97.3 The Fan Brand Manager, Adam Klug, recently appeared on the Ben & Woods morning show with hosts Ben Higgins and Steven Woods, to discuss the recent changes made in the midday time slot.
In late December, midday host, ‘Coach’ John Kentera told The San Diego Union-Tribune he had been let go from the station. What followed became a feeding frenzy of information which appears to have been misleading. The biggest point of contention was that the firing happened right before Christmas, and the San Diego Padres (whose games air on 97.3 The Fan) had a hand in the decision. Other issues were raised too including whether or not Steven Woods influenced the decision to change the midday show.
“A lot has been said, a lot has been written about what’s going on here at 97.3 The Fan over the last week and a half, but we have not said anything or made any announcements,” said Klug. “So, I wanted to come in and share that we here at 97.3 The Fan have decided to make a programming change in our midday timeslot.”
Klug stated the decision was a difficult one to make. “When you bring in the human element it compounds the decision. I have nothing but the utmost respect for John Kentera, both personally and professionally, and we, wish him all the best in his future endeavors. I don’t have a single negative thing to say about John Kentera.”
A December 21st story in The San Diego Union-Tribune, with the headline “‘Coach’ John Kentera says he’s been fired from radio job,” was printed and appears to have only told a portion of the story.
Said Klug, “Theres some misinformation out there that needs to be cleaned up. The first thing that is out there that is false, 100% baseless, was that we fired John Kentera right before Christmas.”
Klug said he met with Kentera on October 12th to forewarn him of what was to come. He shared that they discussed how and when the midday show would wrap up.
“I wanted to honor him, and put out a statement, and for him to talk about it, and for us to have a farewell tour and celebrate all of his accomplishments. I thought he deserved that and earned that right.”
Klug also said the station offered Kentera to do live talk shows on Saturdays and Sunday mornings, in addition to staying with the station for when other opportunities arose.
“I absolutely wanted him to be involved,” Klug told Ben and Woods.
As for his involvement in the matter, Woods stated, “How this narrative got spun that I had something to do with this was the one that was most troubling for me. I’ve taken a lot of shrapnel this week.”
“Want me to put an end to that?” Klug asked. “Nobody here at the station, none of our talent had any input whatsoever into the decision to make a change in middays. Nor did they have any input into who would be replacing Coach in middays. Furthermore, The San Diego Padres had no say whatsoever in to the decision to make a chance in middays. Nor did they have any say into who would be taking over in middays. Period. End of the story.”
Klug stated the decision had been made locally by he and his boss, Audacy Senior Vice President/Market Manager Michael Valenzuela, who Klug said supported the decision.
When Kentera met with Klug in October, the date Friday December 22nd was discussed as the date for Kentera’s final midday show. However, when the story came out a day ahead of time and the narratives had spun out of control changes had to be made. “There was no decision to be made (about doing the final show). It would have been people reacting to a completely false narrative that was out there.”
Klug wrapped up his appearance noting they would soon announce who Kentera’s replacement. An hour later, the station announced Annie Heilbrunn and Craig Elsten as the new midday show for 97.3.
