Sports Notes – Dec. ’09/Jan. ’10
ollowing on the heels of its success in the Chicago market with ESPNChicago.com and recent launches in Dallas and Boston, ESPN is firing up a Los Angeles-centric sports “media station” website. The ESPN-operated “media stations” include text, photos, audio and video focused on sports content about the market’s sports teams. The December 21 launch coincides with ESPN TV’s broadcast of the Los Angeles Lakers-Cleveland Cavaliers game. The company is planning more local online sports “media stations” in the near future…..Fox Sports Radio brings 
Steven A. Smith aboard to take over the morning drive show previously held by Steve Czaban who notes that his contract at the network was not renewed because management believes his show sounded too much like ESPN Radio’s “Mike & Mike in the Morning.” Czaban also recently wrote on his blog that the changes in management at Fox Sports Radio since the death of VP/GM Andrew Ashwood had changed his relationship with the company…..Well-known Dallas radio personalities Ben Rogers and Jeff “Skin” Wade are named the early evening hosts at ESPN 
Radio’s Dallas O&O, KESN-FM. The show airs 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm CT and the duo is also handling Dallas Mavericks pre- and post-game duties on game nights. KESN-FM program director Tom Lee says, “Ben and Skin are lifelong Dallas sports fans and have covered our local teams for the past decade. Their knowledge of Dallas-Ft. Worth sports will provide our fans with a higher level of local sports coverage in a unique and entertaining style.”…..CBS Radio sports talker KILT, Houston brings Josh Innes aboard to be part of the cast of the Vandermeer and Lopez morning show. Innes is also handling a one-hour solo show from 10:00 am to 11:00 am that had previously been done by Lopez. Innes most recently worked in Baton Rouge at WJBO and WKSR…..KBME, Houston makes lineup changes. Matt Jackson and Adam Wexler recently jumped to KBME from crosstown KILT and now the sports talker announces Matt Thomas leaves his role at KSTP, Minneapolis to return home and handle the 12:00 noon to 3:00 pm shift. Also, Tom Franklin and Dave Dalati exit the station (although Franklin continues to handle University of Houston football and basketball play-by-play) and Dylan Guinn takes over the 10:00 am to 12:00 noon show…..Cumulus sports talker KTCK, Dallas and the Dallas Morning News are going to be sharing talent and content in a deal that will see columnists from the paper’s Sportsday section appear exclusively on KTCK and the station’s hosts will contribute to the paper’s coverage. Also, KTCK podcasts will share links from the paper’s website…..Bonneville announces Owen Murphy is promoted to program director of KIRO –– ESPN 710, the company’s sports talk outlet in Seattle. Murphy has served as APD since January of this year. Market manager Dave Pridemore says, “This is a natural progression for Owen. He has been instrumental in launching the station and developing our on-air team and has earned the chance to take full responsibility for our on-air product.” Prior to his work with KIRO, Murphy served as a producer at MLB.com, ESPN Radio and WTSO, Madison…..Good Karma’s WELE, West Palm Beach enters into an agreement with WPTV-TV to have sports talk hosts Evan Cohen and Jason Pugh and producer/reporter Herb Uzzi provide local sports content for the station’s nightly and weekend sportscasts. WPTV-TV station manager Steve Politziner says, “This is a bold and exciting development for local sports coverage and there aren’t two better resources to make it happen than ESPN 760 and WPTV. Great things can happen when two media companies at the top of their game join forces. ESPN 760 brings great assets to Channel 5’s newscast and we’re thrilled to have our brand extended through the reach of the area’s most-trusted news operation.”…..Red Zebra’s WXTG-AM/FM, Norfolk-Virginia Beach bumps the “757 Club” program hosted by John DeCandido and Bartley Barefoot from the early evening daypart to the 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm timeslot…..Compass Media Networks announces it is expanding its slate of play-by-play sports to include college hoops. CEO Peter Kosann says Compass is offering 13 high-profile regular-season matchups of NCAA Men’s Basketball plus the opening rounds of the Big 10 Tournament…..David Hernandez, the man who was funding the Chicago Sports Webio site that featured former WSCR, Chicago talk host Mike North, has changed his plea to guilty in the mail fraud case against him. Hernandez, who actually went on the lam after the financial issues affecting his Chicago businesses –– including non-payment of the Chicago Sports Webio payroll –– came to light, initially pleaded not guilty but is reversing that…..Speaking of Mike North, the former WSCR, Chicago sports talker is partnering with fellow former WSCR talk host Dan Jiggetts and Chicago Sun-Times money columnist Terry Savage and former CNBC business reporter Mike Hegedus for a general interest talk show on CBS’ WBBM-TV, Chicago called “Monsters and Money in the Morning.” In keeping with CBS’ tactic of cross-platform programming, the show will also receive support from the radio side –– the company’s all-news WBBM. WBBM-TV general manager Bruno Cohen tells the Chicago Sun-Times, “It’s time for something new and smart that will differentiate CBS 2 from its competitors. We are targeting an underserved television audience: Chicagoans who are passionate about sports and want to stay on top of local business news and personal finance.” Jiggetts and North currently do a sports talk show called “Monsters in the Morning” on Comcast SportsNet Chicago but that program is expected to end soon…..Red Zebra Broadcasting parts company with WXTG-FM operations manager and program director Keith Bennett who’s been with the Virginia Beach, Virginia sports talk outlet since its inception. No official word from WXTG-FM who is replacing Bennett in the PD chair…..Pappas Radio’s KTRB, San Francisco re-ups with MLB’s Oakland Athletics to carry the team’s play-by-play through the 2019 season. The two parties are working under a deal that allows the team to sell off the inventory as well…..Galaxy Communications will drop standards on WTLA, North Syracuse and WSGO, Oswego and go sports in March. The duo will simulcast content provided by ESPN Radio and will be assisted by FM translators. WTLA will be simulcast on 97.7 in Syracuse and WSGO will have help with a new translator in Oswego at 100.1 FM. Currently, Citadel’s WNSS has the ESPN Radio affiliation in the market…..Guaranty Broadcasting is going to split the simulcast of modern rock on its two FM signals WNXX-FM and KNXX- FM in Baton Rouge. WNXX-FM (licensed to Jackson, Louisiana) will flip to sports and use ESPN Radio for programming…..E-mail your sports news and photos to info@talkers.com.
ollowing on the heels of its success in the Chicago market with ESPNChicago.com and recent launches in Dallas and Boston, ESPN is firing up a Los Angeles-centric sports “media station” website. The ESPN-operated “media stations” include text, photos, audio and video focused on sports content about the market’s sports teams. The December 21 launch coincides with ESPN TV’s broadcast of the Los Angeles Lakers-Cleveland Cavaliers game. The company is planning more local online sports “media stations” in the near future…..Fox Sports Radio brings Steven A. Smith aboard to take over the morning drive show previously held by Steve Czaban who notes that his contract at the network was not renewed because management believes his show sounded too much like ESPN Radio’s “Mike & Mike in the Morning.” Czaban also recently wrote on his blog that the changes in management at Fox Sports Radio since the death of VP/GM Andrew Ashwood had changed his relationship with the company…..Well-known Dallas radio personalities Ben Rogers and Jeff “Skin” Wade are named the early evening hosts at ESPN Radio’s Dallas O&O, KESN-FM. The show airs 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm CT and the duo is also handling Dallas Mavericks pre- and post-game duties on game nights. KESN-FM program director Tom Lee says, “Ben and Skin are lifelong Dallas sports fans and have covered our local teams for the past decade. Their knowledge of Dallas-Ft. Worth sports will provide our fans with a higher level of local sports coverage in a unique and entertaining style.”…..CBS Radio sports talker KILT, Houston brings Josh Innes aboard to be part of the cast of the Vandermeer and Lopez morning show. Innes is also handling a one-hour solo show from 10:00 am to 11:00 am that had previously been done by Lopez. Innes most recently worked in Baton Rouge at WJBO and WKSR…..KBME, Houston makes lineup changes. Matt Jackson and Adam Wexler recently jumped to KBME from crosstown KILT and now the sports talker announces Matt Thomas leaves his role at KSTP, Minneapolis to return home and handle the 12:00 noon to 3:00 pm shift. Also, Tom Franklin and Dave Dalati exit the station (although Franklin continues to handle University of Houston football and basketball play-by-play) and Dylan Guinn takes over the 10:00 am to 12:00 noon show…..Cumulus sports talker KTCK, Dallas and the Dallas Morning News are going to be sharing talent and content in a deal that will see columnists from the paper’s Sportsday section appear exclusively on KTCK and the station’s hosts will contribute to the paper’s coverage. Also, KTCK podcasts will share links from the paper’s website…..Bonneville announces Owen Murphy is promoted to program director of KIRO –– ESPN 710, the company’s sports talk outlet in Seattle. Murphy has served as APD since January of this year. Market manager Dave Pridemore says, “This is a natural progression for Owen. He has been instrumental in launching the station and developing our on-air team and has earned the chance to take full responsibility for our on-air product.” Prior to his work with KIRO, Murphy served as a producer at MLB.com, ESPN Radio and WTSO, Madison…..Good Karma’s WELE, West Palm Beach enters into an agreement with WPTV-TV to have sports talk hosts Evan Cohen and Jason Pugh and producer/reporter Herb Uzzi provide local sports content for the station’s nightly and weekend sportscasts. WPTV-TV station manager Steve Politziner says, “This is a bold and exciting development for local sports coverage and there aren’t two better resources to make it happen than ESPN 760 and WPTV. Great things can happen when two media companies at the top of their game join forces. ESPN 760 brings great assets to Channel 5’s newscast and we’re thrilled to have our brand extended through the reach of the area’s most-trusted news operation.”…..Red Zebra’s WXTG-AM/FM, Norfolk-Virginia Beach bumps the “757 Club” program hosted by John DeCandido and Bartley Barefoot from the early evening daypart to the 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm timeslot…..Compass Media Networks announces it is expanding its slate of play-by-play sports to include college hoops. CEO Peter Kosann says Compass is offering 13 high-profile regular-season matchups of NCAA Men’s Basketball plus the opening rounds of the Big 10 Tournament…..David Hernandez, the man who was funding the Chicago Sports Webio site that featured former WSCR, Chicago talk host Mike North, has changed his plea to guilty in the mail fraud case against him. Hernandez, who actually went on the lam after the financial issues affecting his Chicago businesses –– including non-payment of the Chicago Sports Webio payroll –– came to light, initially pleaded not guilty but is reversing that…..Speaking of Mike North, the former WSCR, Chicago sports talker is partnering with fellow former WSCR talk host Dan Jiggetts and Chicago Sun-Times money columnist Terry Savage and former CNBC business reporter Mike Hegedus for a general interest talk show on CBS’ WBBM-TV, Chicago called “Monsters and Money in the Morning.” In keeping with CBS’ tactic of cross-platform programming, the show will also receive support from the radio side –– the company’s all-news WBBM. WBBM-TV general manager Bruno Cohen tells the Chicago Sun-Times, “It’s time for something new and smart that will differentiate CBS 2 from its competitors. We are targeting an underserved television audience: Chicagoans who are passionate about sports and want to stay on top of local business news and personal finance.” Jiggetts and North currently do a sports talk show called “Monsters in the Morning” on Comcast SportsNet Chicago but that program is expected to end soon…..Red Zebra Broadcasting parts company with WXTG-FM operations manager and program director Keith Bennett who’s been with the Virginia Beach, Virginia sports talk outlet since its inception. No official word from WXTG-FM who is replacing Bennett in the PD chair…..Pappas Radio’s KTRB, San Francisco re-ups with MLB’s Oakland Athletics to carry the team’s play-by-play through the 2019 season. The two parties are working under a deal that allows the team to sell off the inventory as well…..Galaxy Communications will drop standards on WTLA, North Syracuse and WSGO, Oswego and go sports in March. The duo will simulcast content provided by ESPN Radio and will be assisted by FM translators. WTLA will be simulcast on 97.7 in Syracuse and WSGO will have help with a new translator in Oswego at 100.1 FM. Currently, Citadel’s WNSS has the ESPN Radio affiliation in the market…..Guaranty Broadcasting is going to split the simulcast of modern rock on its two FM signals WNXX-FM and KNXX- FM in Baton Rouge. WNXX-FM (licensed to Jackson, Louisiana) will flip to sports and use ESPN Radio for programming…..E-mail your sports news and photos to info@talkers.com.
Мде …
Да я смотрю, ты тут уже местный…..