R.I.P.: Ron Cameron, Detroit Sports Talk Pioneer

Ron Cameron (1945-2024)

Ron Cameron, a longtime voice of numerous Detroit radio stations over the past 40 years and a face on TV stations such as WMYD-TV (Ch. 20) and WXYZ-TV (Ch. 7) died Tuesday at 79.

The Free Press reports the news was announced on social media by his producer at WPON-AM (1460), Martin Anthony. Cameron hosted a weekly show on Fridays; Anthony said there would be a farewell show for him at 11 a.m. March 1. 

Cameron developed a reputation as "Detroit's Superfan" for his passion, both positive and negative, for Detroit sports while he was on air.

"He has no discernible life that anyone can determine outside of sports," Eli Zaret, a friend and fellow sports talk-radio pioneer told the Free Press' Neal Rubin in 1990. "I don't know if he has ever read a book about anything else, been to a movie about anything else or had a friend involved in anything else.

His unwavering love of sports led Cameron to pursue a job in that world. First, he tried to make it as an umpire, attending umpire school three times, and worked for a year and a half in a semi-pro league before striking out on that path. He returned to working in Detroit hotels in 1970 while beginning a career in sports radio with a short feature called "Ask The Ump" on WWJ-AM (950), which then became gigs with WEXL-AM (1340) from 1975-77 and WMZK-AM (1480) from 1977-78.

In 1978, he moved into a full-time role with WXYT-AM (1270) as it beca,e full-time talk-radio format. On the rebranded station, he began running a popular nightly talk show simply called "Sports Talk," co-hosted with George Blaha. He stayed with WXYT until September 1981, when his show was canceled by the station.