a sports station as the 1rated station in the market. That is largely based on Valenti and Fosters radio show. I honestly don't mind Valenti because I know where he stands. If I can take Sam Webb crushing Sparty at every opportunity he gets, then I can't cry when someone from the other side does it to us.
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November 20th, 2015 at 11:35 AM ^
This. I rarely post on this board and rarely will text 97.1 with anything, but I literally texted 97.1 a couple days ago: "Please find someone who enjoys talking about sports". I try and avoid Valenti but I drive a lot for work and he's on when my radio is on mostly, between 2:00-6:00. He is the most negative person I've ever heard.
November 20th, 2015 at 11:47 AM ^
but is there any question the Lions suck and have for over 50 years?
November 20th, 2015 at 11:54 AM ^
but it cannot serve as the backbone for the narrative on a 4 hour program either. You can either tallk about them within the context of who they are or not talk about them at all. What you can't do is devote 4 hours to "the Lions suck" and expect to make a good radio show. "The Lions suck" is the end of a conversation, not the beginning of one like it is used on 97.1.
November 20th, 2015 at 12:06 PM ^
of the show. yes, during football season, it's a popular topic - but again, when the team is basement-dwelling bad, what are they supposed to talk about? His negativity can grow tiresome, but when that happens, I try to put what he says in perspective. and if i'm still tired of it, I change the channel. He's positive when there's something to be positive about, and negative when there isn't. it's called honesty. I like it. His new york cynic schtick can get old at times, but, if nothing else, it's still entertaining.
I think too many michigan fans have thin skin when it comes to him, and I get it. But, I grew out of it. Most of the time I don't find he's being negative just for the sake of being negative. He likes to troll M fans from time to time, but that's to be expected.
November 20th, 2015 at 12:14 PM ^
he is never genuinely positive. If the circumstances don't allow him to be negative he simply alters the perspective on the circumstances to continue negativity. If the Lions turn it around this year, the conversation will become about NFL parity and how the NFL has become watered down, allowing a terrible Lions team to be competitive. If anybody but Michigan State wins the Big Ten this year he will come out with "the Big Ten is not as good as everybody thought so [Insert winner here] is completely fraudulent." If the NFL suspends a player for domestic violence his take is "what a shame that the NFL needs to suspend somebody so nobody will pick him" and "it is all about the dollars so of course the NFL suspended him." Listen carefully. Nothing is good and nothing can be good or he changes the conversation to how it makes something else bad.
November 20th, 2015 at 12:47 PM ^
you hear what you want to hear. The guy is a lot more fair-handed than you're accusing him of. Be honest - are you one of those fans who never got over Valenti likening Brady Hoke to Fred Flinstone? That's fine if you are, just be up front about it.
November 20th, 2015 at 11:01 AM ^
Nothing like alleged professionals running from criticism.
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November 20th, 2015 at 11:02 AM ^
The Detroit Lions are officially the Millenial Generation of the NFL.
November 20th, 2015 at 11:16 AM ^
Because they have also been screwed over and stuck with a mess created by the Baby Boomer Generation?
November 20th, 2015 at 11:30 AM ^
Yes, exactly.
November 20th, 2015 at 12:07 PM ^
Side question: At what point do we have a new generation term? I'm a millenial, but I'm 28 and when I was in high school my parents didn't care what I did or when and they certainly didn't hand me anything. They bought me dinner when they visited college and took me grocery shopping.
I don't want to be lumped in with today's teens, thank you very much.
November 20th, 2015 at 11:27 AM ^
They are stuck with an insane amont of college loan debt and are now entering a workforce where starting wages for college grads hasn't grown since the 1970's?
November 20th, 2015 at 11:04 AM ^
You get your guys together. Perhaps if all of us are working together, we can throw both of our football teams into the lake
November 20th, 2015 at 11:05 AM ^
The Lions suck from top to bottom, and have for as long as most of us can remember. What do they expect?
November 20th, 2015 at 11:07 AM ^
Not sure how the Lions can expect the local media not to be harsh if even Family Guy is taking jabs at them.
November 20th, 2015 at 11:09 AM ^
Also, looks like Terry Foster had been "granted" early retirement from Det News. They basically forced him out, but he seems okay with it. Hopefully the guy got a decent severance package.
November 20th, 2015 at 11:23 AM ^
Why? He was terrible at the News and he's even worse on the radio.
Foster is a piece of shit...
http://detroitsportsrag.net/the-time-terry-foster-backstabbed-the-best-man-at-his-wedding/
November 20th, 2015 at 11:30 AM ^
a POS himself. Remember his big story about Harbaugh and supposed mistreatment of an injured player?
You need to bring something from a better source than DetroitSportsRag.
November 20th, 2015 at 11:43 AM ^
I can't stand Moss, but he knows what he's talking about when it comes to sports radio in Detroit.
November 20th, 2015 at 11:51 AM ^
The guy is jealous and takes shots at the people who have been more successful than him which is practically everyone. Maybe some of it's deserved and accurate, but it comes off as petty and jealous.
November 20th, 2015 at 11:50 AM ^
I agree that Foster is bad on the radio and in print, but he's got a family to provide for and radio guys, despite their "fame", get paid pennies for the most part.
November 20th, 2015 at 11:10 AM ^
What a big bunch of wusses if that is true. They should be thankful that after all these years we still get worked up enough to be negative.
November 20th, 2015 at 11:11 AM ^
The only thing that used to get me thru the Millen years was when Art regner would go off on rants for 10 minutes straight after Lions losses - that was some of the best radio ever. I wish they'd hire Art and we could do it all over for a new generation.
November 20th, 2015 at 11:33 AM ^
Art is "Lions Free" now, but it would be great to have the old Art back. His Scott Mitchell rant after that playoff loss in Tampa was legendary.