What a ride it’s been for Andy Pollin. The longtime Washington D.C. sports personality has occupied the airwaves of ESPN 980 in the nation’s capital for close to twenty five years, but on Thursday, he learned that the journey had come to an end.
Pollin, who had been teaming with Steve Czaban in afternoon drive since last May, was notified that he had done his final show on the station. His contract was set to expire in February, and the company had not displayed an interest in retaining his services.
Czaban and Pollin had previously hosted together for 13 years, before Chris Cooley replaced Pollin in the summer of 2013. That change led Pollin into morning drive, a slot now occupied by Cooley with Kevin Sheehan.
After being told of the decision to part ways, and not granted a final opportunity to talk to the audience, it would have been understood if Pollin was bitter. However, he took the high road when talking to the Washington Post about the situation.
“I’m not in any way bitter about this,” Pollin said. “I’m disappointed that it wouldn’t continue. I thought Czabe and I were humming along there in our second run, but it didn’t happen. That’s life.”
Czaban on the other hand said he was gutted by the decision, and credited the success of his career to Pollin.
“I have no doubt Andy has more chapters to write in his broadcasting and journalism career here in D.C.,” Czaban wrote on Twitter. “I would hire that guy tomorrow. I’ll miss him tremendously as a sounding board on all things sports, radio — and life.”
Ironically, the afternoon show with Czaban and Pollin had recently experienced some positive news in the ratings. When we last looked at the D.C. numbers in late November, the show had grown from a 2.7 to 4.4 and was involved in a tight race with 106.7 The Fan’s Chad Dukes.
Although Pollin’s name will attract the headlines, he wasn’t the only talented performer to receive grim news from 980 officials. The station also informed two of their promising young personalities, Nick Ashooh and Tim Murray, who had hosted the evening program “DMV Gametime”, that they were casualties of station budget cuts.
Murray has confirmed via Twitter that he will continue being part of the SB Nation Radio morning show, which he works on along with Scott Linn and Steve Solomon. Ashooh is looking for his next opportunity and can be reached here.
Jason Barrett is the Founder and CEO of Barrett Media. The company launched in September 2015 and has provided consulting services to America’s top audio and video brands, while simultaneously covering the media industry at BarrettMedia.com, becoming a daily destination for media professionals. Prior to Barrett Media, Jason built and programmed 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He was also the first sports programmer for SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, which later became 97.5 The Fanatic. Barrett also led 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY, and worked on-air and behind the scenes at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years at ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT producing ‘The Dan Patrick Show’ and ‘GameNight’. JB can be reached on Twitter @SportsRadioPD or by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
