Things are changing at 97.1 The Fan. That is why everyone in the building has to be happy to hear that Mike Ricordati is sticking around.
Ricordati has a new deal that will keep him in Columbus through 2026. That is good news to the bosses at Tegna, as the group braces for life without Todd Markiewicz, who will leave the station at the end of the week.
“It’s a strange time,” Ricordati told BSM. “We’re a radio station owned by a tv company, and that tv company is going through a very public and complicated sale.”
Mike Ricordati is not only the co-host of the station’s afternoon show. He is also the Director of Content and Image. Under his leadership, 97.1 The Fan has seen some of the best ratings it ever has. He says that his questions about the station’s future are not about whether the content is good. It is about what happens without Markiewicz.
He also said that re-signing was not a guarantee. He thought long and hard about what he would do if he left The Fan.
“I’m fortunate that I had some options,” he said. “I spoke with podcast entities and considered going that route on my own. I’m not ruling that out in the future, but I didn’t feel like now was the right time. Every time I told myself I was finished, I couldn’t shake this sense of abandonment. With Todd leaving, I couldn’t walk out the door too.”
Ricordati has been on the air at 97.1 The Fan since December of 2003. He assumed his current role in late 2018.
