Twelve years after flipping to the sports format, 92.3 The Fan is planning an unprecedented celebration to honor its time on the air. The station is holding an event called The Dirty Dozen next Friday, Aug. 25 where all of its local programming will be live together on one stage. The announcement was made Monday morning on The Ken Carman Show with Anthony Lima, where they welcomed original station host Andy Baskin to the air to talk about the significance of the event.
“I just want to go back and relive all the nasty calls we got from the beginning era of 92.3 The Fan,” Baskin said. “All the people that were mad that we were not playing alternative music anymore. Oh wait, there weren’t very many of those.”
“Remember, you were in the middle of the day,” Carman replied. “I was at night – there were a few more of those calls.”
The station previously broadcast modern rock and alternative music before moving to sports on Aug. 29, 2011. Getting people to listen to the new sports station was a difficult task during the early days because of the familiarity the station had fostered with its audience.
“Can I tell you about a Saturday night show for five hours that I did where I had to beg my friends to call?,” Lima said. “I went out there after the show and said, ‘Well, maybe I should have stayed in television.’”
While it was not ideal to be taking calls from people looking for music, Carman remembered eventually just giving in so he could have other voices over the air. Through his proficiency as an on-air host, he was able to shift those conversations to focus on the topic at hand.
“It just became a big Nirvana or Foo Fighters debate and then I go, ‘Alright, what do you think about the Browns?,’ and they’d eventually get in about the Browns,” Carman said. “….We’ve taken many a call that was much more unhinged since that time.”
Lima, along with Carman and Baskin, are looking forward to reminiscing on the early days of the station and its evolution to this point at the forthcoming event. Carman made sure to remind listeners that they can be a part of it by listening live or using the rewind function on the Audacy app. Over the 12 years, the Cleveland sports scene has had several triumphs and tribulations – including a World Series appearance in 2016 and long-awaited NBA championship by the Cavaliers during that same year.
“It has been a tremendous honor to be with both of you at the same time,” Baskin said to Carman and Lima. “I enjoyed working with you over the last two weeks individually to hear all of your little faults on how you guys get under each other’s skin. It has been fantastic being able to jump in on the morning show.”
