700 WLW in Cincinnati has announced that former FOX Sports and Cincinnati Reds broadcaster Thom Brennaman will take over morning drive from the retiring Mike McConnell.
The iHeartMedia Cincinnati news/talk station made the announcement Thursday morning, one day before McConnell’s final show after serving as morning host since 2015.
Brennaman joins 700 WLW after his father, Marty, served as the radio play-by-play voice of the Cincinnati Reds — where WLW serves as the team’s flagship — from 1974 to 2019.
Thom Brennaman has been an accomplished sports broadcaster in his own right. He previously served as a play-by-play announcer for FOX Sports from 1994 through 2020, including coverage of the NFL, Major League Baseball, and college football, among others. He also served as the television voice of the Arizona Diamondbacks (1998-2006) and the Reds (2007-2020).
His tenure with FOX Sports and the Reds ended in 2020 when he was caught using a homophobic slur during a commercial break. His apology subsequently viral. In recent years, he joined The CW as the lead voice of its college football coverage, as well as working with Cincinnati-based Chatterbox Sports since 2022, hosting a daily digital video program.
“We came to Cincinnati when I was 10 years old because of my dad,” Brennaman told The Enquirer. “So I’ve had some family or my own personal connection to WLW for 51 of my 61 years. WLW is a big deal. I hope I can live up to the people who’ve done this job before me.”
“Mike has done an amazing job. So for us to have the opportunity to move on from a legend like Mike McConnell to a polished, professional, seasoned broadcaster like Thom Brennaman was unbelievable for us, and we are thrilled to death,” iHeartMedia Cincinnati Vice President and Market Manager D.J. Hodge told The Enquirer.
“(Brennaman) grew up listening to WLW,” Hodge continued. “He worked doing sports on WLW in the mornings with Jim Scott in the late 1980s, so to be able to bring Thom home into this position and to go from legendary Jim Scott to legendary Mike McConnell to now building that legendary status with Thom Brennaman, we are incredibly excited.”
Thom Brennaman will begin hosting mornings on 700 WLW on Monday, April 7th.
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