Miami’s two leading sports stations will look very different next week. Entercom has decided to re-brand WQAM as 560 The Joe and place a greater focus on national content. 790 The Ticket will become more locally focused and add a few familiar voices from WQAM’s weekday lineup.
The changes which are expected to go into effect on Monday August 5th will see Brendan Tobin, Leroy Hoard and Brian ‘The Beast’ London take over mornings on The Ticket from 6a-10a. The former morning team of Jonathan Zaslow and Amber Wilson will move into middays and host from 10a-2p. Rounding out the station’s weekday lineup in afternoons from 2p-6p will be Marc Hochman and Channing Crowder who move over from WQAM. Zach Duarte will pick up an extra hour at night and host 6p-10p on the station.
Meanwhile on 560 AM, the station will be re-named but continue to feature Joe Rose and Zach Krantz in morning drive. ESPN Radio’s Dan Le Batard will move over from The Ticket to occupy the 10a-1p slot. His local Miami hour will no longer be available. From 1p-3p 560 will add the Stephen A. Smith Show and the final 3-hours of Hochman and Crowder’s afternoon show are expected to be simulcast on 560. Best of programming will air from 6p-7p and a combination of ESPN Radio and/or play by play will be featured at night and overnight.
In a statement issued in the Miami Herald, Keriann Worley, senior vice president and market manager for Entercom South Florida, said: “Our stations are the home of sports in Miami. These strategic enhancements to our programming allow us to better serve fans and increase opportunities for our partners. We are committed to maximizing fan engagement and look forward to bringing them more coverage of their favorite local sports teams.”
The changes have resulted in Josh Friedman and Brett Romberg no longer working for the company. Alex Donno is being moved to a different role, and former Ticket afternoon host Curtis Stevenson has lost his weekday hosting spot but will continue in an off-air role.
Both WQAM and 790 The Ticket have long been well respected brands in the format with a local first approach. How this will impact the local sports radio landscape in the future remains to be seen, but starting next week, both Miami brands will have a different look and feel.
They split a morning show up in Boston and put half onto a sports station…doesn’t make sense. And the sports station doesn’t have a strong enough signal to reach the middle of the state anyway. So I’ve switched to a different morning show altogether.