The relationship between on-air personality Drew Lane and Greater Media Detroit has come to an end. It was learned today that Lane will leave his afternoon show on Detroit Sports 105.1 immediately, after a new contractual agreement could not be reached.
Greater Media Detroit Vice President and Market Manager Steve Chessare said “The issue wasn’t money. The only issue we had is in show content. Drew has done a phenomenal job for Greater Media for 24 years, and he was instrumental in us getting the sports station launched, but we’ve come to recognize that we’ve got to be true to our format, which is sports, both to the audience and our clients and partners, that we deliver a sports product.”
Chessare added ““I was trying to impress on Drew to infuse more sports into the show, and Drew was not comfortable doing any more than he was doing right now. We had an issue, in that we weren’t recycling the audience throughout the rest of the day and vice versa. Out of respect for Drew and what he’s built and how successful he’s been, we’re OK with his decision not to continue and we wish him nothing but the best.”
Lane had been with the station since its inception in August 2013. He was previously part of the “Drew and Mike” show for WRIF-FM for years before that. He confirmed that the change of direction with the show was the biggest reason for departing.
“We’ve been talking about this for awhile, so it was no big shock today,” Lane said Monday. “It was not about money, absolutely not. It was about adding a third person to the show would’ve been a sports person, somebody from the sports world, whether it was a media member or maybe a (former) player. They talked about that in the past. Having the chemistry our show had for all these years, I just didn’t really want to do a three-person show.”
While on air at 105.1, Lane worked with Marc Fellhauer, who goes back with him; he was a producer and online personality on “Drew & Mike.”
It is unclear if Fellhauer will stay on at 105.1. He did not return phone and text messages. Lane said he didn’t know what would happen, but was hopeful that the station would keep Fellhauer on.
Lane said he’s made it known to 105.1 brass for months that he wasn’t comfortable with a third person on the show, and he told them Wednesday that he would not do it. During talks over the weekend, it was clear to Lane he was going to be out.
“I said I couldn’t do that. They were surprised, and I was surprised they were surprised because I thought I was pretty clear,” Lane said. “I pleaded my case Wednesday of last week, that I really believed in the show, the chemistry and how important it is. It’s not a personal thing.
“Three-people shows tend to be a big mic fight. Nothing sounds worse than a mic fight — where you’ve gotta be careful about taking too big a breath.”
It’s unclear who 105.1 was thinking about in terms of adding a sports personality, though Program Director Dave Shore has put Sean Baligian and Drew Sharp on the air extensively since coming aboard.
Baligian hosts a popular daily show in Grand Rapids, and Sharp writes columns for the Detroit Free Press.
Baligian and Jake Chapman, who works on the station’s Pistons broadcasts, did the midday show from noon to 3 p.m. Monday, filling in for Matt Dery, who will fill in for Lane from 3-7 p.m. until a permanent replacement is hired. Dery appears a candidate for that show, though it’d likely be with a co-host. He did his midday shows solo. Sharp was on with him Monday.
Lane’s show drew easily the best ratings for 105.1, recently finishing fourth in its target market, 25- to 54-year-old men.
“It was as amicable a parting as you could have, under the circumstances,” said Loretta Ames, Lane’s agent of Plunkett Cooney law firm. “He’s been a longtime member of the Greater Media family, and that’s a relationship that’s been important to him.”
To read the full article visit the Detroit News where it was originally published
Jason Barrett is the President and Founder of Barrett Media since the company was created in September 2015. Prior to its arrival, JB served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He also spent time programming SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY. Jason also worked on-air and behind the scenes in local radio at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years on the national stage, producing radio shows for ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT. Among them included the Dan Patrick Show, and GameNight.
You can find JB on Twitter @SportsRadioPD. He’s also reachable by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
