Lions and Tigers and Wings, which stations?

Aug 29 02:40 UTC 2001

Being a Sports fan, I live for this time of year!  Football season is 
just around the corner, Hockey season is coming up and one of these 
years, Baseball might be worth keeping tabs on as well if the Tigers 
ever get their act together.

As a newcomer to Ann Arbor, I'm just curious as to how the radio feeds 
work in this area?
I have been here for two weeks and my observations thus far have been 
as follows:

Most nights, I can catch the Tiger game on 1600 AM, but tonight they 
were on 1050 for some reason. It appears that Lion's games will be 
broadcast on 1600 as well.  However, the schedule is heating up and 
there are going to be instances when several games will be on at the 
same time.  For example, the lions have a pre season game this Thursday 
evening, and I'm guessing that there is probably a Tiger game as well.  
What happens in these situations?  Will both games be on the radio?  To 
make matters even more confusing, what would happen in a situation 
where the Lions, the Tigers and the Red Wings were all on at the same 
time?

Thanks for any info,

--Al

response 2 of 12:

Aug 29 04:26 UTC 2001

Actually, that's innaccurate.  1270 AM WXYT is now a full sports station, with
rights to the Lions, Tigers, and Red Wings in the Detroit area.  Because of
their weak signal (fuzzy in the day, completely unavailable at night in Ann
Arbor) they use a lot more satellite stations to handle other coverage.  1050
now carries the Tigers and the Red Wings, when there aren't conflicts with
its NASCAR or Michigan college sports coverage.  1600 has carried the Lions
in the past in Ann ARbor, and I assume they will continue to do so.  The
Pistons are now a property of 1130 WDFN, which also has a weak signal similar
to 1270's, though it comes through better in the daytime.  I'm not sure if
the Pistons will have a local affiliate or not.

1050 is WTKA, by the way.  They are the local U of M authority, broadcasting
men's football and basketball but also fair quantities of other sports such
as men's baseball, women's basketball, and men's hockey.  760 broadcasts Men's
football and basketball, and is often easier to pick up than 1050 even in this
area.  Spartan fans will have to tune to either 1270 in the day or some
affiliate at night for MSU football, and possibly other sports as well.

Want some out of town information?  Flip on the AM dial at night.  I like to
listen to LSU football on 870 AM out of New Orleans.

response 4 of 12:

Aug 29 14:11 UTC 2001

WTKA-1050 AM carries the baseball games for Ann Arbor, but they have a 
lot of broadcasting conflicts.  They carry NASCAR races instead on many 
Sundays.  During U-M sports seasons, they might carry U-M football game 
(fed from WJR-760 am) or U-M hockey.  They also broadcast the Red Wings 
hockey games.  I don't know how they resolve conflicts if the Red Wings 
and Tigers are on at the same time.

WAAM-1600 does not carry the Tiger games.  Other than 1270-WXYT in 
Detroit -- on which the games cannot be heard reliably even all over 
Detroit itself -- Tiger games can be gotten in mid-Michigan from Ann 
Arbor (WTKA, 1050 AM), Lansing (WVIC, 92.7 FM), Jackson (WIBM 1450 AM), 
and Toledo, Ohio (WLOR, 1470 AM).  WMTR-96.1 FM (http://www.961wmtr.com) 
in Archbold, Ohio sometimes has streamed the games over the Internet, 
but this is against their agreement with major league baseball.

All MLB games can be gotten over the Internet but you have to pay $9.95 
for the privilege.  Hopefully this will have turned out to be so 
unpopular they'll quit charging for next year.

response 6 of 12:

Aug 29 19:26 UTC 2001

There have been rumors that 1050 WTKA will NOT be carrying Michigan 
Hockey this year.  I'm not sure if this is true or not, butit would be a 
sad thing if they didn't pick up the games.  It's hard to get UM Hockey 
games in Syracuse ... thankfully, WTKA streams their coverage over the 
Internet.

response 8 of 12:

Aug 30 01:44 UTC 2001

College hockey or Red Wings hockey or both?

response 10 of 12:

Aug 31 03:52 UTC 2001

Re: #3
Heh.  Last i'd heard, UofM expects WUOM to come up with 100.000% of its
funding by itself.  From my experience with WEMU on-air fundraisers, i'd
guess that Wolverine fans tuning in to WUOM for Michigan Football are
loathe to donate to the station.  Nobody pays the piper => no music. 

response 12 of 12:

Sep 1 04:00 UTC 2001

That is listed as the primary reason, actually.