Country United States Owner IMG College | Headquarters Ann Arbor Type Radio network | |
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Broadcast area Michigan
Ohio (limited) Affiliation Michigan Wolverines
CBS Radio Affiliates 46 (including 1 flagship) Official website Michigan football affiliates
Michigan basketball affiliates | ||
The Michigan IMG Sports Network is an American radio network consisting of 46 radio stations which carry coverage of Michigan Wolverines football and men's basketball. WWJ/Detroit (950 AM) serves as the network's flagship station. The network also includes 45 affiliates in the U.S. states of Michigan and Ohio: 28 AM stations, 4 of which extend their signals with low-power FM translators; and 17 full-power FM stations (WXYT-FM/Detroit and WQQO/Toledo generally only broadcast Michigan content over their HD Radio digital subchannels).
Contents
Former Michigan offensive tackles Jim Brandstatter and Dan Dierdorf cover football; Brandstatter serves as play-by-play announcer, while veteran NFL broadcaster and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Dierdorf serves as color analyst. Prior to 2014, Brandstatter had served as color analyst for 34 seasons – first with Michigan announcer Bob Ufer, and later alongside Frank Beckmann. Matt Shepard currently serves as play-by-play announcer for men's basketball, and the Detroit radio personality is joined by color analyst Terry Mills, a former Michigan power forward and NBA league veteran.
History
Michigan's relationship with IMG College dates back to March 2001 when the school signed a five-year deal with Host Communications, Inc., a sports marketing firm based in Lexington, Kentucky; the deal was predicated to generate $7.5 million in advertising revenue from Michigan football and men's basketball radio broadcasts through 2005–06 (this partnership with Host would ultimately remain in place for the next seven years). In 2007, IMG College purchased Host Communications; in August 2008, IMG announced a new 12-year media rights deal with Michigan reportedly worth $86 million, including gameday radio broadcasts.
WJR/Detroit had served as the network flagship station for Michigan football since 1976 and men's basketball since 1997. In October 2005, WJR announced a new deal to broadcast rival Michigan State football and men's basketball, while simultaneously dropping its long partnership with Michigan. The news came as a surprise to the Michigan athletic department, including director Bill Martin, who claimed the school had acted "in good faith" throughout months of negotiations with the station. Michigan soon signed a new five-year deal with CBS Radio and CHUM Limited (later CTVglobemedia), owners of WOMC/Detroit and CKLW/Windsor, respectively. In August 2011, new Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon announced a five-year contract extension with CBS Radio, with the majority of network flagship coverage shifting to WOMC AM sister station WWJ.