Dale Duff began his long and impressive broadcasting career in 1974 at WHOU radio (100.1 FM) in his hometown of Houlton.
He has returned to WHOU, this time to work with the WHOU.live video streaming service to headline its sports coverage.
Fred Grant, the owner of Northern Maine Media Inc., the parent company of WHOU, confirmed Tuesday that Duff began his new duties on Saturday and is no longer employed by Townsquare Media’s 92.9 FM “The Ticket” in Brewer, where he spent the last seven-plus years and served as its brand manager.
Grant is elated to have Duff join their team.
“Dale is so well-known in sports broadcasting with his depth of knowledge around the state,” Grant said. “We share the same philosophy toward high school sports. The games are about the schools and the students. He understands that importance. He makes sure everything is right for the broadcast to make sure the schools and the students get the accolades they should.”
Duff will be working with the WHOU crew to expand sports coverage for WHOU.live in the Bangor area and other parts of the state.
Duff had joined The Ticket in Brewer in November 2012 and hosted “The Morning Pitch” from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays until last August. At that point, he moved to a one-hour afternoon segment called the “Dale Duff Show.”
Prior to joining Townsquare, the 40-year broadcasting veteran spent 19 years at WZON (AM 620), an all-sports radio station in Bangor. He previously worked 16 years as a reporter and sports anchor at WLBZ-TV (Channel 2) in Bangor.
WHOU started video streaming high school sports in 2012 and now has multiple crews around the state. The station carries approximately 250 high school events each year.
Duff is looking forward to his new challenge.
“I decided that in 42 years, the thing I enjoy the most is calling games,” said the 62-year-old Duff. “This gives me the opportunity to call a lot of games over the course of a year.”
Duff said there was a bit of irony that he was returning to WHOU but was quick to add “this is a completely different thing, really.”
He said the job at WHOU was enticing because it has a contract with the Maine Principals’ Association, is able to do such a large number of games and is expanding its coverage.
Grant considers Duff the consummate professional.
“When we go to gyms we haven’t been to before, we tend to overprepare and get there early,” Grant said. “Dale would always arrive at the same time or a little before us.
“He is already pulling together information for our [basketball] tournament coverage,” Grant added.
Duff will be involved in a lot of different sports in a variety of venues, Grant said.
Duff is also an adjunct faculty member at Husson University in Bangor’s New England School of Communications where he teaches Introduction to Sports Journalism.
“We have 10 to 12 college interns throughout the basketball season to help with our productions and Dale’s background in education will be very helpful. He will give the students real-life experiences,” Grant said.
Northern Maine Media unveiled WHOU.live in 2019 when it received the exclusive contract to broadcast the Maine Principals’ Association high school football championships and its regional finals for tournament games.
Fans can subscribe at WHOU.live for $10 and watch all 60 North regional semifinal and final games in the upcoming basketball tournament.