If you pay attention to Detroit sports radio, there is little doubt that you have heard of 97.1 The Ticket’s host Mike Valenti. He has grown his popularity through the years, including spending 13 years with his former co-host Terry Foster on the “Valenti and Foster Show” which was on the air Monday through Friday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Since Foster retired in April of 2017, Valenti has gone solo on “The Mike Valenti Show,” which airs during the same time-slot.
Valenti, who attended Michigan State University, is a native of New York and his love for his Bronx teams, especially the Giants and Yankees, has shown while he is on the air in Detroit.
Because of that, it was not much of a surprise that his name popped up as a potential replacement for WFAN New York’s Mike Francesa. In fact, Valenti even went as far as hosting/auditioning for the show back in July.
Well, according to Tony Paul of The Detroit News, he “heard rumblings” that Valenti was offered the job but he has turned it down.
Here are the replacements for Mike Francesa on WFAN in New York. Heard rumblings Mike Valenti was among those offered the job, but turned it down. https://t.co/cTZzY6GXuO
— Tony Paul | Detroit News (@TonyPaul1984) November 14, 2017
According to a report from the New York Daily News, Francesa’s replacement(s) have been chosen and Valenti is not in the mix.
It will take three voices to replace Mike (Sports Pope) Francesa.
Industry sources say WFAN suits will soon name Chris Carlin, Bart Scott, and Maggie Gray — who the Daily News first reported on Monday as the third member of the team — as its new afternoon drive team replacing Francesa when he departs the station on Dec. 15.
The News also first reported earlier this month that Carlin and Scott were expected to be part of a trio that would take over for Francesa.
The FAN certainly appears to be making a concerted effort to have a diverse booth with a black host in Scott and a female in Gray.
Whether you love him or hate him, it looks like Mike Valenti will be hosting a Detroit sports talk radio show for the foreseeable future.
Yea Valenti isn’t leaving Detroit, he would just a long list of Detroit media members (Rob Parker, Bernie Smiloviltz, Eli Zarath) who failed in New York only to return tail in between their legs. I can’t stand the guy and stopped listening a long time ago along with accepting reality he’s never leaving. I just don’t know understand how people listen to this guy and I say that as a Spartan. Must be the Stockholm syndrome that Lions fans suffer from.
Comments are closed.