get these nets
Veteran
All-Black sports-talk station in Detroit pulls plug less than three months after launching
Aug 29, 2024
"Sports Rap Radio," the first all-Black sports-talk radio station in the nation which launched on WXYT 1270-AM, has pulled the plug after less than three months on the air.
Rob Parker, a former Detroit News sports columnist, said Thursday in an interview with The News that the ownership group's anticipated second round of funding never came to fruition, making it impossible to continue. The news comes just as college football, with Michigan and Michigan State, and the NFL, with the Lions, are set to start their seasons.
Parker, though, continues to hold out hope "Sports Rap Radio" will return at some point, somewhere, in some format.
"I want to reiterate, we're not dead. 'Sports Rap Radio' is not dead," Parker said. "It's very viable and we have not abandoned the format or this idea. It's just that we just couldn't continue with where we were currently. But I want to make that clear.
"We put on a really good station with some really good staff members for a short period of time, and I'm proud of what we were able to do."
Parker co-owned "Sports Rap Radio" with B.J. Armstrong, a Birmingham Brother Rice alum and former Chicago Bulls guard who is in the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame; Dave Kenney, a former Connecticut football and track and field athlete who now is an asset manager; and Maurice Ways, a former Michigan and Detroit Country Day receiver who works at ESPN.
Armstrong was among the on-air hosts, along with former Piston Lindsey Hunter, Montezz Allen, Martin Weiss and JR Gamble.
"Sports Rap Radio" had an original lineup of shows from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the week, and Parker's nationally syndicated show, "The Odd Couple" with Chris Broussard, aired in the evening from 7-10 p.m.
Parker and his business associates leased the airwaves and Southfield studios of WXYT from Audacy under a two-year agreement. Audacy is expected to revert to its BetQL Network programming. Debbie Kenyon, senior vice president and market manager for Audacy Detroit, didn't immediately return a request for comment from The News.
Kenyon had previously told The News that Parker, whom she has known since the old WDFN days, and his partners would "knock it out of the park."
Parker said the problem wasn't advertising, especially in the thick of presidential election season, or ratings or the work his staff did. Parker said they had sponsors, too, including one national beer company set to sponsor Lions pregame parties. That's not much consolation for Thursday's news, however.
"I'm devastated," Parker said. "It's something that I believe in, something I wanted for Detroit, something that I want for Black people and the sports-talk world.
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