Michiguide.com: Michigan's Guide to Radio and Television Broadcasting

Detroit News:

All week, WTVS-TV (Channel 56), Detroit Public Television, has uniquely merged its pledge drive with PBS favorites like "Antiques Roadshow," "Nova" and "This Old House" to provide an in-depth look into the future of the station as it converts to digital programming. The pledge drive comes to an end tonight. This unprecedented telethon approach is intended to inform viewers about the historic upgrades happening with the station while urging support for the final stages of local PBS affiliate's capital campaign. With more than $16.5 million raised toward its $22-million goal, the viewer-supported station, which has been around for a half century, intends to complete its campaign by the end of 2008. The funds will finance the building of studios and technical facilities, and a production truck that will accommodate state-of-the-art productions from anywhere in Southeast Michigan. Another harbinger of change is the station's impending conversion to digital broadcasting, a federal mandate that will impact viewers when it takes effect in February... Detroit Public TV wraps up pledge drive (Thu, 8/7)

Don't want to deal with traffic? Tune into the Dream Cruise via radio or television and get all the action from home... Cruise sights and sounds on TV and radio (Thu, 8/7)

Detroit Free Press:

Coming to town: Ms. Dupre (actress Jedda Jones) -- the "Tom Joyner Morning Show" psychic friend -- for WDMK-FM (105.9) Friday for Joyner's "Back to School" special broadcast 6-10 a.m. at the Southfield High School Fieldhouse, 24675 Lahser Road. WDMK will have activities and gifts and resources available on site from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m... Names and Faces (Thu, 8/7)

StationRatings.com:

Country WBCT was the most listened to radio station this spring in Grand Rapids among listeners age 12 and above according to Arbitron. Classic rock WLAV, news/talk WOOD AM, modern rock WGRD, and contemporary hits WSNX rounded out the top 5... Grand Rapids 12+ spring radio ratings (Thu, 8/7)

ESPN 100.9-FM Announces Fall Football Lineup

ESPN 100.9-FM, WLUN FM 100.9 Pinconning, earlier today announced its Fall Football lineup, which includes live play-by-play coverage of Michigan State Spartans football and high football from the Saginaw Valley League. Both play-by-play properties will be simulcast on ESPN 100.9-FM and Newsradio 1250 WNEM as the two Mid-Michigan stations enter a joint sales agreement on these two properties.

"We are extremely thrilled to be associated with both the Spartan Radio Network and the Saginaw Valley League," said ESPN 100.9-FM President and General Manager Paul Barbeau. "Our partnership with the SVL strengthens our commitment to local sports, and we're now able to better reach out to Michigan State fans with our agreement with the Spartan Network. By simulcasting both properties on our station and WNEM, our coverage area is expanded. It's a win for us and for football fans in the Tri-Cities."

ESPN 100.9-FM will air live play-by-play coverage of Spartan regular season football games, plus MSU's potential bowl game and the Motor City Bowl. Additionally the station will broadcast the Mark Dantonio Show Thursdays at 7pm and daily three-minute MSU updates throughout the day. ESPN 100.9-FM also will broadcast Spartan basketball and the Tom Izzo Show during the winter.

ESPN 100.9-FM also is proud to introduce the Saginaw Valley League Game of the Week. Both WLUN and WNEM will air play-by-play of the league's top game, produced by WLUN, followed by WNEM's Friday Night Lights radio post-game show, featuring updates and analysis from games across the region. Terry Wilczek, who led Midland High to the state championship game last season, will be joined by Dan Hasty on the lead broadcast team. As the official radio partner of the Saginaw Valley League, ESPN 100.9-FM will donate a percentage of advertising revenue to the SVL. During the winter, ESPN 100.9-FM and Newsradio 1250 WNEM will air play-by-play coverage of SVL boys and girls' basketball.

Advertising opportunities are available for ESPN 100.9-FM's Fall Football programming lineup. Lance LeFevre, WLUN's Sales Director, is accepting sales inquiries at 989-837-6127 or at llefevre@loons.com.

"Advertising during our Fall Football programming is the best way for companies to reach their key demographics and show support for their community," LeFevre said. "A percentage of sales for all Saginaw Valley League games goes back directly into the league."

ESPN 100.9-FM also is proud to announce the hiring of Jerry O'Donnell as the station's Director of Operations. O'Donnell brings nearly three decades of radio broadcasting and management experience to the station. He most recently worked as a news producer at WNEM-TV and will continue to host his morning show on Newsradio 1250 WNEM and serve as the public address announcer at Dow Diamond for Great Lakes Loons home games. O'Donnell joins LeFevre and Program Director Brad Golder on the station's management team.

Detroit News:

WWJ-TV (Channel 62) is the new television home for our Detroit Lions . The switch from the team's old station, WKBD-TV (Channel 50), to its new one will be official Thursday when the local CBS affiliate airs the pre-season opening home game against recent Super Bowl champs, the New York Giants. Detroit native and CBS Sports veteran Gus Johnson will lead the local on-air, pre-season broadcast team providing play-by-play for the games. Johnson will be joined by Desmond Howard , a former Heisman trophy winner from the University of Michigan, who will provide color analysis. The game will air at 6:30 p.m. on WWJ-TV... Lions will debut on new home station, WWJ-TV (Wed, 8/6)

AllAccess.com:

WLBY Brings Spartans To Enemy Territory: CUMULUS Talk WLBY-A/ANN ARBOR will carry MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY SPARTANS football to rival WOLVERINES territory this season. The station will carry all 12 games from the SPARTAN RADIO NETWORK, starting with the opener against the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA on AUGUST 30th. (Tue, 8/5)

FSN's Tigers telecasts lead primetime TV ratings

Detroit Tigers telecasts on FSN Detroit have dominated spring and summer local primetime television viewing, topping all other broadcast and cable competition since Opening Day.

According to Nielsen Media Research from March 31-July 31, Tigers primetime telecasts delivered an 8.0 average rating, highest in the Detroit DMA (designated market area) and more than two ratings points ahead of the closest competitor:

1. Tigers on FSN Detroit- 8.0 (154,000 households)
2. WXYZ Ch. 7 (ABC)- 5.6
T-3. WDIV Ch. 4 (NBC)- 5.3
T-3. WJBK Ch. 2 (FOX)- 5.3
5. WWJ Ch. 62 (CBS)- 3.4
6. FSN Detroit (all programs)- 3.1
T-7. WKBD Ch. 50 (CW)- 2.0
T-7. TNT- 2.0
9. USA- 1.7
10. Disney Channel- 1.6

Source: Nielsen Media Research, Detroit DMA TV Household Ratings - 3/31/08 - 7/31/08. Primetime defined as Monday-Sunday 7-11 PM. One rating point equals approximately 19,250 households.

The 14 Tigers primetime telecasts in July averaged a 9.4 rating - including six games of 10.0 or higher - while all 25 games during the month averaged an 8.4 rating.

South Bend Tribune:

Weigel Broadcast Co. and WSBT, Inc. announced Monday that they have signed an agreement under which WSBT Inc. will purchase the assets of the three Weigel low-power television stations serving South Bend: WBND (ABC), WCWW (CW) and WMYS (MyNetworkTV). The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2008. Norman H. Shapiro, President of Weigel Broadcasting, stated "We are proud of having maximized low power television broadcast facilities in the South Bend/Michiana market, without which there would be no local ABC, CW or MyNetworkTV service"... WSBT to purchase three local stations (Mon, 8/4)

Sports Business Journal:

The University of Michigan became the latest elite college athletic program to sell off a package of its media rights, bringing in $86 million through a 12-year deal with IMG College. The deal, which runs through June 2020, marks the first time Michigan has bundled all of its media rights into one package and marks the continuation of a trend where colleges are hiring companies, such as IMG College, to maximize revenue from those rights. Since IMG announced its acquisition of Host Communications late last year, the new IMG College unit has done multimedia deals with Nebraska, Oregon and Gonzaga. They will also partner with Sun Sports on a deal with the University of Florida. "More and more colleges are doing that," said Tom Stultz, IMG College's senior vice president and managing director. "Michigan decided it would generate more revenue for itself if it bundled all the rights together"... IMG pays $86M for Michigan rights (Mon, 8/4)

Catholic.org:

Reflecting a rapid growth in Catholic broadcasting, programs produced by Ave Maria Radio are currently airing in 120 radio markets, while also being carried on Sirius Satellite Radio and other outlets, with a combined potential audience of over 15 million Catholic listeners. Major radio markets in which Ave Maria programs are distributed to Catholic stations include Dallas, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and St. Louis. Ave Maria Radio also operates three stations of its own, in the Detroit and Saginaw metro areas of Michigan and in southwest Florida... Ave Maria Radio Programming Now Reaching Listeners (Mon, 8/4)

• The Powers (Menominee County) translator of Christian WRVM FM 102.7 Suring, WI was granted its license to cover for a frequency change from 98.5 to 98.9

• A license was granted to the following new FM translator: W221BQ 92.1 Petoskey. Great Lakes Community Broadcasting was still listed as the owner of the translator in the FCC database however a sale to MacDonald Garber Broadcasting was approved earlier in the year. At last report W221BQ was relaying the programming of MacDonald Garber's WKHQ FM.

• Mentor Partners was granted a construction permit for a new FM translator to be licensed to Reed City. W236BR would operate at 95.1 and, according to the application, relay Mentor's WYBR FM 102.3 Big Rapids.

• The construction permit for WCWB FM 90.1 Coldwater was modified to Class A 250 watts (vertical) @ 62 feet from Class B1 6,200 watts (vertical) @ 305 feet with the tower lcoation changing from north to west of Coldwater. The station reportedly signed on with religious programming from these facilities on July 15th.

Grand Rapids Press:

After a six-year anchor stint with a television station in Indianapolis, Tracy Forner is glad to be back. "Indianapolis was an opportunity, but West Michigan is home," said Forner, who will be back on the air here starting Thursday. He will join Sara Brodhead and Jon Shaner on the WXMI-TV (Channel 17) morning crew. Forner said he had been considering a position to teach and oversee the television station at a high school where he lived, but "I knew if I accepted it, moving back (to West Michigan) would become a remote option, at best"... Tracy Forner back in Grand Rapids on WXMI-TV (Sun, 8/3)

Tune in to WKLQ-FM (107.3) from 6 to 10 a.m. and you'll hear a new early morning lineup. "The Opie and Anthony Show" is out, and the "Grey & Kluck Show" is in. "Our show is the most aggressive thing on radio," said Michael Grey, 33, program director and morning co-host. "We are a guy station and will keep it local. There is a real hunger for a true West Michigan product." He refers to the station's music as the "only reporting, true, active rock in the market" and said he worked hard to refocus KLQ's sound at the end of 2007. Grey is an 11-year radio veteran at WGRD and WKLQ. and Kluck spent time at WIRX in Benton Harbor as well as WRKR in Kalamazoo before joining the new morning team at KLQ... WKLQ has new morning lineup (Sun, 8/3)

Detroit Free Press:

Actress Leila Sbitani, the longtime Belle Tire spokesperson who churlishly had new tires solve all her personal dilemmas in commercials earlier in this decade, may have been replaced on the air by a clutch of company tire installers but she's doin' OK, nonetheless ... Several Detroit radio personalities and executives in various categories for the 2008 Radio & Records Awards to be presented Sept. 17-19 in Austin, Texas. Among them: Jennifer Williams, Doug Podell and Mark Pennington of the WRIF (101.1) & WCSX-FM (94.7) combine; Alan Almond of WNIC-FM (100.3), Debbie Kenyon, Tom Sleeker and Alexander Zonjic from WVMV-FM (98.7) and CBS Radio... Ex-tire touter hits the NY scene (Sun, 8/3)

Ann Arbor News:

The latest Arbitron ratings for commercial radio stations in this market are in and, as usual, the news is good for some stations and not so good for others. Detroit AM powerhouse WJR remains on top with a 7.5 share. It's followed by a tie between Detroit rock station WRIF-FM, which enjoyed a jump from a 4.6 to a 6.3 share, and Ann Arbor-based country station WWWW-FM, which went from a 5.2 to a 6.3 share... WJR stays at the top of Arbitron ratings (Sun, 8/3)