As first reported by The Tennessean, changes are on the horizon for one of the sports talk radio format’s most successful brands. 104.5 The Zone in Nashville is undergoing lineup adjustments in both morning and afternoon drive.
At the center of the story is morning co-host Fran Wycheck. The 11-year NFL veteran recently announced he was taking the year off from Titans radio broadcasts. Now Wycheck is also vacating his spot on the morning show, The Wake Up Zone. The station plans to feature Wycheck in a utility role, having him appear on all three shows.
To fill Wycheck’s vacancy in mornings, The Zone will shift 3HL co-host and former NFL safety Blaine Bishop into morning drive. Bishop has been a member of the station’s afternoon show since its inception. He’ll now have the opportunity to wake up Nashville sports radio listeners alongside Kevin Ingram and Mark Howard.
With Bishop moving into mornings, that opens a hole in afternoons. The Zone is filling the opening by adding Dawn Davenport to 3HL. Davenport spent the past five years working as a sports reporter for WKRN, including contributing to Titans broadcasts. She is leaving WKRN to join Brent Dougherty and Mickey Ryan in afternoons, and contribute to the SEC Network’s Saturday game day coverage.
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.
