Detroit Radio: WMGC Vows To Beef-Up Local Content

Dave Shore

Back in February, when it was announced that Dave Shore would become the new program director at Detroit Sports WMGC 105.1 FM, his friends back in Los Angeles were understandably puzzled.

Why are you leaving this weather?

"I'm not in the weather business," Shore told The Detroit News, laughing, over coffee on Thursday morning. "I'm in the sports business. I grew up in the Midwest. I can handle it.

"If Detroit isn't the best ... it has to be No. 1 or 2 of the top sports cities in America."

Shore, 49, a radio veteran whose career has taken him through Los Angeles, Dallas, North Carolina, Oregon, Kentucky and Indiana, has a tall task ahead of him here, trying to take a sliver of the ratings away from chief competitor WXYT 97.1 FM The Ticket.

It's a tough battle, considering 97.1 is round-the-clock local — and among the top-rated sports-talk stations in the country, not just Michigan — while 105.1 remains local only from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays. Detroiters have proven time and again that they want local content, not national.

So no surprise, Shore, who takes over for Jason Dixon, who was the station's programming director for its launch in August 2013, said more local programming is essential, and while he doesn't have a time frame, he said, "I like to work fast."

WMGC 105.1 FM (50 Kw) Red=60dBu Local Coverage Area

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