In late February, FOX Sports Radio host Rob Parker announced he and a group that included former NBA player BJ Armstrong, would be starting ‘Sports Rap Radio’ on Detroit radio station WXYT (1270 AM), which the group is leasing from Audacy. The Detroit News was first to report the story about the new concept of having the nation’s first all-Black lineup of hosts.
“It’s going to be young people getting opportunities and former athletes, from Detroit or with Detroit ties,” Parker told the Detroit News.
Sure enough, over the last few days, Parker has announced some of the talent who will appear on the station, which is set to launch May 16. Armstrong is expected to host a solo show in mid-mornings while former Pistons player Lindsey Hunter will team with Montezz Allen in the afternoons before the station airs Parker’s national show with Chris Broussard, The Odd Couple. Other names Parker has brought on to fill out the lineup include Johnny Hill, Martin Weiss, Rashad Phillips and JR Gamble.
First off, kudos to Rob Parker and his partners for trying something new and different. I love when people have an idea, believe in it and go for it. I like that Parker has brought in some big names within the Detroit sports community to help out. Having the likes of BJ Armstrong and Lindsey Hunter, as well as Parker, helps legitimize what they are doing. It sounds big.
I also love what Parker has said about putting on podcasts from younger broadcasters on some of the station’s off-peak hours. I truly believe that Rob Parker is setting out to make a difference with this station. Good for these guys being willing to give a chance to some voices people may not have heard and mixing them in with the big names.
According to Pew Research, the Detroit metro area has the 9th highest Black population in the United States behind New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington D.C., Dallas, Philadelphia, Houston and Miami. So given that and knowing the type of sports town it is, if you are going to try this type of format, Detroit seems like a great place to do it.
Now, sports radio is a niche format as it is, and many might think that taking that niche and making it even smaller is going to make it very difficult to find success. Only time will tell, but my guess is that Parker and his group have done the research and believe the audience will be there.
My hope for them is that the sponsors are there and that they have spent more time building a sales team and talking with prospective customers than anything else. Don’t get me wrong, the content needs to be great, but as well know, great content can only get you so far. You have to be able to monetize it.
Look, this no doubt a high-risk move. Talk radio is expensive. AM radio is on life support and, no matter what either might say, ‘Sports Rap Radio’ is going to be competing with the very group they will be writing a check to each month for the signal. An uphill battle for sure.
I know because I have done deals like this. They start out great, everyone is excited, especially Audacy Detroit who will now get a check each month versus whatever they were making with CBS Sports and BetQL, which couldn’t have been very much, or they wouldn’t be leasing out the station.
These situations start up with the best intentions and there are plans of how to not compete with one another and everyone is feeling good about it. And then the first bump in the road happens and all of a sudden, maybe this wasn’t the best idea. It could be something said over the air, it could be bumping into the same client, it could be lots of things. I can just tell you that a high percentage of these deals do not go well. Hopefully for everyone’s sake in this deal, that is not the case here.
I hope Parker’s group is well capitalized and patient if they really want this to work. Sports talk radio is a very expensive format, and it is going to take time and a lot of money, spent wisely, to keep it going. They have to be everywhere and grow the ‘Sports Rap Radio’ brand with their target audience.
Just last week we saw the end of ‘The Freak’ in Dallas. A very niche format of sports/hot talk, in a big market, with a huge name on board in Mike Rhyner. iHeartMedia gave it about a year and a half before it pulled the plug due to low ratings and high costs. Some of the hosts believed iHeart never had intentions of fully supporting the format.
Rob Parker has talked about ‘Sports Rap Radio’ being something they can take to other markets as they grow, so he has big plans.
Here’s to a fresh idea and hoping it takes off. We need more innovation in the industry.
Best of luck to Rob Parker and his team.
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The Best Thing I Heard Recently
Last week in Chicago, the Bears held a press conference to discuss public funding for a new stadium. At the event, a Pastor began the proceedings with a prayer, asking God, “I don’t know that you play football, but I am asking you to help us. Help us to win some games, help us to get a Super Bowl here, help us to play in the Super Bowl, and bring back the 1985 roaring, cheering fans we had for your glory and for our good.”
A few of the 670 The Score hosts weighed in on the topic including Danny Parkins who said, “It should be parodied on SNL,” and Laurence Holmes who said, “It is the most publicly ungodly thing that I can think of, and everyone involved with that today should be ashamed of themselves.”
Holmes had much more to say on the topic and you can listen to it all by clicking here.
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In Case You Missed It
Earlier this week, Demetri Ravanos wrote a column on the changes that took place with The NFL Today on CBS, where they brought in Matt Ryan and let go of Phil Simms and Boomer Esiason. Demetri wonders while CBS got younger, did it get any better in this move?
I think it is a good question and in the piece, he writes, “No one on the show is a problem individually. The problem is the combination of Brown, Burleson, Cowher, Ryan and Watt. Who can I count on to make me laugh or raise an eyebrow?”
You can read Demetri’s full column by clicking here.
Dave Greene is the Chief Media Officer for Barrett Media. His background includes over 25 years in media and content creation. A former sports talk host and play-by-play broadcaster, Dave transitioned to station and sales management, co-founded and created a monthly sports publication and led an ownership group as the operating partner. He has managed stations and sales teams for Townsquare Media, Cumulus Media and Audacy. Upon leaving broadcast media he co-founded Podcast Heat, a sports and entertainment podcasting network specializing in pro wrestling nostalgia. To interact, find him on Twitter @mr_podcasting. You can also reach him by email at Dave@BarrettMedia.com.
