Sports Rap Radio is set to launch on WXYT 1270-AM with a diverse lineup of all-Black hosts. Co-owned by former Detroit News columnist Rob Parker, the new sports-talk format has revealed its show schedule for the station’s switch at 7 a.m. on May 16th.

Lindsey Hunter, a retired Pistons guard and member of the 2004 NBA championship team, will team up with Detroit native Montezz Allen to co-host “The Pitbulls” afternoon drive show from 3-7 p.m. Parker had announced the addition of Allen in a release last week.

B.J. Armstrong, another co-owner of “Sports Rap Radio,” will take over the mid-morning slot from 10 a.m. to noon, hosting solo. A Detroit native, Armstrong is also a member of the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame. The midday show, “The Bad Boys,” will feature Detroit native Martin Weiss and JR Gamble as co-hosts.

“We’ve had this idea and I’m just really looking forward to having something where, you know, the people can be proud,” Armstrong told the Detroit News. “Finally, here we are. We’re getting close.”

The original lineup of shows for “Sports Rap Radio” will run daily from 10 in the morning to 7 in the evening, with the nationally syndicated show “The Odd Couple” hosted by Chris Broussard and Rob Parker airing from 7 to 10 at night. Parker and his business partners, including NBA agent Armstrong, former Connecticut football and track-and-field athlete Dave Kenney who now works as an asset manager, and former Michigan and Detroit Country Day receiver Maurice Ways who is employed at ESPN, have leased airtime and office space at 1270-AM in Southfield, Michigan.

The battle between sports radio stations in Portland, Oregon remained tight during the winter ratings book. One thing different from last quarter, the market had a new leader in several key categories. Starting with weekday prime (M-F, 6a-7p), Alpha Media-owned 750 The Game ranked fifth with a 5.0 share among Men 25-54 according to the lates Nielsen data. The metric represented a 1.6 share rise from its 3.6 share, ninth-place outcome during the fall book.

Morning drive programming on 750 The Game consisted of the Dan Patrick Show from 6a-9a PST. The nationally-syndicated program doubled its share from the fall book, attaining a 5.6 share and sixth-place outcome. DP’s program during the fall finished 14th, marking an eight position jump.

Middays were very healthy as well. Beginning with The Jim Rome Show from 9a-12p PST, the station produced a 5.0 share to finish fourth, matching its fall performance. Maggie Gray and Andrew Perloff enjoyed growth from 12p-3p PST too, accumulating a 2.9 share bump from the fall, moving to a 6.3 share, fourth-place finish. The Infinity Sports Network program also gained seven ranking positions over the past quarter.

Afternoon drive on 750 The Game features John Canzano’s The Bald Faced Truth from 3p-6p PST. The lone local program during weekday prime hours combined with an hour of JRSportBrief to match its 3.5 share from the fall book. The programming stretch, however, moved from 11th to 10th place with Men 25-54.

Audacy-owned 1080 The Fan, which had previously been on top in weekday prime (M-F, 6a-7p) dipped in the winter book to a 2.1 share, 16th-place outcome. Year-over-year, the outlet is down 1.2 shares and five ranking positions.

In mornings, Dirt and Sprague featuring Andy Johnson and Brandon Sprague anchored their 6a-9a PST show and ended the quarter with a 1.5 share, 18th-place result. The duo was down from last year’s winter book when the show recorded a 3.8 share, ninth place finish.

The early midday slot on The Fan features the FOX Sports Radio’s The Herd with Colin Cowherd and Jason McIntyre. For the winter book, the show gained six-tenths of a share to attain a 1.7 share, 16th-place result. The program also added five ranking positions in the process. That was up from a 1.4 share, 17th-place result in last year’s winter ratings book.

Following The Herd in middays were Danny Marang and Dusty Harrah from 12p-3p PST. Danny and Dusty amassed a 2.4 share in the winter ratings book, placing it 13th overall with Men 25-54. That reflected a one-tenth share gain for the quarter, along with an improvement of three ranking positions. Year-over-year, the program is up two-tenths of a share and one ranking spot.

Afternoons with Isaac Ropp and Jason Scukanec remained the strongest daypart on The Fan. Primetime with Isaac and Suke recorded a 6.7 share, fourth-place result to rank above the market’s other sports radio options. The four-hour program though did lose 1.3 shares and four ranking positions year-over-year.

Wrapping up with iHeartMedia-owned Rip City Radio 620, the station finished the winter ratings book with a 1.1 share in weekday prime (M-F, 6a-7p), occupying 21st place. That was a one-tenth of a share improvement from the fall when it ranked 23rd.

The morning programming slate began with Justin Myers anchoring Rip City Mornings from 6a-9a PST. Mornings produced a 0.9 share for the quarter, placing it 22nd in the locale; however, it was up seven-tenths and two ranking position from the fall book.

National programming occupied the midday slot, beginning with The Rich Eisen Show. Eisen generated a 1.3 share, 19th-place result for the quarter. That represents a nine-tenths of a share gain that propelled the ratings position by six spots.

FOX Sports Radio programming took over the next three hours with a mixture of The Doug Gottlieb Show and Covino & Rich. The 12p-3p PST programming stretch accumulated a 1.2 share for the quarter, placing it 19th. That was an improvement on the 0.7 share, 24th-place result the shows recorded during the fall ratings book.

Afternoon drive with Dwight Jaynes and Chad Doing, along with an hour of FOX Sports Radio programming from 6p-7p closed out the weekday windows. The combination of Jaynes and Doing, and FSR’s programming secured an identical 0.6 share, 24th-place result as it had during the fall.

For the full week (M-SU, 6a-12a), Alpha Media’s 750 The Game finished ahead of its local competition with a 4.0 share, ninth-place ranking among Men 25-54. The outcome was up by eight-tenths of a share and two ranking positions on the quarter.

Audacy-owned 1080 The Fan finished with a 1.5 share and 19th-place finish. That was down year-over-year from a 2.8 share, 13th-place result. Rip City Radio 620 meanwhile notched a 1.0 share to finish 22nd, up one-tenth and four ranking spots from the fall.

Ratings reports and analysis are written by BSM and sponsored by Crowd React Media, a division of Harker Bos Group. Learn more about the different ways sports media research can benefit your station and cut through the noise by clicking here.

Dallas radio legend Mike Rhyner was a guest on the Conversations.Buzz podcast with Dave Williams just days after iHeartMedia let him go along with the rest of the staff that made up 97.1 The Freak. iHeart has returned the station to a rock format and it is now known as 97.1 The Eagle.

“Let’s start with the big question, what happened?” Williams asked.

“We were brought on board to do a job there and we just didn’t get it done,” Rhyner said. “That’s it, and the end came. There were a lot of other factors that went into it. Some of which had to do with us and some of which did not. Still, they brought us on board with the belief that we could provide a viable, profitable radio outlet for them and we didn’t do that.”

Rhyner went on to say he does still believe in what they were doing at The Freak. “There are a lot of things I really did like about [The Freak],” he said. “Make no mistake, I am not thrilled with what happened and the way it all came down or anything like that. But I think we had a really good product; I think we did some really good radio…I do think we connected with a whole lot of people out there and I do think what we did is viable, and I do think that if somebody a little better equipped to take on such an endeavor wanted to again, I’d love that.”

Williams and Rhyner talked about the amount of time and patience it takes for a station like The Freak to hit with the audience and advertisers. Talk formats are very expensive to operate and the two pointed out some companies aren’t going to let it go long before it pulls resources to cut down on costs. The Ticket, a station Rhyner helped start and build, was given that time through multiple owners which continues today. “Cumulus gives those guys what they need, and they let them do it.”

As for what is next for Rhyner, he told Williams. “I don’t know. If something pops up for me, I’ll look at it. I kind of got a little bit reenergized with this last round. I started to enjoy doing radio again. I would really like for something to pop up, but if it doesn’t that’s fine too. I’ve had more fun and better times in this game than most. And if nothing pops up for me in sports, I’ll just take my toys and go home…”