The end of Drew and Mike (audio)
April 23, 2008
The Detroit Free Press is reporting Drew Lane’s 16 year relationship with WRIF is now over. Drew is said to be looking for a nationally syndicated show.
It’s very said day for us fans of the Drew and Mike show. I have listened to Drew and Mike almost every day since I was a freshman in High School, back in 1996. I was lucky enough to work with them for a few months in 2000 when I was an intern at WRIF while I was at school at Specs Howard School of Broadcast Arts.
Mike talks Drew’s Departure on the air today
Today, Mike W. Clark addressed Drew’s end at WRIF and also the tragic event’s surrounding the death of their good friend and WRIF general sales manger person Bob Kozaitis. The segament is over 40 minutes long and explains a lot.
Drew’s Response to the above audio of Mike Clark
Drew called and spoke with the Free Press and had this to say:
“I understand them trying to have their success, and I wish them well but why do they want to make me look like a jackass after what I’ve been through?”
“I have been telling Mike Clark since 2004 that I wanted to move to afternoon drive. In January, I made one final request to move, thinking the pressure of the current situation” — doing the show without Lane — “might have changed his mind. He thought it would be more work.”
“In 2004, Clark and I agreed we were going to move to afternoons in 2005. He changed his mind after I spent thousands recording our material and getting it out of the building. To suggest this is such a shock is mind-boggling. In 2005, 2006 and 2007, I worked without a contract to try to keep the show together, thinking that was more important than the day part.”
“I have expressed that to two members who are in the show right now and expressed it to multiple Greater Media executives,” said Lane. “I desperately tried to get them to make this announcement in January” but encountered delays. “They kept trying to say they wanted to find me a new job or something new to do. I kept asking them to make the announcement, and it was ludicrous.”
“I find it very sad. I worked there a long time. I fought for raises for everyone on the show on their behalf … I offered to go on the show (today) to challenge what they were saying and they never called back,” Lane said. “If nothing else, if would have made great radio. Who would tune that out?”
“It is so sad after 16 years of such great success that your life changes when your fiancee gets cancer, which forced me to make some major life changes and you get a big boot … as you go out the door.
“I can’t wait to get in front of a microphone and start talking again about the things Detroit people want to hear about. I just want to thank all the listeners who enjoyed what I did and the rest of the show did,” Lane said. “I thought the four people on the show with me were the best in the market in what they did. And there are a lot of talented salespeople who worked hard to sell a show that was controversial.”
My Time at the WRIF
I have nothing but good things to say about Drew and Mike as well as the producers, Marc and Mike. I was hired on the spot by Marc after only one meeting with him. I would get to the station every morning at around four o’clock in the morning to start working on TV clips from the night before. Back before tivo, we all came in with a tapes to edit the funny drops you heard each morning on the show.
Drew was always the first person in each morning and he would give me a list of all the clips he wanted pulled from his tape and I would go and edit them out and place them in WRIF’s computer system for them to use during the show.
Drew was one of the nicest and funniest guys I’ve ever met. I never once saw him raise his voice or get mad when something he wanted messed up or didn’t go as planned (much different then other radio guys I’ve worked with like Ed Tyll for example). Mike Clark was the exact same way. What impressed me most about him was his ability to take an interest in us interns. He may come off as a real scatter brain sometimes but he’s nothing like that in actuality.
Future of the Show
The future of the Drew and Mike Show has a lot of possibilities. Mike Clark is funny and talented enough to keep tucking on as the new leader of the show. My guess would be either Mike and Marc stay on as co-hosts or perhaps just Marc. I can very easily see it becoming the Mike and Marc show. They have wonderful chemistry and it would make a seamless transition (with Mike Walters moving on as the sole producer).
The Drew Lane Show
I have the same feelings about Drew. He will be a success in whatever he does - he’s extremely gifted and could be very popular at a sports station, perhaps it could be the shot in the arm WDFN needs right now - that is if they ever choose to move to FM (which has been long rumored).
