By Jeff Moss
DetroitSportsRag@GMail.com
August 31, 2016
In a fairly surprising announcement on Wednesday, CBS Radio has decided to shake up their morning show at 97.1. The contract of longtime host Bill McAllister (who predated the all-sports format at WXYT-FM) was not renewed and Jamie Samulesen will be co-hosting AM Drive with Michael Stone moving forward.
Stoney just re-upped with the station last month.
This website reported back in May that agent Mort Meisner (both Stoney and Mike Valenti’s representative) was making waves regarding the removal of McAllister.
Well, whether or not Meisner had a hand in the McAllister departure, this sure seems very coincidental. Keep in mind these two issues:
1] The morning show has been doing very well in the ratings for years. It’s consistently one of the top-rated AM drive shows in the market. Yes, it’s very dependent on Tigers baseball, but what at that station isn’t?
2] Changes occur at 97.1 at less than a glacial pace. How long has the current lineup been in place? Program Director Jimmy Powers could have been dead for the last six years rotting in his office and nobody would know if not for the stench.
I have been told by sources that CBS Radio execs wanted to make the morning show more sports-centric (and Samuelsen made that point crystal clear on the airwaves this afternoon when the announcement was made) but why the “Come to Jesus” moment NOW?
You just lost your only real sports competition when Detroit Sports 105.1 flipped to hip-hop and everyone in the industry knows that an increase in sports talk in the MORNING will probably only drive down the ratings.
It is my belief that there were personality conflicts between the staff and McAllister which led to this move and it has nothing to do with the “we want to discuss more sports” talking point. The folks at 97.1 dancing a jig at this news on the air and in social media did nothing to dispel that notion.
It’s no secret that Valenti has bombed McAllister on-air in the past and I was told a couple of months ago the pair had an altercation of some sort.
Samuelsen’s new gig leaves a hole from 6pm to 8pm, but I am told that Bob Wojnowski will not be getting a new partner right away. The station can afford to wait until the Tigers season ends to make a determination on that.
Many listeners of 97.1 have been clamoring for more sports talk in the morning and are ecstatic about this news. But be careful what you wish for.
I’d rather listen to McAllister discuss “Who Makes Your Head Tingle” — an actual Stoney and Bill topic from October of 2014 — than have Vanilla Samuelsen pontificate on Brad Ausmus’ Manager of the Year chances.
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