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Lions Partnership With 97.1 The Ticket To End

Update: Mike Valenti details the breakdown of the relationship ...

DETROIT (CBS Detroit) The Detroit Lions released a press statement early Friday confirming a new five-year broadcast partnership with News/Talk 760 WJR. Additional terms of the deal were not disclosed.

For the past 12 seasons, the Lions were broadcast partners with CBS' sports powerhouse station 97.1 The Ticket.

Control of the station's Lions content was the sticking point when it came to furthering the relationship, according to a statement by CBS Detroit's Senior Vice President and Market Manager Debbie Kenyon.

WWJ Newsradio 950's morning co-anchor Roberta Jasina read this statement from Kenyon live on-air Friday morning.

"CBS Radio and the Detroit Lions are parting ways. 97.1 The Ticket has served as the flagship station for the Lions for more than a decade. CBS Radio says it has been negotiating with the Lions a long time. It is sad to say goodbye, but in the end it came down to the integrity of CBS -- The refusal to be censored in talking about the team and making honest assessments on the air about this team."

The Lions were last on WJR in 1988 before moving to CBS' news talk station WWJ Newsradio 950, and later to The Ticket.

This follows the Lions' decision to hire Rod Wood as team president.

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