The Metro Detroit radio market is getting set to roll out another local sports-talk station, with a twist.
Former Detroit sports columnist Rob Parker and three business partners, all former athletes, have reached an agreement to lease WXYT 1270-AM from Audacy and launch the nation's first all-Black lineup of hosts. "Sports Rap Radio" is scheduled to launch in mid-May, and eventually will feature local programming from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., with Parker's nationally syndicated show, "The Odd Couple" with Chris Broussard, airing from 7-10 p.m.
Additional hosts will be announced in the coming weeks, Parker said.
"We're working on that," Parker told The Detroit News on Thursday. "It's going to be young people getting opportunities and former athletes, from Detroit or with Detroit ties.
"This is a Detroit radio station. I want to make that clear."
WXYT is one of six stations in the market owned by Audacy, which owns more than 200 stations across the country, and recently had its reorganization plan approved by a judge as the company plans to emerge from bankruptcy.
WXYT is the sister station of 97.1 The Ticket, on the FM dial; that's the only other all-local sports-talk station in town.
WXYT's programming is currently part of the BetQL network, and the station will continue to feature some betting content moving forward. WXYT also will continue to serve as a secondary option to air local games, when there is conflict on 97.1 if the Tigers, Red Wings or Pistons are playing on the same day, at the same time.
Parker's business partners in the venture are B.J. Armstrong, former NBA player and Birmingham Brother Rice star and a current NBA agent 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 currently works at ESPN.
"Sports Rap Radio" will have its own sales team to sell advertisements, and local hosts will work out of the 97.1/1270 studios in Southfield.
"I think these guys are going to knock it out of the park," said Debbie Kenyon, senior vice president and market manager for Audacy Detroit. "No one's thought of us. That's just crazy to me."
Parker envisions the business venture to be a launching pad for young Black sports-talk hosts and journalists. During overnights, Parker plans to provide a platform for podcasts with Black hosts.
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