A new era began this morning at 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit with Jim Costa taking over the seat vacated by Mike Stone who semi-retired on Friday. “Welcome aboard, good morning, a new chapter at 97.1,” said Costa as the show started. “I am thrilled to be here with Jon Jansen and Heather Park.”
“Welcome to the show,” Park said and then noted they had all worked together before when Costa had been on the show as a fill-in. Despite having reps together previously, the team admitted to having some nerves on this first day of what is now known as Costa and Jansen.
“I kind of feel nervous, but that’s stupid because I have worked with you before,” Park added. Costa then let the listening audience know they don’t plan to change much. “We aren’t going to reinvent the wheel…we are going to have newsmakers and interviews and fun and all that stuff,” he said.
Then, as any good athlete would do, Jansen, the former Michigan star and NFL offensive tackle, began hazing the new member of the team. His focus this morning was on Costa’s choice of a pink shirt.
“There’s some things that we have to do to get you onboarded so to speak,” said Jansen. Then, after Jansen pointed out the shirt Costa was wearing, Park said Jansen “must have missed the memo that we were wearing pink.”
“All the ladies did,” quipped Jansen, to which Costa said, “That’s how this is gonna roll, I see.”
The hosts then set the over/under on how long it would be before Costa was late for a show. Park mentioned it had happened to everyone on the show at least once and Jansen set the number at a year. Costa, feeling confident, said he would be bold and predict he will never be late.
“This is a dream come true for me. My whole career, I’ve chased the chance to build a show on 97.1 The Ticket,” Costa said in a press release in September when it was announced he would take over at the end of the football season. “I grew up listening to this station and rooting for these teams. To start the conversation in Detroit every morning is special. Jon Jansen and I are a good contrast; we play off each other well, and I’m excited for the show we will create along with Heather and the entire morning show crew.”
Costa has primarily hosted on the weekends and as a fill-in host since joining The Ticket in early 2021. Prior to that, he served as program director and afternoon host on ESPN 96.1 in Grand Rapids.
