The evening program on WJOX 94.5FM in Birmingham, Alabama had been hosted by ‘Matt and Scot’ for the past 3.5 years. The duo arrived from Dallas, Texas where they had worked part-time for Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket, and things appeared to be going well until news was revealed last week that the radio station would be moving in a new direction.
Today, that new direction has been learned, as WJOX has announced the addition of “JOX Primetime” with Joe Hunk and Jon Lunceford. The new show will air weekdays from 6p-8p CT.
“It’s going to continue to be live and local,” David Walls, vice president/market manager for WJOX parent company Cumulus Birmingham, said of the new “Jox PrimeTime” show. “It’s going to be a lot of energy.”
Lunceford, played on two state championship football teams and collegiately for Birmingham Southern-College. He has also worked in the newspaper and radio business for nearly a decade. He produces on-air high school sports coverage for the radio station, and started the JoxPreps podcast earlier this year.
Hunk, played college baseball at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and has been in the radio industry for 11 years, working previously for WUMP 730 AM (SportsRadio 730 The UMP) before shifting over to WJOX in 2013. He’s hosted the Saturday morning show “Jox Gameday” on the radio station for the past 3½ years.
The new show’s format according to AL.com will allow WJOX to air “Monday Night Football,” “Thursday Night Football,” “The Nick Saban Show,” “The JoxPreps Encore Sports Medicine Scoreboard,” “The Jox Players Club” and “The MLB World Series” on select nights. When those opportunities arise, “Jox PrimeTime” will lead into, and be preempted by those broadcasts.
“We felt we missed a lot last year by not airing ‘Monday Night Football,’ the World Series and a lot of the other major events,” Walls said. “This is going to give us the ability to do that.”
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.
