WXYT VS. WDFN Was An Intriguing Battle For Top Sports Talk Radio Slot In Detroit

For many people in Detroit, in terms of fans of sports talk radio, you’re either fans of WDFN or you’re fans of WXYT. I, of course, bucked that trend and tended to listen to a little of both. I switched back and forth depending on the topic. I tended to listen to Doug Karsch and Scott Anderson more on WXYT than Sean Baligian on WDFN. But, there were times I preferred Sean over Karsch and Anderson. Again, a lot of times it only depended on the topics being discussed. In the afternoon, I tended to run more with Stoney and Wojo (Mike Stone and Bob Wojnowski) over (Mike) Valenti and (Terry) Foster. Stoney and Wojo is an institution and is mostly peerless. All things being equal, it was just a better show than Valenti and Foster (who later were aided in the ratings, I would assume, by a switch to a much, MUCH strongerFM signal). Why do I write this? I read this blog from Terry Foster (who also is a columnist and blogger for the Detroit News):

I work for the competition, but there is still no reason for me to celebrate the demise of WDFN 1130. Less competition means fewer voices for the sports fans of Detroit.
In addition to my duties with The Detroit News, I also work for 97.1 FM The Ticket, doing the afternoon drive-time shift with my partner, Mike Valenti. Our station has been locked in combat with WDFN for years. We won, but I do not celebrate today.
The loss of WDFN means more people are out of jobs in this rough economy. Maybe they’ll find other gigs here. Maybe they’ll move and try to find jobs in other cities. The problem is, there are more companies in radio laying off than hiring. Newspapers are changing every day. Radio is, as well.

This is, of course, an excerpt of what Foster wrote. And, to be fair, Terry was mostly kind to WDFN (his now former competition). But, I am not sure I would agree WXYT “won” against WDFN in the sense that WXYT had a better product (some of the shows were better on one station and some were better on the other). WXYT does not have a show that measures up to Stoney and Wojo … it just doesn’t. If WXYT was smart, it would figure out some way to get Stoney and Wojo in there or some other radio station will to put up the bucks could hit the jackpot with this duo.

Terry Foster’s blog:
http://forums.detnews.com/redesign/blogs/terryfosterblog/index.cfm