If you missed any of the latest sports media developments, we’ve got you covered. If you have personal or station news to share and would like to be included in a future column, please pass along your information via email to JBarrett@hvy.tcp.mybluehost.me. Now on to the news.
According to The Province, Rogers Media has found its program director to lead its new Vancouver sports radio station. Craig MacEwen is expected to take the reigns and lead the brand new Sportsnet 650. The station landed the radio rights to the Vancouver Canucks in March and is expected to launch as a full service sports radio brand this fall.
After five and a half years in Phoenix, Neil Larrimore has exited as program director of FOX Sports 910 and News/Talk 550 KFYI. Filling Larrimore’s position is Aaron Trimmer, who moves to the desert from Richmond, VA where he programmed FOX Sports 910 and Newsradio 1140.
Meanwhile, one of Trimmer’s former colleagues is taking on a new project. FOX Sports 910 host Wes McElroy has added writing duties for Fan Rag Sports. The Richmond based host wrote his first piece for the website last week and it focuses on the Washington Redskins. Click here to read it.
A tip of the cap to 102.9/750 The Game midday host Justin Myers. The Portland talk show host last week shared a powerful and emotional personal story at the start of his show last week about his history as a child abuse victim. The discussion came up after it was discovered that Oregon State pitcher Luke Heimlich had molested a six-year old girl while he was in High School. If you can afford 15-20 minutes it’s worth listening to. Click here for it.
ESPN 700 has found its replacement for Sean O’Connell in afternoons. The radio station has added former 1320 The Fan host Kyle Gunther. The Salt Lake veteran has joined forces with Tom Hackett weekdays from 2p-6p MT.
In Milwaukee, 105.7 The Fan has added Cody Grant as producer of Chuck and Winkler‘s morning show. The program airs locally weekdays 6a-10a CT.
Times Herald Record sports writer Justin Rodriguez has announced he will begin hosting a weekly radio program on WALL-AM 1340 in the Hudson Valley area of NY. The show will debut on Monday June 19th at 7p ET and focus primarily on high school sports.
Vince Ferrara deserves a congratulations. The Knoxville radio host on WNML has been added as a play-by-play announcer by the SEC Network. He’s expected to call select games for the network. The additional work won’t preclude him from hosting his radio program.
In other play by play news, congratulations to Chicago White Sox play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti. The team recently announced they’d signed Beneti to a new multiyear agreement which calls for an expanded role in the broadcast booth. He replaced Ken Harrelson as the team’s television voice for home games in 2016 and is expected to take over on a full-time basis starting in 2019.
Another recipient of good news is play-by-play announcer Josh Appel. After calling games for Florida International University and the minor league baseball team the Clearwater Threshers, Appel is moving to a larger stage. Sports USA Media has hired Appel full-time to call NFL and college football games.
Duke University will have a new voice calling Blue Devils football and men’s basketball games soon. North Carolina native David Shumate has agreed to join the Blue Devil IMG Sports Network and become the school’s new play-by-play announcer. He starts officially on July 1st.
A new host will anchor the Inside Michigan Football radio show this season. WXYZ Sports Director Brad Galli has been charged with leading the weekly conversation with Wolverines Head Coach Jim Harbaugh. Michigan play-by-play voice Jim Brandstatter previously hosted the show but said he chose to give up the assignment due to the increased demands of his position and weekend travel schedule working with Michigan and the Detroit Lions.
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.
