The cat is finally out of the bag. After a month of speculation, the news is official, iHeart is entering the sports format in Columbus. The company has flipped 105.7 The X to Sports Radio 105.7 The Zone.
The station launched Monday afternoon at 3pm with Bruce Hooley hosting his brand new show. The program includes Maddie Spielman (the daughter of former NFL LB and current FOX Sports NFL Analyst Chris Spielman) and producer Eric Rieser who previously worked for 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland.
Hooley though will not stay in PM drive. Instead, he’ll move to mornings starting next week. The morning show is also expected to be syndicated on other iHeart stations, most likely in the state of Ohio and/or surrounding regions.
The Zone also announced in their press release that another co-host will be added at a later date. On the air they’ve been teasing a “player to be named later”, adding more fuel to the fire that the new addition will be former Ohio State and NFL Linebacker and former Columbus sports radio host Chris Spielman.
Hooley, spent the past five years hosting for ESPN 850 WKNR in Cleveland. He left the radio station last month and had been anxiously waiting on the sidelines for the opportunity to launch the new show. Prior to working for WKNR, he occupied the Columbus airwaves for nearly seven years, so he’s very familiar with the market.
In addition to Hooley’s local show, The Zone will feature the full Fox Sports Radio line up, including The Dan Patrick Show, The Rich Eisen Show and The Herd with Colin Cowherd. The radio station will also offer special reports from Matt McCoy, longtime 610 WTVN Sports Anchor, and serve as Columbus’ radio home for Cleveland Cavaliers and Cincinnati Bengals games.
“Columbus has one of the best sports fan bases in the country and they finally a have a new destination for Columbus based sports and entertainment radio in the morning, plus the best national line-up available the rest of the day,” said Michael McCoy, Vice President of Programming for iHeartMedia Columbus.
Full Programming Lineup:
Bruce Hooley 6a-9a
Dan Patrick Show 9a-12p
Rich Eisen Show 12p-3p
The Herd w/ Colin Cowherd 3p-6p
Jay Mohr Sports 6p-9p
JT The “Brick” 9-11p
Jason Smith 11p-2a
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.
