910AM Superstation, a Detroit-area Black talk radio station for nearly a decade, is going conservative.
The white, wealthy owner of the station, Kevin Adell, abruptly pulled the plug on Black talk radio earlier this month and will soon replace it with programming promoting right-wing outrage.
Adell plans to blanket the Detroit area with more than two dozen billboards advertising his new lineup of conservative voices. The first billboard, featuring The Glenn Beck Program and The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, was erected Thursday along I-275 near Ecorse Road in Van Buren Township near the Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
In an interview with Metro Times on Aug. 14, Adell said the Black talk show format was no longer profitable and only attracted about 2,100 listeners a month, an alarmingly small audience for a radio station.
Adell replaced the programming with ESPN Radio and denied rumors that he was planning to switch to a conservative talk format.
On weekdays, The Glenn Beck Program will run from 9 a.m. to noon, andThe Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show will air from noon to 3 p.m.
Beck, a former Fox News host, has been criticized for promoting baseless conspiracy theories and using hateful, inflammatory rhetoric to rile up conservatives.
The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show, which replaced The Rush Limbaugh Show in June 2021, has come under fire for spreading anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, downplaying racism, and making sexist remarks.
After this article was published, 910AM Superstation sent out a press release with its full conservative talk radio lineup. Aside from the aforementioned shows, programming also includes Fox News Rundown, Justin Barclay, The Sean Hannity Show, The Jesse Kelly Show, Bill O’Reilly, Our American Stories, and The Other Side of Midnight with Frank Morano.
“For the first time in years, Metro Detroit has an alternative to WJR, with a genuinely conservative point of view,” Adell said in a statement. “We’re excited to launch this new talk station with the biggest names in the format. As the 2024 Presidential Election race heats up, 910 AM will be well positioned to provide all the important news and updates our community needs to stay informed on the latest hot topics and issues.”
910AM’s previous Black talk radio format lineup included journalist Bankole Thomson and Al Sharpton’s syndicated radio program. But Adell didn’t pay most of his hosts, making it difficult to attract experienced commentators and retain consistent voices.
Adell purchased the 50,000-watt station from Radio Disney in January 2015 and launched the talk show format, pitching it to a Black audience. He covered the region with billboards promoting 910AM, which he dubbed, “Detroit’s only urban talk station.”
Conservative talk radio has been immensely popular since the success of Rush Limbaugh, whose polarizing and bigoted riffs on the daily news attracted a devoted following, especially among white listeners without a college degree. Limbaugh died in February 2021 at 70.
This article was updated with additional information.
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