Longtime local radio fixture Andy Pollin announced Tuesday morning that his “Sports Reporters” morning drive program on SportsTalk 570 will end after Friday’s show. Pollin said he will move to an as-yet unspecified role at ESPN 980.
Pollin’s show was on borrowed time after the creation of “The Man Cave,” which will masculinely debut on ESPN 980 Monday morning. That show will push “Mike and Mike” to SportsTalk 570, in turn pushing Pollin’s program off the air.
Pollin announced the end of his morning show just shy of its 18-month anniversary. It was launched in September 2013, after “The Drive with Cooley and Czabe” replaced the old afternoon-drive “Sports Reporters” on 980. That program launched in 1999, meaning Pollin has been using the “Sports Reporters” format in this market for more than 15 years.
“But that’s the reality of this business,” Pollin said on the air Tuesday morning. “Good shows last for five years. Really good shows go 10. Only the great ones go 20.”
Pollin brought some of his familiar guests, including Chris Knoche and Kevin Blackistone, to the lower-profile 570 gig. He said he saw it as an opportunity to audition a local morning show for 980, and said that “management” rejected proposed slots to move the show back to 980.
“We have agreed for a role for me on ESPN 980 starting next Monday, but this show…will have its last show on Friday,” Pollin said. “That’ll be the last time we do a ‘Sports Reporters’ show. And I won’t try and hide my disappointment from you. I put a lot into this. I enjoyed doing it. It’s been great to connect to people….It’s been great for me to do something that A) I really enjoy, and B) I think has been a good show for a group of people. But the reality in this business, and in any business, is we love you out there, but there just aren’t enough of you. If there were more of you, we’d be going on.”
Pollin said he would complete this week’s shows; his last guest on Friday will be Rich Campbell, now of the Chicago Tribune.
“I have no plans to retire,” Pollin said. “Friday will be the last show and that will be it, and we will move on. And like I’ve done for the last 23 years, at either SportsTalk 570 or ESPN 980, I’ll do the best I can with what I’m assigned to do, and I will do it as long as they choose to employ me here. But we will say a fond farewell on Friday.”
Credit to the Washington Post who originally published this article
Jason Barrett is the President and Founder of Barrett Media since the company was created in September 2015. Prior to its arrival, JB served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He also spent time programming SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY. Jason also worked on-air and behind the scenes in local radio at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years on the national stage, producing radio shows for ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT. Among them included the Dan Patrick Show, and GameNight.
You can find JB on Twitter @SportsRadioPD. He’s also reachable by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
