What's been expected was made official Monday: Former 89X morning radio show Dave and Chuck The Freak will be back on local morning airwaves beginning at 6 a.m. May 28 on Detroit rock station WRIF 101.1 FM.

Terms of their multi-year deal were not disclosed.

The duo made the announcement via their Facebook page Monday afternoon, then WRIF and the show's hosts confirmed it with Crain's.

Via their Facebook page:

"It may not be the biggest surprise anymore, but we are now officially allowed to tell you about our new station.

"Starting Tuesday May 28th at 6am, we'll be at our new home on 101.1 FM WRIF - Detroit's Rock Station.

"We are so excited to talk to you all again and are so incredibly thankful for all your words of support & well wishes.

"By the way, we have great respect for Drew & Mike and their 22 year legacy at the station and waited to share our news until they & their team could officially sign off."

They replace the show hosted for many years by Drew Lane and Mike Clark.

WRIF, which is launching a marketing blitz for the new show today that includes billboards in the metro area, is having afternoon host "Meltdown" handle the morning slot until the new show launches.

Dave Hunter and Charles Urquhart (and Lisa Way) since April 2001 were on CIMX 88.7 FM, the official name of 89X, until a surprise announcement on Nov. 23 that they were leaving the Windsor-based alternative music station for an unnamed new outlet.

The hosts, known for their off-brand of humor and banter, have been under a contractual non-compete clause that ended this month. They hinted online that they were going to stay in the local market, and said on Facebook on Friday that an announcement would come Monday.

"Walking through the doors into the building is definitely a career highlight for us," Hunter told Crain's this afternoon. "It's hard to put into words. We're finally allowed to talk about it. The past six months has been really hard. This big thing in our lives we couldn't share. Even in our personal lives, our family and friends, we couldn't tell them."

Listeners should expect much of what they heard from the show on 89X, but the show will evolve, the hosts said.

"I think people are going to find they're going to get the same show. Things change with time. We're very open to tweaking things here or there," Urquhart said.

Fans will hear "the same craziness you heard before," Way added.

"Dave and Chuck the Freak" came from an alternative station, but WRIF said it will maintain its current rock format.

89X's management publicly acknowledged that another station offered the hosts a better deal than its owner, Toronto-based Bell Media Radio, was willing to match.

Drew and Mike had been on the air together at WRIF since 1994. Lane left the show in September 2007, but returned in July 2009. Trudi Daniels is the show's newsperson.

There's been no word on their next move. Lane's attorney, Loretta Ames, a partner at the Detroit office of Bloomfield Hills-based law firm Plunkett Cooney PC, said her client has been approached by more than one other company, but declined to go into detail.

The station announced on May 8 that the "Drew and Mike Show" would end after 22 years on Friday. It provided no other details, but radio insiders have speculated that Greater Media wants a younger audience for its morning drive-time slot.

"Drew and Mike" have topped local morning ratings for years — morning drive is the most lucrative advertising period for FM radio stations — but "Dave and Chuck the Freak" have matched them with younger demographics.

Greater Media is the Braintree, Mass.-based radio giant which also owns adult contemporary station WMGC 105.1 FM and classic rock station WCSX 94.7 FM locally.