List of Detroit Lions broadcasters

Last updated

The following is a List of broadcasters for the Detroit Lions , both past and present.

Contents

Radio

Current

The Lions' flagship radio station is WXYT-FM 97.1. The broadcast team includes Dan Miller on play-by-play, Lomas Brown on color commentary, and T. J. Lang as sideline reporter. [1]

The team moved back to WXYT after having been on WJR since the 2016 NFL season, which followed a 20-year relationship with WXYT. The decision to part with WXYT was reportedly instigated by a demand by the team for the station to fire on-air personality Mike Valenti—who has had a history of making comments critical of the Lions during his drive-time show—as a condition of any future renewal. A CBS Radio spokesperson stated that their refusal was meant to maintain the station's integrity. [2] [3]

Former

WXYT (AM) was the sole flagship station from 1998 - 2004. WKRK-FM (later WXYT (AM)) became the co-flagship in 2004.

Detroit's WWJ was the team's flagship station prior to 1998 and continued to simulcast WXYT (AM)'s broadcasts prior to the team's move to WKRK. [ citation needed ] Prior to 1989, WJR had served as the Lions' radio flagship. [ citation needed ]

TV

Current

Preseason

As of 2015, WJBK is the flagship station. The announcers are Jason Ross Jr [2] with play-by-play, Chris Spielman with color commentary, and Tori Petry with sideline reports. The late Fred McLeod was once a play-by-play TV broadcaster on Lions pre-season.

Regular season

Regular season games are broadcast regionally on FOX, except when the Lions play an AFC team in Detroit, in which case the game airs regionally on CBS. The annual Thanksgiving Day game in Detroit is televised nationally on either Fox or CBS, depending on who the visiting team is.

The Lions' official regular season show of record is Lions GameDay Live with Dan Miller hosting.

For regular season games vs. NFC opponents when Fox doesn't have a double header, WJBK produces a live postgame show.

Former

WKBD was the preseason flagship station from 1992–1996 and from 2004-2007. WDIV and WJBK have served as flagships at various times. [ clarification needed ]

WWJ-TV was the flagship station from 2008-2010. [4]

WJBK (channel 2) has been the Fox affiliate in Detroit since December 1994, before that it was a CBS affiliate, and as such, WJBK for many years has served as the primary station for most Lions games. For much of 1994, while WJBK was waiting for its CBS affiliation contract to expire, the Lions games were shown on WKBD-TV (at the time owned by Viacom, now owned by CBS as a sister to WWJ-TV), with the last game being the December 10 game against the New York Jets, on WKBD's last day as a Fox affiliate.

Interconference home games were first televised in 1973 (when the NFL first imposed the 72-hour deadline), and for 25 years these were seen on NBC, with WDIV (channel 4, originally WWJ-TV) airing the games locally. The current WWJ-TV (originally on analog channel 62) has aired such games since 1998 when the AFC contract moved to CBS.

Fox Sports Detroit formerly produced a live postgame and Monday press conference show called Lions Live. It was canceled after the 2007 season.

Blackouts

The Lions' winless performance in 2008 and 2–14 season in 2009 led to several local broadcast blackouts, as local fans did not purchase enough tickets by the 72 hour blackout deadline. In 2008, five of the Lions' final six home games of the season did not sell out, with the Thanksgiving game being the exception. The first blackout in the 7-year history of Ford Field was the October 26, 2008 game vs. the Washington Redskins. The previous 50 regular season home games had been sellouts.

Games were also often blacked out at the Lions' previous home the (perhaps oversized) 80,000 seat Pontiac Silverdome, despite winning seasons and the success and popularity of star players such as Barry Sanders.

Announcers by year

Television

YearPlay-by-playAnalyst(s)Field reporter(s)
2001 Dan Miller
2002Dan Miller
2003Dan Miller
2004 Frank Beckmann Chris Spielman
2005Frank Beckmann
2006Frank Beckmann Kelvin Pritchett Steve Courtney
2007Frank Beckmann Erik Kramer Steve Courtney
2008 Gus Johnson Desmond Howard Matt Shepard
Charlie Sanders
2009Matt ShepardDesmond HowardCharlie Sanders
Steve Courtney
2010Matt Shepard Rob Rubick Charlie Sanders
Steve Courtney
2011Matt ShepardRob RubickTom Leyden
2012Matt ShepardRob RubickTom Leyden
2013Matt ShepardRob RubickTom Leyden
2014Matt ShepardRob Rubick
Herman Moore
Tom Leyden
2015Matt ShepardRob Rubick
Nate Burleson
Jennifer Hammond
2016Matt ShepardChris SpielmanJennifer Hammond
2017Matt ShepardChris SpielmanJennifer Hammond
Tori Petry
2018Matt ShepardChris SpielmanTori Petry
2019 Fred McLeod Chris SpielmanTori Petry
2020No preseason games due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Brandon Gaudin Herman Moore Dannie Rogers
2022 Brandon Gaudin Devin GardnerDannie Rogers
2023Jason Ross JrDevin GardnerDannie Rogers

Radio

YearPlay-by-playAnalyst(s)Field reporter(s)Studio team
1975 Bob Reynolds J. P. McCarthy
1976Bob Reynolds Mike Lucci
1977Bob ReynoldsMike Lucci
1978Bob ReynoldsMike Lucci
1979Bob Reynolds Frank Beckmann
1980Bob ReynoldsFrank Beckmann
1981Bob ReynoldsFrank Beckmann
1982Bob ReynoldsFrank Beckmann
1983Frank Beckmann Charlie Sanders
1984Frank BeckmannCharlie Sanders
1985Frank BeckmannCharlie Sanders
1986Frank BeckmannCharlie Sanders
1987Frank BeckmannCharlie Sanders
Jim Brandstatter
1988Frank BeckmannCharlie Sanders
Jim Brandstatter
1989 Mark Champion Jim Brandstatter
1990Mark ChampionJim Brandstatter
1991Mark ChampionJim Brandstatter
1992Mark ChampionJim Brandstatter
1993Mark ChampionJim Brandstatter
1994Mark ChampionJim Brandstatter
1995Mark ChampionJim Brandstatter
1996Mark ChampionJim Brandstatter
1997Mark ChampionJim Brandstatter
1998Mark ChampionJim Brandstatter
1999Mark ChampionJim Brandstatter
2000Mark ChampionJim Brandstatter
2001Mark ChampionJim Brandstatter Tony Ortiz
2002Mark ChampionJim BrandstatterTony Ortiz
2003Mark ChampionJim BrandstatterTony Ortiz
2004Mark ChampionJim BrandstatterTony Ortiz
2005 Dan Miller Jim BrandstatterTony Ortiz
2006Dan MillerJim BrandstatterTony Ortiz
2007Dan MillerJim BrandstatterTony Ortiz
2008Dan MillerJim BrandstatterTony Ortiz
2009Dan MillerJim BrandstatterTony Ortiz
2010Dan MillerJim BrandstatterTony Ortiz
2011Dan MillerJim BrandstatterTony OrtizGavin Edwards
2012Dan MillerJim BrandstatterTony Ortiz
2013Dan MillerJim BrandstatterTony Ortiz
2014Dan MillerJim BrandstatterTony Ortiz
2015Dan MillerJim BrandstatterTony Ortiz
2016Dan MillerJim Brandstatter
2017Dan MillerJim Brandstatter
2018Dan Miller Lomas Brown
2019Dan MillerLomas Brown
2020Dan MillerLomas Brown
2021Dan MillerLomas Brown T. J. Lang Jim Costa

Other:

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References

  1. "Detroit Lions Official Site: Lions Radio Affiliates". Archived from the original on 2021-08-14. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
  2. 1 2 Lions, Detroit (August 7, 2023). "Detroit Lions preseason team adds Jason Ross Jr". The Detroit Lions. Retrieved 7 August 2023.{{cite news}}: Check |archive-url= value (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. "Want to listen to the Lions in 2016? Tune in to WJR-AM". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  4. WWJ-TV, CBS Detroit and the Detroit Lions Announce 2010 Lions Pre-Season Broadcast Plans Archived 2010-07-14 at the Wayback Machine Detroit Lions Official Site May 13, 2010
  5. "Van "The 'Ol Announcer" Patrick". Archived from the original on 2006-06-18. Retrieved 2009-10-11.