The ever-spinning wild saga of Grand Slam Sports has taken another twist, with the return of jock talk to its airwaves and longtime St. Louis sports-talk radio host Kevin Slaten set to be its centerpiece beginning Monday.
That’s when KXFN (1380 AM), which used to have sports but has been broadcasting in the “extreme radio’’ format in recent months, begins airing programming that appears on the talkstl.com website. Kevin Slaten’s 3-6 p.m. sports show is its centerpiece.
Talkstl is leasing the station and began airing Yahoo Sports Radio syndicated fare over the weekend. It plans to carry that for most of the day for the time being, with Slaten having the only local show. But talkstl.com owner Scott Gertken said he plans to have a full local lineup in place by April 6, mostly sports but also with some humor.
Slaten, who has been on 1380 before, has been off traditional radio since KFNS (590 AM) — Grand Slam’s other station — went off the air in November under a mountain of debt that crippled the longtime St. Louis sports-talk radio staple.
“I’m real excited, this will be fun,’’ said Slaten, a sports-talk original when the format arrived locally in 1992. “We’ll keep doing what we’ve done all along.
“I’ve outlasted (former Cardinals manager Tony) La Russa and I’ve outlasted (Missouri athletics director) Mike Alden,’’ he added, citing two of his favorite targets of criticism. “We’re going to keep pointing out things no one else points out.”
Sources said 1380’s format switch is the fallout from a power-play between factions at Grand Slam, resulting in Mike Clavin being forced out this weekend.
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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.
